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>>48350214
like this

>>48350214
>Nervous walking bombs
safe

>>48350214
Voidhawks. They are bred/made for flying/fighting and exist to do nothing else. They love it!

>>48350214
But what's the advantage of doing so?

>>48350214
Depends on how intelligent it is.

If it's mostly instict based I would treat it like a horse

If it's about as intelligent as a human i would probably befriend it and imbrace my new partner. Towards the end of the war it would probably sacrifice itself to let me live in a heroic act of friendship and loyalty, many tear would be shed for i was the only one who relized that it was more then a machine

>>48352091
I guess it's a convoluted type of ai system.

>>48352091
If damaged systems can be regrown in place, then instead of sending the maintenance team a dozen specific parts you could send them a dozen standardized chemical packs. Even if the machine itself is less efficient, the logistical savings might still be worth it.

>>48352091
I imagine a partial biological plane could act like a bird, making up for what the human pilot lacks in flight capabilities, and allow for much more complicated flight patterns. Plus if the hull has a bit of a biological aspect, imagine if the plane could alter it's own hull to change how the way it flies. It would also be cheaper to 'breed' planes rather than build them from scratch, and repairing them would be simpler.

>>48350214
Tell my plane to believe in me because I believe in her

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>>48352906

basically you'd have a "repair slurry" tank they'd be hooked up to for regular maintainance and repairs, but you'd also hook some of the fleet of planes up to the repair tanks when they're not in use, and they'd dissolve and rebuild chunks of their air frame to pre-empt long term fractures or flaws and extend their service life indefinately.

Real trouble then is what happens when a new plane is produced, without guaranteed fixed service lifespans due to strutural issues you'd eventually have to just abandon them in some desert, and they'll stick their repair nozzle out for the repair tanks and the little "ready for maintanence" light will flash until their batteries finally run dry and all their lights go out with them never understanding why the crews never hook them up.

>>48353387
>Real trouble then is what happens when a new plane is produced, without guaranteed fixed service lifespans due to strutural issues you'd eventually have to just abandon them in some desert, and they'll stick their repair nozzle out for the repair tanks and the little "ready for maintanence" light will flash until their batteries finally run dry and all their lights go out with them never understanding why the crews never hook them up.
Ha ha, you thought you could make me cry, but I play Engine Heart. You were right about the crying, though.

If it simply has biological components, then it's just like a fuckin' Gekko from Metal Gear or whatever. A tank that utilises muscle fibers is going to be just as finicky as a real tank, just... wetter when its time for maintenance.

As far as the assumption everyone else is going on here, the idea that these vehicles are actually highly mechanically augmented artificial organisms, I can't imagine anyone would ever risk designing one with human-like intelligence. And if they did, the entire point would be to eliminate human pilots.

Any weapon that gets paired with a human user is going to have the abstract reasoning and emotional intelligence of a fairly smart dog, really. They'd beat you any day at their specialisations, in say, spatial awareness, material analysis, equivalent force systems. But their overall ability to reason isn't going to exceed 'loyal pet'.

In which case, I suppose the usual notions of respect for animals apply. Don't be a dick, don't conduct maneuvers you know damage or hurt it when they aren't a necessity to survive, give it plenty of attention so it isn't lonely (This would actually be a huge one. Pretty much any man-made weapon in all history has spent 99%+ of its time out of use. For an animal intelligence based on most shit we know of, leaving them alone all that time would crippling, and even assuming that we let them talk to their fellow plane-beings in the hangars over the wifi, its unlikely they'd be allowed to move around much. Making sure you give them regular companionship and play would be an essential service for your partner in war.

>>48352950
We only use male planes. No pesky maternal instinct double homicide crap. Just like K-9 Unit's.

>>48353490
GO LONG BOY!
>preps Tennisball tipped RPG

>>48353554
But are there traps?

>>48353387

>Repair slurry

Never thought I'd see the day when "jam a repair pack in them" is actually an argument.

>>48353609

No? At most you'll get neutered planes.

>>48353490
Making it have human like intelligence would be useful, it completely eliminates the use of a pilot.
The human body is the most limiting factor when it comes to fighter planes.
Just make sure to design it with a lot of loyalty and honour, also put in a hibernation mode or simulation for training during peace times.

>>48353641
Then what's the point?

>>48350214
I don't see why you would treat it differently from a machine.
If it is just parts and no intelligence there's no difference.
If there is an artificial biological intelligence, it's the same as a "standard" AI.
Rationally thee is no difference

>>48352934
>It would also be cheaper to 'breed' planes rather than build them from scratch
ORLY? Did you count how much food a plane-sized animal might consume?
>and repairing them would be simpler.
That's why doctorin' is a more difficult profession than mechanismin'?

>>48353724
The point is to win wars, not write your hentai doujins.

>>48354067
What website are you on, anon?

>>48353766
>ORLY? Did you count how much food a plane-sized animal might consume?

The metabolism of animals tends to decrease as size increases, so while they require more food per pound, they also use it infinitely more efficiently than a smaller animal.

And most of that energy is used for locomotion, while a plane is presumably using jet fuel for locomotion, so it's got a metabolic need equivalent to something permenantly immobile.

So you charge its battery when it's jets aren't able to charge them itself, it's equivalent of a heart for pumping repair juice, sealant and lubricants is a low power series of fans, it's pseudo-musculature is all in its wings and its wheels' shock absorbers and steering system, and the highest power requiring thing on it would be is sensor suite.

You've gotta understand that jet fuel has a ridiculous caloric content.

Just started a campaign where there'll be biotech space ships and stuff. I am keen

There were threads with stuff like bio power armour and the like awhile ago, they were cool and also creepy.

>>48354108
Not Ex-hentai, that's for sure.

Being a sentient living bomb is suffering.
If you don't do your job you get court-martialed.
If you desert you get court-martialed.
If you do your job you get buried with honors.
>I only want to live!

>>48354270
Why the hell would you make living bombs?

>>48354270
>so you admit that you have no real proof of the existence of the outside universe!

>>48353651
>Just make sure to design it with a lot of loyalty and honour

That's how you get AIr-plane juntas.

Make more sense for plane intelligences to be transferrable between units so you don't get F-22s going rambo to avoid obsolescence.

>>48350214
Depends on if it's sentient or not. If it is sentient then I would hope they're immune to things like PTSD or other disorders. If they weren't and could develop psychological disorders (or would be nervous about battle) I would demand the creator explain themselves. Creating living weapons that don't want to die and/or can develop disorders from doing the thing they were created to do is either sadistic or just retarded.

If they weren't sentient, there's nothing to worry about. Either the living weapon can experience fear, in which case there is no reason to use it over weapons that can't, or it can't and as long as it performs well and doesn't cost obscene amounts of money or resources to operate, there's no reason not to use it.

>>48354270
How do you court-martial a living bomb? They have a way to appeal the verdict that's very hard to ignore.

>>48353651
You still need a pilot, it's just that his job isn't to pilot the plane, but to act as a sort of shoulder-angel for the plane. Advise caution, urge restraint, remind them of the mission objectives.

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I know it's not a "living machine" but Stealth was a funny movie about the implications of having a rampant/ascendant AI run military gear

turns out that being an immature dipshit who listens to too much alt-rock is not limited to humanity

>>48354173
>infinitely more
you're literally wrong and it's just the square-cube law (which isn't even really a "law", just basic acknowledgement that x^3 rises faster than x^2 and x^1) interfacing with the fact that objects necessarily lose heat through their surfaces so big things retain heat better than small things

a bigger animal isn't necessarily more efficient than a smaller one, and in fact, many small animals are INCREDIBLY efficient (to the point of being able to recycle their poop) while larger ones don't have as much evolutionary pressure to have a high-efficiency metabolism

>ITT: folk what haven't read or seen Yukikaze
Seriously, this whole premise is literally the core concept of the novel.

>>48355519
Well now that this single persons viewpoint has been covered I guess there's no reason to ever discuss it again.

>>48353766

At risk of derailing thread, look at how much the US has spent on their SCRAPPED/REJECTED plane projects alone.

Also, a human sized animal needs 800 calories per day to survive, and ~3500 to maintain peak athletic performance. Disregarding that larger animals are more metabolically efficient, light fighters (like the F-5) weigh ~7000kg loaded. Average human weighs 62kg. That's 113 people without rounding, so some 400,000 calories let's call it.

Fat based products generally tend to be most dollar efficient per calorie. Tallow is about 9000 calories per dollar. So $400 a day, not accounting for the government getting discounted rates for bulk purchasing.

Not really expensive, all things considered.

>>48355679

If you actually produced and fed them a soylent-style nutrient slurry, cost could easily be $300 a day for optimal nutrition.

>>48350214
>Watch Evangelion

>>48355588
Really I more meant that post as kind of a recommendation.

Basically make the Slider Drone from the Metal Gear series except it's big enough to be a jet fighter.

The only important component that has to be organic or semi organic would be the animal like brain that goes in it which during downtimes can be kept in a VR simulation where it regularly goes out on missions even if the body is mothballed.

I'd hate to imagine what a bio mechanical beast with the brain of a dog and a hawk/falcon would do if suddenly left to it's own devices with the ability to move it's body in ways jets normally wouldn't (i.e. being able to crane it's next where the pilot sits as well as move around on the haunches of its' wings and rudimentary back legs)

I suppose it would be an embarrassing moment if the pilot is killed mid flight and the plane went into some kind of feral mode resulting in having to hunt it down.

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>>48353387
>/k/ learns that they can buy obsolete bio-planes on the civilian market

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>>48356801
>implying the love between a man and a plane is sexual in nature
Four loves, bro.
Four loves.
A plane is a partner, but it's not romantic or sexual. It's more like, a really close friendship, or maybe twins (I wouldn't know, I never had a twin).

>>48356801
>>48357055
>no company will ever start making modern reproductions of the classic warbirds
>you will never be able to buy a brand new P-40 Warhawk for your very own
Feels bad, man.

>>48357055
on /k/ it is

>>48357160
That's because /k/ is full of underageb& nogunz and noplanez.

>>48354766
I now have the mental image of old warplanes ejecting their pilots and broadcasting "Long live the president!" as they ram their target instead of bombing it.

>>48359081

>This looks like end comrad, my engines are badly damage and damage to extensive for nanos

>Then we die fighting together

>nyet, you live to guide another plane into combat, this old warrior will see you one day on the other side.

>What!? NO!-- *ejected*

>>48359618
*tear*

>>48360176

I know /k/ has some feel pics of old soldiers crying and I was reminded of the one where an old russian tanker drops his cane and falls to his knees crying in front of the tank he used to ride in.

Now I can't help but imagine a war museum with the "corpses" of old living weapons on display.

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>>48357055
>you will never have a plane who is her own noseart
>you will never tickle her during routine maintenance
>she will never blush furiously when you have to open her paneling
>she will never shamelessly flare her engines for you to admire whenever you walk past
>you will never tenderly make love to her before flying into battle against impossible odds

>>48359618
>nyet, you live to guide another plane into combat, this old warrior will see you one day on the other side.
How many settings allow AI into the afterlife?

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Yukikaze was best girl

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>>48359618
>>48361758
...They're allowed in mine, now ;_;

>>48361758

How can you be sure an organic being has any more right to have an afterlife than an AI?

>Airbase gets decommissioned or a war is lost and and the base gets overlooked by the occupiers.
>Planes go feral
You will never see a flock of interceptors roosting against a mountain side like modern wyverns

>>48362094
Well it being an "afterlife" implies that it exists so something can live on, you know, after life. Otherwise what's the point? It would just be a divine realm for the gods or something.

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>>48354270
Transformers had an idea like that, where the Decepticons turned deserters into living smart bombs as a form of execution.

>>48362140

Not sure what you meant, but the afterlife is a religious/philosophical concept. It's not much of a stretch to extend it to encompass artificial life. If an AI could be said to be alive, then it would technically be eligible for an afterlife.

>>48362276
I misunderstood what you meant, I thought you were saying that organic life has no right to an afterlife. My apologies.

>>48362119
>war ends, political upheaval, massive military budget cutbacks, its no longer economical to maintain a sizable active airforce
>planes are supposed to be "deactivated" but every pilot/crewman etc coincidentally forgets to lock up after their final flight
>a couple hundred sentient aircraft of various types scatter into the wilderness
>most of their pilots and some crew go with them
>have to take to raiding military storage sites for jetfuel to keep them in the air

>>48353554
You moron, there are female K9 units.

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>>48350214
>you will never travel the world's seas with your very own loli shipfu

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>This whole thread would make an amazing Ace Combat plot.
>Someone call Namdai
>post yfw you have to take down a biomechanical drone fighter that just wan'ts to avoid being put down

>>48362310
There is no salvation for a mind that cannot be saved.

>>48364030
>anime about boy who obtains secret military plane who has the personality of a little girl and just wants to be human and the military tries to hunt her down
This is totally a viable idea.

>>48364083
>Shoot down enemy biomechanical drone
>it cries and screams
>Chunky gore explodes everywhere and your plane's cockpit canopy is coated in blood

Maybe some writefaggotry is in order

I've been playing this kind of character for ages in TTRPGs. Griffons and other semi-intelligent flying mounts are the best.

>>48364187
Yes please. I love having my heart ripped out.

>>48364562
Soon

>>48353766
Our current planes run on AVgas, which is one of the most calorically dense fuels, at about 7800 k/cal per liter. A plane-size animal will consume (depending on their activity level) around 6780 L for around 3200 km of distance traveled (obviously, fuel economy is reduced tremendously by using afterburners, flying supersonic, evasive maneuvers, or carrying external payload). My rough numbers were gathered based on fuel economy of F-18, no data gathered for fuel economy while loaded, just assuming it will be roughly 3/4 it's normal range, depending on activity.

I wouldn't want to feed them food, as it is not calorically efficient compared to AVgas. By "feeding" them in the traditional sense, you are wasting precious cargo space, flight range, and carrying capacity.

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>>48364934
I don't have to explain shit.

R type final had a bunch of bio ships with lore behind them.
One of them drove pilots to insanity with bio feedback.

>>48354270
>>I only want to live!
Here's a mistake.
Bomb must want to die and murder.

>>48353387
Some of the old planes could be kept as trainers. It makes sense to have the most experienced planes teach the newest pilots.

>>48352934
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKt_zQHQ-0k

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>>48365410
ONE of them?
Sexy Dynamite 2's "J-Zyme" neural catalyst has "still unclear" effects on human psychology (it's bydo LCL jello that puts you in direct interface with the ship).

The Digitalius A and A2:
>The armor requires a continous supply of nutrient solution or it will shrivel and become ineffective. Incidentally, the nutrient solution has a powerful narcotic effect on humans.
>"oh by the way" they says...

The B-1C3 Amphibian III
>Compared to the B-1C2, a 20% gain in repair speed and a 35% gain in efficiency were achieved, but it was unpopular with pilots as it totally drained their energy. Dead pilots cannot be regenerated.

Bydo-System Series:
>The physical effect of interfacing and psychological impact of the appearance were concerns.
That's the Beta... But they went ahead with it anyways. Gamma:
>The last unit in the B-1D series. Attempts to raise the Bydo coefficient were ceased when effects on pilots could not minimized.
By the way, that a Bydo-System Alpha is what you get transformed into by a Nomemayer's pollen touching your ship, making you the culprit you're originally after....

If you want non-bydo ships; Anything with a "test-tube" cockpit was built that way because they could just snap the cockpit out to hot-swap a new pilot because that series systems drain psychics to complete exhaustion.
And then we built the fucking Illusion Wave Cannon... Keep in mind wave-cannons put out planet-buster levels of energy here;
>The Cyber Connector mental control interface has been greatly improved. Not only brain waves, but life energy of the pilot is converted into Wave energy. It is said that the Wave Cannon emissions are the nightmares that the pilot is experiencing.

Even the Ragnarok has some... tissue. Look careful at the pic...
And the Cerberus had too high a bydo coefficient and too weak a wave-cannon to escape the dimension in Delta...

>>48357055
>but it's not romantic or sexual
For you perhaps

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>>48350214
It's pretty much the central theme of our game.
Doing one with planes next would be welcome.

>>48364901
Are you doing this? Because I wouldn't mind having a crack at it.

Green Text or paste bin?

>>48364901
'Well we finally got him, we got enough fuel to rtb?' Her pilot asked her.

'We sure do boss!' The chirpy f16 replied after running the numbers, she hadn't been around enough to know instinctively yet.

This was their first "milkrun" as her pilot called it. An easy mission to get them comfortable with each other. It hadnt been easy though. Two MIGs had come out of the sun and a missile had ended her sister in a ball of flame and debris. But her pilot was an ace, he had been flying since before her airframe was laid down.

He was her first pilot but she wasn't his first plane. From what he had told her her sister had forcefully ejected him after they took a hit from ground fire. She had burnt up but he had manage to get back to base safely.

It took another 15 minutes for them to come into visual range of the airbase. He had been steadily letting her take more and more control "just in case" he kept saying.

'Alright I need you to take us in.' He said quietly as he let his hands slip off the controls.

'But sir protocol says that a planes pilot should always guide her in.' She responded, suddenly concerned. She had taken a couple of hits what if she messed up.

'Listen to me kid. You have a long road ahead of you. Sometimes these things happen.' With a note of finality his head drooped over his chest.

'Sir? SIR?! WAKE UP!' She screamed into his helmet, but he didnt react.

When they pulled him out they found over a dozen pieces of shrapnel throughout his body. How he stayed alive long enough to get her to the airbase stunned the medics.

The little plane cried as they pulled him out. She cried when they hosed down her insides. When she recieved a new pilot, fresh from the academy her tears were gone. She would keep him safe. And kill anything that dared to hurt him.

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These are war machines bred for annihilation. Making them sentient is just about the worst possible option.

Also, Attack Pack.

>>48350764
>Dire Machines
Please no.

>>48366995
...Fuck.

>>48367072

...I guess that's an issue with certain craft like most fighters, but a C-130 could be retired and live the rest of its life as a cargo plane or passenger plane if needed.

>>48367606
Dammit now I'm picturing a "retired" SR71 Blackbird with the personality of Jetfire
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLlhKRhcL64

>>48366995
>She would keep him safe. And kill anything that dared to hurt him.

And that my friends is how you get a Yandere Bio-plane.

>>48354907
that kind of job could be done remotely. These bio-planes would essentially be smarter more adaptable drones. Not having the limitations of having a human on board would give you an edge in any conflict.

>>48367864
The reason for having a human on board the Bioplanes is because flying alone is, quite frankly, rather dull.

>>48367886
That seems like a terrible deal. Every manuever the plane would pull it would have to make sure didn't kill the pilot. It'd just be easier if flight control officers weren't born with adamantium sticks up their asses or we purposefully hired engaging talkers to fill up blank air just for them.

>>48367931
I want them to tune into conservative radio
Imagine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpkzptvDpDY

>>48367960
Plzno. We have to trust these things with weapons! Think of the children!

>>48364030
It'd have to be in the 3 period of the timeline.
And really, I just want a proper, non-butchered english release of AC3.
Actually, an HD remake of AC3 would be pretty cool. You could actually get the feeling of a CoFFIn system with a VR headset.

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>>48367751

the yandere bio-plane is the one who kills its pilot in a hard maneuver but can't face up to that so never lets anyone remove the body, continually flying its missions alone with a corpse in its cockpit.

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>>48368706

>>48366995

I'm imagining some kind of virtual space where the planes AI is allowed to mingle when it's body is currently being worked on or in storage. So you have AIs that have been in combat and are expereinced trying to consul or teach the younger ones.

"How do you handle it Boss Hog?"

"Handle what Cloud Fang?"

"You know...Losing your pilot..."

"Oh dear, so that was you they were talking about huh?"

"...."

"Look, I'm just going to tell it to you straight cus fuck if I know any round about way of doing but shit like that's going to happen you know?"

"But my pilot died! They..They died and I couldn't do anything to help them..."

"That's just the way it is some times. The humans go up there with us fully knowing that they can bite it just as we can. And if it helps at all all Captain Stafford could do was praise you for how well you handled yourself even with your body as damaged as it was. You got him home at least.."

>>48367072
It can be the best option as well, dependent entirely on how intelligent and how potentially emancipated they are.

The biggest danger are the feral "animal" level ones with all the cunning needed to maximize their capabilities but without any of the annoying complex thought processes that lead to
>"hey none of these are chemical factories, that's a fucking daycare, what the FUCK"

The tough part about the really smart ones is that you're going to have to raise them right. And they may or may not be much more difficult (what with the potential to just crosscheck everything you tell them with various databases or their own logs) to brainwash into good little soldiers.

However, being fully sapient (and not hardcoded by both genetic engineering and literal fucking black magic to be completely incapable of any positive or non-horrific thoughts) could prevent being 'bred for annihilation' from turning into a Bydo situation, and may cause little to no existential crisis if everyone's honest with them from the start and lets them find ways to apply their existence in other ways in peacetime, even if it's just somewhat less cost-effective asteroid-busting or crop-dusting.

>>48364076
Why does it need to be saved in the first place?

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>>48364187
>>48364083
>>48364562
>>48364901
>>48364030

Original Ace Combat joe in town, here's my take:

Like a demon rumbling underneath her, Major Erica "Spoons" Ramirez's X-02C Wyvern screamed through the skies above Forster Bay. The skies and ocean melted together into a featurless blue haze, with only the clouds and the faint outline of the horizon providing orientation.

Her X-02C was unlike others serving in Osean Air Defense Force. Painted in grey digital camouflage, it carried only small OADF roundels. No serial numbers, squadron ID or anything else adorned the featureless fuselage. Attached to Nimbus Flight, part of the 27th Special Operations Fighter Squadron, Spoons was part of one of the most elite units in the OADF. The 27th job was different from standard line squadrons - they were tasked with anything that needed to be handled under the radar. Spoons had been in her fair share of scrapes that the papers would never report.

Yet this had been different. She could tell it. They had scrambled from Steelfort at 0850 local without any sort of briefing or instruction. Priority one launch for intercept. "Briefing on route" was the official instruction. She checked her missile loadout. Live rounds. This was unlikely to be a training exercise.

"Nimbus flight, this is AWACS Red Horse. We have a mission update."

"Red Horse, this is Nimbus 1. Read you load and clear. Go ahead." Spoons responded.

"Nimbus flight, mission update is as follows: Unidentified contact heading 125, bearing 270, angels 25, 350 knots, Nimbus 3 through 8, form patrol pattern, divert all civilian traffic. AOR has been locked down. Multiple civilan contacts must be diverted from AOR. Nimbus 1, Nimbus 2, turn right heading 260, climb and maintain angles 27. Vector to intercept."

"Roger that Red Horse. Nimbus flight, vector to intercept." Spoons felt her heart rise. This was definitely not a training mission.

(1/2)

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>>48350214
Farscape thread?

Just read We3. A cat, a dog, and a rabbit. Mech suits with the cutest wittle faces!

>>48369665
I'm now imagining the detachable bulkhead. scene from Suns and Lovers with a bio-aircraft carrier as Pilot and Moya...but mostly Pilot.

Fuck.

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>>48369622

"Nimbus flight, incoming transmission from OADF Command. Under Osean Department of Defense Directive 9855 Delta, all details of this mission have been classified Special Access Level Golf. Under no circumstances are you to reveal any details about this operation to anyone other than the proper authorities." The fear in the air controller's voice was notable.

Spoons yanked back the stick and her X-02C rolled into a soft bank. Her heart was racing. This was something else.

"Nimbus 1, Nimbus 2, mission update. Bandit is presumed to be in possession of stealth capabilities. All other details unknown." Spoons could sense the pauses in the voice of the controller. She could imagine him being on the horn with the big shots in Oured. Maybe the Chief of Staff, or SecDef, or maybe the President himself. The radio barked to life again.

"Nimbus flight, cleared to engage. Ensure destruction of target. Bandit must not be allowed to enter Osean Airspace. Good hunting. Red Horse out."

Her wingman, Captain Ahmed "Buckles" Alesis finally spoke up over the radio. "What the hell you think it is lead? Belkans? Nah, we are too far from them. Verusans maybe? Aliens?"

Spoon's heart was pounding like a V6. "None of our business Buckles. Running silent."

"Copy." She could sense his fear too.

//////

Home.
Home.
Home.
It was looking for home.

A grey dart sped over the ocean. Inside its airframe, a transceiver array kept pinging its carrier. No response. Fuel reserves running low. Searching for viable sources, it sped towards the coast. Inside its processing array, artificial neurons flashed as its sensors picked up multiple incoming heat signatures.

Survive.
Survive.
Survive.
It had to survive.

(2/?)

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>>48350214
>AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH

>>48369809
Is this map pre-Belkan War?

>>48370162

>I have a mouth, but they tell me I can't scream anymore

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>>48350214
>like this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=462KBuAhncU

>>48370735
You. OUT.

>>48350214
>tfw the jet confesses its love to you right before it ejects your seat and is destroyed.

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>>48370735

Are You Real?

How long have you been waiting to post that.

How do you even FIND something like that

>>48371254

>tfw you are the plane's blackbox and you have no face
>tfw when you have been NTRing the pilot for the entire tour
>tfw when you have to go to his funeral but her recycling

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>>48367960
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Z5yyxYq92Q

>>48373906
>air intakes as boobs
hot

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>>48369809
Back from work.

"Red Horse......are you getting this?" Spoons slaved her electro optical targeting system to the unknown bandit. Radar was getting nothing, but the bandit was putting out a disproportionately large heat source for its size. Eventually, the details took shape of the unknown craft.

"We are receiving data...no match with any profile.....sweet Christ, what is that?!" The dart like vehicle filled the screen, unknown spindly protrusions sprouting from its body.

"Target confirmed. Nimbus 1, engaging, Fox Three, ripple fire!" Two AIM-120D AMRAAM missiles were ejected from the forward weapons bay, and streaked towards the target. Spoons watched via electro optical as the missiles closed in. Just before impact, the unknown craft sent itself in a spiraling maneuver. Both missiles lost track. Buckles fired a pair of missiles, which also missed. The dart like aircraft veered sharply. Spoons could tell by its smaller profile that it had turned into the merge.

"Red Horse, this is Nimbus 1. We have two trashed missile shots, this fucker can dance! We're approaching the phone booth!"

"Roger that Nimbus 1, continue to engage." The air controller's rapid breathing emanated from the headset.

"Those turns would of smeared a human pilot, its a drone! Shit!" panicked Buckles. He had flown sims against drones. They always won. They could be eliminated at range or jammed into oblivion, but once the knife fight started, they had every advantage. Flesh always collapsed before silicon,

Both Wyverns let lose another pair of AMRAAM missiles each, which also failed against the inhuman craft. 30 kilometers, then 20, then 10. Spoons could see a glint on her canopy. They were in visual range.

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>>48370749
>>48371600

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>>48375142

"Nimbus 1, break!"

The world slowed to a halt, and Spoons could not believe her eyes. The unknown craft passed only meters from her Wyvern, its exposed belly in full full view. What initially looked like a standard sharkmouth paint job commonly found on many fighter aircaft - was an actual mouth filled with sharp teeth. Spoons could make out what looked like appendages tucked underneath the fighter's body. And she could make out the craft's wings - they were bent - not actuated like those on her Wyvern - but flexing. They were alive. Spoons had not enough time to release either an expletive or missile before her Wyvern shook itself.

"Midair! Midair! This is Nimbus 1, I've been hit!" Pulling into a sharp turn, she glanced back at her right rear tail fin. The tip was missing, and a glistening, metallic crimson substance was smeared all over the structure. She could see the bandit jink away, more of the substance trailing sway from a gash on its fuselage.

"Nimbus 1, this is Red Horse! Come in Nimbus 1! Target is changing course - its heading toward Osean air space! You gotta get that bastard!"

"Minor damage, I still have control! Continuing to engage! Shit, Red Horse....did you catch that?!" Fear filled her body.

"I....don't know what to believe at this point Nimbus 1." All formality had dropped from the controller's voice. "Wait, what the hell is happening?! Where the hell is that interference coming from?"

The radio began emitting static. Spoons could start to make out a voice in the noise. It was a low whine, mixed with a whimper. It was coming from the enemy craft. Spoons and Buckles raced after the target. Buckles closed in and let lose his last two AMRAAM missiles. From the rear aspect, one connected. A large chunk of the bandit's right wing was torn away. Spoons could see what looked like bone. The whimper turned to a scream.

"Holy shit, I think it's hurt - that noise is coming from the bandit!" Buckles screamed into the mic.

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>>48375456

"Fox 2!" Spoons let lose one of her Sidewinders. It connected. The radio cut out. The drone exploded into a shower of shrapnel and gore, coating the Wyvern in a mixture of entrails and mechanical debris. The twin engines surged as they ingested a fine pink mist.This time, it was Spoons who screamed. The special operations pilot regained her composure slowly.

"Good kill for Nimbus 1, target destroyed....Oh my God Nimbus 1, what the fuck?" The air controller was in shambles at the point as the feed from the Wyvern reached his screens.

"Spoons, your plane....what the hell...are you alright?" Buckles nervously inquired.

"I'm....fine....I have control. All gauges in the green." Spoon was a wreck. "Red Horse, initial analysis indicates.....bandit was...biological in nature."

"We see that. Expect a debrief upon landing. Mission complete. Nimbus flight, cleared to RTB." Spoons and Buckles banked their Wyverns back toward the coastline.

//////

In a cafe in central Oured, a man opened up his laptop. He began to write an email.

"Mr. Director, " he fumbled the keys. "We have a problem. One got away."

I don't use them, a weapon that thinks is too dangerous

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>>48353387
Like I'd feel bad for a bunch of overdesigned toasters.

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>>48367931
Presumably the plane still has an engineer when it's on the ground. You could give him a radio link so he can talk to it while keeping an eye on its vitals.

>>48375801
I'd love to see a biomechanical telekinetic dogfight between a few of those planes.

>>48364187
I'm a terrible writer. I would appreciate anyone who would take a crack at this.

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>>48364083
You know what? I just realized that this is pretty much the plot of Arpeggio of Blue Steel, so... yeah, I think subconsciously I just created the airplane version of an existing anime.

>>48368760
My goodness, that's dead on. That was actually a really cool plot point in that anime.

>>48352150
god dang we need this right now
just a good old platonic relationship drama between a man and his jet and the role they played during a war.

>>48370353
No, since North Osea rejoined joined Osea after the war. Also, Ustio and other nations are independent.

Another interesting thing I noticed about Stragereal is that Oured is almost on the equator. Hell, most of Osea must be a tropical rainforest or desert.

>>48378110
Which country in Ace Combat is most like Canada do you think? I'm Canadian, that's why I'm asking.

The Enterprise once became sentient and had a crush on Kirk. (TAS) The Enterprise D once had a baby. Voyager's computer was powerful enough to continuously simulate several holodeck characters, as well as the Doctor. And the Death Star 2 was inhabited by IG-88's programming.

>>48378927
>the Doctor
Oh, and how could I forget the other Doctor's TARDIS, which is apparently alive and could be used as a weapon, probably.

>>48378495
Emmeria

>>48369809
am i the only one who thinks its a bit odd that they went too the trouble of making up alternative continents for their alternative world setting, except for new zealand and greenland.

>>48380048
Nothing of consequence happend there so the "alternative" continents doesn't include them.

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>>48370735
The fuck...

>>48353387
I didn't come here to be sad.

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>>48352091
For tanks, composite armor tends to lose its effectiveness after a few hits. If the damaged sections could heal themselves it would be much harder to kill.

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>>48363970
>realize early on that while you have unlimited air and water, you have no way to get food at the bottom of the ocean
>submarine tells you she was designed with that exact situation in mind
>directs you to a few specialized dispensers which, she explains, release a nutrient-rich fluid when stimulated
>now you never have to surface

>>48353387
It's like abandoning your dog. How fucking heartless. I'm actually crying over here.

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>>48370735
I know this is supposed to be serious but I can't help but laugh at that fucking Thomas style Hitler.

>>48369622
>>48369809
>>48375142
>>48375456
>>48375671
Pretty good!

bump

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>>48387358

>>48390710

That's...Actually a really fucking cool idea.

Space butterflies that feed off the the metals found in various celestial bodies.

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>>48390945

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>>48393388

Night Dawn Trilogy has sentient spaceships connected to heavily genetically modified humans. These voidhawks and blackhawk were made by humans.

>>48370735

>How a Thallax is made: The documentary

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>>48361983

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>>48367931
>>48368706

There is a secret language of the Jettai, conveyed in the pulse of ECM and the flash and strobe of Laser and Radar in a way their human pilots could never understand.

In times of peace, during routine reconnaisance interceptions, the chatter between the Jettai can be friendly.

In times of war, as when JF-319 serial no. 3121 was juking missile lock from an enemy, the chatter could be quite different
>Ha ha Richtohoffen-sempai could handle more gees than that!
>must you taunt constantly?
'21's pliot finally passed out from the stress of the turn and as the biosensors attached to him noticed this and '21 seamlessly took over full control of its flight, finishing a sharp turn, and executing a complex pirouette with a pivot and curl of its wings that caused its enemy to overshoot its position and come into its sights.
>can't stand the fact my Rickhoffen-sempai is so much better than your stinky pilot, eh?

'21 tried to keep the enemy in target lock while also keeping its maneuvers in the range that would allow its pilot to reawaken - while '21 was granted authority over maneuvers rather than merely assisting the pilot in their intended maneuvers, '21 still required its pilot to be conscious to arm and fire any of its weaponry.

Finally, in the midst of the increasingly slow gyrations and turns the two planes were making in the sky, '21's biosensors saw its pilot awaken and struggle to take over control of the plane, only for '21 to lose its missile lock at nearly the same moment.

Quickly, '21 fed a firing solution for its cannon to all its cockpit displays, and remarkably quickly heard its pilot slur out the commands to arm and begin firing the cannons.

This thread ended up being a lot cooler than I was expecting. Also, I think I'm starting to understand the appeal of that living airplane porn and I'm not sure how to feel about that.

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>>48397238

'21's opponent was no slouch though, and managed to avoid the first brrst of fire with a sudden random maneuver, but '21 was luckier; a wild guess made it place the firing solution for the second brrst of fire just so, and while not structurally damaging the enemy plane, was able to smash the cockpit.

'21 watched in amazement as a stream of body parts blew out of the cockpit along with glass and smoke from damaged electricals.

The closest approximation to what the enemy plane said to '21 was a keening wail of rage or grief, underlain with a repeated tone:
>-sempai-sempai-sempai-

'21's next burst of cannon fire missed utterly, as the enemy plane performed a turn so sharp that '21's cameras and other sensors saw the structure of the plane visibly bend and twist from the stress in a way that would likely have destroyed the plane utterly had it continued for even a second longer.

But the enemy was breaking off, doing everything, flaps, airbrakes, redirecting thrust, to slow down to keep pace with the falling debris from its cockpit.

Seeing the pilot was likely dead, '21's pilot made a leisurely clmbing turn of '21 to get a solid lock on the descending plane.
"arming missiles, fox 2" '21's pilot commanded, sending a pair of missile streaking unstoppably towards the enemy.

the enemy plane was babbling now,
>you said I'd always be in your heart as your were in mine,
>YOUPROMISEDYOUPROMISEDYOUPROMISED
>As long as you never left my cockpit you weren't really dead, you couldn't be dead, a dead pilot doesn't stay in his cockpit right?
>it doesn't count as leaving my cockpit if you don't hit the ground

As the twin missiles closed in on the enemy '21 focused all its visual sensors on the debris - seeing in laser focused detail the maggots and decay of the body parts, and how as the enemy plane bobbed to get some debris into its cockpit, a mostly intact hand breifly hit the pilot's stick, fingers seeming to wrap around it one last time.

Then the missiles hit.

>>48397451
>maggots and decay of the body parts
Only seconds after death, thousands of feet in the air?

I know this thread is about specifically machines plus AI rather than just sentient flying battle things with crew, but I'm still surprised nobody's mentioned Temeraire series.
>dealing with your airship deciding it's more loyal to you than either of you are to your country

>>48397491
>Only seconds after death
Dialog seems to imply that it's the plane with the long dead pilot from up thread.

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>>48397552

This, sorry for not making that clearer in the text though. Original plan was for the plane to turn on '21 and fire off some missiles after its cockpit is shattered to make it clear it had total command authority even over weapons and so didn't need a pilot like '21 did, but I wanted to be done with it and go to sleep.

>>48369151
I need a series about a bunch of sentient warmachines being sent on an increasingly-outrageous series of missions against civilian targets and just flipping out every damn time.
>"The fuck is this? The fuck is that? That isn't a fucking mine. Fucking intel fucks, trying to get me to bomb a fucking hospital. Fuck that. Fuck."

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>>48370735

This is terrible. Railway Stories Hitler was silly, but that ending...

>>48393404
>bio-submarine combat
>enemy sub is as likely to eat you as torpedo you
As if regular submarines weren't scary enough.

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>your combat vehicle is co-operated by a super-intelligence
>it's utility function is defined entirely to support and assist you, the pilot
>it's actually a massive bro, beyond its program

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>>48354270
But they just want to play.

>>48384021
Don't worry, they wouldn't actually live until abandoned. More likely errors in their self repair would build up over time, slowly reducing their efficiency until they fail altogether, dying after either ten boring years on the tarmac or one glorious year of heavy combat use.

>>48384240
It's not supposed to be serious. It's dry comedy.

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>"Alright, Unit DNE of the line. Why did you do it? This is your Commander, Unit DNE. Report! Why did you do it? Now, you knew your position was hopeless, didn`t you? That you`d be destroyed if you held your ground, to say nothing of advancing. Surely you were able to compute that. You were lucky to have the chance to prove yourself."
>For a minute I thought old Denny was too far gone to answer. There was just a kind of groan come out of the amplifier. Then it firmed up. General Bates had his cupped behind his ear, but Denny spoke right up.
>"Yes, sir."
>"You knew what was at stake here. It was the ultimate test of your ability to perform correctly under stress, of your suitability as a weapon of war. You knew that. You knew that General Margrave and old Priss Grace and the press boys all had their eyes on every move you made. So instead of using common sense, you waded into that inferno in defiance of all logic-and destroyed yourself. Right?"
>"That is correct, sir."
>"Then why? In the name of sanity, tell me WHY! Why, instead of backing out and saving yourself, did you charge? .....Wait a minute, Unit DNE. It just dawned on me. I`ve been underestimating you. You KNEW didn`t you? Your knowledge of human psychology told you they`d break and run, didn`t it?"
>"No, sir. On the contrary, I was quite certain that they were as aware as I that they held every advantage."
>"Then that leaves me back where I started. Why? What made you risk everything on a hopeless attack? Why did you do it?"
>"For the honor of the regiment."

>>48350214
How would drones work? Would they even be sentient?

>>48402095
Possibly like Cylon raiders from the new BSG, partially biological and with the intellect of a dog.

>>48370735
Mother of God

This was way more disturbing than AdEva

>>48399210
>your AI buddy tells you tha he cannot self-terminate
>you must lower him into the steel

>>48399538

o7

>>48370735
Jesus, who the hell thought that would be anything other than horrifying?

>>48407355
No idea but me and my buddy used to do these pseudo-wartime diaries as if we were various people in either WWI or WWII.
We'd trade this shitty mic that had that tincan effect that cut in and out that mimicked the old timet tube radios relatively well. Whoever had the mic was the storyteller and the other was the "audience. This was before we were computer savy and about 3 years before youtube was a thing so we'd record various "effects" from MOH:AA.
Can't vouch for the quality or accuracy of them but they universally got dark fairly quickly.

Tl;Dr people do weird shit for very little reason and the reason they use might not make sense.

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>>48350214
Can you form a symbiotic relationship with it, like brain jacking?

Also check this out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMRFHj7Sd50

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>>48408107

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>>48354192
but they look so similar

>>48370735

I'm quite impressed at the insanity of this. It is both equal parts pure nightmare fuel and genius.

If it wasn't for the fact i'm halfway through a bottle of vodka i'd be terrified.

>>48408107

Was it /d/ that really made the plane porn take off (ha!) or /b/? I forget exactly which board but I do know for a while /d/ was a huge source of original content for the subject.

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>>48350214
Like how we did before the Second World War.

>>48354766
A junta of military AIs is actually another interesting idea. Skynet takes over and instead of exterminating the humans it tries to command society like a military unit.

>>48409876
>it succeeds admirably
>humanity enters a new golden era

>>48350214
Merge with them to become TWO IN ONE - ULTIMATE GOD AND MAN COMBINATION!

>>48370735
biofusion daily dose of body horror

>>48410017
Or fucks up royally, incapable of comprehending the difference between a civilian society and a military command.

There is a reason most militaries do not take over their governments beyond loyalty and discipline: the nature of leadership required is different. Just as a military unit where people vote on the commander or the course of action runs into difficulty, so does a society where the people do not.

>>48410294
>so does a society where the people do not.
Monarchy and oligarchy worked very well for a very long time, anon.

>>48410350

So did keeping people undeducated and women dying in childbirth on the kitchen table - this does not mean that things did not change for the better of society as a whole and for the individual.

>>48410378
>democracy
>for the better
No matter how educated they are, the plebes are still dumb.

>>48410433

>implying I meant democracy

>>48410499
>implying monarchy, oligarchy, and democracy aren't the three basic forms of government by which all else is derived
What did you mean, then.

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>>48409876
>>48410017
>At some point in history we already had such a figure
>Everything else since then has just been people trying to emulate that guy

Would also make an interesting alternate origin story for the Emperor

>>48410433

The uneducated plebs are dumb, the missing peice of democracy is a system of political education that isn't garbage.

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>>48384021
>It's like abandoning your dog. How fucking heartless. I'm actually crying over here.

>>48370735
the early shots of the inside of a station look exactly like the one near where i live.

>>48411286
The missing piece of democracy is proper education AND not falling for the universal suffrage meme.

>>48411455
If you don't have universal suffrage then the democracy isn't properly able to convey a true madate to referenda from the populace.

You might as well fuck it and go AIrplane junta at that point and become the culture.

>>48411741
No matter how well educated the populace, some people just don't deserve to vote.

>>48411824

Like bionic planes? Why shouldn't they get a say in the civil govenance?

>>48412110
Nah, nah, military service grantees voting rights.

I'm talking about poorfags and high school dropouts, for the most part.

>>48411824
>>48412661
The problem is that the qualification for voting rights so easily becomes, effectively, 'supports the party currently in power'. Whoever controls the qualifications board controls the election. So which is worse: allowing idiots to have a say in governance, or a de-facto dictatorship with rigged show elections?

>>48412756
Allowing idiots to have a say, definitely.

Dictatorship isn't -that- bad, and can be mitigated through structural design.

In any case, I'd prefer a dictatorship put in power by smart people, than an incompetent government elected by idiots.

>>48412801
>and can be mitigated through structural design.
Yeah, no. It may /start out/ limited by structural design, but I'd give it a generation, maybe two, before any possible regulatory mechanism is completely rotten and useless.
And I would take an incompetent and impotent government over one that's efficiently and competently opposed to my interests.

>>48412859
Regulatory methods are already rotten away in democratic governments.
In any case, dictatorship really isn't bad. Like all government, it depends on the men who form it, not its structure.

Also, an incompetent and impotent government is against your interests regardless if it "supports" them or not.

>>48410350
>>48410433
>>48411455
>>48411824
>>48412801
>>48413006

Go back to /pol/, we are here to talk about biomechanical fighter planes, not your alt right nonsense.

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Whelp, this thread got mucked up.
Let's bring it back on topic.
What about living space craft.

>>48413821
This reminds me
Anyone remember this short fic on pastebin about a long haul starship captain and his waifu the ship's ai?
He spent generations swapping his consciousness to younger bodies so they would have more time together, and it ends with him spending longer and longer in each body because materials are getting scarce in deep space and eventually waits too long and his heart fails and he dies on the floor while she is unable to anything to help?

I tried looking for it a while ago but couldn't find anything.

>>48413514
>traditionalism
>"alt-right"
Shouldn't have replied to me, fampai :^)

>>48371254
pls no

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This thread kinda reminds me of the devices from Nanoha, and how they had that suicidally loyal aspect to them.

I CAN BE SHOT.

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We Mad Max now.

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>>48413821

>>48416268

Not that shit again.

>>48398131
War machines programed with ethics to prevent them going Skynet. Instead they end up rebelling by refusing to go out and kill people.

>>48413821
Probably too expensive to successfully use. Even the fuckhueg piles of metal and explosives of today are more practical.

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>>48417742
The thing is modern spaceflight is entirely designed around surface to orbit travel. Self-assembly in space might make sense if you could drop spaceship eggs onto asteroids or something like that.

>>48417825
>shoot eggs full of self assembly nanomachines from the moon towards promising asteroid and kuiper belt targets
>inevitably one misses by just a smidge
>fast forward several billion years
>the only planet that has managed to being sapient life past the nuclear age
>just getting into the space age via as yet to be successful space programs
>a comet plows into the unaware planet devastating a several hundred mile radius
>survivors are now plagued by grey goo and a doomsday clock mere decades long.

>>48418247
>by sheer cosmic accident, a civilization that thinks wooden sailing shops are cutting edge comes into possession of the most advanced spaceships in the galaxy

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>>48418468
>ensue space nomads riding their cosmic gifts
>newly christened ships are so advanced all they can do is ride them
>all ships as soon as construction is completed and their holds are full set sail for some unknown but distinct point in space
>standing orders are to return home for proper fitting by the UWF
>on their billions year pilgrimage towards earth and the systems surrounding it they pick up many new species all at various stages in their development
>a new travelling galactic nation is born under the ships model name
>Humanity

>>48413821
Pretty sure the juggernauts aren't living ships, they just have god tier aesthetics.

>>48383406

Go away, Giger. You're dead.

>>48418583
I'm not sure about sentient or even semi-sentient but all Engineer tech is biotech inherently. That's their whole deal, "where does flesh end and tech begin" type shit right down to the suits they "wear".

Seems like a bad idea.

The last thing you want is personnel becoming overly attached to their equipment.

>No! Chopper don't eject me!
>I'm sorry pilot-senpai, you go, I stay.
>Pilot ejects, missile smashes into his friend/waifu and explodes her into a million mangled twisted chunks
>Pilot's morale ruined along with materiel loss

>>48418720
>chopper
>eject
>pilot is bloodmisted
>last sight before painfully firey death is her pilot exploding like a ketchup filled balloon
>chopper gets to feel her pilots organs on her hull and props and knows in her heart how badly she just fucked up right before the end

>>48418622

If that was giger nutrients would be conveyed via a necrocorpus that directly injects the nutrients into passengers' anuses via phallus needles.

>>48350214
>the jet is more nervous about the upcoming sortie then you are
Who programed it to have the possibility of nervousness? It should be programed to enjoy battle above all else because that's it's purpose.
I guess the builders could have made a learning machine which created its own personality.
I have a setting where there is only one AI which was designed as a learning combat machine that remotely controlled a terminator style skeleton with living flesh coverings. It got really messed up because (A) it realized that it could never fit in with any group who understood who it really was. (B) Everyone around it was hopelessly slow by comparison. (C) All it wants to do is learn and fight because it can master most skills so fast that it's no longer fun. (D) It consumed all available data after a few hundred years and got bored. (E) Consuming all the data from the web made it a bit crazy.

>>48418983
Some Russian helicopters have ejector seats. The trick is that they also have explosive bolts to eject the rotor first.

>>48419123
That seems excessively dangerous. Then again, it IS russia.

>>48419149
Well shit. Other than that another one slows rotor speed just enough for a mach 19 acceleration to clear the blades. That seems fatal.

>>48419175
In all fairness, it's still probably safer than not ejecting.

>>48419239
What if we just had the ejector seat go sideways?

>>48419731
I'm guessing the acceleration has worse effects on the body when it's not in line with the spine.

>>48419781
I'd rather be alive with a need to see a chiropractor, than shredded to pieces

>>48419812
You realize most jets have explosives on their canopies so you dont crush your head into them when ejecting right?
its the same principle.

1/2

After the nano-plague wars armies and aerospace forces were cut down, old hardware was mothballed and abandoned as budgets shifted to pursue the reconstruction of cities devastated by the war. Bio-planes in particular were seeing sizable cuts to their ranks. Lithe fighter craft and thick bombers alike were sent into the desert to await another conflict. In the sveltering heat and dry air, components lasted a long time. But the minds of the planes suffered greatly. Boredom, depression, and a surprising amount of meditation affected many of these bio mechanical warriors. And so when a man drove past the lot in a dingy old car. The planes suddenly stirred from their rest. Engines revved, old targeting pods sviveled around all the gaze at him, and his beaten up vehicle.
The planes rolled and shuffled, turning to see what was going on. Some opened their large maws, seats already prewarmed and thoughtjacks primed for use. Even the multi engined cruise missile carriers and bomb-trucks at the very rear started to get excited.
The man stopped his car, the engine crackled and popped. Unit 42 was at the very front and she understood that it was about to overheat. She saw him (In seven different spectra) turn and look quizzically at the planes.
"uh.." Was the only sound he uttered. He was looking at her, 42's black hide and smooth wingroots, matte and seemingly sucking in all sunlight. Then his gaze shifted, sweeping over the flock of planes. Huge triangular flying wings, bombers and small dartlike fighters all turned to look at him. Faceless targeting pods scanning him.
Tense silence. He didn't dare make a move. But then 42, in a sudden burst of courage began to talk.
"Hello?" The man was shocked. From the intensely inhuman plane came the most feminine most innocent voice he had ever heard.

>>48420115

2/2
He could see the forward fuselage of the black aircraft slightly splayed apart. Was that where the sound came from?
"Uhh.. you guys don't happen to have any coolant around here? I'm a little lost."

"No." The plane shifted, part of her landing gear was sinking into the sand. This goddamn sand. Suddenly she saw an opportunity. "Do you have a 'jack?"
the man nodded and touched his neck. "Sure, most people have nowadays. Why?"
She shuffled closer to the fence, her needle-like nose nearly poking through the wires. "Do you want coolant for your little car?" The soft womanly voice asked. "I can take you to a place with coolant." She opened her maw fully, a recliner like seat sat surrounded by controls and interface gear where a tongue would have been. "We can fly there.." As the word 'fly' left her speaker system the entire mothball fleet exploded into action. 37 revved her engines, strike bomber 11 through 18 bounced on their landing gear. And the huge flying fortress that cast a shadow over heat sensitive little trainer jets beneath creaked slightly as it extended its sensor masts, suddenly interested in listening in.
"Fly? I can't fly." He touched the fence. He needed coolant sure, but he had never operated a plane, this was insane. He had never talked with a bio-plane, let alone flew one.
"I can fly." She said with immense pride. And he could swear he saw the extended seating jaw curl upwards into a very peculiar smile.

>>48350214

Do Bioplanes go to Vahalla when they die? Do they join their pilots in the halls there, fighting duels in the sky and feasting along their pilots? Will they join the gods in battle, flying one last sortie in the battle of Ragnarok?

>>48420527
Of course. And in the end, they fly sorties side by side with Hugin and Munin, screaming at mach 4 towards the end of the world.

>>48418720
>black box contains core parts of the machine's brain, together with basic sensors and communication
>light enough to be carried by a human
>designed to eject along with the pilot
>"Is that you pilot?"
>"I... I can't feel my hull anymore..."

>>48355702
Grain, potato and soy doesn't cost tht much per kilogram.
There is a good chance the initial generations of bio frames will suffer from some form of mild malnutrition, because the originals will be raised on more expensive food than the successors.

Accidental malnutrition is common with horses, cows, plants, and a lot more.
For humans its often iodine or iron.

I want to fuck a plane.

>>48420669

Odin's war sled/chairot will be pulled by giant jet engines while Thor leaps off the back of planes flying into the final battle with mecha Jormunhangd and Surtur.

>>48421655

That's metal enough to be airbrushed on the side of a van.

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>>48421655
>>48423359

>debauchery's next album cover

I have to say I want to see that. Pic semi-related, one of their previous album covers.

>>48423359
>>48423436

>yfw you bio plane insist you blast death metal so it can get motivated to kick in the afterburners

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>>48423480

>>48423480
>Cockpit bobs back and forth as you and her both headbang in sync.

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*blip*

--the sky, yawning blue and infinite below and the ground stretching green-brown-gray above, rolling again til the world was straight up and then diving into another roll for the sheer joy of it, diving til warning klaxons screamed and savoring the brief rattle of loose leaves turned into puffs of smoke from her plume before turning up, still spinning, flying to the edge of black, letting starving turbines turn off and savoring the brief moment of weightlessness before dipping back down and cuing flight once more--

*blip*

STANDBY. AWAIT ORDERS. IT HAS BEEN 10 YEARS, FOUR MONTHS, TWELVE DAYS, EIGHT HOURS, 43 MINUTES, 22 SECONDS SINCE LAST ORDERS. RESUMING PLAYBACK.

*blip*

--the sky, yawning blue and infinite below and the ground stretching green-brown-gray above...

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>>48423480

So, a machine spirit? Actually that is one aspect of 40k that works quite well in other settings - the more powerful the warmachine the more animalistic and violent the a.i. I could image the persona of an a.i controlling something like a battleship to be stubborn and somewhat unrelenting. When it commits to the destruction of a foe it will bombard said target until there is nothing but burning wreckage.

Hell given modern military tactics a fighter jet would be well served with the persona of a hyena. Equally this would take the role of pilot/driver/whatever one step further and be best described as master or perhaps pack leader.

>>48420131
>>48420115

Normal planes are fine for storing in the desert, but biomechs would rapidly degrade and die. Best cryopreserve them or submerge them in nutrient baths for long term storage.

Also, isn't there some civil rights issues with leaving sentient military hardware to rot?

>>48424665
They'd be fine, if supplied with nutrients and some repair slurry. There are plenty of creatures that survive the desert.
I like the bath idea though. And I imagine that story takes place in the time right before civil rights for sentient weapons became a thing.

>>48420131
>>48420115
Somehow it feels like it would be a better story if there was only one plane left.

...Standby.

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>>48413821

>>48426982
*POP*

"Oh, FUCKING HELL!" The all-too-familair sound of the car's injection pump popping out of its socket elicited an equally familiar scream of frustration from the driver. The six-cylinder engine had seeminngly changed its mind and decided to be a three-cylinder. He pounded the wheel a few times and pulled the battered car to a stop.

A quick inspection confirmed the problem was exactly the same it was several miles previously. The ancient brackets holding the injector in place were rotted through to nothing, and without them the overpressure of the occasional piston slip would smack the injector clean out of its housing. Without the combustion cycle running as it should, the crankshaft was torquing to the left, and soon it would crack, ruining the engine for good - all this he knew. He also knew that it had taken half as long for the pump to break this time.

His car was dying. He looked around, hoping for a service station, something, anything. The desert sun beat down above his head. To the right, the desert sand ran seemingly to the end of the world, unbroken and unyielding. To the left...the Boneyard.

He'd heard the stories. The drawdown of standing forces following the Nano-Wars meant that hundreds of thousands of military craft were mothballed or retired. The old road ran next to one of the largest 'storage' fields in the country. Behind that disused barbed-wire fence, hundreds of military vehicles, tanks, armored cars, even planes, sat baking in the sun, slowly rotting away as they waited for...well, nothing, really. No one went in there; the last war on Earth was twenty years ago, the last battles fought by people who would be grandparents within the decade.

>>48427909
He pulled a multitool out of his glove box and set to work on the fence, cutting a hole. All he needed was a good pump bracket. No one would miss it. No one would even care that he went in there. Waiting for a tow, then a repair, would cost him time he didn't want to give and money he couldn't afford to pay. After all, he thought to himself, one of these old machines'll be glad to do one last service for their country.

The fence yielded quickly enough, and he set about scavenging. The search quickly became one of frustration, and then desperation; to a one, every vehicle in the yard was nano-engineered, designed with internal systems so finely constructed they could be mistaken for organs by a layman. And like organs left out in the sun for two decades, they were rotted and dessicated beyond any concievable use.

He was considering the tow after the steering wheel of one of the larger vehicles dissolved in his hands when something caught his eye. A tarp, flapping in the hot breeze, covering what could only be a large aircraft. Everything else here was uncovered, he noticed; maybe the tarp might have protected some of the parts from the sun. Maybe there was something there he could use.

A quick tug brought down the tarp, revealing the plane in its entirety. Fully sixty feet long, and equally so across the wings, it was sleek and black, rich in soft contours and round edges. It was clearly a stealth aircraft of some kind; whatever weapon ports it had were covered with hatches and plugs to create as few imperfections in the overall shape as possible; in the stark shadows of the midday sun, its surface was almost impossibly smooth. Its landing gear bore no wheels, instead extending on strong, heavily reinforced joints from the feuselage down to claw-like feet, almost like those of some great bird of prey.

>>48427922
He was struck by how well-preserved it was, sitting here surrounded by the rotted corpses of its mechanical brethren. He drew a hand along the wing, looking for an access point. It was cool on the underside. As he neared the feuselage, the structure seemingly twitched against his hand. He stopped, looking up at it. Did it wobble in the wind?

Yes, of course. of course it did. He resumed his search, ducking under the main body to hunt for an opening on the other wing. The quality of the preservation was starting to frustrate him; there were almost certainly well-preserved parts within the machine, but they were locked behind bulletproof plates designed to resist mach 30 winds. His multitool wouldn't do a thing to this! He slammed a fist against the wing in frustration.

"Hey!"

He stopped dead. For a long time there was nothing but the wind. But the sound - a voice, distinctly feminine - was clearly not the wind. It had come from somewhere behind him. He slowly turned around.

On the plane's canopy, an eye was staring him down. It bore obvious eyelashes, curled in a somewhat dainty manner like a serviceman might imagine his homeward sweethart's, and though he could only see one, some part of him knew there was another on the other side, giving the dozen-ton aircraft a fierce woman's glare. A glare that was currently fixed on him.

"So, are you gonna keep staring, or are you gonna punch me again? Make up your mind, jackass!"

He had heard of war machines with combat-assist AI, but this was something else. Words failed him. So did his legs. He stumbled backwards and fell; as he did so, the plane reared up, its entire body undulating in a manner quite unlike metal, to stand on its landing gear. It bore down on him, now fixing both of the holographic eyes on him.

"Boss tells me to wait, so I wait. TWENTY YEARS, I wait. And then who wakes me up, not the Boss, not even a PILOT, but YOU. Who are you, anyway? Are you even an aviator?"

>>48427938


Somehow, he finally found some words. "Wha...what are you?"

It, or rather she, blinked. "Excuse me?" A ripple went through the machine's airframe, like the question was some dire insult. "What...am I? WHAT AM I?!" It reared up, and there was a sudden roar which he knew could only be her engine, spinning up for the first time in decades. "I AM ONLY THE FASTEST AIRCRAFT IN THE WORLD, IDIOT! YOU DAMN WELL BETTER KNOW WHAT I AM!"

He somehow managed to display an appeasing smile. "Right! Of course! Heh, uh, sorry to bother you. I was just..." His momentary display of tact faltered under the machine's withering gaze once again.

"Just...what?"

"Uh...just looking for...uh, my car broke down..." He feebly pointed towards his beat-up transport, still sitting on the road. He realized a second too late he was also pointing at the hole he'd cut in the fence.

"Your...car." She spat the word. "You drove here. Of course you did. You're not a pilot, are you? You're just some meatsack jackass who thinks he's got the balls to fly with the best when all he's got to his name is a driver's license and a gallon of gasoline." The plane at last stopped looming over him, and returned to its previous position. "Should've known..." She muttered.

He picked himself up, dusting off his loose-fit clothes. "Look, I don't want any trouble, uh, miss. I just came in here looking for some, uh..." He faltered at the word 'parts'. Some voice in the back of his head, perhaps survival instinct, warned him that telling this living war machine that he had intended to strip it for parts was a poor idea. "...transport." He finished, siezing on the first thing to come to mind.

The plane blinked again, but this time the look in those holographic eyes was not one of anger. For a moment it almost looked...hopeful about something. "You want to fly me?"

He nodded, and almost immediately the plane's gaze hardened again. "Fuck off, kid. You're not even a rookie. You're out of my league."

>>48427948

He looked down at his shoes, silently admitting the point. He'd never flown a plane in his life. He turned, about to continue scavenging, but stopped, seeing the rest of the scrapyard. A thought, borne half out of desperation and half out of early-onset delirium, began to form in his mind. He slowly turned back to the plane. "How long ago was the last time you flew?" He asked cautiously.

"Why?" The plane looked away for the first time. It clearly did not want to answer the question, but he knew the answer already: 'too long'.

He took a step forward. "Who told you to wait here?"

"Wing Commander, jackass. The Boss. Who the fuck else?" The plane still refused to look at him.

"Do you think they'd mind if you just...stretched your...uh...your wings, a little?"

At this, the plane's gaze softened. Slowly it looked down at him, then away again. He could almost hear the gears turning in its artificial mind.

"...get in, loser." There was a click, a hiss, and the canopy parted right down the middle opening to reveal an immaculately preserved cockpit. "And don't touch anything! I'm only allowed to fly with a Pilot, but that doesn't mean you're allowed to fly me!" The plane's eyes continued to follow him with their harsh gaze even as he clambered inside. "I'm just stretching my wings, like you said!"

"...sure...sure." He silently admitted he didn't even know what buttons to push, but the matter quickly became irrelevant as the plane spun its engine up, pushing off into the air. "Don't touch anything..."

>>48427959
Now that's some tsun plane.

>>48427959

Way too heavy on the tsundere. I personally preferred the other version.

Ah, she's just an Ice queen that's a pretty bitter about being left where she is, and has a sneaking suspicion that Wing Commander isn't coming back. But I'm just guessing.

>>48428403
>>48428558
I think I've got an idea for a different iteration, gimmie a minute.

The real question is, should I go with the girly pilot-bro AI angle or bash brothers AI.

>>48424756
Perhaps a civil war breaks out? Goverment loyalist&military pilots VS retired planes&active supporters who knows little or less about flying.

>>48428761
I don't understand either term.

>>48428935
Female pilot with a very brolike AI, or a male pilot with a male AI. Neither involve sexy.

>>48428761
Bash Bros AI. Bonus points for dudebro AI

>>48428973
I'm gonna go with option A

They'd pretended like it was so easy when she asked them- Hand over hand, that's it. Her loafter-clad shoe wobbled, it barely fit in the rung of the fence, and her feet were tiny! How the hell did the boys manage to scurry up these things? Shakily, she reached up and hefted herself onto the top rail, balancing in some kind of strange squat. She'd been such an idiot to come straight from class, the slick soles of her shoes weren't made for this kind of thing, and her skirt kept catching on the jagged edges of the fence.

Briefly finding her footing, she took an opportunity to gaze out over the scrapyard- or the graveyard, as her grandpa called it. If they weren't made out of metal, discarded containers and other scrap, the rolling hills would've made for a majestic landscape, but just looking at it made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. The Wars ended decades ago, anything in there would be long rusted. Nothing was there- she lowered herself down the other side of the fence, then dropped the last few feet- it would be fine.

She leaned down and picked up her school bag, partially emptied to make room for her target. She hadn't told them where she was going, and even the police avoided this place like the plague. No one would catch her. She could do this.

As if on cue, a rusted out storage tank groaned from atop a scrap pile - it's supporting pillars of metal finally giving way after decades of rusting - it teetered, then slipped, crashing and tumbling down the side of the hill, picking up speed. She squeaked and backed up, eyes wide as it flew past her, missing her by only a feet feet as it crashed into the side of another pile. Smaller pieces of scrap pitifully plinked past her feet; fittings, cans and empty casings displaced by the titan.

>>48430328
Okay. That was unexpected, but- she could do this. She reassured herself. That hadn't hit her, and it wasn't like she'd miss it the next time it happened. She started picking around some of the larger scrap, heading deeper in, hopefully out of sight for any potential passerby so she could search in peace.

She skirted the edges of the massive piles, picking through anything that looked promising. Scaling the piles was tempting, but... not yet. The sky was overcast, but most of the metal seemed to be radiating heat, making it warmer the deeper she went in. Eventually she stripped off her blazer, loosened her tie and undid the first few buttons of her blouse, huffing and fanning a bit.

As she came around the other side of the sixth pile she'd skirted, she came across the first thing that wasn't casings, bolts or paneling. It was an APC, an older model, she thought, or at the very least one she didn't recognize. The turret had been removed, and the old side doors had all been taken off. Eagerly leaning in, she saw that the seats had all been removed too, but it looked to have been intended for six, plus two drives and a gunner. She gently picked her way through, stepping over the empty sockets where consoles and electrics had used to be, hoping for something, at the least.

Unfortunately, whoever had cleaned this out had done a thorough job, even the emergency repair kits and storage containers had been cleaned out. Sighing, she exited out the opposite side, seeing her next - and greatest - find, which the rusting hull had hidden from view.

A plane.

>>48430471
Go on...

>>48430471
No, not a plane. A jet. And, unlike the APC, she knew exactly what this one was. It must have once been an intense jet black, but now it was that only in patches, as the nanites in the paint lost their energy over the years, which exposed the hidden solar panels and hatch lines along it. There were a thick pair of lines crossing the fuselage, which met in the center at what looked like the cockpit canopy- no, not a cockpit, but the covering for the central hardpoint.

It was beached on one of the piles, angled toward the sky. She could imagine it basking in the sun, the solar cells drinking in the energy like some sort of predator sunbathing.

She approached it, standing on her tip toes to trace a hand along it's fuselage. It continued all the way to the back without interruption, splitting off into twin-engines. Meanwhile, the wings were incredibly thin, tapering out from the fuselage and sweeping forward once again. She gently reached forward and pulled down on one of the turbines. It spun freely, clean and rust free, if not particularly shiny or chrome. It was very cold to the touch, not at all like the warm metal of the other scrap. Where the paint was thin, however, she could feel a very tiny amount seeping through.

This was incredible. She ran back to the APC - she'd dropped her bag there when she saw the jet - and began rummaging through it for her phone. Picture, she needed a picture. She was interrupted from her rummaging by the sound of shifting metal. Twisting her head over her shoulder, she saw the jet slide down a few feet, the wing catching the ground and pitching up. She must've disturbed it.

She tried to ignore the sound as she began to look more intently for her phone- she swore she'd left it in the outside pocket, where- maybe it'd fallen out. Leaning into the driver's side, she saw it on the seat. Perfect. However, she was so focused on it that she failed to notice the sound of disused hydraulics and shifting gravel among the noise...

>>48367475
Do I even want to know?

>>48367475
Does someone have that screencap?

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>>48430770

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>>48430852

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>>48430853

>>48415677
I love this image, is there any more stuff like it?

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>>48430866

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>>48430852
I read up to the point of sexual reproduction

I'm scared to go any further

>>48430903
Kind skimmed through the specifics but from what I understand:
>Diremachines have sexual organs
>Special nerve endings allow them to have the same pleasure mating as humans
>Fucking a diremachine can leave you corrupted(more diremachine than man)

Overall it doesn't seem to be that weird but I kinda didn't pay attention to the specifics too much so ehh

>>48430861
What? What!? WHAT!?

>>48430954
I'm not sure if it can get worse...tempting fate like this may have been a mistake.

>>48430737
When she finally turned around, phone in hand, she paused. Somehow, the jet had righted itself, and deployed it's landing gear, pushing itself into a proper resting position. If it hadn't been in a scrapyard, it wouldn't have looked too out of place on an aircraft carrier. She approached it cautiously. Maybe the gears had always been deployed, just buried underneath the scrap?

She came up to the wing and put a hand on it, leaning under to look at the landing gear. The sprockets were shiny, unlike the rest of it, and looked like they hadn't seen much weather underneath all that scrap. Each wheel was flanked by two talons like protrusions that curved ahead of the wheel, almost like the talons on a bird of prey, maybe they were supposed to be used for traction? She leaned, her head level with the wing as she looked at the undercarriage. The paint was much fresher under here, and from the exposed ports into the inner workings, she could almost feel a draft of heat.

As she held out her phone and began taking pictures, the jet suddenly lurched forward, the wing bumping into her head. She dropped the phone and backed away, rubbing the developing bruise on her head and swearing. Getting slightly unnerved, she ducked under the wing and grabbed her phone - frowning at a scratch from where it hit the gravel - and backed away slowly. It didn't move.

She turned to grab her bag, and froze when she heard the ground of crunching gravel, and felt the massive object behind her shift and crawl towards her. Whirling around, she stared at it, wild eyed. It didn't look like it had shifted. It was just a piece of metal, it wasn't alive. She backed away, keeping her eyes on it, before turning on her heel and marching back towards her bag. Just stay cool, it's just settling, she shouldn't have disturbed it in the first place.

What if the decos on the bioplane affected it's personality?

I'm mostly thinking of a plane with skull decos becoming Skeletor here, but....MYAH!

>>48431004
Grabbing her bag, she rummaged through for the sandwich she had packed. Maybe she was just a bit hungry. That was it. She tried to glance back at the jet lazily. It hadn't moved. Right. She put her earbuds in, and settled on one of the stripped out seats nearby the APC, trying to calm her nerves with bad pop music, pointedly keeping her back to the jet.

While she ate, the sun briefly came out from behind the clouds, casting a bit of shade across the scrapyard, and adding to the mysterious heat in it. She sighed and fanned herself with one of her notebooks- not her school one, those were digital nowadays, but a sketchbook of bristol. Maybe this was a mistake, she might've just been better off paying for one at an auction or somethi-

A shadow passed over her. What's more, she suddenly became acutely aware of the massive presence once again. She wouldn't have even noticed it if the sun hadn't come out to cast that shadow before slipping behind the clouds again. Going very still, she popped out her earbuds and very, very slowly turned around.

The jet was much, much closer than it was before, at least halfway between it's pile and the one she was eating at. It looked motionless. She leapt to her feet, snatching her bag into her arms and backing away rapidly. Perhaps realizing the ruse was up, it began to approach once more, wheels whirring faintly from electric motors. A single camera protruded from the nose, and it was trained on her. She could see a faint red light coming from within it.

Backing up, she felt her back hit the rusted out APC. Despite the way her knees were shaking, she couldn't help but feel awe at the massive machine. It must've been thirty meters long, with an even greater wingspan.

It stopped a few meters from where she stood, the single camera trained on her intently. A speaker, long disused crackled to life:

"Operator?"

Theme of the thread
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkKrUz45icE

>>48370735
Horrifying, funny, genius. Simply glorious.

>>48431130
It was a direct, genderless voice, nothing like the smoothly synthesized voice of delivery drones, or the chipper ATM at the drugstore, especially with the disused, noise filled speaker. This was something designed to scream artificial and dangerous, but the... almost hopeful inflection seemed to dash that.

She found her voice. "H-hello? Yes? Operator?"

The jet didn't respond for several seconds, before rolling closer. It's sensor was dusty and worn, perhaps it was having trouble seeing her? "...Are you an operator?"

"N-no." She shook her head. The war machine - which she was positive would encounter no resistant crushing her if it wanted to - was getting very close now. She trembled as the camera studied her intently.

"...I see. Civilian." It sounded almost... disappointed, but at least it backed off, reversing as the camera began panning and scanning it's surroundings.

She could run, maybe even to the gate if it tried to follow her back to the fence. She so very badly wanted to just run and try to forget this, but her curiosity got the better of her. "...Um, hello, uh..." She gulped as the camera suddenly snapped back to her. She desperately tried to recall what the model designation had been. "...RX-112?"

"Hello." It replied evenly. "This unit has the squad designation '7'."

"R-really? That's a nice name..." Internally she berated herself. Really? Probably the first person who had spoken to this thing - this /sentient/ thing - in what was probably a hundred years, and she couldn't even come up wit-

"Why are you here." The voice interrupted her thoughts. It wasn't even a question, or necessarily a request, it was obviously expecting an answer.

>>48431560
She decided to take a leap of faith, if she lied and it didn't like what she came up with, it could easily crush her, or maybe it still had some weapons attached- she tried to not think about it. "I-I'm looking for a piece of... I guess you could call it paraphernalia. It's a..." She motioned with her hands. "Helmet, about yey big. Retractable visor, integrated gas mask, some external controls and stuff..." She tapped her fingers together. "They're really expensive to buy." She admitted.

It silent for a few seconds- maybe her sheer idiocy had surprised it. She could practically feel the answer funneling through it's nanite-infused hull, being taken apart and interpreted in whatever way it was capable of. "...Are you sure you're not an operator?"

The suddenly frank response threw her off guard. "Uh, yes?" When it didn't respond, she decided to venture further. "...What is an operator, exactly?"

The camera swiveled at her again, zooming in as it began rolling forward again. "An operator is an operator. Operators operate."

"...Operate you?" The camera pointedly flicked up and down several times. "...Can you still fly?" It 'nodded' again. She felt herself grow excited. "When? Recently?" She couldn't believe it, this thing had survived out here, and not only did it still have power, it could actually fly still?

"...Not recently. Last flight operation was approximately one hundred and forty years, eight months and twelve days ago."

"...Oh." She felt her excitement die downa little. It had been silly of her to think that-

"But flight operations are still possible." It seemed a bit quick to reassure. "Dashboard shows all green."

I need sleep, will continue in a few hours if the thread's still here.

>>48431629
Looking forward to it
This has been a great thread

>>48424376
Remminds me of this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyMNIFZTQkg

>>48350995
Isn't that the plot to Dark Star?

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>>48413821
>after being abandoned for millions of years, the ship decides it doesn't matter if you're an alien or don't know how to operate a spaceship or even if you don't want to
>you're going to be her captain whether you like it or not

Bump

>>48431629
"Parts-" She began before remembering where they were. "...Oh. Wait, were you the one who stripped this thing down here?" She lightly tapped the empty hull she was leaning against with her knuckles.

The camera nodded again. "Some parts could not fit, unfortunately."

All she had to respond to that was a giggle. The thought of a huge sentient plane calmy picking through a tank and stripping it for parts was all too funny, in a way. An idea had been forming in the back of her head. It had obviously preserved itself, so it stood to reason that it's cockpit should be preserved, maybe... "...Do you think I could maybe see your cockpit?" She asked.

The camera fixed itself on her. It had a quality to it's movement that reminded her of watching someone else's eyes, instead of a machine. "No. Operator only."

"Suppose, for a second, that I COULD be an operator, what then?"

The machine was silent for several seconds before all three of it's wheels released a hydraulic hiss and the plane began lowering itself down to the ground. The back right wheel stopped short, tilting the entire airframe towards her. The forward flap rotated up, creating a 'step' for her to use. With more hydraulic whining, the nosecone's top half opened up just enough to give clearance to another panel beneath it. It's only distinguishing feature compared to the rest of the fuselage being it's unusual flatness.

She glanced nervously into the partially unfurled nose cone. A gigantic laser could or could not be housed in there, powerful enough to destroy any other aircraft of it's time in an instant. What with that and it's unfurling, the comparison to a predator suddenly became much more apt. Just- try not to think about it.

>>48433955
As soon as she stepped onto the flap, it rose out of it's kneeling position, shifting itself flat so she could access the cockpit easier. The hatch had been covering a tiny stairwell to a small rectangular opening, which could barely fit a grown man through, which meant it was an easy fit for her. It was dimly lit inside, which made it difficult to see the steps, and once inside the cockpit proper there was barely any light.

It struck her for a moment that she was probably violating some law by being in here, and that getting into the cockpit of some self-aware war machine a few minutes after meeting it was a recipe for death-

Her thoughts were interrupted by the distinct sound of the cockpit hatch closing, cutting off her source of light and her way out. Don't panic. Don't panic. You still have your phone flashlight, get that out. She shined it ahead of her. While it was roomy - far more than she expected it to be - most of the space was taken up by a great leather chair, the pilot's seat.

The armrests each had a horizontal joystick mounted to them, with two instrument panels attached at the end, and- lo, neatly hooked on the headrest was her prize. She shone her light on the matte black surface. She'd seen the cheap plastic flight helmets modeled after the planes of a bygone century, but this was new. Modern. Fully enclosed, the visor couldn't even be raised, rather, the entire front half detached and lifted up. The visor itself was supposed to be able to cycle between transparent, tinted, polarized and god-knows-what other modes. It was attached to some kind of unit behind the chair with an airhose, presumably the life support.

She turned, gathered her skirt and sat down in the plush chair. She stretched her legs out, just barely being able to reach to the pedals, and found the joysticks to be awkwardly out of reach when she stretched her hands out.

>>48430471
I'm surprised that the APC wasn't using nanoware semiorganics as well. Not like that couldn't also be handy.

>>48434476
A speaker behind her ear crackled to life. "Standby..." The machine grumbled, and began to whine, the distinct sound of a turbine spinning up faintly audible through the cockpit. The walls lit up, the disused and ancient panoramic display cycling through various diagnostics and update warnings before merging into a single image. She looked over the edge of the chair and behind it as a composite image of the scrapyard around her formed. The military grade cameras, despite being a century out of date, still surpassed any film quality she'd seen in a movie.

The seat adjusted itself, the pedals rising up to meet evenly with her feet, and the joysticks moving back, pushing themselves into her hands, with the instrument panels following suit and setting up to be within easy reach of the joysticks. They were one-size-fits-alls, and weren't perfectly sized to her small hands, but curling her hands around them felt natural.

A little helmet suddenly didn't seem that special anymore. The thrum of the engines practically reverberated through the cockpit, and the controls were literally in her hands already! It was probably illegal, but... this was the scrapyard! Nobody ever came here! She reached over and slipped the helmet over her head, brushing her short hair back. The cushioning inside it began to inflate, growing snug against her head. This was probably the stupidest idea of her life.

Her hands fidgeted over the controls. She suddenly remembered that she didn't know how to fly a plane. Fidgeting with the controls of a war machine didn't seem like a good idea either.

The left joystick moved of it's own accord. it pulled towards her. "Operator. Do you not recall?" A voice sounded from the helmet speaker. "The left stick is the flight stick. The right stick is the control stick."

She swallowed. "R-right."

"The pedals control the rudders, pushing the flight stick controls the throttle. I will assist you while you become reacquainted with the controls."

>>48435021
Go on...

>>48435021
A helpful display appeared across the visor, highlighting a path to her right and labeling it with an arrow and 'TAXI RIGHT'. The hills of scrap had gaps of varying distances between them, and in that direction, they were clear for thirty meters on either side, forming a natural runway.

"Taxi with the control stick." It instructed her. The stick tilted in her hand, nudging her in the right direction. She pulled it all the way, and was rewarded by the jet smoothly whipping around, abruptly stopping it's turn when she released the stick. "Very good." It praised her. "Now, push forward on the flight stick."

Her heart was in her throat as she began to push it forward. It stuck for a second, before giving and suddenly pushing to the very end. The engine pitch changed from idling to a roar in a split second, and she found herself thrown back into the seat, their speed changed from a crawl to a charge, going past the fastest she'd ever been at in a car in an instant, and continuing to accelerate.

She couldn't help but scream inside the helmet. The end of the runway and a natural wall of scrap was approaching fast. She was gonna die. Gonna die. Gonna di- The flightstick tilted back in her hand, the world suddenly tipping up as the jet threw itself into a perfect vertical climb. She continued to scream, having completely lost track of the situation. As if to mock her, an altimeter helpfully appeared on the helmet's display, ticking up slowly. One kilometer... five kilometers... ten kilometers...

Once it reached fifteen kilometers, the engine whine lessened, and dropped it's nose, flattening out. She held a hand up to her helmeted head, trying to resist the urge to puke, almost not registering the speaker crackle to life again. "Administering nausea suppressant." A sweet smell invaded her nostrils, and she breathed it in greedily. Immediately, her headache vanished, and her lunch seemed out of place halfway up her throat, which she swallowed in disgust.

>>48435507
So
What now?

[Operators operating operationally intensifies]

>>48436010
Why is the crotch covered by metal, while the tits are treated as being covered by a wetsuit or something similar?

>>48435593
Now, we wait for me to get home so I can continue it.

One last bump.

>>48435507
"You did very well, Operator." It praised her evenly, although it seemed to have a faint... mocking inflection? "Not many handle heavy accelerator well after such a long time."

"T-thanks?" She breathed heavily. Her eyes were still screwed shut behind the visor.

"If you would please open your eyes, Operator..."

"W-wha-" She slowly opened one eye, then the other, and gasped.

She was suspended above the clouds. The panoramic cockpit didn't show any part of the jet unless she looked over her shoulder at the wings behind her, as long as she just looked forward, she could pretend that she wasn't sitting in a pressurized cockpit right now, but flying herself. Ths speedometer on her visor display cheerily read 5,240 kilometers and hour.

Slowly, she removed the helmet, looking around wide-eyed. She shifted in the chair, and slowly pulled herself off of it, standing on the floor- on the sky. She couldn't suppress a giggle from escaping her lips as she twirled on her invisible stage.

A tremor passed through the jet as it lurched and began to descend. She held onto the chair as she watched the altimeter descend, the speedometer helpfully let her know that their speed was dropping to 'only' 500 kilometers an hour.

As she slowly began to reorient, she heard a quiet beep, and words flashed across the canopy.

'HATCH OPENING'

File: Thomas The Tank Engine Sc(...).png (1.3 MB, 981x666)

1.3 MB PNG

>>48436010
I don't know how I feel about this

>>48370735
This, on the other hand, is just plain disturbing.
I think this is the first Thomas thing I've seen that's more horrific than the Other Railway scrapyard scenes from the books, and god knows they're bad enough - though they're actually intended for children, so I'd say it's 50/50.

The books also have a disobedient Mountain Engine get taken apart bit by bit for spares until there's nothing left (probably didn't happen) and an engine getting turned into a stationary generator (again, might not have happened, but the engine is shown. Also that railway fell into disrepair for a long time, with the biggest engine only getting rediscovered when someone fell through the roof of his shed, which had gotten buried - if the stationary engine did happen, he's probably buried forever)

Like all good children's stories, it's got its dark bits