>>2114136
>>"That's shitty, do you know if that is going to be fixed in later models?"

>"What about the other F110 versions, can't we downgrade to a more stable engine?"

Need a tiebreaker...

>>2114136
>"That's shitty, do you know if that is going to be fixed in later models?"

>>2114180
Ey Thunderhead, you linked the wrong thread in /qtg/.

>>2114198
Really? Shit, I'll go and fix that now. Thanks for correcting me.

File: F-14 hanger (3).jpg (528 KB, 1024x768)

528 KB JPG

"That's shitty, do you know if that is going to be fixed in later models?" You asked as you gently turned the jet into the section of taxiway that your unit occupied. Unlike the other sections, no active aircraft occupied the spaces between the armoured hangers. Instead, the space was occupied by supply crates, short-range AA units or aircraft that were so damaged that they were being stripped for parts instead of being repaired.

“Yeah, apparently it’s an issue with the current production methods. So they’re adapting parts of their production line with lessons learned from the Blackbird’s engines.” Zeus answered as you taxied into your armoured hanger. Your combined ground crew were waiting off just outside of the hangar, waiting for you to power down the engines.

“The Blackbirds are still in production?” You wondered as you began to shut the aircraft down, the engines shutting off first. Though they would still need time to spool down as the rest of your squadron taxied to their hangers in your wake.

“Sort-of. The production line is being developed from the maintenance line that used to service the Ravens and Blackbirds. Though because of enemy SAMs and increased airframe stress, the existing aircraft have been chewing through flight hours. So in order to keep up with attrition rates, new airframes are being built while older ones are repaired.” Zeus explained as the pair of you went through the sequence of putting your aircraft to sleep. The issues with the starboard wing-glove slightly hampering the process for a bit.

“And how do you know all of this stuff?” You asked as you finally popped the canopy, your ground crew already moving the wheeled boarding ladders over so that they could climb up and help you and Zeus to unplug from the aircraft.

“Because I read the technical reports, engineering magazines, and other such things. As opposed to trying to get myself brought up on unbecoming conduct or fraternisation charges.” Zeus replied smoothly as your crew chief ascended up the boarding ladder and quickly helped you unplug your life support vest from the seat. You certainly liked the help, as the fatigue of flying for a long time finally setting in.

“You do know that that is practically par for the course for us pilots, right?” You stated, not even bothering to phrase it as a question as you climbed out of the aircraft. The laundry list of things that you had to do. You were tired as hell. But you still had things to do, so you couldn’t retreat to bed right now.

>Meet up with a squadmate (who?)
>Head to your room, you have paperwork to do.
>Head to the mess hall, you’re starving right now.
>Head off to the payphone, you want to see how things are going back in the states.
>Other (write in)

>>2114322
>Head to the mess hall, you’re starving right now.

>>2114322
>>Head to the mess hall, you’re starving right now.

>>2114322
>>Head to the mess hall, you’re starving right now.

File: Light utility jeep.jpg (52 KB, 800x600)

52 KB JPG

Before you could speak, planning to head down to the mess hall, your stomach asked the question for you. The low and deep rumble from your gut managing to reverberate through the hanger, before being strangled out by the sound of a passing Tomcat. Your crew chief laughed rather loudly at the interesting noise.

"Sounds like you're hungry sir?" Your crew chief asked as he stood off to the side of the ladder, leaning over to Zeus to help him unplug from his seat.

"That I am chief. Do your boys have a ride I can borrow to the mess hall?" You asked as you made your way down the boarding ladder, making room for your chief and RIO.

"Not just for you, You'll have to take a ride with your wingmates. Unless you fancy ditching them?" Your chief asked as he gestured to a parked jeep. A newer Kubota utility vehicle, a pair of old car seats having been bolted into the back of the jeep.

“Sounds good, so we might as well get ready to go then?” You nodded to your crew chief and made your way towards the parked jeep. One of your ground crew quickly making his way to the jeep and jumping into the driver’s seat, taking control of the vehicle before you could and forcing you to take the front passenger seat.

Not that you minded, you were too tired to drive right now. You just wanted some food and some god damn coffee.

“How nice of you to wait for us mortals.” Scorpion yelled over the sound of dying jet engines as she approached your hanger. Bats walked just behind her, nursing a bottle of water. “Truly we should hail the benevolent ace.”

“As well you should!” You joked, your voice twisting as you tried to sound like stereotypical stuck-up villain type. For their part however, your wingmates just smiled.

“So, dorms or mess?” Bats asked as she climbed in behind you, both her and Weiss taking up the last of the proper seats. Leaving the remaining bitch seats to Svetlana and your RIO. Both of whom quickly climbed in.

“Mess, I don’t know about you but I’m starving.” You stated as you put on your seat belt. Your driver waited in silence for a few seconds for the rest of the vehicle’s occupants to get buckled it, before then taking the vehicle out and onto the taxiway.

You chatted idly with your squadmates as the driver made for the mess hall. The small jeep was obviously struggling with the load of another 2 people over it’s normal load, but with the base speed limit being only 15 miles per hour at best, you didn’t really notice much of a difference. Soon enough however, your jeep found it’s way into a line of other assorted utility vehicles as they all headed for the mess hall. From the sounds of it, very few pilots had been back in time for lunch, so the mess hall had been forced to whip up some food for when you all returned back with a vengeance. And for their credit, the chefs were quickly serving everybody. Even though everybody was asking for double portions.

>CONT

>>2114649

Some pilots wouldn’t be needing any of this, not anymore.

The mood as you sat down was enthusiastic, but still sombre as the assorted pilots and crew began telling their tales of the battle. The loud and boastful voices of the EB-66JB crew deeper into the mess hall managing to reach all the way out to your table. Your tray ladened with hot dogs, sides and a pair of coffee cups.

>Talk with your squadmates (about?)
>Scarf down the food as quickly as you can. You have things to do before you go to bed.
>Other (write in)

>>2114653
>Scarf down the food as quickly as you can. You have things to do before you go to bed.

>>2114653
>>Scarf down the food as quickly as you can. You have things to do before you go to bed.

>>2114653
>Scarf down the food as quickly as you can. You have things to do before you go to bed.

File: mess hall.jpg (178 KB, 679x557)

178 KB JPG

While you wanted to talk with your wingmates, you couldn't yourself hold back. The food itself was surprisingly well done for mess hall food. Then again, it was practically impossible to fuck up hot dogs. So as soon as your ass hit the bench, you began to scarf down your food. Each bite being rapidly followed by a sip of coffee as you did your best to keep awake long enough to devour your food. Such a ravenous hunger wasn't out of place for you, or any of the other pilots currently stuffing their faces. You had somewhat fond memories of going at whatever food was available with gusto back when you were with the fleet. Navy food typically came off worse when compared to what was available on land, but it all tasted about the same after a long patrol. And this was certainly similar to those long patrols.

By the time you had finished, your wingmates and assorted RIOs had only managed to get through half of their plates. Svetlana had eaten the least, though that was probably due to watching you eat.

"Is there something wrong comrade? You are eating like a starved conscript." Svetlana asked as she glanced down to your practically clean plate. Only a few crumbs showing that the plate had been eaten off.

"Long patrols and dogfights tend to make me hungry, putting them both together is a bad mix." You explained with a smirk as you lent back, the remaining cup of coffee in your hand.

"Bad for you, good for everyone else." Weiss smirked as the RIO eyed up her food. "Dinner and a show."

You simply chuckled, and idly chatted with your squadmates for a few minutes before excusing yourself and heading out. Unlike your squadmates, you had things to do. Your list of things to do unravelled itself in your mind. On the one hand, you had a lot of paperwork to do. Including the assessment for the echo 'cat. But you also wanted to check in on your sister and her unit. A few of their pilots had been injured a while back, and part of you wondered how they were doing. However, you also wanted to phone back to the states. Your family were probably wondering what was happening out on the front. You also wondered about Ares, your old RIO. Since his treatment was now being bankrolled by Lauren, you wondered how well his recovery was going.

On the other hand, part of you wondered just how well Lauren herself was doing. She was planning on joining the navy, specifically as an RIO for your unit. Maybe if she was back at home you could talk to her directly, or at least you could have someone pass a message on to her.

>Head to the pay phone and call someone back home (Home/Ares/Mercer household)
>Head back to the hut and get started on the paperwork.
>Try and find Janice and the Princess. It's been a while since you've checked in on them.
>Other (write in)

>>2114988
>Try and find Janice and the Princess. It's been a while since you've checked in on them.

>>2114988
>>Try and find Janice and the Princess. It's been a while since you've checked in on them.

>>2114988
>it was practically impossible to fuck up hot dogs
You haven't met me.

File: captain of the guard.jpg (69 KB, 490x600)

69 KB JPG

After considering your options, you decided to look for Janice and her squadron. If you remembered correctly, Iori and her RIO had punched out during a previous mission, so you wanted to know if they would be returning to the fight any time soon. They were both good people, and you hoped that neither of them would take this chance to bow out.

Your search began at the mess hall, all of the pilots who had just returned from the battle were sat here. And as expected, you didn't see the tell tail presence of royal guards or any other jumped up guards. This resulted in you moving onto the next best place, their hangers. However, this also turned out to be a waste of time as the only people there were the princess's ground crew.

As such, you made your way back towards the dormitories. You could always find out where the princess was sectioned to by simply looking for the building surrounded by machine gun nests and guard patrols. And soon enough, you found the offending building. It was only a short walk away from your own building. And as you approached, you felt the tell tail tingle of numerous sights tracking over you. However, fate seemed to be on your side, as the captain of the guard was standing at the door, talking to a couple of subordinate guards. However, he quickly stopped what he was doing and stared at you as you approached.

"You may continue through Mr Poole. Her majesty has ordered us to give you a free pass." The captain called out to you as you came closer. The two guards that he was addressing beforehand also turning to look at you.

"I assume that she's in then?" You asked as you continued up towards the captain, ignoring the disparaging gaze from the nearby guards.

"Indeed, she is in the recreational room. Do take your shoes off as you enter." The captain reminded you just before you entered, before then turning back to his guards and continuing to talk with them. You quickly entered and took off your boots before entering deeper into the dormitories. Thankfully however, the building was laid out in a similar way to your own building, and you quickly found the rec room. Inside, Princess Sakamoto and her RIO were both sat on the lavish couches. Both of them watching Japanese TV.

"Ah! Welcome Mr Poole!" Sakamoto greeted you as she noticed your entrance, she smiled up at you as you entered while her RIO simply regarded you with the cool gaze of a trained bodyguard.

>Ask the Princess how she's doing.
>Ask the Princess how your sister is doing.
>Ask about Iori and her RIO, how are they doing?
>Other (write in)

>>2115285
>Ask the Princess how she's doing.

>>2115285
>Ask the Princess how she's doing.

>>2115285
>Ask the Princess how she's doing.

"So, how are you doing? You asked the Princess as you entered, making for the only empty couch.

"I am doing rather well, thank you. How have things been for you since the ball?" The princess asked, a small and polite smile on her face.

"Things have been good, I suppose. We just got back from a fight around an hour ago." You sighed as you lent back into the couch, the soft seat threatening to drag you off to sleep.

"Really? What happened?" The princess asked, her voice shifting slightly as a bit of worry ebbed in.

"We had to intercept a bomber flight. Though some Soviet fighters countered us and we weren't able to intercept them before they fired their cruise missiles." You explained the situation in a truncated way, before the princess's RIO walked over from the kitchenette with a pair of coffees. She passed one to you and one to the princess.

"And how did it go?" Sakamoto asked, her expression no less serious than before.

"It went well, though we did loose a few birds. None from Freelancer squadron, but a few IJN and a few US birds." You explained, just before taking a sip from the coffee. Having to suppress a wince at the coffee being too sweet.

>"What about you? How have you been doing?"
>"So, do you know where my sister is? I want to talk with her before I head off."
>"So, I heard that you had an upcoming mission?"
>Other (write in)

>>2115493
>"What about you? How have you been doing?"

>>2115493
>"So, do you know where my sister is? I want to talk with her before I head off."

While we wait for a tiebreaker, I'm gonna call tonight's run here, we'll restart the thread tomorrow at around the same time. If you have any questions in the meantime, feel free to ask them and I'll answer them as soon as I am able.

File: Tomcat a best.png (951 KB, 602x767)

951 KB PNG

>>2115493
>"So, do you know where my sister is? I want to talk with her before I head off."

>>2115493
>>"So, do you know where my sister is? I want to talk with her before I head off."

"So, do you know where my sister is? I want to talk with her before I head off." You asked, changing the subject before the princess could ask about specifics.

"She is just upstairs, though I think it would be better for you to wait down here." The princess recommended while you sipped from your drink.

"And why is that?"

"She is-" The princess began, only to be interrupted by a voice from the stairs.

"Bradly!" Janice greeted you as she quickly descended the rest of the stairs. Your sister quickly taking a seat next to the princess with a smile. "I heard you got into a fight!"

"Yeah, I did. Kicked red ass like usual." You replied with a smile, before sipping your coffee. Your long drags from the mug already having drained half of it's contents.

>Ask your sister and the princess how their unit has been doing.
>Ask your sister and the princess about their upcoming mission.
>Other (write in)

>>2116958
>Ask your sister and the princess how their unit has been doing.

>>2116958
>Ask your sister and the princess how their unit has been doing.

>>2116958
>>Ask your sister and the princess how their unit has been doing.

"So, how have the pair of you been doing? Gotten into any fights recently?" You asked your sister and her commanding officer. The pair of them shaking their heads in response.

"Unfortunately not, we've been getting reinforced by new pilots and have been on minimal duties while we build up back to combat strength." The princess reported calmly, though you noted a hint of sadness in her voice. You didn't really blame her though, you would feel fairly bad if you were being held back while your home was at risk of invasion.

"Though there was that recon plane. A Foxbat-B. We shot it down over the east coast." Janice recalled calmly, piquing your interest slightly. As far as you remembered, Foxbats were interceptors rather than recon aircraft.

"Did the SAR birds recover him?" You asked curiously, your interest piqued at their kill.

"Yes, one of the new pavehawks picked him out of the drink. Last I heard, the IJN intelligence branch was getting their teeth into him." Janice reported happily, though you did feel a bit uneasy at the prospect of the Japanese getting their hands on the captured pilot. The Japanese certainly didn't have the best record for humanely treating POWs from the last world war. And part of you wondered just how much they had really changed on that front.

"Sucks to be him." You replied simply, deciding not to press the matter further.

"Excuse me, your highness?" Sakamoto's RIO piped up hesitantly. "We should be heading off to the hospital soon."

"Ah, my mistake. I completely forgot the time." The princess replied with a bit of surprise. "My apologies Mr Poole, but I'm afraid that we will have to cut this short. We were planning on visiting Iori-san in the hospital."

"She's still recovering?" You asked, a bit of doubt in your voice. The few pilots you knew who had ejected from their aircraft for whatever reason before the start of the war had all been up and walking within a week of the incident. Though they also had to wait for around a month or so before they were cleared for flight again.

"Intensive bed-rest is the quickest path to recover from her injuries. Though hopefully both her and her RIO should be out of hospital in a few weeks time." Sakamoto's RIO answered, her voice still carrying a slight edge when she talked to you.

You thusly made your goodbyes and left the building, leaving your sister and her unit to quickly get ready for their trip to the hospital. And as you left the building, your mind wandered onto what to do next.

>Head to the pay phone and call someone back home (Home/Ares/Mercer household)
>Head back to the hut and get started on the paperwork.
>Get some rest, you don't want to head up on your next flight in such a state.
>Other (write in)

>>2117387
>>Head back to the hut and get started on the paperwork.

Gonna need another vote...

>>2117387
>>Head back to the hut and get started on the paperwork.

With a sigh, you decided that it was time to put your head to the grindstone and get started on that damn paperwork. Dredd had stressed that it was important to do, and the more you thought about it, the more you agreed with him on it. You were flying the most well built and designed aircraft in the theatre, and potentially, the next model of tomcat to be distributed fleet-wide. Feedback on the design would definitely be needed.

Not to mention the massive pile of other assorted forms and papers that you had to sign off. Stuff like that tended to accumulate.

Arriving back at the dorms that you were sectioned off to, you quickly made your way up to your shared room and opened the door. You quickly entered and slumped into the chair in front of your desk. Thankfully, the pile of paperwork was already relatively sorted. You randomly picked up a sheet of paper and leafed through it. While you weren't one to enjoy this relatively unspoken side of your job, you knew from experience that you just had to throw yourself at it. The quicker you started, the quicker it would be over and all that.

Thankfully, the majority of the paperwork was made up of maintenance reports, supply requests and other such things where all you had to do was just sign on a dotted line to say that you had read through it. The next few papers were from Dredd, where you had to co-sign that you would not be available for interviews for the foreseeable future. As you went, you sorted the papers into a neat little stack of completed stuff as opposed to the uncompleted papers.

You were around halfway through the maintenance report from when you had lost both of your engines after a dogfight when the base's sirens began their banshee wail. You quickly jumped up from your seat and sprinted down the stairs after Durendal as your entire squadron began the long run to your jets.

>Ask a squadmate about what is happening.
>Run to the hanger, you'll be told what is happening when you're on the way up.
>Other (write in)

>>2117848
>>Run to the hanger, you'll be told what is happening when you're on the way up.

>>2117848
>Run to the hanger, you'll be told what is happening when you're on the way up.

File: Crusader on the ramp.jpg (558 KB, 1310x700)

558 KB JPG

Deciding to focus on getting to the hangar as fast as possible, you didn't stop to chat with Durendal, instead simply sprintingpast your squadmate and running off down towards the ramp. While you knew that your aircraft wasn't parked there, you could probably scrounge up a ride out to your hanger.

As you reached the ramp, you began to loose your ability to hear to the sound of multiple jet engines spooling up as fighters raced to get airborne. You quickly made your way up and along the ramp, just behind the revetments that many of the less important jets occupied. Phantoms and Skyhawks mostly, though did spy a pair of F-8s taxing towards the runway with a pair of IR Sparrow missiles mounted underneath their wings and 4 older model sidewinders apiece.

You quickly found your bounty, and had to sprint to catch it. A deuce and a half was just pulling up to the corner between a pair of hangers, the driver pausing to look both ways before moving the massive truck into the road. You had so sprint as fast as you could in order to catch up with the slowly moving truck, the mass of pilots in the bed of the truck sat covering their ears to block out the deafening screech of the nearby jets. But a few in the back held out their hands so that you could be hoisted up and in as soon as you got close enough to take their hands. You just barely managed to grab some of the outstretched hands and be hoisted into the back of the truck before it came to the end of this speed restricted part of the runway. The driver quickly stepping on the gas as you landed face first in the back of the truck, the engine roaring with new fury as it lurched out of the 10mph limited zone and barrelled towards the armoured hangers at full pelt. The driver obviously not caring for the base's speed limit.

It didn't take long for you to reach the armoured hangers, but the truck driver simply stopped at the first hanger and yelled for all of you to get out. You didn't bother to wait for him to say it though, as you vaulted the bed-door and broke into a jog, headed straight for the hanger. Thankfully, over here it wasn't as loud as back by the ramp. Almost nobody had managed to reach their jets, and if they had, then they weren't starting their engines yet. So you quickly made your way down the taxiways, paying mind to the possibility of incoming jeeps, as pilots were able to hitch lifts directly to their hangers. Lucky bastards.

"Hey boss!" You crew chief called up from the depths of the hanger. "What load do you want?"

>Take a short range load (x4 Agiles OR x6 sidewinders, x6 AMRAAMs)
>Take a medium range loadout (x2 Agiles OR x4 sidewinders, x8 AMRAAMs)
>Take a long range loadout (x2 Agiles OR x4 sidewinders, x2 AMRAAMs, x4 Phoenixes)
>Make a new load (you have the following options: either x1 Agiles or x2 sidewinders on hardpoints 1A and 8A | x1 Agiles, x1 sidewinders, x1 AMRAAMs or x1 phoenixes on hardpoints 1B and 8B | x1 AMRAAM or x1 Phoenix on hardpoints 3,4,5 and 6)

>>2118060
>Take a medium range loadout (x2 Agiles OR x4 sidewinders, x8 AMRAAMs)
oshit

>>2118072
You need to specify if you want agiles or sidewinders.

>>2118083
I keep forgetting that. Agiles.

Need another vote...

>>2118060
Medium range and agiles

>>2118060
>Take a medium range loadout (x2 Agiles OR x4 sidewinders, x8 AMRAAMs)
agiles

File: F-14 AMRAAM stations.jpg (15 KB, 387x241)

15 KB JPG

"Give me two agiles on stations one a and eight a. AMRAAMs on the rest and a full guns load." You decided as you made for the boarding ladder. The wheeled device not having moved since you deplaned around an hour or so ago. You quickly climbed in and and began to get your life support vest and helmet plugged into the Tomcat, your crew chief following his way up behind you and helping with your vest as you finished up connecting the wires for the helmet mounted cuing system. You nodded to your chief and began your parts of the preflight checks, managing to get a good way into them before a small jeep stopped in front of the hanger, and your RIO jumped out the back.

"You're early." Zeus called up to you as you quickly warmed up the jet's APU, the mechanics already having disconnected your jet from the generator used to power the jet while it was on the ground.

"And you're late! Did you at least find out what's going on?" You yelled to Zeus as a pair of jet engines roared into life in a nearby hanger.

"No idea, though it's big!" Zeus yelled as he ascended the ladder, climbing two steps at a time.

"That's what she said." You muttered to yourself as your RIO dropped into his seat and began to plug into the jet. "I've got us most of the way through the preflights. we can do the rest while we head up."

"So you do learn! And here I was thinking I had to hold your hand through this shit." Zeus lightly ribbed you as he juggled both plugging in his life support vest and doing her preflight checks. The thankfully, he had help from the crew chief with the former.

"Sure thing mister I just sit in the back and look out the window during a dogfight!" You fired back as your crew chief tapped your on the shoulder and began to climb down the boarding ladder, as soon as he was clear enough, you hit the button to close the canopy.

The pair of you quickly finished your preflight checks, managing to get almost all of it done before your ground crew finished arming your bird. Your ground crew quickly wheeling missile carts and the ammo loading system out of the way, before vacating the hanger. Your crew chief saluting you before then fully vacating the hanger. You took a couple of minuets for your port engine to catch, your starboard engine caught just a bit after that, and you waited for your ground crew to confirm that it was safe to taxi out. Which it almost certainly was not as a pair of hornets taxied past, both aircraft running their engines on almost idle as they tried not to suck all of the oxygen out of the air nearby. So you took this time to check the radio network.

"-EAT! All aircraft are to take off immidiatley, only hold station long enough to link up with wingmate before sortieing to the combat zone. REPEAT! All aircraft are to take-" You cut off the radio as soon as you got the message, before then flicking through the flight and squadron networks. But in both cases there was nobody on the line.

>CONT

>>2118370

"Well, that sounds bad." You stated to Zeus as your ground crew gestured for you to taxi out of the hanger. "We're ordered to take off and only loiter long enough for us to link up with our wingmates. We'll then be vectored into the fight."

"Jesus, what do you think has them so spooked?" Zeus asked as you filed in just behind the hornets, having taxied out only a few dozen meters behind them, and having caught up with them by virtue of simply applying more thrust.

"Fuck if I know. but it's bad." You stated the obvious, and left the conversation at that. Neither of you in the mood for talking as you both had other things to do. Zeus needed to finish up his preflight checks while you talked to the tower. And within a few minuets you were directed onto the runway.

"Freelancer two-one, you are cleared for takeoff. Keep spacing with the hornets to your left as you take off and climb to altitude, only break from them when you reach holding altitude. From there you are to hold until your wingmates join you." The tower controller ordered you in a rushed tone as he practically juggled 1000 things at once, this was only further proven as he shut off the connection with you before you could respond in the affirmative.

The hornets were slow. It was to be expected in the naval equivalent of the F-16, but even then the Falcon was faster. And the difference was only highlighted by your jet's speed and responsiveness. You lamented this as you kept perfectly off the lead hornet's wing until your reached holding altitude, where you just gently nudged your throttle forwards and continued to climb past them. The marine aircraft being left lower and slower than you with but the simplest nudge of the throttle.

>Try and contact the rest of your squadron, they have to be taking off right now.
>Try and find out what's happening from the AWACs on station.
>Other (write in)

>>2118373
>Try and find out what's happening from the AWACs on station.

>>2118373
>Try and find out what's happening from the AWACs on station.

>>2118373
>Try and find out what's happening from the AWACs on station.

With a flick of your hand, you set up a link to the AWACs on station, Kamikaze, the same one who had been with you on your mission to intercept the bombers. "Freelancer two-one to AWACs. What's happening out there Kamikaze?" You asked calmly, but clearly. You didn't want to take up too much of their time

"There is major enemy activity all over the Korean peninsula, intel thinks that the Reds are getting ready for a an air assault to pave the way for an invasion via the Korea Strait. We're being vectored to attack them while they muster." Kamikaze reported to you quickly, and in the back ground you could hear the voices of the other battlespace management officers talking to other pilots.

You silently gulped, before responding. "Understood Kamikaze, thanks for the help. I'll get out of your hair now."

You clicked off the mic and stopped for a second to think, only for Zeus to pipe up. "Heads up, Weiss is climbing to us now."

"Freelancer two-two to freelancer two-one, have you seen Svetlana? She wasn't in her hanger when I taxied out." Weiss asked, her voice carrying a slight hint of worry.

"Negative two-two, I haven't seen her since the mess hall. Though I left early." You replied, before asking your RIO. "Zeus, have you seen Svetlana?"

"I haven't seen her since the mess hall either, she left before me." Zeus replied after a few seconds, a mixture of confusion and worry in his voice.

There was a heavy pause for a few seconds as all of you waited, before Weiss spoke again. You could tell the worry in her voice. "Should we wait for her?"

>Wait for Svetlana, this shouldn't be anything.
>Get going, you have your orders and you have to follow them.
>Other (write in)

>>2118459
>Other (write in)
Call Dred, ask for permission to wait for Svetlana.

>>2118471
This

>>2118459
Let's try it: >>2118471

Guys, I'm sorry to have to call it here for tonight's run but I have to. The write-in will be accepted as the chosen option and we'll restart the thread tomorrow at around the same time. If you have any questions in the meantime, feel free to ask them and I'll answer them as soon as I am able.

>>2118496
G'night, Thunderhead.

File: F-14 sunset afterburners.jpg (321 KB, 1024x637)

321 KB JPG

You pondered on what to do for a few more seconds, before switching over to the squadron network. The MFD in front of you telling you that Dredd's aircraft was at least powered on and ready to receive you.

"Freelancer two-one to Freelancer one-one. Have you seen Svetlana?" You asked your squadron leader, you at least hoped that he would know. He was probably still on the ground.

"Negative Razor. I was under the impression that you knew." Dredd paused for a few seconds, before speaking again. The sound of spooling jet engines and other noises in the background confirming that he was still in the hangar. "I can have my ground crew to search for her if you like? She should already be at her hanger."

"Sounds good, see if you can rope my ground crew in too. I'd also like permission to loiter over the airbase until she takes off." You asked, a bit more worried that she still hadn't turned up.

"Five minutes only. After that you are to vector into the fight on full afterburners. We can't wait around for too long." Dredd coincided, before cutting off the link from his end. And so, you told your wingmate the plan and started the countdown.

With the threat of a fight looming over you, the seconds passed like hours. Your holding pattern gave you a good view own to the airfield, where you could watch as jets taxied to the runway and took off. Dredd and Ahab were first up and away, they left with a flight of Phantoms. Their grey tomcats in stark contrast to the green camo pattern of the phantoms. Kay and Kenji were the next two up in the air. They flew up and only waited long enough to fill up from a waiting KA-6, before following a flight of Eagles into the fray. The best fighters of the USAF and USN flying as one into the dogfight. And as the fourth minute passed, you watched Slider and Durendal take off. The other parts of Europe's contribution to the squadron quickly reaching cruising altitude and making for the fight.

"That's five minutes, we need to go." Scorpion reminded you, the worry in her voice was palpable. There still hadn't been any word from the tower, and no activity from Svetlana's hanger.

>Get going, you've waited long enough.
>Wait just a bit longer, you can afford another few minutes.
>Other (write in)

>>2119954
>>Get going, you've waited long enough.

>>2119954
>Get going, you've waited long enough.
We did what we could, lets just hope she is alright.

>>2119954
>Get going, you've waited long enough.

>>2119954
>>Get going, you've waited long enough.

File: F-14 sonic boom.jpg (29 KB, 960x721)

29 KB JPG

"Understood, any idea if the lead elements have made contact with the enemy?" You responded as you broke away from your holding pattern, and made for where all of VF-21's IFF's were roughly located.

"They've started engaging with phoenix missiles at maximum range. We might be able to get there just before they get into visual range of each other." Zeus explained

"But if we do that we'll drink a lot of our gas before we reach the dogfight. As such, we'll be restricted during dogfighting due to lack of fuel." Scorpion pointed out just before you could thumb your afterburners. Your throttle was still pushed forwards to cruising speed, and the slight judder in the airframe confirmed that you had already blown past mach 1.

"If they get into the dogfight before we get into range then our missiles will be useless. The AMRAAM is good, but in a furball there is just as much chance that we'll shoot down a friendly bird over an enemy bird." Zeus pointed out as you switched to your weapons display. Thankfully, your ground crew had managed to repair the damage dealt in the previous fight before you went wheels up.

>Hit your afterburners and race into range before your missiles are rendered useless.
>Continue cruising out to the fight. You can't waste fuel just to get a few AMRAAM shots.
>Other (write in)

>>2120060
>>Continue cruising out to the fight. You can't waste fuel just to get a few AMRAAM shots.

>>2120060
>>Continue cruising out to the fight. You can't waste fuel just to get a few AMRAAM shots.

>>2120060
>Continue cruising out to the fight. You can't waste fuel just to get a few AMRAAM shots.

>>2120060
>Continue cruising out to the fight. You can't waste fuel just to get a few AMRAAM shots.

File: F-14 pair.jpg (78 KB, 812x650)

78 KB JPG

"We'll cruise out. We can't waste fuel just to get a couple of AMRAAM shots when there could be other opportunities later." You decided as you took your thumb away from the button that engaged your afterburners. If you were hauling phoenixes, then maybe you would have considered rushing into range for a shot. Those big and heavy missiles would be a detriment during a dogfight. However, as the AMRAAM was smaller and lighter, you lost less manoeuvrability in a dogfight with them.

And if the Soviets tried to vector units into the fight, you could intercept them before they got into the fight. Where they would be safe from a BVR fight.

Your flight out was made in silence, as all of you were busy either wondering about the fate of your Russian friend or were listening to the radio broadcasts from the fight up ahead. You spent the flight doing the latter, rather than worrying about the fate of your wingmate. You certainly didn't like the fact that she had gone missing, there were a number of explanations as to why she had disappeared, and a good number of those were bad. As such, you kept your mind from speculation by listening to the radio.

As you listened in, both sides began to throw all of the BVR missiles that they had at their disposal. You winced as the assorted flights began to report their kills and losses, and even now the radio channel very hectic as half a dozen pilots all talked over each other at the same time. From what you could hear, a good few phantoms and skyhawks had been lost in the BVR exchange. A pair of falcons and a tomcat were also splashed, with double that and an eagle being so badly damaged that they had to break off back to a nearby airfield to land. And your mood took a slight dive when you realised that one of the damaged tomcats was actually Ahab's.

However, from what you heard the Soviets and their allies had lost even more. The tomcats had the advantage of the Phoenix, and even with their terrible accuracy they were able to score kills. This was the air combat equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel.

However as the aircraft entered visual range of each other, the entire radio channel devolved into absolute chaos. Pilots calling out missile launches, that they were going in for guns, or that they were hit. You switched your radio off after a few seconds, you could learn nothing from the mass of screaming voices other than that there was a fight happening. And you had sort of expected that.

As you began to approach the battle in earnest however, you decided to phone a friend, and switched your radio over to contact Kay.

"Freelancer two-one to freelancer four-two. What's it looking like over there?" You asked over the radio link as Zeus brought your radar and IRST up and running. And both displays only showed a large blob or returns.

"It's a shit show!" Your fellow American spat back, the link crackling with interference as a good few dozen jets all blasted their ECM systems as one.

>CONT

>>2120272

"I need details Kay, what are we facing?" You asked as you thumbed over to Agiles, you couldn't get an AMRAAM lock at this range. So you might as well switch over to your most useful weapons.

"Same shit as usual! High-low mix, lots of Fishbeds and Floggers with a few Flankers and Fulcrums mixed in." Kay explained, before grunting loudly. The forces exerted on her by the brutal manoeuvres that she was puling only being translated through as a number of different grunts as she fought against the force of her manoeuvres. "And these black birds, black Flankers."

>Target the Black Flankers! You know that they're deadly!
>Take out the regular Flankers! They're deadlier to your allies, but are easy enough for you to kill!
>Thin out the Floggers and Fishbeds! You can't let them have the numbers advantage!
>Other (write in)

>>2120276
>Target the Black Flankers! You know that they're deadly!
REMOVE SUKHOI 2: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO

>>2120276
>Target the Black Flankers! You know that they're deadly!

>>2120276
>>Target the Black Flankers! You know that they're deadly!

You quickly hit your afterburners at the news, quickening your pace at the news that the black flankers had returned. Fuckers nearly cost you your bird a while back, and you weren't ready to let them get some more kills to their name. Scorpion grumbled over the line as she was forced to quickly hit her afterburners in order to stay in formation with you. You quickly made your way towards the growing fur ball, where you could see a mass of aircraft going at each other. From here, you weren't able to see what each individual dot in the sky way, but by the sheer number of contrails you knew that there were many. And that some of the dots would explode into fire that was visible from even as far away as you were. The victim falling out of the fight in flames.

"Alright, listen in. We're looking for a number of black Flankers. They are well trained Soviet pilots, we have to kill them quickly before they can inflict major casualties." You briefed Scorpion as you continued towards the fight.

"I can scan for the returns of flankers if you like?" Zeus asked quickly.

"If you can get a good enough picture with the radar then go for it." You responded as your targeting computer signalled that it was able to engage nearby enemy aircraft, but you held your fire as you had no targets yet.

"Radar. Please, we have an IRST for this." Zeus replied with a huff as your sensor screen began to blur, the signals of the enemy fighters bluing for a second. Before a few dozen were highlighted for you.

"Done, all of the flankers in the furball are marked, though I don't know which ones are those black Flankers that you want dead." Zeus replied with a sigh, you sensed that he felt bad that he wasn't able to do more. As you looked at the massive dogfight before you, you mentally divided it up into sections.

In the top section of the dogfight there were around 6 flankers, as identified by your bird's sensor systems. While you couldn't be sure that the black Flankers were up there, you did know that most of the more capable fighters would be fighting around there. Where the cold air would better cool their engines, allowing greater performance. If they were looking to kill off the best of the US and Japanese aircraft, then they would be up there. In the middle section of the furball, there was by far the greatest number of flankers -around a dozen of them at least. If you remembered back to your previous encounter with them, they would be in the thick of the fighting. And where there were more flankers, there was a better chance of a few of them being the quarry that you sought. Finally, on the bottom section of the furball was by far the lowest number of flankers, 4 in total. But they were reaping a bloody toll on the lower grade fighters that were stuck down there. Not to mention that they were able to attack whatever allied fighters tried to dive and flee from the battle. It wasn't the most honourable tactic, but it was certainly effective.

>CONT

>>2120459

>Engage the flankers at the top of the furball! If they aren't what you are looking for then you can work your way down.
>Engage the flankers in the middle of the furball! If you were them, then you would be right in there!
>Engage the flankers at the bottom of the furball! You need to cover the escape for your damaged comrades!
>Other (write in)

>>2120468
>>Engage the flankers in the middle of the furball! If you were them, then you would be right in there!

>>2120468
>Engage the flankers at the top of the furball! If they aren't what you are looking for then you can work your way down.

>>2120468
>>Engage the flankers in the middle of the furball! If you were them, then you would be right in there!

>>2120468
>Engage the flankers at the top of the furball! If they aren't what you are looking for then you can work your way down.

Gonna need a tiebreaker...

Sorry about that chief, my 4chan was fucking with me
>Engage the flankers at the top of the furball! If they aren't what you are looking for then you can work your way down.

File: black SU-33.jpg (19 KB, 400x400)

19 KB JPG

"We'll start from the top and work our way down. Prioritise the Flankers above all else." You ordered as you pulled the stick back gently. Your jet responding elegantly, even without the thrust vectoring system being engaged. As you focused on the battle at the top of the furball, you spied a number of F-15s, F-16s and a couple of F-14s tangling with the enemy fighters. Up there, it was a battle between the best of each side. With the Soviets and their Chinese friends fielding Flankers, Fulcrums and even a few of the new Chinese Finback fighter to engage their respective counterpart. And although the Flankers were able to gain the edge over the Eagles, and the Fulcrums were able to tie up the Falcons. The Tomcats were able to slowly edge out an advantage over the Chinese Finbacks.

However, the Finbacks and Fulcrums weren't your concern. They were being tied up fairly well as it was. The Flankers however were your target. And you quickly took up a run on a certain Flanker that was about to make mincemeat of an eagle driver. The Air Force pilot was obviously young and inexperienced, as he seemed to be trying to bolt along a simple and straight line. A move that would have lead to his death, had you not been there to cover his ass.

The Soviet fighter rolled onto the Eagle's tail, it's own engines lighting up as it tried to get close enough for a guns kill. The enemy pilot was smart, and had moved into the blindspot just behind and below the Eagle, where it's pilot wouldn't be able to see it. And you imagined that he was just about to pick out where exactly he would place his shot when you made your pass. The M-61 cannon mounted just below you roared and shook the jet lightly as you fired a burst. The shells lanced out and punched a number of holes into the enemy jet's underside. Your burst penetrating the external fuel tank nestled between the Flanker's podded engines, the fuel withing instantly igniting and exploding. The blast turning the fuel tank into a giant bomb as you passed.

"Break and engage the flankers!" You ordered as you passed, before breaking to the left. You craned your head over to track the wounded Soviet as you performed a wingover to get back onto him. The enemy pilot hadn't seen you came from, and where you went. But he wasn't looking to stay in the fight as both of his engines belched black smoke. He tried to break left, but this only put him back in your sights.

And this time, you rewarded him for being an easy kill with another blast from your gun. The rounds punching into his jet just above the engines, and breaking them. The enemy pilot was smart, and dived for the deck in an attempt to get enough speed to escape. However his jet fell apart from the stress before he could get far. The entire rear-left section of his jet falling away first, and before long it began to roll of it's own accord. By the time he punched out, you were already settling in behind your second Flanker. A black Flanker.

>CONT

>>2120824

This pilot however knew you were coming, and he quickly broke off the Eagle that he was chasing in order to fight you. You rolled over and above your original approach and dodged his gunfights, before flicking on your thrust vectoring and trying to pull onto his tail. He on the other hand, hit his speedbrake and tried to make you overshoot. When that didn't happen however, he brought you into a flat scissors manoeuvre, the both of you trying hard to get the other into their sights, while also trying to stay out of the opponent's sights. You needed to end this soon, you couldn't spend to long on him.

>Cobra! You'll loose all momentum but you should dump speed quick enough for him to overshoot!
>Dive under him and attack from below! He'll have the height advantage, but you'll have more speed than him!
>Hit him with an Agile!
>Call in Scorpion and thatch weave this little shit!
>Other (write in)

>>2120832
>Call in Scorpion and thatch weave this little shit!

>>2120832
>>Call in Scorpion and thatch weave this little shit!

File: SU-27 broken neck.jpg (21 KB, 480x360)

21 KB JPG

"Scorpion, Gonna need your help with this one!" You stated as you passed the Flanker again, noting that he wasn't carrying any missiles. In fact, all of his external stores were empty, though the fact that a number of launch adaptors were fitted proved that some armament had once been in place.

"I see him, standby." Scorpion replied as you reached the apex of your turn and turned back towards the foe. However, just before you crossed each other he performed a tailslide, dumping just enough speed to dodge out of your wingmate's gun run while also getting a head-start on his turn onto her tail.

"Shit, he's on me!" Scorpion called out as the Flanker latched onto your wingmate's tail. However, this freed you to follow him.

"Level off, we're going to to do a thatch weave." You ordered as you gunned it into position nearby. A few seconds later, you gave the order. "Start a left turn now!"

Scorpion did exactly that, taking her aircraft into a high speed left turn as you instructed. Bringing the Flanker in behind her at speed. His manoeuvring was more restricted now as at such speeds, a sharp enough turn would break his bird's wings. And it was this lack of manoeuvrability that played to your favour. As you were about to intercept him however, he cut his engines. The enemy pilot deciding to avoid this game of high-speed chicken and instead play at speeds where he was free to manoeuvre. However, he couldn't instantly dump all of his speed, and for a good few seconds he was forced to simply coast along. Unable to turn too hard without breaking his aircraft, and unable to deploy his speedbrake lest it snap off.

And you only needed a few seconds.

You tracked after him, your aircraft turning with it's thrust vectoring system rather than it's rudder to avoid the drag that could end in catastrophe. With a quick burst, you put an end to the enemy jet. The rounds punched into the enemy fighter's body, the explosive tipped rounds breaking holes into the aircraft's body as you attacked it from the side. The first rounds landing just aft of the canopy and tracing their way down the aircraft's body. The fuel detonated just before you passed, and you had to continue your turn so that you didn't eat an intake full of shrapnel. You watched as the force of the first fuel tank going up snapped the jet's neck. The high cockpit practically bending a good 180 degrees down, and into the space between the jet's engines. And from there the entire thing broke apart into a cloud of burning fuel and bits of aircraft.

You slowed down from your near mach 2 sprint and radioed Scorpion. "You're clear."

"Four of the flankers up here are down, including the two that we got and Scorpion's one. The other two are diving into the furball" Zeus reported to you as you rounded on where you had just been fighting a few seconds ago. Only to see that the birds on your HUD had indeed dived for the deck. The eagles, now free from their predators, had rounded on the remaining jets.

>CONT

>>2120973

>Stay high and pick out your targets! You can't squander your advantage.
>Finish off the Finbacks and Fulcrums! Once they're gone, the '14s and '16s can get involved with the fight below.
>Other (write in)

>>2120975
>Stay high and pick out your targets! You can't squander your advantage.
Fuck you, I'm a Tomcat.

>>2120975
>Stay high and pick out your targets! You can't squander your advantage.

>>2120975
>>Stay high and pick out your targets! You can't squander your advantage.

File: F-14 inverted.jpg (118 KB, 1024x740)

118 KB JPG

Deciding that the best thing to do was to pick and choose your targets, you rolled inverted and gazed down upon the dogfight below you. Your head starting to hurt as your body struggled to pump blood around. However, a little discomfort was certainly worth it to kill more of those flankers.

As you gazed down into the fight, you spied out the enemy flankers. A baker's dozen in total, including the ones that had escaped to fight at the top, and the ones at the bottom, cutting off the escape for the damaged. From what you could see, two had climbed up from the bottom to help fill out the losses. You easily spotted a pair of the black Flankers, both of them working in concert to pin down Kay and Kenji. Both of your wingmates fighting defensively in order to keep the enemy aces at bay, while also dodging strafing runs from the MiG-21s and '23s that also occupied the airspace. You also spotted that both Dredd and Slider were engaged by flankers, but these ones were just standard ones. As evidenced by the fact that they were not black, and were currently getting their asses handed to them. Durendal however was not having any sort of success, as she was flying erratically to try and shake a Flanker and a Fulcrum off her tail. However, the Soviet pilots hounding her relentlessly as she dragged them through the crisscrossing maze of dogfights. You looked to your right, and noticed that the two surviving flankers from before were moving to intercept an incoming flight of Hornets, obviously looking to get the drop on them.

>Help Kenji and Kay! They have their flankers occupied, so you stand a better chance at killing them.
>Help Slider and Dredd! Once they've been freed up they can help you get stuck in.
>Go after the jets on Durendal's tail! she's all alone out there.
>Intercept the two who tried to get away! You can't let them get your reinforcements!
>Other (write in)

While we wait for more votes, I'm gonna call tonight's run here, we'll restart the thread tomorrow at around the same time. If you have any questions in the meantime, feel free to ask them and I'll answer them as soon as I am able.

>>2121060
>Go after the jets on Durendal's tail! she's all alone out there.

>>2121060
>Go after the jets on Durendal's tail! she's all alone out there.

>>2121060
>>Go after the jets on Durendal's tail! she's all alone out there.

File: F-14 Agile.jpg (16 KB, 320x240)

16 KB JPG

Quickly tugging your stick back, you dived into the dogfight below. You quickly rolled out of the way of a MiG-21 as it fled from a pair of A-4s, the fleeing MiG not bothering to slow down enough to get a pass on you. Your missile warning system screamed for a second before whatever was targeting you locked onto something else. In the corner of your HUD, a little icon in your HUD showing that your number of countermeasures had just dropped. As soon as you were close enough, you locked one of your Agiles onto the Fulcrum that was trailing behind the Flanker that was lodged on Durendal's tail. The enemy pilot keeping just enough of a distance that he could easily react to whatever stunts that Durendal performed, while also keeping watch over the Flanker, just in case somebody tried to interrupt their pursuit of your comrade.

If you were to protect your comrade, you needed him to die.

You launched your missile at the enemy fighter from high above it. The short and spritely little missile darting off it's launch rail and quickly sailed towards it's target. The MiG pilot taking evasive manoeuvres almost as soon as you locked him up, dropping chaff and flares at the same time. However, he dropped his countermeasures as soon as you cued the missile to him, but before you launched the missile. And in that time, your seeker had time to discern between the Soviet's flares and it's real target, it's engines. And they were lit up like a christmas tree on the missile's IR seeker. The missile broke mach 3 just a second before it exploded, and subsequently broke the enemy jet into a neat pile of scrap metal.

As your missile lanced towards the doomed Fulcrum, you dived on the Flanker that was so doggedly close to Durendal's tail. He was too close for an Agile shot, so you had to hastily switch to guns before you dived past him. However, he knew that you were coming. And with a brutal snap that would put an older model Tomcat to shame, he broke off Durendal's tail and entered a slow spiral. Probably hoping that your incredible speed would cause you to overshoot. However, you had been planning to slow down anyways. Your thrust vectoring nozzles had been closed so to speak in order to try and reverse your thrust. And your speed brakes had been deployed as well. You kicked your rudder pedals and slid your jet to get onto his tail, and then fired a burst of cannon shells.

This burst did not connect, as the enemy fighter sharply pulled up and over the stream of deadly shells. You glared daggers at the enemy jet, and tried to readjust your shot. But every time you got close, the enemy pilot dodged out of the way. You remained on his tail for a few seconds until your radio crackled into life.

"Two-one, break right. BREAK RIGHT!" Durendal called over the radio, and you quickly broke out of the way of whatever was coming. Though as you rolled your jet back over for another pass on the fleeing Flanker, you found out why Durendal had told you to move.

>CONT

>>2121760

She wanted the kill for herself.

The enemy fighter pilot had tried to break after you, delaying himself just long enough that he could get onto your tail. But as he turned he presented himself to the wrath of your French squadmate. 20mm SAPHE rounds punched into his jet and ripped large chunks from it. The cockpit's canopy blew away, and the pilot just about managed to escape before his aircraft snapped apart. The burning and disfigured remains quickly reaching terminal velocity as it fell towards the ocean below.

"Splash three!" Durendal crowed over the radio, as she turned to form up with you.

"Splash three as well, just nailed a Flogger." Scorpion said a second later as you considered your next move.

>Help Kenji and Kay! They have their flankers occupied, so you stand a better chance at killing them.
>Help Slider and Dredd! Once they've been freed up they can help you get stuck in.
>Intercept the two flankers who tried to get away! They're holding up your reinforcements!
>Other (write in)

>>2121764
>>Help Slider and Dredd! Once they've been freed up they can help you get stuck in.

>>2121764
>Help Slider and Dredd! Once they've been freed up they can help you get stuck in.

>>2121764
>>Help Slider and Dredd! Once they've been freed up they can help you get stuck in.
See if scorpion can bag the two flankers though.

File: F-14 Break.jpg (26 KB, 736x498)

26 KB JPG

"Come on, we need to help wipe out those Flankers." You directed both Scorpion and Durendal as you banked towards where Slider and Dredd were being engaged. And from the looks of it, their situation had gotten worse.

While they were facing off against less Flankers, they were getting swamped by a swarm of mixed Floggers and Fishbeds. The older aircraft were unable to match their Tomcats in a dogfight. But they were able to force your squadmates to break off their pursuit of the enemy, and with that, the few Flankers were able to gain the advantage. Even with the MiGs trying their best to be a nuisance, the Flankers weren't able to press their advantage. Your squadmates were able to keep agile enough to dance out of the assorted gunsights that were being trained over their jets. As you watched, Slider brought her jet into a falling tailslide and dived under a strafing run from a MiG-21, before then bringing her nose around to plant a few parting shot's into it's tail. Not enough for a kill, but more than enough to kill it but more than enough to cause smoke to start belching from it's engine.

You quickly hit your afterburners and keyed your microphone at the same time. "Freelancer two-one to Freelnacer one-one. I'm inbound to assist with Scorpion and Durendal."

"Make it fast. The sooner we can take these idiots out, the better." Dredd replied curtly as your squadmates at your sides broke off from their positions and began to pick out their targets. You had decided that you would go after one of the Flankers, this specific one was currently turning to try and get onto Dredd's tail.

"BREAK! BREAK! BREAK!" Zeus called from just behind you, and on instinct you broke left. However, you felt your aircraft shudder as rounds punched into you. You snapped your neck back in time to see that one of the Flankers that had escaped from the fight at the top of the rolling dogfight had come back to play. And right now, he was just about on your tail.

>Zoom climb away from him! You should have better acceleration than him.
>Drag him down to the ocean! Your bird flies better at low altitude.
>Make him overshoot! Once he's passed you, you can gun him down.
>Lead him towards your squadmates! Maybe you can get one of them to clear your tail.
>Other (write in)

>>2121980
>>Drag him down to the ocean! Your bird flies better at low altitude.

>>2121980
>"If no one is too tied up, I've got a flanker on my ass that should be an easy kill"
If we don't get help then
>Drag him down to the ocean! Your bird flies better at low altitude.

File: F-14 turn.jpg (197 KB, 2100x1500)

197 KB JPG

"If no one is too tied up, I've got a Flanker on my ass that should be an easy kill." You radioed to your wingmates as you rolled and broke right, dodging away from the enemy jet's trailing nose. You didn't fancy spending even a second in his sights.

"We're tied up, we'll try to help you out as soon as we can though no promises." Scorpion responded immediately as you began a gentle roll to get out of the way of the enemy's gun. The enemy jet followed you into your roll, and you quickly reversed backwards.

"Make it quick." You responded simply, before snapping your stick to the left and quickly rolling inverted and into a dive. "Zeus, is he still on us?"

"He's there!" Zeus reported as you began to enter a defensive spiral, hitting your speed brakes and managing to at least get level with the enemy fighter. You glanced up at the enemy jet and noticed that it wasn't in the best of shape. It's speed brake had been blown completely off, the mounting where it had once sat behind the cockpit had been ripped completely off.

You continued the spiral down, falling a good few thousand meters before the both of you had to level off, lest you hit the ocean. As soon as you levelled off however, you broke right as hard as you could. Zeus called that the Soviet pilot was breaking left, putting the both of you on course for each other. The pair of you continued your manoeuvre for a few more seconds before passing each other, the both of entering a rough flat scissors manoeuvre. The both of you trying to gain a shot on each other while also not loosing too much speed. If you went too fast, you would overshoot your foe and get into the sights of the enemy pilot's sights and could open you up for them to get onto your tail. If you went too slow, then you would loose your shot and could let them get far enough away that they could reverse the engagement on you. The pair of you flying over those few pilots who had ejected and splashed down into the sea below. As the pair of you kept this up, you sought to try and end the fight then and there.

>Make him overshoot and get on his tail! Once you're on his tail you'll have him dead to rights.
>Zoom climb away from him! You should have better acceleration than him.
>Shoot him with an Agile! You'd like to see him dodge this.
>Other (write in)

>>2122433
>>Make him overshoot and get on his tail! Once you're on his tail you'll have him dead to rights.

>>2122433
>>Make him overshoot and get on his tail! Once you're on his tail you'll have him dead to rights.

>>2122433
>>Make him overshoot and get on his tail! Once you're on his tail you'll have him dead to rights.

File: F-14 gun.jpg (53 KB, 640x480)

53 KB JPG

Thinking on the topic, you considered your options. You couldn't cut your engines to idle as if you did then he would likely do the same, or would speed up and try to jet off while you floundered in his wake. And if you wanted to get on the Flanker's tail then having your engines on idle would stop you from following him at speed. Your standard speed brakes weren't the best for the task either as they weren't able to slow you down well enough. And so you had only one alternative. Taking your hand off the throttle, you reached over the a small and rather innocuous rotary switch, and waited until both you and the enemy jet turned towards each other again, going in for another swipe.

And with a twist and a press of an inlaid button, your spin correction chute was ejected from your tail.

The effects were not instant as it took a second or two for the chute to fully deploy, but when it did it slowed you down just enough to begin to slip just behind a bit. The enemy fighter saw what you were doing and swiftly accelerated, he knew that your little stunt would slow you down just enough to get him in your sights. You kept on your path for just long enough to jettison the drogue chute, before slamming your throttle forwards and making after him. You fell into the blindspot just behind and underneath him, and fired up as he climbed. Your burst slamming into his port engine first, thick black smoke and a few bits of shrapnel being blown out as the engine disintegrated from the flurry of shells. You quickly pushed the stick forwards and dived under the Soviet aircraft as it lost power and began to stall, you held your horizontal path for a few seconds before then looping around again. You glanced up at the jet as you turned back, and watched as the jet fell towards the ocean. The pilot remaining in his bird as he tried to make a controlled flight back towards Korea.

You were not intent on letting him escape though.

The Soviet pilot tried one last time to evade you as you barrelled towards him. But with one engine destroyed his speed was limited greatly, and it was no issue to adjust. You looked down at the foe and fired another burst of shells at the floundering jet. Your next shots punching deeper into it's body and wings as you flew past. Yet the aircraft still lived, and you cursed to yourself as you came around for a 3rd run. However at this point, the Soviet pilot saw reason. Or at the very least he decided that he didn't want to run the risk of catching a 20mm burst of cannon shells, and the jet only remained stable for as long as it took for the canopy to be blown away by explosive bolts. The jet beginning to slowly roll to starboard and fall as the pilot rocketed away.

>CONT

>>2122929

"Freelancer two-one to Freelancer two-two. I'm clear down here, how is it looking up there?" You asked as you checked your current ordnance. You were down to only 166 cannon rounds, an Agile and your unfired AMRAAMs. The latter, long-range missiles having never been given the chance to be launched. And their accumulated weight had certainly taken it's toll on your fuel. Even with the increased fuel capacity on the echo-cat, you would have to hit up a tanker in order to make it back to Tokyo. Though you did still have enough time to stay and fight for a while.

"They're falling back towards Korea! Staggered pattern as always, Flankers are leaving first with the MiGs covering their asses." Scorpion informed you, before hastily adding. "You what to get in on this turkey shoot?"

>Quickly climb and help to take out the straggling MiGs! You don't want your comrades to have all of the fun.
>Get off some parting shots with your AMRAAMs. The more Flankers you can kill now, the less that can come back later.
>Hold off and return to base. You don't want to waste your ordnance on planes that are fleeing.
>Other (write in)

>>2122941
>Get off some parting shots with your AMRAAMs. The more Flankers you can kill now, the less that can come back later.

>>2122941
>>Get off some parting shots with your AMRAAMs. The more Flankers you can kill now, the less that can come back later.

>>2122941
>>Get off some parting shots with your AMRAAMs. The more Flankers you can kill now, the less that can come back later.

File: F-14 with 2 AMRAAMs.jpg (172 KB, 1000x710)

172 KB JPG

"Understood, standby." You replied simply, before looking up towards the dogfight above. And sure enough, you spotted the little specks of fighters breaking away from the fight ans speeding off as fast as their engines could carry them. You quickly locked up 3 of them with your radar and switched over to your AMRAAMs. The bulky missiles having been held back for long enough.

"Freelancer two-one, fox three!" You crowed over the radio as you fired your missiles one at a time. 4 missiles dropping from their rails and quickly climbing to intercept their targets. Your firing position wasn't a good one, but the missiles didn't seem to care for it as they all hit their marks. Of the hits, 2 airburst next to their targets, 1 was a direct hit and the remaining missile lost it's target. One of the airbursting missiles managed to detonate just in front of it's target, buck in the air and begin to flounder while the other one was a practical miss, that particular missile doing little but buffeting your target. The shot that did directly hit it's mark managed to blow the Flanker from the sky, scoring you yet another kill. The missile that lost it's target did not loose it through any fault of it's own, as the jet it was targeting was blown out of the sky by a missile launched from within the dogfight. By that time however, there was no chance of your missile reacquiring a new target, and instead detonated against the remains of the dead plane.

And in response to your volley, the enemy Flankers hit their electronic countermeasures and started to spread out. It wasn't the best they could do. But it was the best they could do while still running away at mach 2.

You were undeterred however, and launched the final 4 missiles. This time however, the effects of the enemy jammers was felt. As one of the missiles failed to track, and flew off along a ballistic trajectory between the enemy fighters and the dogfight that they were fleeing. The second missile tracked successfully, and detonated next to the Flanker that you had winged in your first volley. The force of the blast knocking it to the side and showering it with shrapnel. But yet it continued to fly, it's survival infuriating you. The 3rd missile detonated amongst the pack, but didn't cause any telling damage to any particular aircraft. The 4th and final missile however, managed to detonate underneath a new Flanker, and knocked it upwards with the force of the blast only a scant meter from the enemy jet. You watched as the jet began to fall away from the pack, but not by enough that you were sure it would crash. If you were to guess, the pilot would either land at one of the recently evacuated based in the southern part of Korea, or would crash land close enough to be picked up very easily by enemy search and rescue teams.

>Return to base, there isn't much more you can do.
>Help out with the stragglers, it would be a waste to leave with ordnance still carried.
>Other (write in)

>>2123262
>>Return to base, there isn't much more you can do.
We're low on fuel, staying is an unneeded risk.

>>2123262
>Return to base, there isn't much more you can do.
We did our job. Fuck your Flankers.

File: F-14 and phantom.jpg (29 KB, 800x640)

29 KB JPG

"Freelancer two-one to Freelancer one-one. Are we clear to RTB?" You asked Dredd as you levelled off, glancing up at the dogfight above. The tides had very definitely turned against the Soviets now. With the remaining MiGs either sprinting away at top speed, or trapped by the US and Japanese fighters. The trapped MiGs being slowly picked apart as your allies made diving passes on them, taking out one with every pass.

"Affirmative. We've got things wrapped up around here. You'll leave with Kenji and Kay, they got chewed up and will have to make an emergency landing at Fukuoka Airport. You and Scorpion are cleared to fly back to Yokota. Me and flight three will help to clean up here." Dredd ordered calmly as you climbed back up to cruising altitude. You could see Kay and Kenji already making their way towards Japan with a number of other damaged birds, and you cruised over to the flock carefully taking up position just off Kay's wing.

Sure enough, Kay and Kenji were chewed up. Though from what you were told, it was mostly just replaceable parts. You noted that the worst damage was that Kay was leaking fuel from a busted fuel ejection valve. Kenji on the other hand had a number of holes punched in his left wing, which would play merry hell with him on landing and forbade him from flying past mach 1. But aside from that the pair were both still flying well enough. And they were doing better than some of the phantoms that flew with them. You didn't know how bad the fight had been. But it couldn't have gone two badly as you noticed that the F-8 Crusaders had in fact survived the ordeal, and didn't seem to have came out too badly from the ordeal.

Eventually, Kenji, Kay and the rest of the damaged birds broke away from your flight. Instead leaving you, scorpion, the crusader pair and the few aircraft that were just low on fuel to make your way back to your respective airbases. However, before any of that could happen, almost all of the aircraft refuelled from a waiting flight of KC-130s. The only exception being the surviving hornets, who simply flew on to their base. They had arrived late enough that they still carried most of their fuel, and didn't need any more from the tankers. Said tankers having their hands full at this point. You and Scorpion continued on to Tokyo and exchanged idle chatter along the way. The both of you comparing kills and perspectives on the battle. Surprisingly, you were both tied for kills. Though if you counted your one probable from the AMRAAM barrage then you were only just ahead. The pair of you continued your banter all through the flight, the landing and even through taxing into your hanger. Though as you arrived, you noted a handful of HUMVEEs parked outside of your hangar.

You found out why as soon as you deplaned, and found yourself facing Admiral Harris. You quickly fired off a weary salute, the best you could do in your tired state.

>CONT

File: colt slide back.jpg (1.09 MB, 1600x1200)

1.09 MB JPG

>>2123467

"Good evening sir! What brings you down here?" You asked the Admiral as Zeus climbed down the ladder behind you. The Admiral waited for Zeus to reach the bottom of the ladder and salute before returning it. His usually friendly smile gone, replaced with a frown.

"Give me your gun son. You too Shawcross." The admiral ordered, his voice denoting that this was not an order to question. And so you carefully and obviously pulled your pistol out of it's holster, ejected the magazine and locked the slide all of the way back. As you handed the unloaded weapon and it's ammunition to the flag officer, you kept deathly silent. You didn't know what had happened to cause this, but all hints right now pointed at Svetlana being involved.

"Sorry son, but I can't let you or anyone else in Freelancer to have those. Not for now at the very least." The admiral apologised, his tone loosing it's stern and commanding tone. And instead you heard something else behind it, something that only made you even more worried as the officer turned towards the HUMVEE that was sat by the hanger's entrance. "Come on, you'll find out why soon enough."

---------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm gonna call the thread here folks. I know that I said that I was going to continue this thread tomorrow, but ultimately it's just going to be easier to dedicate an entire thread to what happens next.

Anyways, if you you have any questions then do feel free to ask them while the thread is still up. If I don't manage to answer you question before the thread falls off the board then I'll answer it either on my twitter account or next week.

>>2123469
>dedicate an entire thread to what happens next.
WELP

File: 1458677925280.png (314 KB, 500x607)

314 KB PNG

>>2123469
>dedicate an entire thread to what happens next.
Thanks for running, Thunderhead.

File: image.jpg (64 KB, 488x472)

64 KB JPG

>>2123469