>>701286
>Princess Sakamoto.

>>701286
>>The Soviet pilot you had grabbed yesterday.

>>701286
>Princess Sakamoto.
This shall be interesting.

>>701286
>The Soviet pilot you had grabbed yesterday.

>>701286
>The Soviet pilot you had grabbed yesterday.

>>701286
>The Soviet pilot you had grabbed yesterday.

>The Soviet pilot you had grabbed yesterday.

>>701286
>The Soviet pilot you had grabbed yesterday.

You recognised the woman lying on your chest as the Soviet pilot you had picked up yesterday, Svetlana. She was currently lying on you and was nuzzling her head against your chest.

She was a few heads shorter than you, with hair that was a deep brown, almost black. Her face was smooth and unmarred, aside from bags under her eyes that suggested her obvious lack of sleep. You weren't one to judge someone by her body, but she was certainly "well rounded", with decent assets.

"Checking her out too Razor?" Zeus asked jokingly as he leaned over the couch and smirked at the scene before him.

"Might as well know what we're going to be working with. She's been assigned to us." You replied as you put your hand on her head and began to stroke her head, patting her hair down.

Zeus looked at you with an almost quizzical look, as if he didn't believe you. "I was under the impression that ONI would want to take her off somewhere."

"No, she wanted to stay with VF-21." You replied calmly. "I guess she wants to help out."

"You know that some people might not take well to having a Soviet with us. Right?" Zeus asked with obvious worry. "I'm pretty sure that everyone in VF-21 will be able to deal with it, but some of the guys in the other units might find a problem with it."

"If that happens then I expect that Poole will deal with it." Dredd replied for you as he walked by Zeus to the coffee machine, clutching a mug with "World's Best Dad." written on it's side.

"How so sir? We can't exactly stay guarding her all the time." Zeus asked another question before taking a swig of his coffee.

"She's been assigned to our flight as Freelancer 2-3. The techs are working on modding an F/A-18 with similar controls to her jet. Just as a stop-gap measure until we can get her trained up on an F-14, and get her an RIO." You explained to Zeus while Dredd ran his coffee, and for the second time in a minute Zeus's eyebrow rose.

"Either way, ONI wants info from her about Soviet air units. They want you to get her to the base's command centre for questioning, though you could always question her here." Dredd relayed to you, before looking down at the form of you unit's newest arrival.

"Although, you could always give her a bit longer to rest. She might need it." Dredd smirked, before he turned and walked out of the hut. The waft of cold air marking the opening, and closing of the front door.

>Get up and take Svetlana to the command centre for questioning. You might as well start early.
>Wake Svetlana up and question her here. She might be intimidated by the presence of the spooks.
>Wake Svetlana up and get some grub from the mess hall. You can probably make it there before things pick up.
>Let Svetlana rest. She deserves the sleep.
>Other (write in)

>Wake Svetlana up and question her here. She might be intimidated by the presence of the spooks.

>>701643
>>Wake Svetlana up and get some grub from the mess hall. You can probably make it there before things pick up.
We could always ask a few questions over food, it'd probably be easier that way.

>>701643
>Let Svetlana rest. She deserves the sleep.

>>701643
>Let Svetlana rest. She deserves the sleep.

You could have got up, hell you SHOULD have got up. You were pretty sure that Agent Maryland would certainly not be pleased by your decision not to show up. But it was pretty obvious that your new Russian comrade was in no shape to get up just yet.

And either way, it gave you a reason to slack off.

With you decision made, you let your head hit the pillow as you laid back and enjoyed the time you had to slack off. After all, with the war going on, you could never be sure when you next had to go up.

"So, are you sure that bringing her in is a good idea?" Zeus asked as he started up the coffee machine, the scent of freshly made coffee was enough to shoot down any chances of you returning to sleep. Not that you cared much about that.

"I think so. She has an insider view of ow the Soviets act and operate. She will be a great tactical asset. Hopefully enough to offset the tactical hindrance." You replied confidently as the short Russian snored quietly.

"And the slight chance that she might try to kill us in our sleep." Zeus replied dejectedly before looking over at you. "You do still have your gun, right?"

It only took you a second to reach under the couch and grab your pistol. While the position was not ideal, it wasn't an obvious place to look. You unlatched the pistol form it's holster and held it up in the air for Zeus to see.

"Good, though If I were you I would have checked her for knives." Zeus said as he walked to the end of the couch and ran his hand over Svetlana's ankles, checking for a knife. "Though it would seem that ONI already did that for you."

"Or she surrendered them to them." You offered calmly.

"Either way, what the hell do you plan to do when we get called up on a flight before she gets her bird? We can't exactly strap her to our bird's wing." Zeus asked as he walked over to his bed. The sound of metal scraping lightly against metal told you that Zeus was checking his pistol.

>"We'll leave her here. We can trust her to stick here if she doesn't want base security shooting her."
>"We'll leave her in one of the crew offices in our hanger. Some of the guards will watch her."
>"I'll talk to Sakamoto about the royal guard watching over Svetlana. Hopefully they will being willing to look after her."
>Other (write in)

>>701903
>>"I'll talk to Sakamoto about the royal guard watching over Svetlana. Hopefully they will being willing to look after her."
I feel like they'd be far more loyal than some rando navy guard. Less likely to make some kind of "accident" happen to her. And I doubt our hut is the most secure place in the world.

>>701903
>"I'll talk to Sakamoto about the royal guard watching over Svetlana. Hopefully they will being willing to look after her."

>>701670
>"I'll talk to Sakamoto about the royal guard watching over Svetlana. Hopefully they will being willing to look after her."

>>701903
>>"I'll talk to Sakamoto about the royal guard watching over Svetlana. Hopefully they will being willing to look after her."

"I'll talk to Sakamoto about the royal guard watching over Svetlana. Hopefully they will being willing to look after her." You announced to Zeus as he walked back over, the holster on his hip clearly showing his sidearm.

"That's assuming that the Royal Guard don't go full honarabru warwior and shank her. Though that's assuming that they would go against the princess's orders." Zeus shrugged as he looked down at Svetlana. After a few seconds, a short and polite knock on the door broke the silence.

"I'll get it, you're a bit occupied right now..." Zeus smirked at you, before turning to the door and opening it. While you couldn't directly see who was there, you could tell who it was by her voice.

"Hello Mr Shawcross. Is Mr Poole here?" Princess Sakamoto asked your RIO.

"Yep, he's on the couch with the newest member of our team." Zeus replied smugly, as the princess made the short walk past Zeus and to just behind the couch. And unfortunately for you, she was not alone. She was accompanied by her RIO, your sister and a member of the Royal Guard. Sakamoto crimsoned slightly at the sight of you and your new squadmate in such a position.

If you were honest though, your excuse of "she may be traumatised from flying a plane rigged with explosives" was a good enough excuse.

"M-Mr Poole..." Sakamoto stuttered on her words, the look in her eyes telling you that her mind was jumping to conclusions.

"So is this isn't something that all the girls in your unit have to do? Or are you just the unit bicycle?" Your sister asked incredulously, the smirk on her face telling you that she meant it in jest. However, the question was enough to make the princess blush further.

>"Only the cute ones..."
>Get on with the explanation. You might as well cut the shit and get on with your question.
>Other (write in)

>"Only the cute ones..."

>>702125
>>"Only the cute ones..."
Then wink at the princess.

>>702125
>"Only the cute ones..."

>>702125
>"Only the cute ones..."

>>702125
>Other (write in)
"What can I say hazard pay just wasn't enough to pay the bills."

>>702142
This.

Your reply was delivered quickly and smoothly, taking only the time to look at both the princess and her RIO, Yuiko Takebe, before you answered.

"Only the cute ones..." You answered flirtatiously, rounding it off with a sly grin and a wink.

The response from the group around you was almost immediate. You sister chuckled as Sakamoto and Takebe blushed. Zeus sighed while the lone guard scowled at you as if he was sick of your shit, a look that you had been given by many base commanders and tower controllers in the past.

"Well, at least you've got standards." Janice chuckled, before noticing the expression on Sakamoto and Takebe's faces. "And it looks like someone might be getting idea..."

"If you are done with embarrassing Princess Sakamoto. Then I would encourage you to start acting more professionally, if that is something that you are capable of..." The Royal Guard chided you as he looked down at you. The disappointment in his voice made his every word sound like a thinly veiled insult.

"Sure, what do you need ma'am?" You asked the princess as she began to compose herself, the blush fading from her face as she reigned in her emotions.

"Well, I was coming to have a quick chat with Miss Vaikinov. Though it would seem that she might be indisposed of right now..." Sakamoto raised her eyebrow at Svetlana's sleeping form, nuzzled up against you beneath the thin blanket that you had grabbed yesterday.

"Well, yesterday she came here flying a jet that was rigged with enough explosives to kill her before she ejected, so something like that might have tired her out." You replied with a small shrug, being careful not to disturb the sleeping Russian.

"I know... I was able to read the engineering team's report. She was lucky that you and your RIO was able to save her." Sakamoto replied with a smile. "In any case. I will not take up your time any longer. I will return later, hopefully when Miss Vaikinov is awake."

With that, Sakamoto turned towards the door, giving you a small chance to ask about protection for Svetlana.

>Ask Sakamoto if the Royal Guard can look after Svetlana until you can get a jet ready for her.
>Let her leave, you can ask her later.
>Other (write in)

>>702500
>>Ask Sakamoto if the Royal Guard can look after Svetlana until you can get a jet ready for her.

>Ask Sakamoto if the Royal Guard can look after Svetlana until you can get a jet ready for her.

>>702500
>Ask Sakamoto if the Royal Guard can look after Svetlana until you can get a jet ready for her.

>>702500
>Ask Sakamoto if the Royal Guard can look after Svetlana until you can get a jet ready for her.

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"Excuse me, Princess. Could I ask a favour of you?" You quickly asked Sakamoto before she made it to the door. And although you couldn't see her from your position, you could tell that she had stopped from the lack of nearby footsteps.

"Of course, what would you like Mr Poole?" Sakamoto replied calmly.

"Would it be possible for me to leave Svetlana in the Royal Guard's care until we can get her sorted with a jet? Me and Zeus still need to run combat ops." You asked calmly, presenting your question as bluntly as possible, to avoid any possible confusion.

"Of course. I will see to it that the proper arrangements are made. If you are scrambled then please take her to my hanger. One of the guards there will escort her to my personal accommodation, one of the safest places on the the base. When you are ready to take her back then simply drop by, the guards will let you in." Sakamoto agreed to your proposal and laid out the basics of how everything would work.

However, before you could respond, the

"ALL PILOTS TO YOUR AIRCRAFT, SITUATION BRIEFING WILL BE PROVIDED BY SQUADRON LEADERS. ALL OTHER UNITS MOVE TO COMBAT STATIONS!" The pre-recorded sound of the base commander's voice filled the air, before the orders were repeated in Japanese. The command was simple and meant only one thing to you.

Time to get up and kill Soviets.

As you lurched up, Sakamoto barked orders at her little posse before turning to you. "The captain here will escort Miss Vaikinov to my accomidation. Myself, Takebe and your sister shall head to our jets."

Before you could respond in the affirmative, the princess and her comrades took off at a dead sprint, heading for their hanger while the captain stayed behind. By the time that the door had closed, your attention was grabbed by your new comrade waking up.

"Huh? Wha... What is going on?" Vaikinov asked as she began looking around, wondering what the noise was all about.

"Svetlana, I need you to listen to me, ok?" You called your new subordinate's attention to you. Her eyes quickly locked with yours as she sought more information on the situation at hand.

"We're being called for a scramble order, so me and my comrades need to takeoff. We don't have a jet for you just yet. So I need you to follow that man over there." You gestured to the Royal Guard captain, who gave Vaikinov a small wave. "He's going to take you somewhere safe until we return. Ok?"

Vaikinov looked confused for a couple of seconds as her tired brain took a bit longer to understand just what was going on, before she then nodded with a determined expression.

"I-I understand sir. Good luck up there." She replied before quickly standing up and following the captain out of the door. You followed a couple of seconds later, taking a bit longer to grab your pistol and helmet before you sprinted towards the hanger as fast as you could.

>CONT

>>702885
You arrived to find the hangers abuzz with activity as ground crews raced to get your jets loaded and ready for battle as quickly as possible. From what you could see, your ground crew was just finishing loading your aircraft with a mid to long range load. Consisting of a pair of Agiles, a pair of Phoenixs and 4 AMRAAMS.

You quickly bounded past your ground crew, bolted up the ladder and dropped into your seat. You plugged your helmet in just in time to catch the briefing from Dredd.

"-same as yesterday. We've got a wave of large Soviet aircraft, escorted by fighters. We are not sure of their target yet, but we're heading out to intercept them before they reach whatever target they have." Dredd briefed as he spooled his jet's engines up.

"Well, nice to know that the Soviets have a routine." You offered as you finished your pre-flight checks and gave the thumbs up to your crew chief, giving him the signal to clear the way for you.

"How nice of you to peel yourself away from your newest fling to join us Razor." Dredd greeted to with a casual joke. "Who's looking after our Soviet friend?"

>"I arranged with Sakamoto for the Royal Guard to look after her. She's at the Princess's barracks for now."
>"She should be on the way back to the command building. I had a marine take her there."
>"She's back at the hut, sleeping like a bug."
>Other (write in)

>"I arranged with Sakamoto for the Royal Guard to look after her. She's at the Princess's barracks for now."

>>702889
>"I arranged with Sakamoto for the Royal Guard to look after her. She's at the Princess's barracks for now."

>>702889
>"I arranged with Sakamoto for the Royal Guard to look after her. She's at the Princess's barracks for now."

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"I arranged with Sakamoto for the Royal Guard to look after her. She's at the Princess's barracks for now." You reported as you taxied out of the hanger, only stopping to let the Princess and your sister pass, your squadron and the princess's squadron mingling together as one.

"Understood, We'll be working with Princess Sakamoto's squadron for this. The princess specifically requested the partnership after yesterday." Dredd explained as if the prospect of being responsible for a member of the Japanese Royal Family meant nothing to him.

"So, what's the order of battle for this then?" Slider asked as Dredd, Ahab, Sakamoto and your sister all taxied together onto the runway. Dredd and Ahab starting their roll just a few seconds before Sakamoto and Janice followed them.

"We'll find out when the princess contacts us." Dredd replied as his aircraft pitched up, lancing into the sky. The aircraft following him followed his lead, keeping in loose formation as you rolled onto the runway.

"Hello, VF-21 do you copy?" Sakamoto asked as her squadron's radio channel was linked to yours.

"We copy loud and clear. How do you want to play this one ma'am?" Dredd asked respectfully, all hints of the no-nonsense commander had disappeared as he talked to the princess.

"We'll defer to your expertise. Do you want us to form up with your units or stay as separate flights?" Sakamoto asked, leaving the decision up to your commander.

"I would suggest that we keep things separate. Though I will defer to Lieutenant Poole's judgement." Dredd deflected the decision off to you, effectively putting the choice up to you.

>"We should keep our flights separate. We can cover more airspace and can engage at our own pace."
>"We should merge our flights together, that way we can keep our cover the weaker members of each flight."
>"Ultimately, the choice is up to the princess. Things could work either way."
>Other (write in)

>>703150
>>"We should merge our flights together, that way we can keep our cover the weaker members of each flight."
I'd rather we be a bit slower and bring everyone home rather than be swift and end up losing someone.

I'm going to call it here for tonight, we'll re-start tomorrow.

>>703210
Thanks for running!

>>703210
See you tomorrow Thunder thank you for running.

>>703150
>"We should merge our flights together, that way we can keep our cover the weaker members of each flight."

>>703210
See you tomorrow.

We're starting up again in 30 minutes to an hour's time.

File: F-14_Tomcat_VF-21.jpg (1.47 MB, 2996x1984)

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"We should merge our flights together, that way we can keep our cover the weaker members of each flight." You calmly recommended Dredd and Sakamoto. Out of everyone in VF-21, you had the most knowledge of just how green Sakmoto's flight was, and if their last mission was any hint then they needed all of the assistance they could get.

"Understood, We'll divide up so that one of our aircraft will join each of your flights. I shall join your lead flight, my wingmate will join your second flight and so on." Sakamoto laid out calmly as your flights broke apart into combat groupings. Weiss took up her position off your left wing while your sister separated from the princess and took position off your right wing.

"Affirmative, I want your pilots following the orders of our flight leads. Flight leaders, get the princess's squadmates into your respective channels." Dredd ordered sternly, assuming command from the Princess as she joined up with him. You didn't need to bother yourself with dealing with bringing your sister into your flight's channel, you knew that Zeus was already on the case.

Less than 10 seconds after Dredd had given the order, a burst of static over your radio informed you that your sister had switched onto the frequency.

"Freelancer 2-1, this is Shirotori 1-2. Requesting radio check." Your sister tested over the frequency, making to ensure that you could hear her.

"Freelancer 2-1 copies Shirotori 1-2, nice of you to join us for this fight." You replied to your sister calmly as Zeus data linked to her jet and projected her weapons list to you, alongside Scorpion's. Thankfully, both of them were carrying the same load as you, a pair of Agiles, a pair of Phoenixs and 4 AMRAAMS.

"Sakamoto suggested it, though I would be lying if I said that I wasn't looking forwards to smoking some stupid soviets with my brother!" Janice replied happily, her enthusiasm encouraging you that she was ready for the front.

Even so, you couldn't help but worry about her.

"All Freelancer and Shirotori elements, listen in for briefing. Change your bearing to heading 022. Soviet aircraft are making a push towards the mainland." The AWACS controller's voice cut harshly into your budding conversation with your sister. But none the less, it brought your thoughts back to the mission at hand.

"Understood AWACs. What are we facing out there?" Dredd asked as your merged squadrons wheeled around to face the incoming threat.

>CONT

>>705961
"A large number of large aircraft and assorted escorting fighters. We do not know what you are facing exactly as they enemy have brought in jamming aircraft." The AWACS controller reported back to your commander, the man on the other end paused for a couple of seconds before speaking again. "We are vectoring a number of IJN F-4EJ's and USAF F-15s to support you. The F-15s will make the intercept at the same time as you, the F-4s will be a bit late to the party."

"We'll leave some for them then. Freelancer flight out." Dredd finished up with the AWACs controller, beofre then adressing both squadrons.

"So our AWACs boys have no idea what we are facing exactly, so stay sharp and keep an eye on your wingmates." He paused for a couple of seconds, before giving one simple instruction. "Engage at will."

With that simple order, you were given as much free reign as you could to engage however you wanted to.

>Try to keep at long range and fire some BVR missiles into the Soviet formation. Hopefully the upgraded seekers will be able to cut through the jamming.
>Hit the afterburners and get into close range. Hopefully you can take out the jamming aircraft so your allies can get better shots from their BVR missiles.
>Other (write in)

>>705971
>Hit the afterburners and get into close range. Hopefully you can take out the jamming aircraft so your allies can get better shots from their BVR missiles.

>>705971
>Hit the afterburners and get into close range. Hopefully you can take out the jamming aircraft so your allies can get better shots from their BVR missiles.

>>705971
>Hit the afterburners and get into close range. Hopefully you can take out the jamming aircraft so your allies can get better shots from their BVR missiles.

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As soon as the order came in, you slammed your jet's throttle to close to the maximum and hit your afterburners. The sudden acceleration slamming you back into your seat as you rocketed forward. You held back enough for your flight to catch up before you pushed the throttle all the way forward.

"Here's the plan, we're going to charge those Soviet bastards and hit those jammer aircraft. Our BVR missiles aren't going to be able to get any kills while those damn things are still active. Plus we can get eyes-on the formation and relay it back to the rest of the unit." You laid out to your wingmates as Zeus brought your jet's formidable jammer suite online.

"Freelancer 4-1 to 2-1, do you need us to break up that Soviet formation?" Kenji radioed to you as you charged towards the Soviet formation.

"If you wouldn't mind 4-1, we might need a bit more support." You replied to Kenji, and less than a few seconds later a volley of missiles streaked past you, heading straight towards the Soviet formation.

The volley resulted in the formation splitting slightly on your radar, the large patch of interference splitting for a couple of seconds as the formation took evasive action. A few aircraft became visible as they strayed outside of the area covered by the jammer aircraft, before they then dived back into their electronic cover.

>Fire some AIM-120s, try and break them up again before you enter visual range.
>Save your missiles for later and press on.
>Other (write in)

>>706289
>Save your missiles for later and press on.
We shouldn't waste them. Missiles are important.

>>706289
>Fire some AIM-120s, try and break them up again before you enter visual range.

>Fire some AIM-120s, try and break them up again before you enter visual range.

>>706289
>Fire some AIM-120s, try and break them up again before you enter visual range.

File: there are a lot of these.jpg (68 KB, 600x400)

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You quickly selected your AIM-120s as you began to close in on the enemy formation as Zeus brought your jet's powerful radar online.

"Scorpion, Janice, datalink off me for targeting." You quickly instructed your wingmates as Zeus focused your radar to scan over a smaller area with more power to cut through the jamming. A couple of seconds later, a pair symbols lit up on one of your MFDs, telling you that your wingmates were date-linking off you.

"Fire AMRAAMs on my mark!" You instructed as you locked up a number of targets in your radar's further limited scope. The small diamond markers on each target marking their pilots as dead men.

"Freelancer 2-1, Fox 2!" You barked out over the radio as you released your missiles. All 4 AMRAAMS dropping clean off your centre-line hardpoints and rocketing towards the enemy formation.

The missiles were joined in the air by the missiles launched by Scorpion and your sister. The missiles streaked forth as the Soviet aircraft went evasive. Zeus widened your radar's scope, exchanging tracking detail for the ability to keep all of the enemy aircraft in your radar's view as your missiles tracked towards the enemy aircraft.

Of the 12 missiles, 6 of them missed their targets, a pair of them failing to even track. That pair streaking along a straight trajectory until their rocket motors burned out and the automatic safeties kicked in, destroying the missile mid-flight. meanwhile the other 4 misses passed through the formation harmlessly.

The 6 other missiles hit their targets, one of the missiles must have hit a jammer aircraft, as the large cloud of electronic interference suddenly had a hole punched in it. revealing that of the of the 6 targets, a pair were dropping out of the sky as they were struck out of the sky. One had been completely destroyed, it's debris making a tiny cloud of shrapnel. The other trio of missiles had failed to down their targets.

However, as you closed the distance, and managed to see the formation with your own eyes. You began to recognise some of the shapes, assorted fighters, bombers, and an even more troubling sight.

Transport aircraft, the huge aircraft lumbering through the sky with holds filled with troops and equipment.

"Eyes on, we have Soviet transport mixed into the formation!" You quickly radioed to the AWACs group as you pulled up to gain altitude to boom-and-zoom the formation.

"Understood, we're inbound at mach 2. try and hit those jammer aircraft for us." Dredd ordered you as you levelled off, noticing that Soviet escort fighters were heading right for your little flight.

>Dive on the soviet fighters before they wise up and start firing missiles at you.
>Dive past the fighters and hit the jammer aircraft. Clear the way for your comrades.
>Go defensive, you need to survive long enough for your unit to get here.
>Other (write in)

>Dive past the fighters and hit the jammer aircraft. Clear the way for your comrades.

>>706812
>>Dive past the fighters and hit the jammer aircraft. Clear the way for your comrades.

>>706812
>Dive past the fighters and hit the jammer aircraft. Clear the way for your comrades.

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As you levelled off, you noticed that the fighters climbing up to intercept you were MiG-23s. The aircraft were struggling to climb to meet you from the heavy loads they were carrying. If you had to guess they were carrying bombs to support paratroopers.

However, by carrying bombs, they lacked the air to air weapons that they needed to make them a threat. However, you could see a number of more advanced fighters turning to face your flight.

Not wanting the Soviets to get the chance to get a missile lock on you easily, you chose to dive into the enemy formation. You assumed that the jammer aircraft were 4 TU-16s with large pods mounted on the missile hardpoints. You based the assumption that one of the aircraft was heavily damaged, and was lacking on of the pods that it fellow aircraft carried.

You tilted your noise down and hit the afterburners. Passing over the closest fighters and locking one of the jammer aircraft up with an Agile. You launched the missile and didn't even watch it track flawlessly int the modified bomber, your success was called out by Zeus, who watched the missile while you turned on another aircraft.

The second aircraft you dived on was a transport aircraft, it's doors were already open and paratroopers jumped out as the crew ordered the troops out to save them from going down with the aircraft. You raked you gun-sights over the transport's cockpit and wing as you passed over it, maiming the aircraft and certainly giving those onboard reason to evacuate the aircraft immediately.

You watched as your wingmates dived on targets of their own. Scorpion dived on a jammer aircraft, not concerning herself with the transport aircraft. The TU-16's wing was blown clean off as she hewed through the wing-root with her 20mm cannon. Janice however chose to mirror you, sending a missile into a jammer aircraft before strafing a transport.

As your flight passed through the formation, your radar warning receiver screamed into life as the soviet escort fighters locked you and your wingmates up with their radars.

>Turn back and stay close to the Soviet formation. The Soviet escort fighters won't use their missiles so close to their transports.
>Get away from the formation, leave the transports open for your squadron to hit them with their missiles.
>Other (write in)

>Get away from the formation, leave the transports open for your squadron to hit them with their missiles.

>>707228
>Get away from the formation, leave the transports open for your squadron to hit them with their missiles.

>>707228
>>Turn back and stay close to the Soviet formation. The Soviet escort fighters won't use their missiles so close to their transports.
We can't be having Soviet paratroopers in Japan. The sooner those transports are down, the fewer enemy boots our ground forces will have to deal with.

Also, Thunder, have you ever played World in Conflict?

>>707257
I have not played World in Conflict, I have been looking to buy it but I never got around to it. I have played Hearts of Iron 3, having bought it when it was on sale.

>>707228
>Get away from the formation

If the Soviets are crazy enough to send up a pilot who they're suspicious of defecting instead of just grounding her or attempt a paratrooper invasion of Japan without first achieving air superiority in the region, they're probably nuts enough to fire wanton missiles near their transports.

>>707296
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=srb4_7F3lAc

It's a pretty fun game.

>>707228
>Get away from the formation, leave the transports open for your squadron to hit them with their missiles.

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"Leave the formation, dive for the deck!" You barked to your flight as they passed the formation, not trusting that the Soviets wouldn't just launch missiles into their own formation to shoot you down. After all, they hadn't displayed the best intelligence thus-far.

Then again, most of those decisions were left up to commanders, and most officers tended to loos some part of their common sense over a certain rank. As if they swapped intelligence for their rank.

"Freelancer 2-1 to Freelancer 1-1. Most of the jammer aircraft are down, but we've got bandits on our asses." You reported to Dredd as you dived with your EW suite online. you pulled up and instinctively rolled to your right, managing to dodge a burst of cannon shells as a pair of Soviet fighters dived on you.

"Understood, we're engaging now. Do you need us to cover you?" Dredd asked as Zeus used his helmet mounted cueing system to lock up one of the fighters behind you for an agile. You fired the missile, sacrificing your last close range missile to take out one of your persuers and force the other one to go evasive.

"Yep! We're in a bit of a pickle." You gave Dredd an underestimation of how fucked you were right now. You were at treetop level, without short range missiles and in a perfect position for enemy fighters to dive on you and your comrades.

You quickly rounded on the remaining enemy fighter, a MiG-29, and chased after it. The light fighter didn't have the power to escape you, even with a head start. You dragged your gunsights across the jet's wing as you passed it. The jet spiralling into the ground before the pilot had enough time to eject.

You levelled off and surveyed the air around you. The Soviets had obviously decided that the jig was up, and were dropping their paratroopers as quickly as possible. You watched as light tanks and APCs were dropped from the transports, their fall begin retarded by heavy parachutes. In the same way that the Soviet paratroopers descended under their parachutes. Many of the Soivet fighters were ignoring you completely, instead turning to face your incoming allies as missiles blasted transports from the skies.

"Shirotori 1-2, requesting immediate assistance!" Your radio came alive as your sister called for aid. The panic in her voice urging you to find her quicker. Thankfully, your helmet's HMD allowed you to see you sister's IFF.

Your sister was being chased by a pair of Flankers, the bright yellow streaks of tracers dancing around your sister's jet told you that the soviets were close enough to get her in their gun-sights.

"Freelancer 2-2, we've got some transports trying to escape. Take them out!" Dredd radioed you before grunting with exertion as your unit entered dog-fighting range with the remaining enemy fighters.

>Follow orders and take out those transports. Your sister can handle herself.
>Fuck orders. Leave the transports and protect your sister.
>Other (write in)

>>707586
>>Fuck orders. Leave the transports and protect your sister.

She needs to git gud before she can take on Soviets in a proper dogfight. As much as I don't want Ruskie paratroopers landing, it isn't worth losing our sis.

>Fuck orders. Leave the transports and protect your sister.

>>707586
>Fuck orders. Leave the transports and protect your sister.
Sorry Dredd we are probably the closest to her and she needs help now with two on her tail.

>>707586
>Fuck orders. Leave the transports and protect your sister.
[worried]

Also, we need to verbally tear the princess a new one for not covering her wingmate when we get back to base. Dishonorable display indeed.

>>707654
Should probably ask her what's going on instead of exploding on her.

>>707654
Uh anon we split up Shiotori flight up between our squadron right now it's our job to watch our sister's back with Weiss.

>>707654
Well it was specified earlier that her unit would temporally merge with yours, due to her unit's low numbers it was decided that her flights would split up and merge with the flights in your unit, boosting each flight from 2 aircraft to 3. Sakamoto joined up with Dredd's flight while your Sister joined up with your flight.

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>>707668
>>707670
>>707676

Whoops, my bad. I completely forgot.

>>707586
>Follow orders

"Can anyone else backup Shirotori 1-2?"

>>707685
This

>>707586
>Fuck orders. Leave the transports and protect your sister.
Responsibility to your squadmates supersedes orders.

>>707684
Just don't make a habit of it like I do.

>>707749
To be fair, my attention is constantly wavering between the two separate quests I'm following right now and the premiere of Stake Land 2.

I was bound to fuck up eventually.

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Yeah, take out some bombers while your sister had flankers on her ass. Yeah, like fuck would you let your sister hang out to dry while you got easy kills.

Plus your flight was getting assistance from a bunch of F-15s and F-4s. They had the numbers to spare to hit those retreating transports. They didn't need any more help.

You quickly rounded on the Soviet fighters that were perusing your sister. Your jet's powerful engines and advanced fly-by-wire systems making the turn painfully easy. You considered switching to the Phoenixs that you had left, the bulky missiles hanging off your rails and generating unneeded drag. It would have been easy to simply select the missiles and launch them at the enemy fighters, at such short range the Soviets wouldn't have had time to dodge the incoming fire.

You decided against it however. At such short range the Phoenixs would bee too inaccurate to be useful. Trying to hit them while they were manoeuvring at speeds faster than the speed of sound and without hitting your sister was not something that even the upgraded AIM-54 could do.

Instead, you went in with guns only. People could say what they liked about gunfighters, but you were damn good at getting gun kills. You would have said that you had the most gun kills on the entire front if you had bothered yourself with comparing yourself to other pilots. Unlike other pilots, you had other things to worry about over your ego.

The trailing flanker noticed you as you came screaming in at mach 2. He peeled off and tried to distract you by turning to face you. However he underestimated you speed as you passed him while he was in the middle of his turn. You didn't slow down to gun him down. Your target was the lead flanker, who was currently trying to get on your sister's ass.

And, like any good brother, you had promised yourself that you would shoot any guy that was aggressively trying to get on your sister's ass. Regardless of if he was a soviet trying to shoot her down, or an overly attached ex.

The lead flanker didn't see you coming, he took no evasive action and he payed the price. You dragged the gun's pipper up the Soviet's tail, along the spine of the aircraft and terminating at the cockpit. A flash of red gore marked the end of the Soviet pilot.

You turned to look for the other Soviet Flanker, the one that had tried to ward you away from his leader.

You saw that unfortunate Soviet fleeing to the north, the amber streaks of his afterburners giving away his position.

>Hit him with the Phoenixs before he can escape. Nobody goes after your sister and lives...
>Leave him. it's wrong to shoot a man on the run.
>Other (write in)

>Hit him with the Phoenixs before he can escape. Nobody goes after your sister and lives...

>>707908
>>Hit him with the Phoenixs before he can escape. Nobody goes after your sister and lives...

Plus hey, one less Soviet fighter to worry about. Two birds one stone, so to speak.

>>707908
>See if you can still hit some transports, they can't have gotten too far in the time rescuing your sister took

>>707908
>>Leave him. it's wrong to shoot a man on the run.

>>707908
>See if you can still hit some transports, they can't have gotten too far in the time rescuing your sister took

>>707908
>See if you can still hit some transports, they can't have gotten too far in the time rescuing your sister took

>>707908
>See if you can still hit some transports, they can't have gotten too far in the time rescuing your sister took.

That Soviet probably just wants to go home. No reason to kill him if he's withdrawing.

>>706812
Got here a but if you fired an AIM-120 you would say "fox 3" rather than fox 2

>>707977
Oh, I had completely missed that mistake. Thanks for pointing that out for me.

"Janice. Are you hit?!" You worriedly asked your sister as you caught up with her aircraft. You couldn't spy any hits, but you needed to make sure.

"N-No. We're not hit." Your sister replied shakily as she slowed her aircraft down, now having no reason to run anymore. You stayed on her wing as she slowed down to subsonic speed. "T-Thanks Bradley. I thought-"

"You don't need to thank me." You cut Janice off before she could begin to talk about what she thought would happen. "I know that you would do the same for me."

She was quiet for a couple of seconds as the pair of you turned back towards the battle, before she responded meekly. "Still, thanks."

You didn't respond for a couple of seconds as you searched for Soviets to shoot down, the lust for vengeance still urging you to hunt. But when you responded, you responded with a sigh.

"Ok... no problem." You replied simply, you weren't in the mood to get into an argument with Janice over a thanks, so you abated and accepted the undue thanks and you locked up a pair of fleeing transports. Your AIM-54s locking on before you launched them at the same time.

Unfortunately however, most of the upgraded AIM-54s were early models with upgraded seekers, so the problem of some missiles failing to ignite their boosters still persisted. Of your missiles, only one streaked towards it's target. The other one failed to ignite it's rocket motor and fell to the at close to terminal velocity.

Your disappointment was only increased when the missile that you fired didn't even succeed in shooting down the transport, only managing to blow a hole in the belly of the transport.

"Freelancer flight, requesting weapons and fuel check." Dredd ordered over the squadron wide channel, everyone reported off their remaining fuel and weapons one by one. And when the report was finished a few minutes later, the decision to be made was obvious.

"Understood, standby." Dredd ordered the unit, before going quiet for a few seconds while he reported to the AWACs controller.

"Alright, Freelancer flight, form up on me. We are returning to base." Dredd ordered tiredly, the fatigue of the battle was apparently weighing on him.

You, along with the rest of VF-21 and Shiotori squadron formed up on Dredd, before vectoring towards the airbase as one. Heading back to your home away from home.

>Talk to someone (who?)
>Keep quiet, if nobody is talking now then they probably aren't in the mood to talk to you.
>Other (write in)

>Keep quiet, if nobody is talking now then they probably aren't in the mood to talk to you.

>>708260
>Keep quiet, if nobody is talking now then they probably aren't in the mood to talk to you.

>>708260
>>Keep quiet, if nobody is talking now then they probably aren't in the mood to talk to you.

>>708260
>Keep quiet, if nobody is talking now then they probably aren't in the mood to talk to you.

>>708272
>>708277
>>708283
>>708293
did we do something wrong?

>>708342
I just figure Razor probably doesn't want to talk much due to tiredness, plus he's probably in a pretty sour mood due to the whole WWII thing.

>>708342
We started a world war, of course.

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>>708353
>Implying the Soviets weren't just waiting for the slightest excuse anyway

>>708353
oh. is that all?

>>708361
>the US deploys weapons of mass pussy destruction
>implying America didn't start this

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>>708443
Okay I'll give you that. The USSR stood to lose all of their women to defection if someone like Razor were deployed. It would cripple them. Too bad it's far too late for them to stop it.

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As the flight continued back to base in silence, you decided not to break the mood. Everybody was probably just tired from the battle.

"Hey Zeus, you track how many kills we got?" You asked your RIO as you inspected your remaining fuel load. You had more then enough to make it back to base with a bit of loiter time.

"I counted 4 confirmed with another pair of probables." Zeus reported calmly as he focused himself on dealing with your jet's onboard systems.

"Same. We seem to be hitting that as an average each mission, so that puts us at 9 total?" You asked Zeus for confirmation, you were certainly proud of your number of kills thus-far in any case.

"Around about that..." Zeus was silent for a second or so, before he then sighed. "We lost a couple of people in that fight."

"What! Who went down?" You asked Zeus as you began to look around the formation in muted panic.

"A pair of Royal Guard jets from Sakamoto's squadron. They were with Sudo and Slider's flights. One pair of managed to eject... the other two weren't so lucky." Zeus reported solemnly.

"Shit... We nearly lost Janice too..." You realised with a slight shock just how close you were to loosing another pilot. You idly wondered how angry Sakamoto would have been if you had let your sister get shot down.

If you were honest, she probably wouldn't be as angry as your mother would have been. If that happened she would probably fly out here and slap your shit up for failing to protect your sister.

You and the rest of your allies returned to base and landed in silence. You and the rest of your flight were given priority for landing, a privilege granted by having the least fuel out of all the flights waiting to land. You taxied to your hanger and parked up first, your disembarkation was delayed by having to wait for Dredd and Ahab to shut their engines down when they pulled up next to you.

As you climbed out, you noticed that Slider was briskly walking back to the hut, the mournful look on her face telling you that she had lost someone today.

You also noticed Kenji making his way out of the hanger, heading towards one of the many unofficial "bars" that had sprung up on the base ever since the war had begun. Tatsuko dutifully followed just behind him.

And finally, you spotted the Royal Guard captain from before standing by a HUMVEE near the entrance to the hanger. You could easily spy that Princess Sakamoto, her RIO and your sister were already inside the vehicle.

>Check on Slider. She doesn't look like she's handling the day's events very well.
>Peruse Kenji. You don't want him trying to bury his sorrows with alcohol. At the very least you don't want Tatsuko watching him do it.
>Meet up with with Sakamoto and the captain, you can find out about their side of the engagement before you pick up Svetlana.
>Other (write in)

>>708556
>>Peruse Kenji. You don't want him trying to bury his sorrows with alcohol. At the very least you don't want Tatsuko watching him do it.
She doesn't need to see that right now. We might have to get her to tag along with us if he insists on drowning himself with liquor.

>>708556
>Check on Slider. She doesn't look like she's handling the day's events very well.

>>708556
>Peruse Kenji. You don't want him trying to bury his sorrows with alcohol. At the very least you don't want Tatsuko watching him do it.

I'm going to call things for tonight here. We'll finish up this run tomorrow night, that sound good?

If you have any questions then feel free to ask.

>>708726
Thanks for running Thunder.

>>708726
Hey Thunderhead who were in the planes that went down of the princess's squadron, was it the idols who bought the farm?

>>708726
See you tomorrow.

>>708739
You'll find out if you ask tomorrow.

>>708770
If you had to use an anime character to describe Svetlana, which character would you use?

I need to know... For uh, research purposes.

>>708556
>Check on Slider. She doesn't look like she's handling the day's events very well.

>>708556
>Check on Slider. She doesn't look like she's handling the day events well.

>>708556
>Peruse Kenji. You don't want him trying to bury his sorrows with alcohol. At the very least you don't want Tatsuko watching him do it.

>>708556
>>Peruse Kenji. You don't want him trying to bury his sorrows with alcohol. At the very least you don't want Tatsuko watching him do it.

As you climbed out of your Tomcat, you considered following Slider, her obvious distress tugging on your heartstrings. However, you decided not to follow her as other members of your unit followed her. Instead, you directed your attention to Kenji. You knew from personal experience that attempting to find happiness at the bottom of a bottle was a fruitless endeavour.

At the very least, you didn't want Tatsuko to watch him do it. Watching a man get himself drunk wasn't a pretty sight.

You stopped for only a couple of seconds to gesture for Zeus to follow you, before making your way towards the Royal Guard captain.

"So, are both of you ready to pick up your Soviet?" The captain asked you as you made you way over to him. A quick glance at the princess, and the other members of her unit inside were looking rather sullen at the losses they had sustained only a few minutes ago.

"No, another member of our unit requires our attention. If the princess would like to talk with Miss Vaikinov, then I would recommend that she takes this time to talk with her." You explained to the captain, who paused for a couple of seconds as he took in the information.

"I see... well I would recommend that you deal with your squadmate as soon as possible. We will await for you at the princess's accommodation." The captain nodded at you, before barking an order at the driver of the HUMVEE. Sakamoto and your sister both gave you a quizzical look, before the armoured passenger door was slammed shut by the captain, before he climbed into the front passenger seat and closed the door behind him. The vehicle then pulled away, headed towards the princess's barracks.

The walk to the "bar", if it could even be called that was fairly brisk. The official name for the building was officially "Storage Building 24-B", however,it's unofficial name was "The Chitose Taphouse".

You arrived at the building to see a pair of marines standing outside, smoking a cigarettes. To any outside observer it would have looked like they had simply chose this spot to have a quiet smoke, however, you knew that they were standing guard to look out for any Military Policemen doing their patrols.

The marines at the door glanced at you and Zeus as you approached, and nodded towards the door. One of them giving the pair of you a slight sneer as you walked through the door.

>CONT

>>711639
The "bar" itself was certainly not very high class. The counter, the tables, and many other pieces of furniture were assembled out of an assortment of large, wooden boxes. The building was lit up by a number of candles, spaced out at regular intervals to bolster the building's original lights and provide a decent amount of light without having to leech more off the base's electrical grid.

Inside you could see a number of assorted soldiers, including pilots. Many of said pilots were still clad in their flight suits, having just returned from combat flights.

And there, sat at one of the box-tables in the far corner of the room, sat Kenji. In his hand he nursed a bottle of some unknown Japanese alcohol. A second, empty bottle sat on it's side on the box-table. Meanwhile, Tatsuko sat opposite him, talking to him in hushed Japanese.

>Make your way directly over to Kenji. He needs to stop while he's ahead.
>Stay back and observe him for a bit. it's perfectly fine to have a beer after a hard day's work.
>Leave Zeus to watch over Kenji while you do something else (write in)

>>711639
>Make your way directly over to Kenji. He needs to stop while he's ahead.

>>711654
>>Make your way directly over to Kenji. He needs to stop while he's ahead.

You didn't bother to wait for Kenji to get shitfaced before you intervened. You quickly made your way over to Kenji, who didn't notice your approach.

"Kenji, you good?" You asked as you sat down on one of the boxes arranged around as makeshift seating around the box-table.

"No." Kenji replied bitterly, not even bothering to look at you as he took a swig from his bottle of beer.

"One of those... damn Soviets, they killed the crew that Princess Sakamoto assigned for me to protect." Kenji seemed to slump as he reflected on his recent loss.

"There wasn't anything that you could have done. Drinking yourself under the table isn't going to change that." You chided Kenji as you made to grab the bottle out of his hand. You managed to grab the bottle and rip it out of his hand. Kenji didn't try to take the bottle back, instead he simply turned to look at you and simply glared at you with venom.

"Do you think I'm drinking because it could bring them back? I'm drinking because I feel like shit." Kenji spat at you before he gestured for one of the people at the "bar" to come over and take his order.

One of the men at the bar walked over to your makeshift table, a marine, if you were judging him from his uniform. "So, what do ya'll want?"

"Nothing for him." You interrupted Kenji before he could talk. "He was just leaving."

Kenji stopped to glare at you, before then sighing and standing up.

"Well then. If you're going to play it that way, then we might as well talk on the way back to the hut." Kenji responded, before then walking briskly towards the door. You followed him out with Zeus and Tatsuko in tow. As soon as you were outside, you spoke again.

"Look, I know what you're feeling right now. But-" You started, only for Kenji to turn around and glare at you more.

"How the FUCK do you know how it feels to loose someone under your command?" Kenji spat back, the anger in his eyes telling you that you needed to choose your next words carefully.

"Kenji, my last RIO nearly died because of my poor decision making skills. I know that it sucks like all shit. But trying to find comfort at the bottle of a bottle just doesn't work. Believe me, I know." You confided in your comrade, Kenji seemed taken aback by it, pausing for a couple of seconds, before then sighing.

"I see... very well. I will take your advice, but I would also ask that you allow to deal with this in my own manner." Kenji replied, before then turning on his heel and walking off. Tatsuko made to follow him, but halted and let him leave on his own.

>Follow after Kenji.
>Ask Tatsuko what actually happened.
>Head to the princess's barracks and pick up Svetlana.
>Return to the hut and make sure that Slider is alright.
>Head back inside and get yourself a beer.
>Other (write in)

>>712160
>>Ask Tatsuko what actually happened.

>>712160
>Ask Tatsuko what actually happened.
She probably took this hard too let us not forget her too.

As you began to make your way back to the hut, you decided to find out just what had happened from your closest possible source of information.

"So, Tatsuko, what happen up there?" You turned your attention to Kenji's RIO. Tatsuko seemed to flinch at the sudden question, as if she wasn't used to being asked such questions. However, Tatsuko rallied herself, before composing herself and speaking.

"W-Well, when you called us to support you against the Soviet formation, the Soviet fighters started engaging us. We ended up shooting them down, but we lost track of the aircraft from Sakamoto's flight. When we found them again, they had a pair of Flankers on them..." Tatsuko began to explain, her voice beginning to shake as she continued the tale.

"W-We... we tried to save them... b-but..." Tatsuko didn't finish the tale before she began to cry, the emotional strain of the past few hours suddenly managing to catch up to her, and overwhelm her.

You quickly hugged Tatsuko, bringing her into a comforting embrace. Giving her a shoulder to lean on as you made your way back to the hut. Upon arriving back at the hut, you found that many members of your unit had returned back.

Scorpion sat on one the couch, reading a letter that you couldn't really make out the details off. Though the worried expression on her face told you that the letter was important to her.

Slider was in bed, hugging one of the spare pillows like a teddy bear, along with the stuffed snake that you bought for her as a joke back when you were based in Arizona. Many other members of the unit were in their beds too, however, Kay sat on a stool at the other end of the room. Kay sat writing in a notebook.

You simply walked Tatsuko over to her bed and prompted her to get into her bed. She followed the prompt and climbed into the bed.

>Check up on Slider. She lost someone too.
>Talk with Scorpion, you need to make sure she is alright.
>Head to the princess's barracks and pick up Svetlana.
>Head back to the "bar" and get yourself a beer.
>Other (write in)

>>712635
>>Check up on Slider. She lost someone too.
We can talk to Scorpion after she finishes reading her letter.

>>712635
>Check up on Slider. She lost someone too.

>>712635
>Check up on Slider. She lost someone too.

After pausing for a couple of a second, you carefully turned to Slider and knelt down next to her.

"Slider. Are you awake?" You asked Slider calmly as you carefully shook her shoulder. Slider seemed to curl up slightly at your touch, shying away from contact. She was quiet for a couple of seconds, before speaking meekly.

"Go away..." Slider practically pleaded for you to leave her alone.

"No. I allready dealt with Kenji, so I'm not going to abandon you." You replied sternly. Slider was quiet for another few seconds, before she spoke again.

"Please... go..." Slider begged for you to leave agian, trying to push you away.

>Leave her be. There is no point in pushing something that she doesn't want.
>Continue pushing. You can't stand by while your comrades suffer.
>Other (write in)

>>712902
Just give her a hug and let her know we're here when she's ready to talk about it.

>>712902
>>Continue pushing. You can't stand by while your comrades suffer.

>>712902
>Continue pushing. You can't stand by while your comrades suffer.

"I told you Slider, I'm not leaving. What kind of an asshole would I be if I didn't look after my friends?" You refused Slider's request, Slider stayed quiet for a few seconds more, trying to curl up into ball and hide away from your push. But after those few seconds, she apparently decided that this wasn't something that she could simply hide away from.

"What do you want?" Slider asked bitterly, annoyed that you were pressing on, even after she had tried to get you to go away.

"What happened up there?" You asked simply, trying to get a better picture on what had happened up while you were in the weeds.

"Well, after you blundered in like an idiot we had to go in to support you with the crew that the Princess assigned to us. We tried to play it as cautiously as possible, but..." Slider paused for a couple of seconds to try and compose herself as her voice began to shake.

"But I messed up. I wasn't able to protect him..." Slider tried to continue before she began to break down. And just like with Tatsuko, you leaned over onto Slider's bed and hugged her. She didn't struggle or otherwise do anything to shrug you off.

You held her until she finally stopped crying, her sobs subsiding as she fell asleep. You disentangled herself from her stood up. From what you could see, everyone in the hut was in bed. Everyone but yourself and Scorpion, who had left, leaving her letter behind.

>Skim-read your wingmate's letter, you might get some insight into Weiss.
>Leave the letter alone, you don't want to invade her privacy.
>Other (write in)

>>713430
>Leave the letter alone, you don't want to invade her privacy.

>>713430
>>Leave the letter alone, you don't want to invade her privacy.

>>713430
>Leave the letter alone, you don't want to invade her privacy.

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As interesting as the note seemed, you decided to leave your wingmate's affairs alone. You were sure that she would talk to you if the letter was important.

Instead, you decided to make your way you of the hut and over to the building that the princess was lodged in. You left your helmet in the hut, but kept your pistol with you. Ever since the war had been declared, and even before then, you had made it a point to carry your pistol with you.

Your trip to the Princess's barracks was not remarkable in any sense of the word. You walked the dark streets of the base, only stopping once under the light of a street lamp to present your ID card to a pair of MPs. You arrived at the building to find nothing out of the ordinary, everything was the same as the previous times you had been there, even down to the feeling of being watched.

As you walked over to the door, the guards simply waved you through and told you that the Princess and her "guest" were in the rec room. You calmly made your way over, and once again, you paused as you overheard a conversation inside.

"Oh my! That... That's just horrible!" You overheard Sakamoto gasp.

"It is understandable, from a tactical viewpoint." Svetlana replied, apparently not disturbed by the subject they were discussing.

"Understandable? How? Out of all people, you should be the most angry at what those cowards did to you!" Sakamoto practically gasped at Svetlana's reply. "Forcing you to fly for them, and using such a brutish method to keep you in line. It's... It's disgusting!"

"Hence why I said from a tactical viewpoint." Svetlana clarified for the princess, before then sighing.

"The Eastern lines... are usually where the troublesome pilots are sent. Those who are not perfect pilots, those that tend to disobey orders, or otherwise undesirable soldiers are sent to the east. As far away from Moscow as possible." Svetlana explained to Sakamoto in a firm, matter-of-fact voice. "The commanders in the east need to keep every talented pilot flying, even if their methods to achieve that end are... unconventional."

"I see... Though I have to ask, what caused you to try and defect?" You heard another girl ask, if you could place the name, you would pin it to one of the Idols that your sister had introduced you to.

"Well... It's complicated..." Svetlana paused, apparently not wanting to reveal why she had made her choice.

>Continue listening in.
>Get Svetlana and leave.
>Other (write in)

>>713968
>>Get Svetlana and leave.

>>713968
>Continue listening in.

>>714008
This

>>713968
>Continue listening in.
[curiosity intensifies]

>>713968
>Continue listening in.

Rather than simply walking in like you should have done, you decided to instead wait outside and listen in on the conversation.

"How complicated are we talking?" You heard your sister ask innocently.

"Well, it all started back when I was in Afghanistan." Svetlana began her tale, only to be cut off.

"You were in Afghanistan?" One of the Idols asked in awe.

"Da, my unit was assigned for CAS against Mujaheddin strongholds. While we were in Afghanistan, the normal... rules and restrictions on reading material were unofficially relaxed by many of the troops. A black market on western materials, such as books and films sprung up. And from there I managed to read my first, foreign article." Svetlana explained nostalgically.

"How was that significant? Don't you have books in Russia?" Janice asked, before yelping in shock, as if someone had just elbowed her.

"Please forgive my friend, she can be fairly... blunt." Sakamoto apologised to Svetlana as your sister grumbled.

"It is fine, I took no offence." Svetlana assured Sakamoto, before returning to her story. "The first piece of western media I read was a newspaper. It was a few years out of date, but it was... honest. In the USSR, many forms of media are used as tools for propaganda. Including newspapers, books and films at the city theatres. However, the newspaper I read was the first thing I had read in my life that was not full of state propaganda. It was... refreshing."

"I see, how did things play out from there?" The princess's RIO, Takebe asked calmly as you wondered just how many people were in that room.

"Well, when I returned back from the front, I kept the newspaper, and a number of western books that I had bought in Afghanistan. I kept reading them over and over and idly wondering just what life was like in the west. But I never considered defecting until a few weeks ago. When I met that that American pilot..." Svetlana continued her story, leading up to the part which you KNEW, that the princess had not been briefed on.

Svetlana was about to tip the princess off that VF-21 had been performing clandestine operations, and that you may have been involved with starting World War 3.

>Get Svetlana out of there BEFORE she tips the princess off, maintain OPSEC.
>Walk in and explain the operations yourself. OPSEC be damned, Sakamoto deserves to know.
>Continue to listen in from outside.
>Other (write in)

>>714474
>>Walk in and explain the operations yourself. OPSEC be damned, Sakamoto deserves to know.
She's gonna find out eventually. Might as well tell her as early as possible. Besides, I feel like Razor views orders more like they're... Guidelines.

>>714474
>Walk in and explain the operations yourself. OPSEC be damned, Sakamoto deserves to know.
Bradley "Orders are suggestions people use to point targets to me" Poole

>>714508
This.

>>714474
>Walk in and explain the operations yourself. OPSEC be damned, Sakamoto deserves to know.

"A few weeks ago? How? He was flying patrols back then." Sakamoto's confused reply prompted you into action. You knew that she would eventually find out, you could either tell her now and seem like you were following orders until everything went to shit. Or you could simply not tell her and instead come off as an untrustworthy bastard when Sakamoto eventually was told the truth.

Well, OP SEC be damned, Sakamoto and your sister both deserved to know your true reason for coming to japan. You opened the door an walked in with all eyes on you.

"Ah, hello Mr Poole, we were just talking to Miss Vaikinov here." Sakamoto greeted you as she gestured to Svetlana.

"I know, and I'm sure that you have questions." You replied simply as you sat down on the couch that Svetlana had to herself. Svetlana waited until you had sat down before scooting closer to you.

"Yes. Miss Vaikinov says that you both met a few weeks ago, but you were listed down as flying patrols then, and none of the reports indicated that you had met with Miss Vaikinov, or any Soivet jets." Sakamoto explained, still believing that your official report was true. "I was just about to ask her to explain further, unless you can provide any details?"

"Yes, but first I need to know. Why do you think my unit, VF-21 was assigned here?" You asked Sakamoto as Svetlana moved slightly closer to you.

"I was told that your unit was here as replacements for a unit of F-16s that were moved south." Sakamoto replied, the confusion in her voice practically begged you to get on with your explanation.

"Well, that reason is partially true. However it wasn't our primary reason for being here." you began calmly, even though you were internally disgusted by how much you sounded like a spook right now.

"VF-21 was assembled and sent here to act as a special missions group for the Office of Naval Intelligence. We were to fly recon missions when the weather was too harsh for an SR-71, or a U-2. We were to provide muscle for ONI ops if they went south." You explained calmly, leaving a pause for questions. When nobody asked any questions, you returned back to the topic which was begin discussed before you made your entrance.

"We performed multiple recon missions over Soviet fleets and territory. And it was on one of those missions where I met Svetlana for the first time." You made the divertion and let Svetlana explain her side of the story.

"Well. I met Mr Poole after he over-flew a training exercise that was being conducted. While we were chasing out of Soviet airspace him he tried to convince us to defect." Svetlana explained with a smile. "Our lead pilot got very angry when Mr Poole tricked us into international waters so that he could get support from the rest of his unit. Mr Poole then tried to get me to defect, which was a promising offer at the time. However I didn't take the offer at the time."

>CONT

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>>715047
Svetlana sighed before continuing. "I met him again when we were providing CAP for a fleet heading out of Vladivostok. Once again it was a reconnaissance mission for him."

"I distinctly remember your flight leader threatening to shoot me down." You added, causing you sister to pale slightly at how close you came to being killed or captured in that particular operation.

"Da. He ratted on me to SMERSH as soon as we landed back at base. The books I had kept with me proved to be as much evidence as they needed to set up a trial, one that would have happened had war not began." Svetlana explained, the warmth on her voice gone as she explained everything that had happened to her after your recon flight.

"And because of him, and what he did to you while SMERSH was interrogating you was what caused you to defect?" Sakamoto asked curiously, to which Svetlana nodded.

"Da... that is why I asked to be part of Mr Poole's unit. If he would risk his life to save mine then I would have nothing to fear while under his care." Svetlana explained with a nod.

"What I don't understand is you you're going to help out. Are you going to fly with them or are you just going to warm the bed?" Janice asked with mock innocence.

"JANICE POOLE" Both you and Princess Sakamoto hissed at your sister in unison. Janice simply laughed, she laughed even harder after hearing Svetlana's reply.

"...whatever is needed"

>Change the topic (to what?)
>Might as well leave with Svetlana, you've taken up enough of the princess's time.
>Other (write in)

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>>715059
>>Change the topic
Offer our condolences regarding her unit's casualties.

>"...whatever is needed"
Oh lordy.

>>715059
>Change the topic (to what?)
Offer our condolences, ask who they lost.

Making to regain some semblance of control over the situation, you cleared your throat loudly. Giving a wordless prompt for your sister to shut up.

"So, I heard that some of your guys got hit in the battle. Any idea if SAR got to them?" You asked Sakamoto, making to change the subject as quickly as possible.

At the mention of the battle, your sister's laughter finally died out for good and the mood in the room became sullen.

"Yes, we lost a pair of Royal Guard pilots, that brings our operational strength down to only 3 aircraft. My aircraft, your sister's and Iori-san's." Sakamoto replied sullenly, before sighing and giving you small smile. "It looks like we will be in your care for a bit longer Mr Poole."

"We'll certainly look after you." YOu paused for a couple of seconds, before then adding. "I am sorry for your loss."

"We only have confirmation that one pair are definitely dead, we hope that the other pair returns to us alive and well." Sakamoto replied with a hint of hope in her voice, before then standing. "If you would please excuse me, I need to inform the respective families of the losses of their loved ones."

"I will not stop you ma'am. Myself and Miss Vaikinov shall be on our way." You stood up and bowed respectfully to the princess, still mindful that a number of people could be watching.

"I shall see you later then Mr Poole." The princess bowed back to you before leaving, you followed her out with Svetlana in tow. You quickly made your way out of the building and made your way back to the hut.

After all, you had to savour whatever downtime you had left. With the war on, you never knew which flight would be your last.
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That's going to be the end of this thread folks. This is probably going to be the format of threads to come, I.E, they will be ran over an entire weekend unless I have other things to attend to.

As always, if you have any questions relating to characters or the setting as a whole, then ask them and I will answer them to the best of my ability without spoiling things to come.

Also, If you have any feedback then do provide it. I'm looking for ways to improve the quest to attract more players.

>>715384
Thanks for running, Thunderhead.

1: On a scale of one to redshirt, how likely were today's casualties to end up as such?

2: Has anyone gone full retard and tried to develop thermobaric anti-air missiles?

>>715443
Thermobarics are fucking useless as an AA weapon, the reason why they are great on the ground is everything is relatively dense and close