>>2131604

Your heart jolted when the truck came to a halt, knocking you from your daydream. But this jolt was quickly followed by a sudden sinking feeling when you realised that your convoy had stopped right in front of the base's hospital. Admiral Harris must have noticed that you weren't planning on waiting, as he made for the door as soon as the truck came to a stop. The old but sprightly officer having to work just a bit more in order to get in front of you. The few orderlies who were making the last rounds to prepare for an incoming wave of injured parted like the red sea at the sight of a 4-star officer and the assorted pilots and armed marines who filed in behind him. Zeus and Weiss chatted to each other in muted tones as you made your way up the stairs, your wingmate confirming that both she and her RIO had been ordered to relinquish their weapons. And soon enough, you arrived at a single room that was guarded by a pair of marines with a Benelli M3 each. Neither guard saluted the Admiral, though you assumed that it was only because he had specifically ordered them not to.

One of the guards quickly reached into one of his pockets and retrieved a plastic card, which he swiped across the door's lock. A small beep and a mechanical click confirmed that the card had been read correctly, and the marine pulled the door's handle and swung it open. The guard quickly returning the card to his pocket and his had to the shotgun's grip as you entered with the Admiral.

Inside -barely five paces into the room- you came to a halt in the middle of the room. Shock stopped you as you gazed upon the bed's lone occupant. A gasp behind you confirmed that your fellow squadmates had entered, and that you were not hallucinating.

Your missing squadmate was lying in the bed, the faint beeping of an EKG machine and the faint rise and fall of her chest confirming that she still yet lived. However, she had suffered a number of injuries. Both of her eyes were covered by a set of bandages, with a dressing over the side of her neck. Her right arm was in a cast, extending from her elbow to her wrist. And those were just the injuries that you could see.

You asked your question to the room. But nobody answered, out of the corner of your eye, Weiss slowly approached the bed. Her careful movements practically spelling out her worry.

>What do you ask/do?
>How do you feel?

>>2131605
>panic internally
>approach the bed

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>>2131605
>Panic, mostly internally
>"What the fuck happened?
>Have a sneaking suspicion Lauren caused this
>Approach the bed

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Panic began to set in almost immediately, the sheer number of possibilities for your comrade's injuries flooding over you like a tsunami. Could it have been the Soviets? The Japs? Lauren? Your face went pale as you feared for the extent of your squadmate's injuries, you couldn't see through the bandages, and so you didn't know how bad the injuries to her eyes were for instance. The sheer weight of what you were looking at, and it's myriad of causes rooted to your feet to the floor and threatened to drown you. And with no small amount of willpower, you drove yourself closer to your sleeping comrade. You looked down at your comrade in abject horror, horror at yourself. God damn it, she trusted you! Something in the back of your head hissed at you. You should have been looking out for her! This is just like what happened to Ares!

Your hands -that until now had been hanging limp by your sides- balled into fists. Your panic slowly changing into more advanced emotions. Worry, sadness, and most importantly... anger.

You didn't understand what would drive someone to attack her. And you didn't care. Part of you wondered if Lauren could be responsible for this, the crazy blonde was certainly no stranger to putting your squadmates in hospital. But you cast this possibility aside. If she was looking to get into the USN then there would be no chance of her being deployed to the front so quickly. Even if she was involved in the development of your birds, she knew jack shit about the USN or being part of the military. You still had a good few months before she was done with her training. But that still left your question unanswered.

"What the fuck happened?" You growled, breaking the silence with your question.

"Your ground crew found her in one of the alley ways between the main hangers. Someone had jumped her on the way to the hangers during the alert. By the time they found her, the person responsible had already left the scene." The Admiral reported quietly. "She was unconscious when they found her, and has been since they pulled her in."

>Ask about her injuries, how bad is it?
>Ask about the search, have they found the attacker?
>Ask the admiral for his theory on who the attacker could be.
>Turn and leave, somebody is going to pay for this.
>Take a seat and wait for Svetlana to wake up.
>Other (write in)

>>2131961
>Ask about her injuries, how bad is it?

>>2131961
>Ask about her injuries, how bad is it?

>>2131961
>Ask about her injuries, how bad is it?
>"How long do you think it was since she was attacked?"

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"How bad is it?" You asked, not taking your eyes off your squadmate. The Admiral was silent for a few seconds as he walked to the clipboard suspended off the foot of the bed, he picked up the clipboard and began to leaf through it.

"From the top, she has corneal abrasion to both of her eyes from blunt force trauma. Her vision won't be impaired in the long term, however she has to wear those dressings for a few days so that her eyes have time to heal. She has bruising around her eyes as well, which will heal as normal. She has a few minor lacerations from blunt force trauma to various body parts, including the head, neck and other limbs. She also had two broken ribs and three more fractured to varying degrees, they're going to take around eight weeks heal properly with osteoplastic surgery. And a fracture to her right ulna, one of the bones in her forearm. That will take six weeks to heal fully." The admiral read out, the list, earning him the attention of not only yourself, but the rest of your squadmates.

"How long until she's allowed to fly again?" Weiss asked, the worry in her voice being evident.

"At least eight months, most likely nine months just to make sure." The Admiral read off the clipboard, before putting it back where he had found it.

"The first casultiy we've had of the war was inflicted by our own people..." Zeus trailed off, but you could feel the heat behind his voice.

"They are going to pay. Mark my words." Weiss stated bluntly, the force behind her statement telling you that she intended to make whoever was responsible pay.

>Ask about the search, have they found the attacker?
>Ask the admiral for his theory on who the attacker could be.
>Turn and leave, somebody is going to pay for this.
>Take a seat and wait for Svetlana to wake up.
>Other (write in)

>>2132119
>>Ask about the search, have they found the attacker?

>>2132119
>Take a seat and wait for Svetlana to wake up.

>>2132119
>>Take a seat and wait for Svetlana to wake up.

Also, Thunder, this development is more than a little bit frustrating. I understand that we had multiple chances to look for Svetlana last thread, but short of forcing our squadron to wait for us while we personally looked around for her, we did everything we could. Hell, we had two ground crews looking for her at once. I mean, I get this isn't an SOL quest by any stretch of the imagination, and I actually welcomed the change of tone when the war started, but this seems far too dramatic of a shift when you consider the situation leading up to it. Taking one of our wingmates out of the game for eight months because we didn't stay behind during an emergency operation? From a narrative standpoint it seems excessive, and it doesn't really make me want to participate further. I mean, I don't plan on dropping the quest, but I don't see myself being nearly as invested in the story for the near future.

>>2132426
That was actually a fuck-up on my part. The recovery time is meant to be 8-9 weeks, so only around 2 months. I would have changed it but I only noticed it after all of the votes had came in. That is an issue of bad editing on my part and I apologise for the slip. And at the same time she won't just "disappear" for that time, she will still be around, though not in combat as there still needs to be time for the wounds to heal. I'll go through my reasoning for such an extreme choice once the thread is done as I don't want my reasons to affect how people may vote. But rest assured that this wasn't just me trying to axe a character with no means for you to intervene.

Looking around the room, you carefully made your way towards one of chairs in the corner of the room. The leather padded chair was a bit heavier than you had expected, but it was obviously designed to be moved around to be sat next to a bed.

"Planning on waiting for her to wake up?" Zeus asked as you put the chair down on the left hand side of her bed. Putting you between her and the room's window.

"Yeah, I think she would want to see a friendly face or two after all that." You said simply as you dropped into the chair, the tension in your body starting to seep out as you took the weight off your feet.

"Well, if you are all going to stay here with her for now then I can get going." The Admiral announced, before walking over to start shaking your hands, starting with Weiss and going through your RIOs before shaking your hand.

"Safe travels sir." You bid your the officer with a salute. The Admiral returned the salute, before turning to leave. But before he left, he stopped in the door.

"And by the way, the door guards will let everybody from Freelancer flight in as long as you show identification. So you're free to come and go as you want." The admiral explained, before then leaving before anyone could respond. The rest of your squadmates waited for a couple of seconds, before then making to grab a number of chairs from around the rest of the room. The rest of them settling in for the long haul.

Zeus left soon after, heading out to grab all of you coffee from the nearby Base Exchange. While all of you wanted to stay with Svetlana, there was no denying that you all needed something to help you to stay awake. And while he had promised to rush, he didn't need to as Svetlana didn't wake up for a good hour after Zeus had returned. And as your Russian friend slept, more of your squadron entered the building. Dredd, his RIO, Slider, Mags, Durendal and Bats all filed in and waited with you.

Finally, a weak groan escaped Svetlana's lips, hushing the room as everybody waited with baited breath. And only a few seconds later, she began to speak softly in Russian. "My eyes... I... I can't see."

"Easy, easy. It's fine. You're safe now." You consoled your wingmate from your spot next to her, your voice quiet and reassuring as she woke up.

>Take things slowly, she's been through a lot.
>Ask her what she remembers,
>Other (write in)

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>>2132514
>The recovery time is meant to be 8-9 weeks
Oh, well shit. You spooked me there for a minute. That's a lot more reasonable.

>>2132534
>>Take things slowly, she's been through a lot.

>>2132534
>>Take things slowly, she's been through a lot.

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>>2132534
>Take things slowly, she's been through a lot.

>>2132514
image related

Gesturing for your squadmates to hold their questions, you waited for a few seconds as Svetlana lightly stirred in her bed. You could tell that she was just waking up, and after everything that had happened she was probably wondering why she was now in a bed rather than lying on the concrete.

"Where am I?" Svetlana asked, her voice still low. However, when she tried to raise herself from the bed, you put your hand on her shoulder. You didn't have to push her down in order to get her back down, as the simple obstacle was enough to stop her.

"You're in the base hospital." You explained, keeping things simple for now.

"Where... where is the rest of the squadron?" Svetlana asked as she settled back into the bed, before lolling her head to the right, no longer directly looking at you but presenting her left ear to you so that she could better hear you.

"Most of them are here. Ahab, Kay, Kenji and their RIOs had to land at Fukuoka Airport. They're fine but their aircraft are damaged, they won't be back for a few more hours." You explained, making sure to specify that your other squadmates were safe, even if they weren't currently to hand.

"Good... I am glad that you are here." Svetlana began, her voice beginning to waiver slightly. Though you weren't sure if you should chalk that one up to the drugs or emotions.

>Ask her what she remembers.
>Ask her if there is anything you can do for her.
>Other (write in)

>>2132718
>Ask her if there is anything you can do for her.

>>2132718
>Ask her if there is anything you can do for her.

"Is there anything I can do for you?" You asked, calmly, before then chuckling and adding. "And no, I can't get in bed with you."

Svetlana simply chuckled for a couple of seconds, at least you assumed that it was chuckling. Each chuckle was fairly quiet and sounded a bit strained, as if she was trying to laugh through some pain. "Well, we'll have to do that later. But... if it's not too much trouble, could you please stay with me for as long as you can? I know that-"

"It's fine, I can stay through everything barring alerts. And even when I'm gone you'll be safe, we have some marines guarding the room." You interrupted your squadmate with a reassuring pat on the shoulder as you made your pledge. There was certainly a part of you that wanted to find the ass holes who had done this to her, a very big part of you no less. But if she wanted you to stay with her for now then you would.

"Thank you..." Svetlana smiled faintly, not a small feat considering the number to band aids that were covering up the small lacerations that had been cut into her face. Though with any luck they would heal up with nothing but a memory left behind. "Is the rest of the squadron here?"

"Yeah, they're all here, barring the few at Fukuoka." You explained, switching over to English so that our Russain friend would know to do so as well.

"How are you feeling?" Dredd asked, his normally hard and commanding tone having softened dramatically.

"Sore. Tired. Hungry. But I am happy that you all are here." Svetlana replied, her smile remaining even though you could hear her discomfort.

>See if you can't catch a nap on this nice chair.
>Maybe you can grab something from burger king, or at least get someone to do the trip for you.
>Ask Svetlana what she remembers.
>Other (write in)

>>2132915
>Ask Svetlana what she remembers.
We need to get this out of the way eventually, may as well ask now.

>>2132915
>Ask Svetlana what she remembers.

>>2132915
>Grab something at burger king for you and Svetlana to clear your head a bit
Then
>Ask Svetlana what she remembers.
I'm assuming we're hungry here.

While Svetlana was busy talking with the squadron about the fight that she had missed, and generally telling everybody that she was fine. You excused yourself and quickly made your way to the base's sole Burger King, while you had agreed to stay with her for a while so that she didn't get lonely, the both of you also agreed that hospital food sucked ass and that Burger King was better. While you had ate before your previous fight, worrying about someone and engaging in major dogfights tended to make you hungry. And thankfully, the line was short enough that you were able to get back withing only around 20 minutes. The doctor at the door giving you a disparaging look as you entered with a large bag filled with your bounty. You arrived in time to see most of the squadron getting ready to leave. Dredd wanted to keep the squadron on as close to a wartime footing as he could. You were able to stick around but that was only by virtue that someone had to stay around to make sure that she didn't choke on her food. The pair of you were quiet for a few minutes as you ate, Svetlana proving rather adept at being able to eat with her eyes closed. While you took your food slow, enjoying and savouring the food for as long as you could. As soon as the pair of you were done however, you asked your question.

"So, what happened." You asked simply, and you watched as your comrade's smile dropped off her face. You didn't enjoy asking about it, but if it got you closer to finding out just who had jumped her then you would just have to deal with it.

"I was hoping that we wouldn't have this conversation. Not for a while." Svetlana sighed, before leaning back in the bed. You were about to speak when she continued.

"I was running for the hangars. I was running behind the large hangers when I spotted an overloaded pickup truck. It was on the apron and was driving a number of pilots towards the armoured hangers. I wanted to catch up with that vehicle so that I wouldn't have to run to the hangers, where I would surely be late... so, I followed a group of people between the hangers..." Svetlana recalled, before starting to trail off at the end. And while you couldn't tell if she was starting to cry or not due to the bandages over her eyes, you figured that remembering everything that had happened wasn't good for her.

>"What were they doing?"
>"How many of them were there?"
>"You don't have to tell me the details, just tell me what the looked like, what they sounded like."
>"You don't have to continue if you don't want to."
>Other (write in)

>>2133101
>"You don't have to continue if you don't want to."
That's enough info for now. It was a group, which means if we can find one, we find 'em all.

>>2133101
>>"You don't have to continue if you don't want to."
but if she does
>"You don't have to tell me the details, just tell me what the looked like, what they sounded like."

"You don't have to continue if you don't want to." You reminded your squadmate, but she instead shook her head. The expression on her face not changing.

"No. I have kept my mouth shut and have hidden from things like this for too long. Now is the time that I actually tell someone what I saw." Svetlana insisted, her voice firm and insistent. A far cry from her tired and weary tone from when she woke up.

"You don't have to tell me the details, just tell me what they looked like, what they sounded like. Describe them to me." You insisted, you didn't enjoy the idea of her thinking about such a recent event.

"There was four of them, I wasn't able to see their faces as they were all wearing flight gear. But... they did not seem like they were pilots." Svetlana recalled after a few seconds, you made a mental note of that bit of information.

"In what way?" You asked, slightly curious at how she could tell if somebody was a fighter pilot or not by how they fared in a fistfight

"They did not fight like a fighter pilot. Back in Russia, whenever I would fight a fellow pilot it wasn't always about being the strongest and most durable. It was about being quick and having good reflexes. But those men... they were not fast and lacked reflexes." Svetlana explained calmly, her voice remaining flat and calm as she continued her explanation.

"So, they looked like pilots, but you don't think that they were actually pilots?" You asked, cutting to the heart of her point.

"Da. Though another thing that was interesting was that they were not speaking any language that I have ever heard before. It was not English, Russian, Chinese or Japanese." Svetlana brought up, and you nodded in response. Only to internally curse at yourself for it. She can't see dumb ass, so there was no way that she would be able to tell that you were nodding.

"So, we're looking for four guys who aren't from around here and have a pennant for playing dress up. This is going to be fun." You reiterated. While they sounded like quite the characters, you doubted that you would be able to find them. From the sounds of it, they were going to great lengths to conceal their identities.

"I am sorry, I am trying to remember what I can without remembering the fight itself... it is difficult." Svetlana apologised meekly, causing you feel like a bit of a dick. She was doing her best, so now was not the time for that.

>Ask Svetlana to remember the fight.
>Thank Svetlana for her help and contact Dredd, he can handle the search.
>Thank Svetlana for her help and start searching on your own. You want to make a point for why people should not fuck with your unit.
>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.

>>2133179
>Thank Svetlana for her help and start searching on your own. You want to make a point for why people should not fuck with your unit.
Oh, these thugs are going to meet a VERY unfortunate fate.

>>2133182
Thanks for running.

>>2133179
>Thank Svetlana for her help and start searching on your own. You want to make a point for why people should not fuck with your unit.

>>2133179
>Ask Svetlana to try and remember the fight.
Whether she can or cannot
>See who in your unit is up for hunting some fuckers down with you.

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“Thanks Svetlana, take this to Dredd so that he can pass this up the chain of command.” You thanked your squadmate as you slowly got up. You were still tired from the previous fight, but not enough to go to sleep.

“Of course, don’t take too long please.” Svetlana replied from the hospital bed as you left. And for a second, you felt a bit guilty at simply leaving her there alone. However, you knew the general situation. Pilots were too important right now to simply lose their wings over a fight, so if the people that had attacked Svetlana were actually pilots, then they would get off with a slap to the wrist.

You couldn’t let that happen, so you had to resort to a more hands on approach.


Quickly making your way out of the hospital, you flagged down a passing utility jeep and managed to hitch a ride closer to your barracks. The driver not wanting to deviate from his task by too much of a degree. So you had to hoof it on foot for the final few meters. You entered to find that at least a few of your stranded squadmates had arrived back. Ahab and Ishmael -his RIO- both sat on one of the couches, Zeus and Kay occupied another while Weiss and Knobloch filled out the last one.


“So, who’s up to find the guys who beat up Svetlana and giving them a taste of their own medicine?” You asked as you approached the group. All 6 of them were busy watching M.A.S.H on the armed forces channel, one of the few good shows. Even if it was on the old side.

“You do realise that we could get arrested.” Ahab pointed out from his seat, where he sat with a can of coke.

>”And they’ll be let off the hook for what they did. I refuse to let them get away with this.”
>”Not if they can’t prove that it was us. Or at the very least if they don’t catch us.”
>”And? We aren’t going to get grounded for it unless we actually kill one of them.”
>Other (write in)

>>2134333
>”And? We aren’t going to get grounded for it unless we actually kill one of them.”
>"We might even get a medal if these guys aren't one of our's."

As things seem to be going a bit slower tonight, we'll reduce the voting requirements, should keep the thread rolling rather than having to wait a while for more votes.

>>2134435
>trusting me to make good decisions
>trusting me to make decisions
uh oh

>>2134333
>>”And they’ll be let off the hook for what they did. I refuse to let them get away with this.”
>”And? We aren’t going to get grounded for it unless we actually kill one of them.”

>>2134435
Seems a bit early for that, i'm sure more people will roll in soon

>>2134333
>>”And they’ll be let off the hook for what they did. I refuse to let them get away with this.”
We aren’t going to get grounded for it unless we actually kill one of them.”

”And? We aren’t going to get grounded for it unless we actually kill one of them. They aren't just going to hold us back from the reds with an invasion of Japan on the table.” You pointed out as you lent against the back of one of the couches. All eyes in the room on you. "Hell, we might even get a medal if these guys aren't one of our's."

"Just making sure that you know what you're getting into. Beating the shit out of another serviceman could get you kicked out of the unit." Ahab warned you, you could tell that he was interested in getting involved. But as the unit's second in command, he had to stay out of it.

"Yeah, they're really going to kick one of the highest scoring aces in the theatre back to the states. Things are too intense around here for them to be able to make that call." You pointed out, causing your fellow pilot to shrug.

"I guess that's true. I can run some limited cover for you, but do us all a favour and try not to get caught. It won't look good for the unit if a number of our pilots got into a brawl." Ahab relented, before then adding simply. "So I hope that you're good at running."

"Don't worry, we can do this. Is anyone else in?" You asked the group in front of you, and most of them nodded.

"We're in, there are only so many things that you can do for revenge and this exceeds all of them." Weiss confirmed from just below you, her voice taking on a bit of a malicious tone.

"And if they're armed? The admiral had us hand over our pistols too." Ishmael asked, gesturing down to the empty leg holster that had been sewn into his flight suit.

"If they have guns, we're going to have to bump this up to the MPs. But it won't work out for them as if they pull guns on us then they could very well be dishonourably discharged. If not, then we can probably deal with them. CQC training has a section devoted to disarming people with basic weapons, so if you remember that then you should be good." You answered. Thankfully, you had a bit more experience behind the basic training that most pilots had. Courtesy of a rough and tumble few years in high school.

"Where would we search? We can't just go around beating the shit out of random people until we hit the right ones." Kay asked, her enthusiastic tone practically spelling out that she was ready for a fight, even if she did have a band aid over one of the cheeks.

>"We an check out where they jumped Svetlana, maybe we can find a clue there."
>"Svetlana mentioned that they weren't speaking either English or Japanese. We can try and find any foreign units that are deployed here."
>"Actually, that was kind of my plan anyways."
>Other (write in)

>>2134561
>>"We an check out where they jumped Svetlana, maybe we can find a clue there."

>>2134561
>>"We an check out where they jumped Svetlana, maybe we can find a clue there."
>>"Svetlana mentioned that they weren't speaking either English or Japanese. We can try and find any foreign units that are deployed here."

>>2134561
>"Svetlana mentioned that they weren't speaking either English or Japanese. We can try and find any foreign units that are deployed here."

>>2134561
>>"We an check out where they jumped Svetlana, maybe we can find a clue there."

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"We can check out where they jumped Svetlana, maybe we can find a clue there." You decided, prompting most of the squad before you to get up. All baring Ahab, who remained seated.

"If anybody asks, I'll tell them that you're off on a PT run. That should keep them off your trail for a bit of time." Ahab announced as the group made their ways towards the door, you nodded and turned to follow them out. Only to stop and call behind you.

"Svetlana mentioned that they weren't speaking either English or Japanese. Can you take a look around and find any foreign units that are deployed here?" You asked Ahab, who smiled back at you.

"I can do that, though it's going to take a bit more time. I can't eactly pass this one up to the boss after all." Ahab's smile faltered as he explained the problem with your request.

"That's fine. Hopefully we can find something out there to narrow your search. Thanks for the help." You thanked your second in command, before then taking your leave and leading your hunting pack of pilots down the route that Svetlana had roughly taken. Eventually arriving at the alleyway between hangers 5 and 6. While Svetlana hadn't specifically mentioned that thee were the hangers that she was jumped by, Kay and Ishmael had seen the MPs taking down a cordon between them. So this was your best bet for where Svetlana had been jumped.

There was only a slight issue however, the alleyway was a mess. You knew that a base of this size had to throw out a lot of waste, you just didn't know that they left that waste around to fester for a bit before throwing it out! And from the look and smell of the alley, you would have to look through a lot of boxes, bins and even on the ground itself.

>Search behind the bins, inside them too if you have to.
>Search the boxes, if you were trying to hide something, you's put it under a box.
>Take a FOD walk up the alley, just looking for clues instead of random shit.
>Other (write in)

>>2134723
>Take a FOD walk up the alley, just looking for clues instead of random shit.

>>2134723
>>Take a FOD walk up the alley, just looking for clues instead of random shit.

>>2134723
>>Take a FOD walk up the alley, just looking for clues instead of random shit.
If we don't find anything then
>Search behind the bins, inside them too if you have to.

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"Well. This is gonna suck." Weiss stated simply as she coughed on the fumes that were wafting out of the alley, a smell not unlike 3 week old casserole that nobody had put in the fridge.

"We'll do a FOD walk with two groups of three people, one group following a meter behind the other. Look for anything that could present a hint." You explained your plan to your squadmates, before getting everybody formed up. Kay and Zeus joined you at the front, with Weiss and the rest taking up the rear. Probably so that they could put off walking into what smelled like the biggest rotting asshole in the country.

Your group took off a solid 30 seconds before Weiss's group, and you occasionally stopped for a second to kick over some rubbish to peek under it. Unfortunately, the most you found under most of them was either dried chewing gum or more rubbish. As a matter of course however, none of you dared to touch the paper towels or toilet paper. Not even with the tips of your boots. You kicked over packets of crisps and had to fight back the reflex to jump back as a rat bolted out. The rat was not long for this world however, as Kay promptly kicked it like a football. The sickening wet crunch of tiny bones cracking lasted for less than a second before the rat went airbrone. The rodent sailing through the air for a good few seconds before slamming into the concrete at the other end of the alleyway.

You simply stared at Kay for a couple of seconds, before walking on. Lamenting for a second how one of the age-old pranks wouldn't work.

"Hold up, I think I see something." You were around half-way through the alleyway when Zeus spoke up. You looked over at him, and found him staring at a broken drainpipe. A section of pipe having been removed.

"Need some gloves?" Knobloch asked from just behind you as she approached. Zeus didn't respond, but took one of her offered gloves and put it on. The large gloves obviously being meant for maintenance work rather than for fashion.

Zeus reached over to the pipe, and with surprising deftness he managed to reach just behind the large pipe, just above one of the mountings that secured it to the wall, and pulled out a tiny bag. Said bag being a small and clear zip-lock, inside of it sat a small assortment of semi-clear crystals. Each crystal being less than a centimetre long, and only around a millimetre wide. There was around a couple dozen crystals in the bag, but due to their small size, the assorted size of the overall contents was still fairly small. Zeus put the bag into the palm of his free hand and presented it to the group.

"Any idea what this is?" He asked, though from his tone of voice, he probably had a few ideas about what they probably were.

"I'm going to say drugs." Ishmael suggested. "Why else would something so small be hidden away like this?"

"True enough I suppose, though I was more asking about what kind of drugs." Zeus clarified as everybody crowded around to see what he had found.

>CONT

>>2134851

"Could it be a marijuana?" Kay asked sceptically.

"No. Marijuana is called the devil's flower, and that doesn't look like a flower to me." Weiss clarified, her voice doubtful.

"Should we take this to the boss, or the MPs?" Zeus asked you as you stared down at the bag.

>Take the bag to the MPs, they ought to know what it is.
>Take the bag to Dredd, he might be able to help. And it would do well to get him on side.
>Keep searching the alleyway, you might find something more.
>Other (write in)

>>2134855
>Keep searching the alleyway, you might find something more.
I'm not expecting a smoking gun, but it doesn't hurt.

>>2134855
>>Keep searching the alleyway, you might find something more.
If nothing comes up, then its probably best to take the bag to Dredd

>>2134855
>>Keep searching the alleyway, you might find something more.

>>2134855
>Keep searching the alleyway, you might find something more.

File: needs a few more cracks.jpg (29 KB, 600x624)

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"Zeus, pocket it. We'll keep searching the alley for now." You decided, your helpers forming back up into your lines before continuing on. Your search however turned up nothing more on the ground as you looked on, a couple of bugs ran out of the way of your approach, abandoning their food to escape the giants that came their way. However, by the time you reached the splayed out remains of the rat that Kay had kicked, you were about ready to give up.

"Found something!" Knobloch called out from behind you, and even behind her line. She was knelt down next to a few black bin bags, and had isolated one of them from the pack. You quickly made your way over, but were beat there by Weiss and Ishmael.

"Are those, flight suits?" Weiss asked as you approached behind them, and soon enough you were able to peek over the smaller pilot in front of you to see what her RIO had found. And sure enoguh, inside the bag was a number of flight suits and a few helmets.

"Yeah, flight suits and headgear. All in good order too." Knobloch confirmed, tossing up one of helmets to Weiss. You lent over your wingmate's shoulder in order to inspect the helmet. It was an older style helmet, but it looked as if it had recently been refurbished with a modern oxygen mask.

"So Svetlana was right, they weren't pilots." You mused as Knobloch pulled one of the flight suits out and began to check it out. It certainly looked in good order to you, with no real damage to it.

"So that's what you two were getting up to." Weiss said, a mixture to realisation and disappointment in her voice. But before you could ask what she meant, her RIO spoke up.

"I told you! I told you that they wouldn't have-" Knobloch began, only to be interrupted by her pilot.

"HA HA VERY FUNNY! Now back to the investigation!" Weiss laughed as she quickly slammed the helmet onto her RIO's head and knocked on it a few times. You decided not to ask your question after that, suspecting you knew what it was.

"Are there any identifying marks? Flags and other such things?" You asked, going back to the subject you were all here for.

"No, they're clean. Same with the helmets. Though... this one is damaged, looks like it was hit by something hard." Knobloch began, only to pull a helmet out of the bag, a large crack spreadding across it's top.

"Or it was knocked into something. One of the bins back there has a dent in it that looks kind of like that helmet could have been slammed into it." Kay suggested, gesturing back to one of the bins. The metal refuse repository sporting a wicked looking dent.

"We're done here, we can get going." You decided, now rather happy with the evidence that you had gathered, even if after all of this you would have to shower after all of this.

>Take the evidence to the MPs, they ought to know what it is.
>Take the evidence to Dredd, he might be able to help. And it would do well to get him on side.
>Other (write in)

>>2135109
>>Take the evidence to Dredd, he might be able to help. And it would do well to get him on side.

>>2135109
>>Take the evidence to Dredd, he might be able to help. And it would do well to get him on side.

>>2135109
>Take the evidence to Dredd, he might be able to help. And it would do well to get him on side.

File: the unit commander's desk(...).jpg (144 KB, 1200x797)

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"Dog those helmets, we're taking this back to Dredd. He'll want to hear about this." You ordered. While you didn't have any real authority over them, they had listened to you thus-far.

Soon after that discovery, your unit was out of the alleyway and making it's way back to the dorms that you had been allotted. Every so often your group would get a passing glance by the few random people that you passed on your way. It wasn't that often that you saw a congregation of pilots making their way around the base with a bin bag full of flight gear. Eventually, you made your way into your dorms and through the rec room, headed towards the squadron office. While the building itself didn't actually have an office to begin with, Dredd and Ahab had turned one of the rooms into an impromptu office as soon as you had arrived. You took the bag from Knobloch and the suspected drugs from Zeus and entered. Inside, Dredd and Ahab both toiled away at the assorted paperwork that had to be done. Your CO looking up at you as you entered, and watching as you dropped the bin bag next to him.

"What is this?" Dredd asked sceptically as you fished the drugs out of your pocket.

"Evidence that we found in the alleyway where Svetlana was attacked. I suspect that the attackers used these flight suits to mask their identities and jobs, and ditched them at the sight. And these drugs that Zeus found suggest that this wasn't a planned attack." You announced as you put the drugs onto the table next to the bag. Dredd looked at the small zip-lock bag and frowned. He was obviously not one for drugs, as you expected of everyone in the unit.

"This is not good. But thank you for finding these for us, we'll hand this off to the MPs so that they can continue their investigation." Dredd nodded, his voice remaining flat all the while.

"But chief-" You began, only for the boss to interrupt you.

"No buts Razor. I understand that you want somebody's head for what happened to Svetlana, but I'm not going to stand around while you go running into a fight that could very well remove you from flight status. We'll do this one by the book." Dredd replied, looking up at you. His frown had lessened substantially, but you could tell that he was still not pleased.

"If we do things by the book, they'll get away with it!" You pointed out, your voice rising slightly as you strained against the order.

"They won't, if these drugs are related to them in any way then they will be discharged. Hell, I'm pretty sure that a discharge was headed their way anyways, but if not then this would surely do it. In the mean time, you're on crew rest." Dredd replied, his voice remaining at that flat and icy tone that officers always used when telling their subordinates that they couldn't do something.

"But-" You tried again, only to be interrupted again.

>CONT

>>2135344

"I said no more Razor, I wont have it. Now get your ass off to bed, you need some rest." Dredd ordered sternly. His voice telling you that it was not up for debate. You stood there for a few seconds before Dredd spoke again. "And a shower too, you stink."

"So, what's the deal?" Durendal asked as you exited the office, having apparently joined up with your waiting group as you entered.

"Dredd is handing the evidence over to the MPs. Apparently they're going to take it from here." You sighed as you shut the door behind you, making sure the keep your voice low so that Dredd couldn't hear you through the door.

"But are we going to leave it here?" Weiss asked, and all eyes fell on you to decide what to do now.

>Are you going to leave it here?

>>2135347
Best to listen to Dredd and let the MPs do their jobs, a war is going on and we are ace pilots needed in the air not on the ground.

>>2135347
We'll just have to deal.

"We're gonna have to leave this one. Best to let the MPs do their jobs, a war is going on and we are ace pilots needed in the air not on the ground. We can't go and wreak ourselves over this." You explained to the assorted squadmates before you, your tone regretful but firm as you told them your decision. And they didn't seem to like it.

"But there are eight of us! We can do it!" Weiss insisted, her confidence was infectious, but you had to look at things from a more practical point of view.

"Yeah, eight aces who would be going up against people who may or may not be part of a drugs ring on base, and who beat the shit out of Svetlana so that she didn't run to the MPs about what she saw. Chances are that they're armed and willing to fight brutally. We can't risk loosing more people to this." You pointed out. And noted that a couple of people nodded to themselves. "Think of this practically Weiss, I don't like this at all, but if it results in anyone else in the unit grounded for medical reasons then that will only make the problem worse."

"That blows, but fine. We'll leave it to the jumped-up mall guards." Weiss agreed, before turning and heading off towards the rec room, followed by her RIO, the two French girls and Ishamel, Kay and Zeus headed out one of the back doors, casually talking between each other about getting some food. All of them leaving you alone in the hallway.

Heading upstairs, you changed and hit the showers for a long wash. Letting the accumulated sweat and grime be washed away in the warm waters of the base's fully heated water supply. One of the things that you never really liked about being at sea was the showers, and having to spend only 2 minutes with the head on. On land however, you didn't have to worry about running through the base's warm water supply like what could happen on a carrier. Here, you could have as long of a Hollywood shower as you wanted. And you enjoyed the warm water for a good 10 minutes before you finally left the shower. Drying off as methodically and changing into a new flight suit almost immediately. Unlike many other people in the units, you didn't have much else to wear. And soon, you cane across the dilemma of a promise that you had made to one of your squadmates, specifically the one who was currently all alone in a hospital bed.

You had promised to spend as much time as you could with Svetlana, at least until the bandages over her eyes came off. You intended to honour that promise, but at the same time, you didn't know if actually going over there and sleeping there with her was overstepping your duties. You guessed that Weiss though that you had already had sex with the blinded Russian, and you worried that many more people would assume that if you spent the night there. But on the other hand, you did make a promise to her. You did say that you would stay with her when possible, and you reckoned that it was indeed possible for you to stay the night there.

>CONT

>>2135496

>Rest in your bed, you might as well be comfy and avoid any more nasty rumours.
>Head over to the hospital and sleep in one of the hairs. You did make a promise after all.
>Other (write in)

>>2135502
>Head over to the hospital and sleep in one of the hairs. You did make a promise after all.

Need another vote.

>>2135502
>Head over to the hospital and sleep in one of the hairs. You did make a promise after all.

With a simple shrug of your shoulders, you decided to head out to the hospital. You didn't think that the doctors would be too happy with you lounging about in one of the chairs, but at the same time you really didn't care. They didn't have one of their buddies lying in hospital with a number of broken bones and being unable to see. You had once had to look after your mother after she suffered a serious eye infection, she had to wear medical patches over her eyes for a solid month. And at least from what she told you, wit wasn't a fun experience, what with having to rely on other people to help you with even the most basic things. Her eyes had never really been the same after that, forcing her to wear glasses as a matter of course.

You grabbed your jacket from your room and left, stopping only to pick up a can of coke and inform Zeus about where you could be found before heading out. The trek through the base being only interrupted once when you had to show identification to a security patrol. Though it only stopped you for a few seconds, and you were back on the way soon after. The hospital was a different story however, apparently a number of injured people had been flown in on a C-130 and the hospital was working hard to treat all of them. More than once you had to stop or move out of the way for an occupied stretcher, doctors and nurses racing alongside it. And in amongst it all, Svetlana's room stood out as an island in the sea of chaos. The marines at the door saw you coming, and with a flash of your ID they opened the door and let you in. The pair of them wanting you to get inside quickly, so that you weren't blocking the way for the injured for too long.

"Razor? Is that you?" Svetlana asked as soon as the door shut. She didn't look at the door, there was no point to doing so anyways.

"Yeah, sorry that I'm late by the way. The boss insisted that I had a shower." You apologised as you walked over and retrieved your seat, one of the doctors having returned it to and the other chairs to the wall that they were lined up against.

"Has everybody returned? How are they doing?" Your injured comrade asked, apparently Ahab and the rest of them hadn't visited her.

"They're fine, though I'm not sure if they brought their birds with them." You replied as you sat down in the same seat, in the same place as before.

"I hope that their aircraft are fine, but if not then we do have one going spare!" Svetlana joked, you chuckled at it and tried to sound genuinely amused by it. You didn't like joking at someone's expense, but if she was cracking jokes so soon then you guessed that was good.

>Talk with Svetlana for a bit (about what?)
>Get some rest, no doubt that you'll be dragged up onto a flight soon enough.

>>2135671
>Get some rest, no doubt that you'll be dragged up onto a flight soon enough.

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.

>>2135671
>Get some rest, no doubt that you'll be dragged up onto a flight soon enough.

The both of you exchanged idle chatter for a bit, mostly just the both of you bitching at assorted things, like previous jets that you had flown. Svetlana was not a fan of the navalised MiG-23 while you weren't a fan of the F-5. You didn't care much for the freedom fighter due to it's lack of any BVR weapons and reduced ammo supply for it's guns. Meanwhile, Svetlana hated the MiG-23 because of it's pilot workload. Having to operate both the radar system, the wing sweep system and all other systems all on her own was absolute hell. Eventually however, your fatigue began to return, and you soon enough you drifted into the blackness of sleep.

Less than a second after you closed your eyes, you felt someone gently shaking you awake.

"Hey... Razor. Wake up." Zeus said quietly as he gently shook your shoulder. You groaned and brought your arm up to look at your watch. Only to find that it wasn't there. You were confused for a couple of seconds before you remembered that you had taken it off before your shower, you had probably left it behind at the dorms.

"Ugh... What time is it?" You groaned as you shook your head, the last vestiges of sleep still clawing at you.

"Oh-five-hundred. We're having to fill in for Kay and Kenji for the morning patrol flight. Come on, we need to get down to the hangar." Zeus explained as he helped you up, palming you a lukewarm cup of coffee as soon as you were on your feet. You glanced over, and noting that Svetlana was still asleep, you made your way out as quietly as possible. You exited the room and into the almost unoccupied corridor. As you made your way out of the hospital, you had time to think about if you wanted to head back to the dorms to try and grab your stuff before you went up on patrol.

>Head back to the dorms, you forgot some stuff.
>Head down to the hanger, you might as well get this started.
>Other (write in)

>>2137405
>Head down to the hanger, you might as well get this started.

>>2137405
>Head down to the hanger, you might as well get this started.

>>2137405
>>Head down to the hanger, you might as well get this started.

File: F-14 hardpoints.gif (8 KB, 287x450)

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"So, what route are we flying?" You asked as you closed the door behind you, leaving your injured squad mate under the purview of the marine guards.

"Maritime patrol mostly, we'll be flying direct south over the Hachijyo islands. Most of the navy's hornets are around there with their harpoons, but they don't have the AMRAAMs for self defence. The Soviets have been trying to interdict the Hornet patrols with long range flights from their Foxbats and Foxhounds, and have even been able to claim a few kills. Our mission is to act as a defence against those attacks." Zeus explained as the pair of you made your way along the corridor and down the stairs.

"What's our load for the mission?" You asked as you passed the assorted beds that had been laid up along the wall of the corridor that you passed. You assumed that the wounded were from the group that were brought in yesterday.

"We have three possible loads. All are pretty much the same with the exception on what we load on the B hardpoints. The first one loads them with another pair of phoenixes to top off our maximum load, giving us six phoenixes in total. The other load gives us a pair of AMRAAMs to bridge the gap between the phoenixes and the heaters, and it's your call if you want to go with the double adaptors or not." Zeus explained as you left the building and walked towards your ride out to the hanger, a Chrysler pickup truck.

"Phoenixes? Are you sure they can cut it? They aren't too good at hitting fighters, or anything else that isn't the size of Air Force One."

"It worked for the Iranians, and we have better missiles, better radars and AWACs. We should be fine, though I wouldn't expect too many kills on this one."

As the jeep passed through the base at a sedate 5 miles per hour, you watched the hustle and bustle of the base during a lull in the fighting. You watched as a team of mechanics pulled the wings off a Harrier just outside of a hangar, a replacement set already hanging under a small crane. And as your chariot began to accelerate out of the base's [i]slow zone[/i], you began to think about your load.

>Take option 1 (x2 AIM-95 Agiles [OR] x4 AIM-9 Sidewinders, x6 AIM-54 Phoenixes)
>Take option 2 (x2 AIM-95 Agiles [OR] x4 AIM-9 Sidewinders, x2 [OR] x4 AIM-120 AMRAAMs, x4 AIM-54 Phoenixes)
>Build your own damn 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)

>>2137788
>>Take option 2 (x2 AIM-95 Agiles [OR] x4 AIM-9 Sidewinders, x2 [OR] x4 AIM-120 AMRAAMs, x4 AIM-54 Phoenixes)

>>2137842
You have to say if you want 2 agiles or 4 sidewinders, and then if you want 2 or 4 AMRAAMs.

>>2137867
Oops. Sidewinders. And 4 AMRAAMs.

>>2137788
>>Take option 2 (x2 AIM-95 Agiles [OR] x4 AIM-9 Sidewinders, x2 [OR] x4 AIM-120 AMRAAMs, x4 AIM-54 Phoenixes)
Sidewinders and 4 AMRAAMS

File: F-14 takeoff (2).jpg (63 KB, 960x720)

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Having decided upon your load, you went back to watching out the window of the truck's cabin. A pair of blackhawk derivatives taking off as you rolled past the helicopter landing pads. A handful of men sat with their legs dangling out of the side of the helicopter, held in by straps. Each aircraft had 4 guns each, a pair of door guns and a pair of window guns. All being manned. The helicopters took off and flew out over the base, but avoiding the runway. Aside from that, the rest of the runway was silent. No aircraft were currently landing or taking off, but you suspected that a number of aircraft were currently waiting to land. With such a major conflict happening right now, you doubted that this lull would last for too long.

"Alright, bring us up on the side here." Zeus asked the driver as you approached your hanger, the distinctive CIWS turret sat nearby acting as a landmark for you. The driver dutifully pulled up and allowed both you and Zeus to get out and walk the remaining few meters to your hanger, where your crew chief was already waiting for you.

"Good morning sir, what'll it be?" He asked as he approached and gave you a lazy salute. Apparently he wasn't a morning man.

"Give me four sidewinders and four AMRAAMs under the wing root racks. All phoenixes on the fuselage." You instructed, gesturing to one of the ladened weapons carts that already had a pair of AMRAAMs resting on it. Your crew chief nodded at you before then turning to heard his men into motion.

While your chief was busy getting your plane ready for flight, you had a bit of time to do something that you hadn't done for a while. That being to pay the weather shop a visit. Most of the time, you would have to rush into the air and improvise with no idea on the conditions aside from what your bird's sensors could tell you. This time however you would have to know just what you were getting into. Thankfully however, the seas were relatively calm, though the winds were slated to only get worse over time. After getting all of that sorted, you paid a visit to the life support shop to pick up your gear after a much needed servicing, and hit the toilets to get everything out before the flight.

The preflight walk around did reveal a loose panel over your port engine, which was quickly checked and tightened before you began your startup. And within a few minutes, you were starting to taxi out onto the runway. Weiss -now going by her callsign of Scorpion- soon taxied in behind you, both of your jets loaded for the mission ahead. Though you did note that unlike you, she was carrying a full load of phoenixes. Though the difference in overall weight and drag between your loads was so minuscule that you didn't have to put in much effort to stay in formation as you took off. Soon enough, you began the boring flight out. And once again, you had to be the one to spurn conversation.

>Talk with Scorpion and Vamipre.
>Talk with Zeus.
>Keep quiet and continue out on patrol.
>Other (write in)

>>2138055
>Talk with Scorpion and Vampire.
Surely nothing will give us need to launch those Phoenixes. Surely.

>>2138055
>>Talk with Zeus.
Been too long since we've talked to him.

Need a tiebreaker...

>>2138055
>>Talk with Scorpion and Vamipre.

>Talk with Zeus.

>>2138055
>>Talk with Scorpion and Vamipre.

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"Freelancer two-one to Freelancer two-two. How are you doing over there?" You asked your wingmate after you had handed off from the tower controller in the base's ATC. The pair of you heading to meet up with a KC-135 over Mount Mihara. The first island in the chain.

"We're doing good over here skipper, though it's a bit sparse up here, don't 'cha think?" Scorpion replied jovially, in spite of everything that had happened recently, she still sounded fairly cheerful.

"That it is two-two. That it is..." You replied simply as you looked down at Tokyo harbour below. The massive buildup of ships was still there, though you noted that the Essex class carrier that had arrived a few weeks earlier had left. Probably to provide it's valuable ASW air wing to help screen a convoy on the trans-Pacific supply line between Japan and Hawaii.

"I'm still annoyed that we didn't go after those fucks that beat up Svetlana." Scorpion mused into the channel with a little heat in her voice.

"You heard what I said, we can't just go rushing in when it could be more than just a few guys being dickheads. If we were to get badly injured, we wouldn't be able to fly our important missions." Your reiterated, while you completely understood your wingmate's point of view you knew better than run into a situation that would ground you.

"Yeah, like flying a support patrol that any old Tomcat flight could do. Hell, aren't these Phoenixes distributed fleet wide?" Scorpion asked, anger starting to ebb into her voice.

"Because only one or two other squadrons in the theatre have upgraded their birds to D-plus standard. Which is the minimum required to operate the Phoenix-D's. The guidance package is a bitch to get working with the older AWG nines." Vampire explained, which did sort of make sense. But even then, there was no real sense behind the move.

"But can the guidance package actually track for shit?" You asked, while the phoenix was certainly one of the first active-radar missiles in service, it hadn't aged well. And with modern ECM to worry about, you would be lucky to hit the broadside of a [i]Backfire[/i] from optimal range.

"Yep, they pulled the seeker upgrades off the AMRAAM and the Canadian active Sparrow. Not sure why we needed the Canadians for tech support though, it's our missile and all that." Zeus answered before Vampire, the RIOs once again providing tech support for the less technically minded.

>Ask Weiss something (what?)
>Ask Vampire something (what?)
>Ask Zeus something (what?)
>Keep up the small talk until your reach the island.
>Other (write in)

>>2138273
>Keep up the small talk until your reach the island.
Your ID changing is playing hell with your ability to format, I see.

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. Sorry that we only managed to get 4 posts in but my internet took a crap on me, so instead of finishing tonight we're gonna have to finish this thread up tomorrow. If you have any questions in the meantime, feel free to ask them and I'll answer them as soon as I am able.

>>2138273
>>Keep up the small talk until your reach the island.

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Keeping up the small talk as you flew out, you glazed over a few topics as you hit the tanker over Mount Mihara -the active volcano below having been only sparsely defended due to an eruption a few years back- and continued out to your patrol pattern. You talked mostly about random topics before finally settling on talking about previous cruises. While the German Navy -the Kriegsmarine- lacked any sort of flat-top aircraft carrier, the Luftwaffe wasn't above farming out units to other European navies. The British and French being their mainstay for cat and trap aviation, with Scorpion taking a few cruises on the French carrier Foch. Though they never encountered any Soviet aircraft during their times at sea, they did have a number of stories to tell about hectic times ashore. You drove the bulk of the American stories as Zeus had spent less time in the service than you.

Eventually, as you rounded Aogashima island, on the southern most point of your patrol path. Your radio crackled into life again, and it wasn't your wingmate talking this time.

"Siren to Freelancer flight. We have a pair of bogies inbound from zero-eight-one degrees from angels seventy at mach three. They are one hundred and twenty five miles out from your patrol route. Engage them at will." The AWACs aircraft flying north of you over Hachijō-jima. You didn't have time to confirm that you had acknowledged the order before the AWACs controller killed the link.

"Jesus, that bird is flying fairly damn high. I'm surprised that they can even intercept anything from that altitude." Scorpion stated, having heard the orders from the rude controller.

"They could be a reconnaissance flight. We could just let them pass." Zeus suggested, and from his tone you guessed that he was just being lazy.

>Climb to intercept. Recon flight or not, you can't allow them through.
>Keep your eye on them, but don't bother intercepting them.
>Other (write in)

>>2139153
>>Climb to intercept. Recon flight or not, you can't allow them through.

>>2139153
>>Climb to intercept. Recon flight or not, you can't allow them through.

>>2139153
>Climb to intercept. Recon flight or not, you can't allow them through.
Mostly tangential, but new Project Wingman beta soon.

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"Radars on people and listen in. Zeus and Vampire, tell me when you have the Foxbats on your scopes." You ordered as you wheeled your flight towards the incoming Foxbats, a plan formulating in your head.

"I've got them, we'll merge with them in a few minutes." Zeus called from just behind you as one of your MFDs flashed into life, showing you the picture from your radar.

"Ok, so the plan is simple, we're going to take spacings and then climb to angels fifty on full afterburners. We'll engage the Foxbats with two missiles per bird from each of us. I'll take the lead Foxbat while Scorpion takes his wingmate. If the first volley misses, then we can always fire off the second. Understood?" You laid out to your listening squadron, pausing for a few seconds to wait for Scorpion's response.

"Understood two-one. Take us up." Scorpion replied as she hit her rudders and separated from your wing, now holding at 200 meters away.

"Nose up to seventy degrees, and..." You instructed as you pulled your stick into your gut, pulling your Tomcat's nose up to face the inky blackness of space beyond. "...hit the burners!"

You Tomcat's engines screamed as you hit the button for afterburners. Your body being pressed into your seat as you screamed into the sky like the Space Shuttle orbiter. You strained to ask Zeus your question. "Zeus, are you still tracking them?"

"Barely, they're at the limit of my scope, and they're hitting their ECM on full power. But I've still got them." Zeus replied as you checked your altimeter, watching just in time to see you break 45,000 feet. A few seconds later, you chopped your throttle and used the rest of your momentum to climb the remaining thousand feet. As you pitched the nose back to level flight, you spotted the contrails of the incoming MiGs.

"Got a solid lock! Phoenixes on your trigger now." Zeus informed you as you glanced over to your left, spotting Scorpion as she levelled off.

"Freelancer two-one, Fox three! Fox three!" You called over the radio as you pressed the launch button twice, one for each missile. And a few seconds later, you spotted the contrails of your missiles as the lanced out at your target. A few second after, you watched as Scorpion's missiles joined them on track.

"Incoming missiles! The MiGs launched them at us!" Zeus reported, his voice notably less strained as he knew that you had time to avoid them.

>Dive and go evasive! You've made your swing and he can't evade them very well.
>Hold your course! You have to make sure that these missiles hit, and your ECM is better.
>Other (write in)

>>2139318
>>Dive and go evasive! You've made your swing and he can't evade them very well.

>>2139318
>>Dive and go evasive! You've made your swing and he can't evade them very well.

>>2139318
>>Dive and go evasive! You've made your swing and he can't evade them very well.

File: Soviet fleet.jpg (28 KB, 468x298)

28 KB JPG

"Incoming! Dive! Dive! Dive!" You crowed to Scorpion, before shoving the stick forwards and entering a vertical dive. Your engines cut back so that you wouldn't reach you jet's do not exceed speed, but still you managed to dive at a blistering mach 2.5. You willed your aircraft to move faster as you dumped chaff and flares into your wake, hoping that the countermeasures would take the attention of the enemy missile.

As soon as your RWR shut off, you cut back your throttle and began to level off. Waiting for a few seconds for your airbrakes to slow you down enough that you could safely manoeuvre. You brough your nose up to track where you guessed that the Foxbats were, only to find nothing.

"Zeus, can you confirm that we hit the Foxbats?" You asked as you switched over to your IRST, which showed a number of heat contacts of varying temperature, but together they all showed up as a single blob on the radar.

"They're down from what I can see. Scorpion, can you and Vampire confirm that the sensor picture that I'm sending you is correct?" Zeus replied as he widened your conversation to include your wingmates.

"Sensor picture is an exact match to ours. The Foxbats are down." Vampire confirmed after a few seconds, you smiled gently as you levelled off your aircraft. You quickly switched over to the radio channel to the AWACs, only to get an earful.

"-arranged patrol routes and form up over Sōfu Iwa. Repeat! All aircraft are to ignore all pre-arranged patrol routes and form up over Sōfu Iwa." Siren repeated, the controller's douchey tone now taking on a bit of a more concerned edge.

"Freelancer two-one to AWACs Siren. We've killed the enemy Foxbats but we didn't catch your briefing. What's going on?" You asked, your tone unchanging in spite of the new orders. You heard the tell tail crackle of Scorpion listening into your transmission as she formed up a few dozen meters off your left wing.

"A Soviet fleet is making for Port of Magadan. All aircraft on station are mustering to help interdict. Further details will be provided once everybody has mustered and has refuelled." The AWACs controller explained, his rushed explanation shocking you as you realised that you would be doing the exact [i]opposite[/i] of what the F-14 was designed for.

Attacking a fleet. You hadn't expected doing this today

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I'm gonna call the thread here folks. Sorry for the shorter run today, but a lot of that was meant to be rolled into next week's run. So here's hoping that next week's run isn't ham stringed by network issues that stop me from posting.

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.

>>2139556
Oh blyad.

See you next week, Thunderhead.

>>2139556
new here but what are the social links or opinions of the waifus. ( we have like 6-8?)

>>2139739

As far as social links go, Razor is friends with pretty much everybody in VF-21, though it is to varying degrees. For instance, he is much friendlier with his RIO Zeus, than with Kenji, the leader of the 4th flight. Outside of Zeus however, he seems friendlier with the European pilots (Weiss, Slider and Durendal)

As far as waifus go, it's more up to player choice/interest as Razor isn't currently in a relationship with any of the women in his unit. Technically, Razor does have a girlfriend. But due to bad history between the two (stabbing Razor's previous RIO) and a large stint of being separate, it isn't out of the question for you to choose to waifu someone in the unit. Just remember that fraternisation regs are a thing.

>>2139870
What are the Sakamoto's opinion or well eastern pilots, though it seem the european pilots get more screentime.

Also is it possible for multiple woman ?

>>2140062

Sakamoto and other pilots don't get much screen time due to the fact that they operate in a separate unit. If you want to go chasing royal booty then fine, but do realise that people won't take kindly to it. Technically speaking you're free to try and waifu as many characters as possible, but there can and will be repercussions for any and all options taken. So think it through.

>>2141622
We can swing it! Probably die doing it but we can do it!

>>2141922
Just because you can doesn't mean it was ever a good idea.