>>733363
>>"Home isn't where you are born. It's where you chose to live, and where you are willing to risk it all to reach."

>>733363
>"Home isn't where you are born. It's where you chose to live, and where you are willing to risk it all to reach."

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"Home isn't where you are born. It's where you chose to live, and where you are willing to risk it all to reach." You reached over and put your hand on Svetlana's shoulder, she slightly flinched at the unexpected gesture.

"I see... thank you Mr Poole." Svetlana nodded as she reigned in her confusion.

"Please, call me Razor. Everybody else does anyways." You corrected Svetlana as you continued the short trek back to the hut.

"Razor? I assume that's your callsign?" Svetlana asked as she jumped to catch up to you.

"Yep. Most of the time we refer to each other by our callsigns." You explained as you passed by the hanger that contained your unit's aircraft.

Most of the aircraft were undergoing basic post-flight repairs and tune-ups. From what you could see, Weiss's aircraft was having an engine replaced, while your aircraft was having it's radar serviced. However, the majority of the attention in the hanger was taken up by the aircraft nestled in between yours and Weiss's aircraft.

The aircraft in question was an F-15 Eagle. From what you could see, most of the work was confined to the front of the aircraft, with crews removing the original radar and replacing it with a new set. Work was also being performed on the aircraft's cockpit, however you couldn't see the specific work from your current angle.

>Head in and see what's happening with the F-15. Maybe it's Svetlana's new bird?
>Continue on to the hut, maybe your comrades will have some answers. If not then you can take the time to introduce Svetlana to them.
>Other (write in)

>>733650
>Continue on to the hut, maybe your comrades will have some answers. If not then you can take the time to introduce Svetlana to them.

>>733650
>Head in and see what's happening with the F-15. Maybe it's Svetlana's new bird?

>>733650
>Head in and see what's happening with the F-15. Maybe it's Svetlana's new bird?

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In spite of how you ought to introduce Svetlana to your unit, the need to investigate this new arrival in the hanger was certainly interesting. After all, you were planning on having her start out with an F/A-18, not an F-15.

Unless Dredd or one of the spooks had changed the plan and had decided not to tell you.

As you walked towards the aircraft, you were intercepted by a pair of fully armed MPs, the pair of them decked out in full Kevlar body armour and helmets. They both also carried M-4 rifled. The pair of them glanced between you and Svetlana as you passed you ID card to them and gestured for Svetlana to do the same.

The MPs took your ID cards and began reading out each card's details to someone on the other end of their radios. After a few seconds, they handed your cards back to you and moved out of the way. Letting you by with only a dirty look at your newest comrade.

You calmly made your way over to the gaggle of engineers, and the crew chief who was ordering them around.

"Hey chief. What's up with the bird?" You asked as you came up next to the chief, who only looked over his shoulder at you.

"We're re-fitting this Eagle for you navy boys. something about you needing a single seat bird to keep up with your Tomcats." The chief explained as he turned to face you and Svetlana. He looked both you and Svetlana up and down, gauging the both of you up.

"I see, what can you tell me about the upgrades?" You asked calmly. The chief took a couple of seconds to pause for a few seconds before answering with a shrug.

"We've replaced the old, worn out engines and radar with the same gear on your 'cats. We've also moved around the displays and controls according to some plans given to us by the ONI spooks." The chief gestured for his crew to move out of the way, before leading you up the maintenance stairs to look into the cockpit.

The cockpit itself was a mess of wires, however the new control panel was part-way through installation. You assumed that the panel had been modelled after the control panel on the SU-27 that Svetlana had brought in.

"Good, what about other equipment?" You asked the crew chief as Svetlana took a look into the cockpit.

"We've installed an IRST system under the nose, re-enforced the landing gear and beefed up the tail hook. She isn't fully navalised, but it's something." The crew chief summarised with a shrug, before looking down at Svetlana and back up at you.

"So, care to tell us why ya'll need an eagle? Doesn't the navy have Hornets to fill the single-seat fighter role for the anti-social pilots?" The chief asked, Svetlana seemed to flinch at the question's barb.

>"A Hornet wouldn't be able to keep up with the F-14s."
>"We have a new pilot, and she needs a good bird."
>Other (write in)

>>734066
>>"A Hornet wouldn't be able to keep up with the F-14s."

>>734066
>"A Hornet wouldn't be able to keep up with the F-14s."

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"A Hornet wouldn't be able to keep up with the F-14s." You shrugged as you answered the crew chief's question. He paused for a couple of seconds as he considered your answer, before he then finally nodded in acceptance.

"I guess you're right... still, it's odd that you navy folk would ask for an air force bird. Then again, from the looks of it your unit isn't the typical navy knuckleheads." The chief gestured to the lines of Tomcats arrayed around the hanger.

"And what makes you say that chief?" You asked innocently, you had a few ideas on why he held his point of view, and it all boiled down to the rivalry between the services.

"Your birds are far more advanced than the typical F-14s that the navy keeps around. Hell, the one over there is more advanced than any bird I've ever seen!" He gestured towards your F-14, the crews were just finishing up their repairs on the radar.

"Well a lot of the upgrades on these 'cats are being rolled out to the fleet. I assume that a similar upgrade package is being thought up for the F-15." You explained as you climbed off the maintenance platform, the chief following you down with Svetlana bringing up the rear.

"Here's hoping. either way, my boys need to finish up the upgrades and run some ground checks to make sure that everything is working. She should be ready in a few hours time." The chief explained calmly as you paused for a few seconds for Svetlana to catch up.

"Alright then, we'll bring in the pilot for a briefing once you get the bird working." You offered your hand to the crew chief, who shook your hand before turning back to his men and getting them back to work.

You and Svetlana both made your way out of the hanger and back to the hut, as you entered you found everyone huddled around the TV, while very few people could understand Japanese, the subtitles were good enough to act as a substitute.

>Watch the TV, might as well see the news.
>Get everyone's attention and introduce Svetlana.
>Other (write in)

>>734418
>Ask what's on the news.
Better to get the short of it if we can.

>>734418
Hell, why not?
>>734431

>>734418
>>Get everyone's attention and introduce Svetlana.
Gotta get dem introductiones out of the way hombres

"Hey, what's on the news?" You asked as you peeked over the shorter members of your squadron to look at the TV screen. The screen switched to a shot of some tanks lined up in a defensive emplacement, the presence of West German tanks told you that it was somewhere in Europe.

"News on the war mostly. Berlin has been over-run, defensive lines have been breached everywhere. Most of the NATO forces in Europe are pulling back to defensive lines." Kay informed you as the shot changed to show a number of high altitude shots of what you assumed was Berlin. The pictures showed the city burning as the defenders fought a desperate, and ultimately futile battle to defend their positions.

The shot then changed to show what looked like the gun-camera footage from a Canadian Arrow. The Arrow seemingly dived on a MiG-31 and shredded it with it's cannons before turning towards a furball. The subtitles informed you that the soviets were sending bombers over the north pole to strike at Alaska and Canada.

The next shot to show up shocked you, if only because you hadn't expected the story to make the news so quickly.

The shot showed you and Svetlana landing on the base's runway and taxing in. The shot then jumped to show Svetlana climbing out shakily and being lead to a waiting HUMVEE while engineers started working on her aircraft. The subtitles read out that the fate of the defector was unknown, although the aircraft had been taken back to the US for testing and aggressor duties.

The shot then changed again, this time showing a burning tank, the markings on the vehicle marked it out as a French vehicle. The tank's turret had been holed brutally, leaving bits of it's crew scattered all over the place as the vehicle burned. It's paint and the artwork on it's turret melting into a single, blackened sludge.

At this point, Durendal rushed out of the room. The door opening and slamming shut before you had even been able to catch her.

>Follow her. You won't let her suffer alone.
>Let her go. If she wants to deal with her loss on her own, then that is her decision.
>Other (write in)

>>734431
this. then introduce svetlana.

>>734665
>Follow.
why not. whats the worst that could happen.

>>734665
>>Follow her. You won't let her suffer alone.
We should also talk to Weiss about that letter soon.

>>734665
>Follow her. You won't let her suffer alone.

>>734665
>Follow her. You won't let her suffer alone.

question here. is china allied with the USSR?

>>734764
Yes

>>734794
why dont i see this going well for us. china should be able to overwhelm japan in a land war quite easily right? just with numbers. what are the japs ground forces like.

>>734832
China isn't facing the historical post-WW2 limited Japan. They are facing Imperial Japan, which is still a superpower in spite of the post-war sanctions imposed by the allies.

That being said, you haven't heard anything out of Korea, maybe it's on the news?

>>734855
I forgot about that. but. china is still. like what almost 1 billion people in 81 while japan would be at 117.6 million. that is everybody. but still. its a overwhelming difference.

You immediately followed Durendal out the door. Your protective instincts guiding you to make sure that your comrade was alright.

You quickly managed to make it out of the door, and silently cursed that your comrades were so athletic as you caught Durendal diving behind the hanger. You quickly took off after her to try and close her early lead.

You lost her as she made her way into the network of supply buildings, so you switched tactics, instead deciding to play things by the ear and listen out for any sounds of your French squadmate. You managed to only just hear her sobs over the sounds of the active airbase. You stalked the sound to an ally way between storage 107 and 109.

As you rounded the corner, you found Durendal sat on the ground. She sat hugging her legs and sobbing into her knees, she muttered to the empty air in French, which you couldn't understand.

You slowly made your way over to Durendal, knelt down beside her and put your hand on her shoulder reassuringly. She flinched slightly at the sudden contact, sharply inhaling at the sudden and unexpected physical contact. She slowly turned to face you with tears in her eyes.

"R-Razor? Wha... What are you doing here?" Durendal asked as she attempted to try and compose herself, only to fail spectacularly.

"I'm here to check in on you. You bolted out of the hut like a doe. I just wanted to find out what caused it." You replied calmly, Durendal seemed to consider this for a moment, before then wiping her eyes.

"I.. I appreciate the thought. B-But I would prefer to deal with this on my own for now." Durendal said calmly as she tried to shrug your hand off her shoulder.

>"No, I'm not going to let you cry your eyes out alone in an ally way."
>"Fine... But if you need someone to talk to about it, then you know where to find me. Ok?"
>Other (write in)

>>734875
Japan has the technological advantage, even if the majority of their equipment is licence build copies of foreign equipment. Plus China needs to mane an amphibious landing in order to bring their forces to bear.

>>734982
>"No, I'm not going to let you cry your eyes out alone in an ally way."

>>734875
You need a lot of resources and infrastructure to take advantage of a lot of manpower, especially if you have to move it all across water.

These are not things China necessarily has, and if they do, are not necessarily willing to expend to fuck up the damn dirty Nips.

>>734982
>>"No, I'm not going to let you cry your eyes out alone in an ally way."

>>734993
well what about mass halo jumps? and why are we running into Russian jets not chinese? we are in japan. are the Chinese really that useless?

>>734982
>"No, I'm not going to let you cry your eyes out alone in an ally way."

>>735002
mass HALO jumps require a large number of transport jets, highly trained troops and air superiority. They aren't tactically viable over a conventional paratrooper deployment

Also, you are being based out of Northern Japan, the majority of the forces you have faced thus-far have been Soviet. But other forces in your area may have fought Chinese units, you would have to ask around.

>>735069
yea, I may be overestimating some stuff here.

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"No, I'm not going to let you cry your eyes out alone in an ally way." You replied sternly, Durendal seemed to pause for a couple of seconds as she decided weather or not to try and shrug you off again.

However, after a few seconds of trying top hold back her emotions, the damn finally burst, and she began to cry. At first the tears rolled down her face silently as she stifled her cries, but as you brought her into a hug she began to sob.

You simply held her while she cried, you could feel her tears against your shoulder as she clutched onto you. it took her a good ten minutes before her sobs began to subside. A few minutes after that, you asked the million dollar question.

"So, what caused all this?" You asked simply before you waited for your squadmate's answer.

"The news... it..." Durendal began as new tears welled up as she remembered back to the event. But she rallied herself and pressed on with the explanation.

"The tank, the one that was destroyed. That was mon frère... my brother's tank..." She explained as she began to shake, you simply held her tighter in your arms.

"And you're sure that was it?" You asked as calmly as she pressed herself closer to you.

"Oui. it had the same hull number, same artwork, same rings on the gun's barrel..." She began as fresh tears streaked down her face.

>"Just because that tank went up, doesn't mean that was his tank.He might have been reassigned."
>"And what's to say that he was killed when the tank went up? You should never say that someone has died until you have found their body."
>Say nothing, just let her get it all out of her system.
>Other (write in)

>>735226
>say nothing. get somebody to ask around if any of that tanks crew survived. give them her last name.

>>735226
>Say nothing, just let her get it all out of her system.
Fuck.

>>735255
>>735226
This would probably be the best option. Right now she just needs someone to be there.

I really, really hope her brother made it out... But I'm not super optimistic. This quest went from comfy plane adventures to industrial sadness, death, and destruction over the course of like one thread.

It's great.

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I'm going to call today's run here, I need to be up early tomorrow. Like always, if you have any questions simply ask them and I will answer them to the best of my abilities.

>>735281
>This quest went from comfy plane adventures to industrial sadness, death, and destruction over the course of like one thread.
In fairness, I had the decent into death and sad shit planned to be over 3-4 threads. But as the quests on /qst/ tend to last 3-4 times longer than the ones on /tg/, the entire thing ended up being rolled into one thread.

I am glad that someone likes the quick change though.

>>735348
Thanks for running!

Even though I like the change of pace, it would certainly be nice to have some comfy, slice-of-life stuff again at some point.

>>735361
You will get some more comfy, slice of life stuff when Razor and the rest of unit goes on leave, though that will be in a good few threads time, you still have a war to fight.

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>>735348
Thanks for running, Thunderhead.

There was nothing that you could say to try and comfort that kind of loss, what could you say? That her brother hadn't been in the tank at the time? That he was still somehow alive?

You had not way of confirming that her brother was alive or not. You knew that your mother still had some links in the intelligence community, maybe she could find out? Either way, if your mother could find out, it would take her a while to get an answer for you. In the meantime, you just held your comrade while she cried. She just needed for someone to be there for her.

Durendal cried for a while, her arms wrapped around you tightly, as if she worried that you might suddenly disappear into thin air. Her pained sobs wracking her small frame.

After nearly an hour after you had found her, Durendal finally stopped crying. But you didn't let go of her until she let go of you, you didn't want to take the risk of coming off cold. Eventually, she let go of you and pushed away from you.

"Merci Razor.... " Durendal began, her voice sounding firmer and more composed than before.

"No need to thank me Durendal." You replied with an assuring smile. Your squadmate, and friend, blinked in confusion before nodding.

"If you say so... still, I appreciate your support in such a troubling time." Durendal continued as the pair of you made your way back to the hut.

>Keep quiet for now, best to leave things as they are.
>Ask Durendal something (write in)
>Other (write in)

>>738250
>Keep quiet for now, best to leave things as they are.

>>738250
>>Keep quiet for now, best to leave things as they are.

>>738250
>Keep quiet for now, best to leave things as they are.

You continued the walk back to the hut in silence, there was nothing more to say right now. You left the ball in her court, so to speak. When you returned back to the hut, you arrived to find everyone still huddled around the TV. Even though the news itself had ended.

Instead, everyone watched the rolling wall of names of every US serviceman that had been killed in action since the last broadcast. They stared at the screen in search of the news that they hoped would never come. Svetlana was not part of the group, she stood by the door as she waited patently for your return.

As Durendal entered, Bats immediately broke off from the group and began to frantically question her pilot in hurried French. Your squad slowly turned to look at Durendal. Ahab glanced at you, and then back to Durendal, within seconds he managed to piece together what happened, just by going off what he already knew and the expressions that Durendal and Bats wore as they spoke to one-another.

"So, what happened?" Dredd asked delicately, trying to gently pry at why Durendal bolted. Durendal froze for a couple of seconds, before looking for you to answer the question.

"Durendal will tell you when she's comfortable to talk about it. I'm not at liberty to tell you." You replied simply, hoping that the implications would be enough to sate Dredd's questions. Dredd was quiet for a few seconds, before the implication finally caught up to him.

"Anyway... I thing that now is a great time to introduce the newest member of our unit!" You quickly changed the subject as you quickly grabbed Svetlana and moved her in front of the unit. "Guys, meet Svetlana Vaikinov. She's the pilot we recovered a few days ago. She's going to be flying with us as part of my flight."

Everyone except from Dredd and Zeus looked Svetlana with a judging expression. Svetlana squirmed under their combined gaze, before she eventually dived behind your back, only peeking out out of obvious stage fright.

"Really? I though she was here because you had finally got laid... we were going to throw a party for finally getting your dick wet." Weiss said with a joking smile. The squad was silent for a few seconds before Dredd leaned over and cuffed her on the back of the head.

"Are you sure about bringing her in?" Ishmael asked worriedly. "Are we sure we can trust her?"

>"She defected especially to join us. We can trust her."
>"This unit is the only place she feels safe."
>Other (write in)

>>738664
>"This unit is the only place she feels safe."
She has been traumatized by her own people, tortured and forced to fly in a plane to fight when her wingman was in control of the kill switch and ready to push it. Let us give her a chance to prove herself.

>>738664
>>"She defected especially to join us. We can trust her."

>>738664
>"This unit is the only place she feels safe."

"This unit is the only place she feels safe. She has been traumatised by her own people, tortured and forced to fly in a plane into fight in a plane rigged with high explosives. Said charges being ready to blow the moment her twitchy wingmate decided to press the detonator. Me and Zeus saved her, and guess what, she feel's safer with us than anywhere else in the world. So at least give her a chance to prove herself." You explained calmly, you didn't raise your voice nor get annoyed with Ishmael. You understood that he may not have gotten the full story on why Svetlana defected.

The sudden realisation blindsided a few members of your unit, Ishmael seemed to flinch at the sudden news. Even Weiss and Knobloch paled slightly at the news, even though they had helped bring her back to base.

Kay slowly stepped forward from the group as you tried to coax Svetlana out from behind your back.

Svetlana seemed to shrink back as Kay approached, as if she was intimidated by the sudden attention she was getting.

>Ward Kay off, there's no need to scare your newest squadmate.
>Let Kay get closer to Svetlana, they have to get to know each other eventually.
>Other (write in)

>>739047
>>Let Kay get closer to Svetlana, they have to get to know each other eventually.

>>739047
>Let Kay get closer to Svetlana, they have to get to know each other eventually.

>Let Kay get closer to Svetlana, they have to get to know each other eventually.

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With one final nudge, you managed to dislodge Svetlana from her little perch behind your back. Allowing Kay to get closer to your newest comrade. Kay reached over and put her hand on Svetlana's shoulder, Svetlana jumped at the sudden and unexpected contact.

"Hey, don't worry. You're safe here." Kay reassured Svetlana, before opening her arms, offering the former soviet a hug.

It took a couple of seconds, and a light nudge from you to get Svetlana to accept the offered hug. Now, while Svetlana wasn't short, Kay was fairly tall for a pilot. As such, Svetlana found her head resting against Kay's breasts.

For less than a second, you were slightly jealous of your newest comrade.

However, the moment was ruined by the wail of the sirens around the base, warning of an imminent attack. Your unit took a couple of seconds to grab your flight helmets before sprinting out of the door, headed towards the hanger.

As you sprinted into the hanger, you looked back to make sure that Svetlana was following you, and sure enough, she was right behind you. You quickly made your way over to the ground crew by the sole F-15 in the hanger, Svetlana's bird.

"Hey, chief!" You yelled as you got closer to the solitary Eagle. "Is that bird ready to fly?"

"Maybe!" The crew chief yelled back at you over the sound of the sirens. "We've got everything working, but we haven't done any systems checks. She might work, she might not. We don't know."

"Can we take her up?" You asked as you gestured for your crew chief to give you the same load you had taken up earlier that day. A pair of Agiles, a pair of Phoenixs and 4 AMRAAMS.

"Yeah, but I recommend that you don't. We aren't sure if the flight control systems even work." The crew chief reported back as his crew began to pack up their gear and leave the hanger.

You glanced back at Svetlana, who was looking to you to make the decision for her.

>Take her up with you, you'll just have to hope that the ground crew got her jet working perfectly.
>Have her stay on the ground, you just can't risk her if her aircraft hasn't gone through post-maintenance checks.
>Other (write in)

>>739405
>>Have her stay on the ground, you just can't risk her if her aircraft hasn't gone through post-maintenance checks.
Not gonna risk it.

>Have her stay on the ground, you just can't risk her if her aircraft hasn't gone through post-maintenance checks.

>>739405
>Have her stay on the ground, you just can't risk her if her aircraft hasn't gone through post-maintenance checks.

>>739405
>Have her stay on the ground, you just can't risk her if her aircraft hasn't gone through post-maintenance checks.

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It didn't take you long to come to a decision on what to do with Svetlana, you quickly put a hand on her shoulder and looked her in the eyes.

"Svetlana, I need you to listen to me. I need you to head to the next hanger down, it's guarded by the Royal Guard, the guys who looked after you while I was away earlier." You gestured in the direction of the princess's hanger with your free hand as you gave Svetlana instructions on what to do. "Find one of the guards and tell him that you need to speak to the Guard's Captain. Give them your ID card so they can verify who you are. He's going to look after you while I'm dealing with the incoming attack."

Svetlana's eyes grew wide as she shook her head, she opened her mouth to respond, to plead to join you in combat. But you cut her off.

"I'm not risking you in an untested aircraft. The Royal Guard will keep you safe. Now go, I'll be back before you know it."

Svetlana stopped for a few seconds, before nodding and running out of the hanger. You didn't wait to watch her go. Instead, you bolted towards your F-14 and climbed into the cockpit. The canopy closed and locked in place as you hoked up your helmet to the assorted plugs and other systems in your seat that allowed your helmet to interface with your jet.

"Freelancer 1-1 to all Freelancer elements. Shirotori flight will be joining us again. They're going to stay in normal combat pairs for this one though." Dredd continued his briefing as he cycled his jet's engines online.

>Continue listening to the briefing.
>Inform Dredd that you've grounded Svetlana for this flight.
>Other (write in)

>>739652
>>Continue listening to the briefing.
We can tell him as soon as the briefing ends.

>>739652
>Continue listening to the briefing.

>>739652
>Continue listening to the briefing.

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You continued to listen in on the briefing as you rolled out of the hanger.

"We have an inbound gaggle of Soviet aircraft form the North, plus another gaggle of Chinese aircraft form the West. We don't have specifics on either group so be ready for anything. The Airforce and some IJN birds will engage the Chinese gaggle while we go after the Soviet gaggle." Dredd continued the briefing as he taxied towards the runway.

"Shirotori 1-1 to Freelancer 1-1. Can you hear me?" Sakamoto tentatively asked as she connected to the squadron frequency.

"Loud and clear Shirotori 1-1. What are you and your girls packing today?" Dredd asked as him, Ahab, you and Scorpion all took your positions on the runway. You glanced back at the line of aircraft waiting to get onto the runway as you searched for Sakamoto's aircraft.

"We have a pair of sidewinders, 4 AMRAAMs, a Phoenix and a jamming pod each." Sakamoto read out just before the ATC gave you permission to take off.

"Understood, we'll link up when we all get in the air." Dredd replied as his aircraft jumped down the runway, you slammed your jet's afterburning engines to their stops to catch up with him as he power climbed to combat altitude.

"I've ordered Svetlana to report to the Royal Guard captain." You relayed to Dredd as you followed him in his climb. "Her jet wasn't combat-ready."

"Understood, all in all I'd say that was a good call." Dredd replied calmly, and left it at that.

>Talk with a squadmate (who?)
>Keep quiet for now.
>Other (write in)

>>739871
>>Talk with a squadmate
Weiss. See what that letter was all about. And make sure she's doing okay.

>>739871
>>739879

>>739405
>Have her stay on the ground, you just can't risk her if her aircraft hasn't gone through post-maintenance checks.

As you levelled out, you switched to your channel between you and Weiss.

"Freelancer 2-1 to 2-2. You doing good Weiss?" You asked as the rest of the unit raced to catch up to Dredd.

"I'm doing well enough." Weiss replied with a curious tone, almost as if she was distracted by something else.

"Is there something wrong?" You asked calmly as you looked over at your wingmate. Even though you were over 100 meters away from her, you could just about see her head turn to face you.

"I..." Weiss sighed as she took a second to compose herself before speaking.

"I received a letter form my family yesterday. They managed to escape from the encroaching soviet armies and have escaped to the west of France." Weiss paused again. "But my younger brother is planning on enlisting in the infantry."

"How old is he?" You asked as Slider and Sakamoto joined up with your steadily growing gaggle.

"He's 18, but he's always been... how can I say this... childish? He's always acted like he was younger than he actually is." Weiss continued, the worry in her voice now becoming palpable. "My parents are worried that he's going to go out onto the battlefield and be killed. But he doesn't listen to them, he's angry at the Soviets."

"And you? How do you feel about it?" You asked as you unit finally finished forming up.

"I don't want him to join the infantry. I don't want to loose him!" Weiss replied almost frantically, her concern for her brother threatening to boil over.

>"I completely understand the urge to protect him. But he's old enough to look after himself now."
>"Try and get a letter to him, explain to him why you and your parents are worried for him. After all, the infantry is extremely dangerous."
>Other (write in)

>>740126
>>"Try and get a letter to him, explain to him why you and your parents are worried for him. After all, the infantry is extremely dangerous."

>>740126
>"Try and get a letter to him, explain to him why you and your parents are worried for him. After all, the infantry is extremely dangerous."

>>740126
>"Try and get a letter to him, explain to him why you and your parents are worried for him. After all, the infantry is extremely dangerous."

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"Try and get a letter to him, explain to him why you and your parents are worried for him. After all, the infantry is extremely dangerous." You calmly advised your wingmate as the last few aircraft formed up into the loose gaggle of aircraft. And as one, the group of F-14s turned to head towards the incoming Soviet group.

"I was planning to, but thanks for the advice either way." Weiss thanked you, before then asking another question.

"So, why did Durendal bolt earlier?" She asked you calmly, you were quiet for a couple of seconds as you formulated your response.

"I told you, she'll tell you when she feels comfortable talking about it." You replied calmly, you felt that Durendal wouldn't like you going around telling people about her loss before she was ready fro them to know.

"Come on... you can't tell your best buddy in the entire unit?" Weiss tried to pry at you.

"Trust me, if he hasn't told me then he won't tell you." Zeus spoke up from his seat in the back.

>"No, she will tell you when she is comfortable about talking about it. I won't spread it around before she wants it to be known."
>"Durendal... she received the news that nobody ever wants to hear."
>"Durendal is sure that her brother is dead. She believes that the destroyed tank in the earlier news report was his."
>Other (write in)

>>740313
>"I wouldn't tell your secrets to her either, Minna."
You know it's serious business when you use someone's first name.

>>740313
>"No, she will tell you when she is comfortable about talking about it. I won't spread it around before she wants it to be known."

>"No, she will tell you when she is comfortable about talking about it. I won't spread it around before she wants it to be known."

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I'm going to call today's run here, I need to be up early tomorrow to finish up some work. Like always, if you have any questions simply ask them and I will answer them to the best of my abilities.

>>740401
See you, Thunderhead.

STOL/MTD WHEN?

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>>740401
Goddammit, forgot to check up on this over the weekend, hopefully I remember to drop by tomorrow.

Anyway, seems like more countries take their home aerospace industry more seriously than OTL, if the CF-105's in service and Japan is top dog in the Pacific. How about Britain? Do they have pic related up and running?

And hey, as long as I'm asking questions:

Where do Vietnam's interests lay? On the one hand they're nominally communist if the North still won but on the other hand they have significant historical animosity with China.

How's the Soviet Navy looking? Considering America should still be king of the ring where navies are concerned, and apparently Japan's no slouch here either. Given that the VDV recently tried to a legit airborne invasion, hat tells me they're either really confident in their ability to aerially supply troops, or they think they can contest the Sea of Japan well enough to escort supply convoys. Or their Far East leadership is bumfuck nuts, which is looking more and more plausible as the days go by.

>>735348
>I am glad that someone likes the quick change though.
I don't, the tonal shift is jarring and abrupt, this ain't really the same quest no more

>>741031
Huh. It's almost like the Soviets declared war or something.

>>740848
I'd love it if the TSR2 was operational here...it was only moron-level politics that stopped it in RL :(

>>740848
>How about Britain? Do they have pic related up and running?
Kind of. TSR-2's main role never materialised. Instead it was build more as a fast reconnaissance and tactical strike aircraft. It didn't succeed in the tactical strike role until it was upgraded to use guided air-to-ground weapons. However, as a recon aircraft it proved to be exemplary. It's main stumbling point is it's high servicing costs, which is why it's being replaced in the strike role by either the Panavia Tornado or a modified F-14 model.
>Where do Vietnam's interests lay? On the one hand they're nominally communist if the North still won but on the other hand they have significant historical animosity with China.
The war in Vietnam actually ended in a victory for South Vietnam. However, in the final few months of the war, China pushed into North Vietnam to land-grab some territory before North Vietnam completely capitulated. That land-grab, and the fuckery that is everyone's claims to the islands in the south china sea, have ultimately caused the Vietnamese government to become interested in defence. They have historically worked along-side Taiwan and the IJN in RIMPAC exercises.

They are also the biggest customer for the F-20, with more hundreds of aircraft on order before the start of the war.
>How's the Soviet Navy looking? Considering America should still be king of the ring where navies are concerned, and apparently Japan's no slouch here either. Given that the VDV recently tried to a legit airborne invasion, hat tells me they're either really confident in their ability to aerially supply troops, or they think they can contest the Sea of Japan well enough to escort supply convoys. Or their Far East leadership is bumfuck nuts, which is looking more and more plausible as the days go by.
The Soviet navy is pretty strong, they have multiple fleets containing assorted aircraft carriers, battleships and battlecruisers. However, they need time to organise themselves for an invasion.

The Far Eastern command are... unpredictable. They may seem nuts but there is method in the madness.

>>741031
I am sorry that you feel that way, but the question is, will this tone shift cause you to drop the quest?

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"No, she'll tell you when she is comfortable about talking about it. I won't spread it around before she wants it to be known." You replied sternly, before adding. "I wouldn't tell people about your personal problems either, Minna."

Scorpion was silent for a few seconds, seemingly thinking about your reply.

"Understood, I'll stop prying then." Scorpion replied as she began to understand the serious nature of your squadmate's situation.

The rest of the flight to the combat zone continued in silence. However, it wasn't long before your radar began picking up contacts.

"Contacts, looks like an advance force. Looks like a mix of MiG-27s and Su-24s." Zeus read out calmly over the squadron network.

"We see them. Freelancer 1-1 is engaging!" Dredd called out, before launching a pair of AIM-54s at the enemy formation. Ahab launched his Phoenixes at the Soviets a few seconds after in a follow up strike.

You weren't sure about what specific aircraft were hit, but of the 6 aircraft formation 3 of the radar returns disappeared off the screen. However, as the missiles impacted, a larger group began to filter into range.

"I guess that's the main force." Zeus paused for a couple of seconds, before continuing. "That's much larger than what we were expecting."

>Engage the closest group so that your entire unit can focus on the main Soviet unit.
>Engage the main unit while your Phoenixes are still at optimal range.
>Other (write in)

>>743843
>Engage the main unit while your Phoenixes are still at optimal range.

>>743843
>Engage the main unit while your Phoenixes are still at optimal range.

>>743843
>>Engage the main unit while your Phoenixes are still at optimal range.

>>743843
>Engage the main unit

Real nice of them to just keep throwing planes at us like this. Makes me wonder if they're all just a distraction from an invasion of Hokkaido from Sakhalin or something.

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"Zeus, lock up some of the aircraft in the main formation!" You didn't wait for an invitation to hit the main soviet formation as you armed your AIM-54s. A few seconds after you asked Zeus to grab a target for you, a pair of aircraft in the main formation were highlighted on your radar display.

"Freelancer 2-1, Fox-3!" You called out as you launched your missiles. Scorpion echoed your call a second later as she fired her AIM-54s.

As your missiles lanced towards the Soviet formation, you peered down at your screen to track their progress. From what you could see, many of your comrades had chose to launch their Phoenixes. However, you could see that 3 of the missiles that had been fired were angling towards the closest Soviet formation.

The missiles targeting the the closest Soviet formation struck their marks first. A pair of missiles hit their respective targets while the third and final Soviet aircraft evaded the incoming missile. This lone aircraft quickly turned and made a break for the main formation.

Speaking of which, the missiles bound for the main flight found their marks as the closest Soviet turned tails. Your missiles arrived first by a slight margin, only to miss as the targeted aircraft went evasive at last moments. Other aircraft in the Soviet flight weren't so lucky, as 5 aircraft were blown out of the skies.

However, your unit's satisfaction at taking such a large chunk out of the Soviet forces was quickly dispelled as your radar warning receivers screamed into life.

"MISSILES INCOMING! GET THE JAMMERS UP!" Dredd yelled as the formation split in half, following Shirotori flight and their active jammers.

"Razor, I think I can take out those missiles!" Zeus announced as your shut off your radar to reduce your radar signature to the incoming missiles.

"Then why aren't you doing it?" You fired back as you glanced down at your sensor display. The incoming missiles had already covered about a third of the distance between you and the Soviet formation. You didn't have long before the missiles struck.

"Because the method requires the radar to be online. And if the method doesn't work, it would put a huge target on our heads." Zeus reported back with a slight hint of worry, as if he wasn't sure in his own plan's chances of success.

>"Do it. We need those missiles gone."
>"Don't do it. We'll just have to trust our jammers."
>Other (write in)

>>744142
>>"Do it. We need those missiles gone."
And tell everyone to get the hell away from us while we do it. Just in case.

>>744142
>"Do it. We need those missiles gone."
My sense of self-preservation says no, but my boner says fuck yes.

>>744142
>"Do it. We need those missiles gone."
Well he did hijack Svetlana's kill switch so I'll trust him on this.

>>741988
>I am sorry that you feel that way, but the question is, will this tone shift cause you to drop the quest?
If it keeps up, then yeah, its very different from what hooked me early on and got me interested.

>>744142
>"Do it. We need those missiles gone."

Alright Zeus do your thing

>>744224
I'm not planning any more major tone shifts. I don't plan for this to go grim-derp

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"Do it. We need those missiles gone." You replied as you broke away from the group you were in, separating your signature from that of your comrades.

But at the same time, you were also leaving the protective net of your comrade's jammers. So you were more at risk if Zeus's plan fucked up.

"Freelancer 2-1. What the hell are you doing?!" Dredd barked over the radio as Zeus brought your radar online, and began to push it past it's limits.

You didn't bother responding to Dredd, or the panicked calls of your squadmates as you opened yourself to attack. Instead you focused on removing the limiters on your EW system.

You glanced back at the radar screen in time to see a pair of Soviet missiles disappear from your screen. as if they had exploded in mid-air. A few more missiles seemingly lost their tracks as their trajectories remained fixed.

However, the remaining missiles began to vector towards you.

"Zeus, you better have-" You began, before Zeus interrupted you with a frantic yell.

"BREAK! BREAK! BREAK!" Zeus yelled, however he only needed to tell you once, as you immediately shut down your radar set and dived for the deck on full afterburners, dumping chaff all the way.

You kept up the dive as you began to make out the missiles. Of the 3 that you could see, 2 were simply too high up to intercept you. However the final missile looked like it was well on track to hit you if you kept up the dive.

You held up the dive for a few more seconds as the missile rocketed towards you, before you pulled up violently. Your F-14E's larger control surfaces and thrust-vectoring engines allowing you to pull up almost instantly. But your eyes never left the incoming missile, the one that should have killed you.

Thankfully, the missile passed under you, unable to keep up with you sudden change in direction.

"Freelancer 2-1, report! What the fuck are you doing razor?!" Dredd called out again over the radio.

>Form back up silently, act like nothing ever happened.
>Let Zeus explain as you form back up with your squadmates.
>Other (write in)

>>744341
>Let Zeus explain as you form back up with your squadmates.
We take responsibility cause that could have gone much worse than it did.

>>744341
>Let Zeus explain as you form back up with your squadmates.

>Let Zeus explain as you form back up with your squadmates.

>>744341
>Let Zeus explain as you form back up with your squadmates.

>>744341

Also holy fuck is that a gorgeous picture

You sighed in relief as you angled back up, moving to form up with your flight as they headed towards the soviet formation.

"Zeus said he had a plan on how to defeat the incoming missiles. I trusted his plan, so I'll leave it to him to explain." You explained before pausing, leaving an opening for Zeus to explain.

"Save it. We have Soviets to kill." Dredd barked as you pulled up into the formation. You arrived in time to see a pair of AMRAAMs drop away from Scorpion's aircraft.

You looked down at you radar screen to get a better view of the battlefield.

From what you could see, the last aircraft from the first group was forming up with the main group. Meanwhile, 4 aircraft were turning away from the group and were retreating. If you had to guess they were out of missiles and were leaving before they got shot down.

"Zeus, you have any idea what we're facing?" You asked as you selected your AIM-120s.

"No idea. I accidentally burned out the radar's locking systems in that stunt earlier. We can detect enemy aircraft, but we can't lock them." Zeus reported sullenly. This left you a few choices.

>Ditch the AMRAAMs, there's no point in keeping them If you can't fire them with the best chances of hitting something.
>Fire the AMRAAMs without a lock, they will go active on their own, but they might track a friendly.
>Data-link the AMRAAMs to a squadmate. Take your targets off them.
>Other (write in)

>>744513
>Data-link the AMRAAMs to a squadmate. Take your targets off them.
We might be able to lock them on a target but we can get scorpion to use them for us.

>>744526
woops meant that we can't lock them onto a target but scorpion should be able to use them if we link with her.

>>744513
>Data-link the AMRAAMs to a squadmate. Take your targets off them.

No sense in dumping useful tools still

>>744513
>Data-link the AMRAAMs to a squadmate. Take your targets off them.

>>744513
>Data-link

Our squad's all in F-14D's, right? Radar on those can track more targets than the amount of missiles the plane can carry, might as well take advantage of that.

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With your radar's target locking systems one the shit, your options were pretty limited. You could simply ditch the AMRAAMs, there was no point in keeping them if you couldn't fire them with the best chances of hitting something then there was no point in keeping them. You could simply launch the AMRAAMs without a lock, they would go active on their own, but they might track a friendly.

However, you had a better option, you could simply data-link the AMRAAMs to a squadmate and let them use them.

"Scorpion, I'm going to data-link my AMRAAMs to you. I can't get a lock." You immediately radioed to your wingmate as you data-linked to her. Less than a few seconds later, all of your AMRAAMs dropped off your centre-line pylons. The volley of 6 AMRAAMs dashed straight towards the Soviet formation, only to be followed by another 4 from Dredd and Ahab.

The first volley scored minimal hits as the Soviets began to evade the missiles. Of the 6 missiles, only 2 hit their marks. Dredd and Ahab's volleys scored more hits, with another 3 aircraft disappearing from you screens.

As you moved closer to the Soviet formation, more members of your combined flight launched their missiles at the enemy. However, it wasn't long before your unit was forced to go evasive.

As your missile warning receiver screamed into life, you pulled up hard and climbed on full afterburners as you ascended as fast as you could. finally, your missile warning system finally shut off.

"SHIROTORI 1-2, I'M HIT!" You sister cried as you levelled off. Your blood ran cold at the cry.

"Shirotori 1-2, how badly are you hit?" You asked worriedly as you rolled over to look down at the flight. From what you could see, a pair of F-14s were breaking off from the formation, one of them was smoking pretty badly.

"Port engine is down, starboard engine is in the orange. I've got multiple punctured fuel tanks. I'm returning to base." Janice replied worriedly.

"I shall escort her back to base. I can cover her with my jammer and I can intercept any Soviet aircraft that try to intercept us." Sakamoto called out almost coldly. trying to pull on an emotionless mask to hide her worry.

>Escort your sister back to base. You aren't any more use in this engagement without BVR missiles anyways.
>Charge the Soviet flight, give them something bigger to worry about.
>Other (write in)

>>744753
>Escort your sister back to base. You aren't any more use in this engagement without BVR missiles anyways.

>>744753
>Charge the Soviet flight, give them something bigger to worry about.

>>744753
>Charge the Soviet flight, give them something bigger to worry about.
Trust the princess, make ourselves the bigger threat.

>>744753
>'Shirotori 1-2, do you know what hit you?'

>Charge the Soviet flight

Damage sounds like she either got scraped by shrapnel from a missile detonation or a gun attack managed to score some hits.

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You dived from your perch towards the Soviet flight on full afterburners.

"Shirotori 1-2, do you know what hit you?" You asked calmly as you barrelled towards the Soviets. You knew that she had probably been hit by a missile, but you didn't know if it was a direct hit or a nearby detonation.

"A missile blew up near to me. I can make it back to base." Your sister replied as the Soviet flight entered visual range. The flight was currently occupied by dodging incoming AMRAAMs. You watched as an AMRAAM slammed into a soviet attack aircraft and blew it to pieces.

As you dived, you could 3 distinct groups. One group was a pair of colourfully painted SU-33s. Each aircraft was painted grey with blue wingtips on the canards, main wings and tail planes. If you had to guess, they were either aces or were unfortunate enough to have been stuck with display aircraft.

Just below them was a group of MiG-21s and MiG-27s, all of them flying erratically. If they managed to organise then they could have be a major threat, even if they were seemingly inexperienced.

The final group was a pair of SU-34s and SU-24s. Each one was loaded up with ground attack equipment, and they were diving away from your comrades. If they escaped then they could cause serious damage to military facilities in the area.

>Go after the SU-33s. You can't risk them escaping if they are aces.
>Dive on the MiGs. You need to keep them off balance.
>Intercept the attackers. If they escape then they could cause severe damage.
>Other (write in)

>>744985
>Intercept the attackers. If they escape then they could cause severe damage.

>>744985
>Go after the Su-33s

If we can tie them up, rest of our flight shouldn't have much trouble with the others.

>>744985
>Go after the SU-33s. You can't risk them escaping if they are aces.
[ace combat intensifies]

>>744985
>Intercept the attackers. If they escape then they could cause severe damage.
Well if we want their attention no better way than to attack what they are meant to protect.

Need a tiebreaker

>Go after the SU-33s. You can't risk them escaping if they are aces.

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You chose to dive on the SU-33s, the weird paint-job just screamed "ace pilots" to you. Why else would they be painted in such an unusual paint scheme.

As you dived on the pair, they dived in amongst the MiGs, using their comrades to try and spoof your missiles. You launched an Agile at the lead aircraft, only for the missile to lock onto a MiG-27 and blow it out of the sky.

The SU-33s broke apart as you and Scorpion came in for a guns run, spoiling your firing solution as you flew right past them.

You pulled up and rolled to the right to avoid a burst of cannon rounds from one of the SU-33s. You glanced over your shoulder and locked up the enemy aircraft, the mere prompt of your locking him up caused the SU-33 to roll to the side, cut his engines and dump chaff.

You took the chance to hit your afterburners and get some distance before turning back towards the SU-33. The SU-33 pilot turned away from you as his wingmate dived on you. Only for the wingmate to roll to the side and dump flares as Scorpion fired a missile at him.

You took the chance to chase the first SU-33, the pilot saw you coming and broke into a dive in order to get more speed as quickly as possible. You followed him into the dive as he tried to drag you into the weeds.

The SU-33 tried to drag you into the mud, but he obviously underestimated your jet's abilities. You pursued him as he tried to shake you, waiting for him to make a mistake. Thankfully, you didn't have to wait long.

The SU-33 tried to break right, before reversing back to the left and entering a climb, trying to force you to go wide as he tried to climb. However, as he tried to climb, he lost airspeed and slowed down, allowing himself to drop into your guns-sights.

You sent a stream of 2omm SAP-HE shells into the back of his aircraft, snaking the shells across his aircraft's engines and just behind his aircraft's canards.

The Soviet pilot ejected as you passed him. Giving him a good look at the aircraft that had shot him down.

"Freelancer 2-2, give me a sit-rep?" You asked over Scorpion as you levelled off. From what you could see, your comrades were busy dismantling the MiG flight. Meanwhile a pair broke off and dived on what you assumed were the attacker aircraft.

"Freelancer 2-1, I've dealt with the other SU-33. What should we do now?" Scorpion asked as you managed to spot her. And sure enough, the other SU-33 was dropping away in a ball of fire.

>Assist in taking out the Attackers. You can't let them escape.
>Assist in taking out the MiGs. They are easy kills.
>Wait around to see if anyone needs assistance.

>Assist in taking out the Attackers. You can't let them escape.

>>745378
>>Assist in taking out the Attackers. You can't let them escape.
But ask over the radio if there's anyone who needs help.

>>745378
>Assist in taking out the MiGs. They are easy kills.
We can't leave our wingman alone that just spells trouble, let's trust the rest of our unit to jump on the attackers.

>>745378
>>745383

"Freelancer 2-1 to all elements, does anybody need assistance?" You asked as Scorpion formed up with you as you entered a holding pattern. A quick glance down at your display told you that you still had around a third of your fuel left.

"Shirotori 2-1 to Freelancer 2-1. We could use some assistance in rounding up these attackers. The Fullbacks are proving to be very slippery, we can't get missile locks on them." Iori reported to you, in response you vectored towards her little dogfight with the SU-34s.

As you approached however, you watched as the SU-24's rose up from the deck on full afterburners and loosed missiles at your comrades. One of the Tomcats dodged one missile, only for a second to explode near to it and shower it in shrapnel. The second Tomcat suffered far worse as it took a pair of missiles, one blowing off it's right wing while the second hit just in front of the cockpit before detonating.

"SHIROTORI 2-1, I'M HIT! REQUESTING IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE!" Iori screamed over the radio frantically as she fought to keep her F-14 in the air, smoke billowing from one of it's engines.

"Hold on, we're inbound!" You responded as you hit your afterburners. You locked up one of the SU-24s and launched your final Agile at it as the Soviet attack aircraft reached the apex of it's climb.

The Soviet crew seemed to acknowledge their hopeless situation, as their aircraft reached it's stalling point. The air-crew punched out just before you missile hit, saving them from death as all of the bombs that they carried exploded, along with their aircraft.

The second SU-24 met a similar end, this time however the killing blow was not from an Agile, but from an AMRAAM. Launched by Scorpion in retaliation for the Soviets daring to attack your comrades.

The Fullbacks turned to face you as you charged them, seemingly uninterested in the easy kill that was Shirotori 2-1. You went after the trailing SU-34 while your wingmate hit the one that was already facing you.

Surprisingly, the SU-34 that was facing you was the first to die, as Scorpion fired a pair of missiles at it. One AMRAAM and her last Agile. The AMRAAM hit first by just a second, detonating just underneath eh Fullback. Meanwhile the Agile practically entered the Fullback's port engine, blowing the aircraft apart.

The trailing Fullback was the last to go as you strafed it from just in font of it's port canard, down to it's starboard tail plane. The enemy aircraft was shredded by your assault and careened into the terrain.

>Check in on Iori, see if she can make it back to base.
>Look for Shirotori 2-2's parachutes. You prayed that at least one of them survived.
>Look for other Soviet aircraft, you can't let them reach Shirotori 2-1.
>Other (write in)

>>745705
>>Check in on Iori, see if she can make it back to base.
>>Look for Shirotori 2-2's parachutes. You prayed that at least one of them survived.

>Check in on Iori, see if she can make it back to base.

>>745705
>Look for other Soviet aircraft, you can't let them reach Shirotori 2-1.

>>745705

>Check in on Iori, see if she can make it back to base.
>Look for Shirotori 2-2's parachutes. You prayed that at least one of them survived.

"Shirotori 2-1, give me a sit-rep." You called out to Iori as you looked for her wingmate's parachutes. You knew that Soviet parachutes were differently coloured to the ones used by the USN and the IJN, so it would be easy for you to find out if anyone in Shirotori 2-2's bird had managed to eject.

"Not good. both of my engines are in the red and multiple fuel tanks are ruptured. I need to return to base right now or I won't have the fuel to make it back." Iori reported frantically as her jet turned back towards the base.

"Understood. We're done here, but we'll stay on station to cover the SAR birds." Dredd replied as his F-14 descended from high above to help search for survivors from Shirotori 2-2.

"Then who will escort me back to base?" Iori asked worriedly as you turned to catch up with her limping F-14.

"Freelancer 2-1 and 2-2 will." You answered as you took up position just behind and to the right of Iori's aircraft. From this distance, you could tell that the damage was pretty severe. However, the jamming pod under her right wing-glove was intact.

"Thank you." Iori replied thankfully as Scorpion formed up off her left wing.

"Be advised, I'm sending Freelancer 4-1 and 3-2 back with you for re-arming. I expect you to land, re-arm and get back out here. Understood?" Dredd briefed you as Kenji and Durendal caught up with your return flight. "Myself and Ahab will stay behind, we have some fuel and missiles left over."

"WILCO. Good luck sir." You returned back to your squad leader, before cutting the comms and letting your head rest back against your seat as you sighed tiredly.

"One aircraft down and another pair damaged." Zeus began worriedly. "Today might just have been the most costly mission for us thus far."

>"Let's hope that this is the most we loose in this damn war."
>"Those losses weren't even to VF-21, we haven't lost anyone this entire war."
>"If we're fighting the dregs, then I truly worry for when the Soviets bring in their better pilots."
>Other (write in)

>>745906
>>"Let's hope that this is the most we loose in this damn war."

>>745906
>"If we're fighting the dregs, then I truly worry for when the Soviets bring in their better pilots."

>>745906
>"Let's hope that this is the most we loose in this damn war."

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I'm going to call today's run here, we'll do a short run tomorrow to finish this run up before Friday. Like always, if you have any questions simply ask them and I will answer them to the best of my abilities.

>>745979
See you tomorrow!

>>745979

Thanks for running, see you later today

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"Let's hope that this is the most we loose in this damn war." You returned to Zeus as you looked over at Iori's aircraft.

Iori was flying with her wings fully swept forward, locked out at 20° to provide as much lift as possible. This was matched with the extended glove vanes just in front of the wings. However, from what you could see her jet was still listing slightly. Her right wing was dipping slightly lower than usual. she had ditched everything but the jamming pod under her wing.

You watched her like a hawk as she continued back to base. Zeus kept your radar on and searching, even though it couldn't lock any targets and was on the brink of burning out.

As you approached the base, you were joined by a pair of F-15Ds that had been flying CAP over the base. However, they waved off as Iori began her landing run at the New Chitose Airport. The New Chitose Airport was adjacent to the airbase that you operated out of. And it was practically connected to the air base by a series of taxiways. The civilian airport had had been appropriated for the war effort the day the war had began. Mainly, it was meant to service large transports like C-5s and C-141s. But it also served as a diversion runway for damaged aircraft. From you eagle-eye view, you could already see your sister's F-14 being loaded onto a transport truck for the short trip over to the air base.

You followed Iori in as she made her landing run, and just like with a normal landing run, she lowered her aircraft's landing gear and came in slow. You had to pitch up and hit the power in order to keep your altitude steady as you followed her in. Her jet's wheels hit the tarmac within the first quarter of the runway.

However, less than a second after touchdown, her rear landing gear shattered, with the nose gear following a second later. The sudden loss of speed caused you to speed past her aircraft, and you had to crane your neck back as you pushed the throttle forward to avoid unintentionally crashing.

You looked back in time to see the stricken Tomcat's canopy be blasted away, with the crew ejecting out less than a second later. And as Iori and her RIO dangled beneath their parachutes, their Tomcat skidded to a halt, leaving a trail of it's mechanical blood on the tarmac as fire trucks and ambulances raced to the crash site.

You didn't wait around to watch Iori reach the ground as your fuel warning system began to chirp into life. Warning you that you needed to land as soon as possible. You came out of your pass, turned around, and came in for a landing at the air base. You and Scorpion touched down flawlessly as your radar finally burned out, it's screen winking out.

You taxied back to your hanger silently as Zeus began the post-flight shutdowns for all of your jet's sub systems. You finished your post-flights quickly and climbed out. As your boots hit the tarmac, you pondered your next moves.

>CONT

>>747878
>Find Iori and check in on her. She may not be in your unit officially, but VF-21 and Shirotori flight have been working together so much that you might as well be a single unit.
>Head to the princess's barracks. You can check up on Janice and Princess Sakamoto before you head off with Svetlana.
>Head back to the hut and crash for a bit. You feel pretty tired as it is.
>Other (write in)

>>747878
>>Find Iori and check in on her. She may not be in your unit officially, but VF-21 and Shirotori flight have been working together so much that you might as well be a single unit.

Ejecting fucking sucks. She'll probably not be flying for a few days at least.

>>747898
yep. this.

>>747889
>Find Iori and check in on her. She may not be in your unit officially, but VF-21 and Shirotori flight have been working together so much that you might as well be a single unit.

>>747889
>Find Iori and check in on her. She may not be in your unit officially, but VF-21 and Shirotori flight have been working together so much that you might as well be a single unit.

With the Royal Guard captain nowhere to be found, any you not wanting to be around to face the wrath of your crew chief when he found out that you burned out the radar. You decided to pay a visit to Iori and her RIO and check in on them.

You had a rough idea where they would be, if you had to guess they would be taken to the air base's medical centre. A make-shift hospital for the people who suffered minor injuries on either the base or at the airport. As such, you made your way over there while Zeus finished up the post-flight checks.

The walk over there was fairly simple, however you had to wait for Iori and her RIO while they were carted over from the airport and underwent X-rays to check for any damage they might have sustained while ejecting. You sat in the waiting room until one of the nurses called you up. You followed the nurse to the room in which Iori and her RIO were staying.

The room itself was a large room, inside was 6 beds, each one with an IV stand next to each of them. The only beds inheritance of the beds were Iori and her RIO. Of the pair of them, only Iori was awake.

"Oh,hello Mr Poole." Iori greeted you as you walked over to her with a friendly smile.

"Nice to see that you're still in one piece. And please, call me Razor." You replied as you sat down on one of the metal chairs next to Iori's bed. She looked at you quizzically as you sat down.

"Razor? That's a pretty funny name to go by. Might I ask why you choose it?" Iori asked curiously, apparently she was unfamiliar with the concept of callsigns.

You didn't blame her. her unit was pretty green after all.

"It's my callsign. Many pilots tend to use it in conversations. It's sounds less official and regimented than addressing everyone by their surnames. Though nicknames are used in their place if a pilot hasn't earned a callsign." You explained as you kicked back a bit and cracked your fingers, loosening up the joints after they were pressed together by the high-G maneuvers.

"I see... nobody in my unit has a callsign like that. Is it an American thing?" Iori asked curiously before lolling her head lazily to face you.

"Not really. It's more of a western thing. The Brits do it, the French do in, the Germans do it. I was pretty sure that the IJN did it too." You confirmed with a shrug, Iori seemed to stare past you for a second, before she looked up at the ceiling and sighing.

"I see... so that's what they meant by that..." Iori said sadly, before sighing.

>"What did who mean by what?"
>Change the topic, ask her how bad her injuries are.
>Sit in silence for now, she might just need some company for now.
>Other (write in)

>>748141
>Change the topic, ask her how bad her injuries are.

>>748141
>Change the topic, ask her how bad her injuries are.

>>748141
>>Change the topic, ask her how bad her injuries are.

Now, people have called you many things in the past. Reckless, dangerous, and many other insults to both you and you family.

But let it not be said that you are blind. You could see that the current topic was bringing up some bad memories. So you decided to switch to a more relevant topic.

"So, how bad are you injuries?" you asked calmly, at this. Iori chuckled slightly.

"Not too bad. The doctors think that we might have suffered compressed vertebrae from the ejection." Iori chuckled again before continuing. "Chihaya-san sprained her ankle on landing though. I have no idea how she did it, but she seems to have a knack for hurting herself."

"Kinda reminds me of my old RIO. Trouble always seemed to find him." You replied with a smile, Iori opened her mouth to response, but she was cut off by the door being slammed open.

You had barely started turning towards the door when Princess Sakamoto reached the bed and began talking frantically to Iori in rushed Japanese. Her RIO, Yuiko Takebe quickly followed her to the bedside.

You looked to the door to see your sister and her RIO enter the room, followed by Svetlana and the Royal Guard Captain.

"Hey Bradly." Janice greeted you with a smile as she walked over to you. "What are you doing here?"

"Though I'd come over to see how Iori and Chihaya are doing. They had to punch out after a botched landing." You answered as you sister reached the bed. Janice frowned for a second, before looking at Iori and back at you.

"What happened out there? Where is Iori's wingmate?" Janice asked worriedly, as she asked the question, you felt many more sets of eyes fixing on you.

>Answer the question truthfully, Iori might not be able to tell them.
>Leave the explaining to Iori. It's not your place to talk about it.
>Other (write in)

>>748324
>>Leave the explaining to Iori. It's not your place to talk about it.

>>748324
>Answer the question truthfully, Iori might not be able to tell them.

>>748324
>Leave the explaining to Iori. It's not your place to talk about it.

If they were a part of our unit then I'd say we could do it but not

You paused for a couple of seconds as you thought about if you should spill the beans on what happened, you then looked over to Iori to see if she seemed ready to talk about it.

From her poiniantly saddened expression, you decided that she didn't want to talk about what had just transpired.

"It's not my place to say. I'll leave the explanation to Iori, when she feels ready to talk about what happened." You told Janice sternly as you stood up, making it a point to get the message across that it wasn't your place to talk about what happened. Your sister was quiet as you made you way past her, and over to Svetlana and the Royal Guard captain.

"I'll be taking her now." You addressed the Royal Guard Captain, who fixed you with a neutral glare. "Thanks for looking after her."

The captain nodded to you, before moving out of the way of the door, allowing you and Svetlana to leave. Svetlana followed you closely as you left the medical centre. The pair of you were quiet as you left the building, with the silence between you only being broken after you had left the building.

"Now that we are alone. Can you tell me what happened up there?" Svetlana asked curioulsy. You stopped for a few seconds to sigh, before looking her in the eye.

"I'll explain later." You replied calmly, before continuing on your way with Svetlana falling into lock-step with you as you made your way away from the medical centre.

>You made your way to the bar, you needed a beer.
>You made your way back to the hut, you wanted to lie down for a bit.
>You wandered around the base for a bit, you legs ached slightly from the high-g maneuvers.
>Other (write in)

>>748485
>You made your way back to the hut, you wanted to lie down for a bit.
We can booze it up when we're not about to be flying a jet again soon.

>>748485
>You made your way back to the hut, you wanted to lie down for a bit.

>>748485
>You made your way back to the hut, you wanted to lie down for a bit.

You made your way directly back to the hut. After the relatively long day you just wanted to lie down for a bit. Your trip back was made in silence, after the events of the day you just wanted a bit of silence before you had to tell Svetlana what had happened.

As you passed your hanger, you looked in to see that only 3 aircraft remained. Yours, Scorpion's and Svetlana's. Your ground crew were in the middle of removing your entire radar set, pulling the bulky set out of your bird and onto a waiting table, where unpacked spare parts lay waiting for use.

Your crew chief glanced over at you and gave you the dirtiest look he could muster before getting back to his work.

When you entered the hut, you found Zeus and Weiss sitting on the couch, watching the TV. Vamps sat next to them, reading one of the Japanese comics that she seemed so interested in. You recognised the comic as one of the "Akira" comics that you bought for Zeus back in the 'states.

"So, now that we're here. Would you mind telling me what happened up there?" Svetlana asked as you made your way over to the coffee machine. You paused for a couple of seconds as you spied a collection of un-opened cans of Coca-Cola. You instead snapped up a pair of them and opened them.

"We were vectored to intercept a flight of Soviet aircraft along with Princess Sakamoto's flight." You began as you passed the can to Svetlana, who took the can and took a tentative sip from it, before frowning at the foreign beverage.

"We intercepted them, but the Princess's flight took some major losses. My sister's aircraft took some missile damage and had to RTB before we even enter visual range of the Soviet flight. After that Iori's wingmate was shot down.We don't know if they survived or if they bought the farm. Iori's aircraft was badly damaged too, she had to punch out when her landing gear failed during landing." You reported to Svetlana before taking a deep swig of the coke.

"And what about you? Were you damaged?" Svetlana asked with a slightly concerned expression.

"No, though Zeus burned out the radar while trying to stop some incoming missiles." you paused for a couple of seconds, before then turning to your wingmate. "Speaking of which... just what the hell was your plan?"

Zeus looked up at you and sighed before beginning.

"I tried to use the radar to try and... blind the soviet radar and overload the Soviet missiles at the same time. The idea being that if I illuminated them with the 'cat's radar of full power then it would blind them, kinda like what happens when you shine a torch in someone's eyes." Zeus explained, having to put it in layman's terms for you.

"And obviously that didn't work." You sighed, before taking another sip from your room-temperature coke.

>CONT

>>748777
"Well... it kinda worked. Some of the Soviet missiles blew up in mid-air, and others lost their tracks." Zeus shot back with an exasperated tone.

"3 of those missiles nearly hit us." You clarified sternly, you weren't in the mood for Zeus's games.

"Yeah, though I'm pretty sure that those ones were semi-active missiles. I wasn't able to blind ALL of the Soviet aircraft." Zeus explained further as you finished off your coke.

"If you say so. You're going to be the one explaining it to Dredd either way." You returned calmly, before finishing your can of coke and tossing the can into the bin.

"I'm gonna hit the sack for a bit. Wake me if there's an attack." You didn't wait for Zeus to complain as you made your way over to your bed. You quickly took off your boots, laid down and closed you eyes.

Before you could get to sleep however, you felt a familiar weight join you on the bed. You cracked open an eye and found that Svetlana had joined you.

"Svetlana, what are you doing?" You asked your now rather intrusive comrade as you looked up at you.

"I'm lying down." She responded simply, as if nothing weird was going on.

You raised an eyebrow at her, before talking again. "You do know there are other beds you can use. Right?"

"But those are other people's beds, and you let me use your bed earlier." Svetlana pouted at you in mock annoyance at you trying to brush her off.

>"I insist, if you want to rest, then use one of the EMPTY beds."
>I... fine. But as soon as we get you a bed of your own, you're sleeping in it.understand?"
>Other (write in)

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>>748782
>>I... fine. But as soon as we get you a bed of your own, you're sleeping in it.understand?"

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>>748782
>I... fine. But as soon as we get you a bed of your own, you're sleeping in it.understand?"

>>748782
>"If you insist~"
Then wink.

>>748831
Oh lordy. I'm really considering switching my vote to this...

Convince me why I shouldn't, Thunder.

>>748859
Weiss might get jealous...

>>748831
>>748859
>>748864
Y'all raise some interesting points, as do my pants.

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>>748864
You make a good point.

It'd certainly create an interesting situation though.

>>748876
>>748870
maybe... but will you do it?

>>748782
>>"If you insist~"
>>748883
We can afford to make Weiss a little bit jealous. Just this once. Plus I want to see how Svetlana will react to the Razor-train.

>>748883
My final vote:
>If you insist~
>But I'd appreciate getting my personal space back some time this year.

>>748883
Also, way back when we first met her, did you ever think we'd try to get Svetlana to defect that early?
That was my write-in actually.

>>748900
I never really expected that write in. I knew that there was a chance that it would come up, but I just didn't expect you to try so early.

Well done on opening up 1/5 of the secret waifu options.But remember, you can only have 1 waifu. Having more will destroy your laifu.

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>>748926
>Secret waifu options
I knew my habitual flirtation votes would pay off eventually!

>>748926
Does this imply that blonde-and-crazy isn't a secret option, that blonde-and-crazy isn't a waifu, or that there are ten secret options?

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"Well.. if you insist~" You cooed lewdly at Svetlana, before winking at her to really sell the act as you gazed down at Svetlana grinned mischievously at her. While you were tired, you couldn't let this chance to tease your squadmate go to waste.

Svetlana immediately went red and began stuttering incomprehensibly. You knew she was speaking Russian, but you could barely hear her over Zeus's booming laughter. Before he was brutally cut off by someone elbowing him in the side.

"Wow, trying it on with the poor, defenceless Russian allready Razor? Shameful display." Weiss jokingly chided you as she looked over at you.

"Well, you haven't been putting out, so I have to go for... alternate options." You replied with a sultry grin as you snaked your arm around Svetlana's shoulder. Svetlana shuddered slightly at this, before pressing herself closer to you. Weiss stared at you for a couple of seconds, before putting down her coffee, getting up and walking over to you.

"Well if you're going to be like that then fine! I'll call your bluff." Weiss nudged Svetlana, who quickly shuffled over to your other side, opening you up for Weiss to climb in with you.

You laid there in slight shock for a couple of seconds, before sighing and laying your head back against the pillow.

"I never thought I'd appreciate my personal space so much." You huffed before you closed your eyes. You fell asleep to the sound of cute, German giggling.

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I'm going to call it here for this week's run. Before we go though, would any of you be up for a Wolfenstien-style one shot this weekend before Halloween? If not then we will just run as normal.

Either way, if you have any questions simply ask them and I will answer them to the best of my abilities.

>>748942
>Does this imply that blonde-and-crazy isn't a secret option, that blonde-and-crazy isn't a waifu, or that there are ten secret options?
Depends on if you want to go after blonde-and-crazy?

>>748976
Thanks for running!

>Wolfenstien-style one shot
Oh hell yeah.

>>748976
yep. i could do that.

>>748976
>Wolfenstien-style one shot
oh god what the fuck have you planned

>>748976
>Depends on if you want to go after blonde-and-crazy?
Hey, I like my second chances the way I like my suicides: with a hundred bottles of pills and a broken sound barrier.

>>748989
>oh god what the fuck have you planned
I don't know, but there will be nazis

>>749022
undead nazis?
which wofenstien are we talking about here. pre coma or post?

Old Blood/first level of New Order. 1945-ish. Though do remember that it will only be wolfenstien style, not a full copy of wolfenstien. There will be changes, including but not limited to weapons used, the main character and other things.

While we're here, strike witches/magical girls. yes or no? I have a few ideas for characters if we you want them in, but I completely understand if you don't want them included.

>>749095
I'm always down for some magical girl stuff.
Prior to running what I run now, I was contemplating running a quest where you're a mission handler for a WWII magical girl.

>>749105
If you want to run that I see no reason why you can't run it as a one-shot to test the waters. Though I must ask, what do you run now?

>>749112
Starcaller Quest. I may run a one-shot if I feel like I need a break from space stuff.

>>749115
I'll take a look at your quest, I'm interested in space related stuff If you want to take a break from your current quest then I recommend it. Part of the reason for me doing this one shot is so that I can take a bit of time to plan the next few threads of Pilot Quest.

>>749095
Please tell me they'll wear pants or something.

>>749130
Yes, these witches aren't the type to flash their panty-clad rumps around. Plus strikers don't work well in buildings.

>>749095
Please no, they're all over the place. The novelty wore off quickly.

>>748926
But we already have more than one, our cat is Waifu Prime, Weiss and Svet and Secondary Waifus

Ok, so we now have 1 for (>>749105) and 1 against (>>749372) the inclusion of strike witches/magical girls in the one-shot. I'll wait to see if we get more people voting either way. If not then I'll leave it up to a coin toss.

>>749938
I'm against. sorry bro. it was just never my thing.

>>750274
Ok then, we'll cut the strike witches/magical girl part and go for the basic nazi theme