>>2147446
>>Open up a link with the E-3. Maybe they're getting ready to perform a briefing.

>>2147446
>>Open up a link with the E-3. Maybe they're getting ready to perform a briefing.

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"Hey Zeus, how long until the AWACs guys get on to the briefing on the enemy fleet?" You asked as Scorpion moved into position behind the drogue that you had just refuelled from. If there was to be made about putting multiple long and things into a single hole then it wasn't ready to spring to mind.

"In around five minutes time. Though I think that they're going over the news as it comes in. They ought to have a full rundown on the number of ships at the very least." Zeus answered, before asking a question of his own. "You want me to get us linked into the channel?"

"Sure, we can ask them as soon as we get in." You decided, and waited for Zeus to connect you to the channel. A few seconds and a buzz of static later, and you were connected to the briefing channel.

"Freelancer two-one to Siren. Requesting update on the Soviet fleet." You asked as soon as you were connected to the channel.

"Freelancer two-one, hold five mikes." The AWACs controller replied, the stuck-up and snobby controller from before having been replaced by someone who didn't sound as if they had a metal pole shoved up their ass. As such, you waited and held for the allotted time.

As you waited, the rest of the aircraft below you finished up refuelling from the tankers. Scorpion joined up on your wing a minute before the tankers made for Hachijō-jima. The island airbase was the closest possible airfield for the big aircraft. Thankfully however, you had the option to divert to the IJN Shinano. The older carrier was smaller that the Forrestal-class aircraft carriers that you were used to landing on, but it had all of the bells and whistles needed and a long enough landing deck for you to recover on. You weren't looking forwards to it however, you had heard from Kenji that the ship was a beast to land on. So if you could divert then you would.

You formed up with Scorpion, and soon formed up with the rest of the strike element. The Tomcats forming up into a loose wedge, with the Kate IIs behind the 'cats and the Hornets on the flanks. By your rough estimate, there were just as many Harpoons as air-to-air missiles. And that wasn't good for facing down the Soviet CAG.

"All elements, listen in for briefing." Siren called your attention over the radio just after 5 minutes had passed. "The attack plan is the following. The Tomcats will go in first with the sparrow armed Hornets, they will have the best chances of dealing with the enemy fighters. Following that, the purely-harpoon armed Hornets and Kate-twos will follow them in as soon as the enemy air wing has been eliminated. The Tomcats will then escort the rest of the aircraft to harpoon launch range, all aircraft will launch their Harpoons from just outside of the enemy fleet's missile range. As soon as the missiles are away, all aircraft will egress from the area."

"What is the strength of the enemy air wing?" an unknown pilot asked, you pegged him as being from New England based off his accent.

>CONT

>>2148068

"Unknown as of now. Satellite reconnaissance can't peg down if it's an older or newer model Kuznetsov-class or a later one. The only aircraft we've seen on deck have been naval flankers, melieraxs and mollymawks. So a relatively well rounded air wing. Though at this point we cannot rule out the possibility of ali-cats." Siren reported

"What should we do if they have 'cats? We can't really face them down at BVR." Another pilot asked, probably a Hornet pilot.

"Be thankful. If they're carrying Tomcats then they would have to sacrifice the number of other aircraft that they can carry. And if their carrier is an early model Kuznetsov then they would have to use the ramp, which reduces their Phoenix load to a pair of missiles per bird." The AWACs answered, before pausing for a couple of seconds for more questions.

>Ask a question about the Soviet fleet (write in)
>Talk with Weiss, you need to make sure that her head is in the game.
>Talk with Zeus, you need to know about any new tricks that you can pull.
>Other (write in)

>>2148075
>>Talk with Weiss, you need to make sure that her head is in the game.

>>2148075
>Talk with Weiss, you need to make sure that her head is in the game.
oh god i don't understand anything

>>2148075
>>Talk with Weiss, you need to make sure that her head is in the game.

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Disconnecting from Siren's channel, you switched over to the channel to to your wing mate. You knew that she was a good and adaptable pilot, but maritime attack and naval operations in general were skills that the Luftwaffe didn't teach to it's pilots. So to say that she had little experience in this kind of warfare was an understatement of the highest order. Not that you doubted her of course, you just wanted to make sure that her head was in the game.

"Freelancer two-one to Freelancer two-two. How are you doing over there?" You asked calmly, and in the same voice that you used whenever you checked up on her before almost every fight.

"I'm good. This is just like every other furball we've gotten into." Scorpion replied with a bit of enthusiasm. Just enough to show that she was alright, but not enough to fully assuage your worries.

"Except that this one is over the ocean, and in very close proximity to a Soviet fleet." You pointed out, probing just a bit to see if you could get a response out of your wing mate.

Scorpion was quiet for a few seconds as you shuffled your flight into position just below and to the right of the first pair of Tomcats in your element. When she replied, her voice was just a bit more brittle than usual. "...I had been trying not to think about that you ass."

"Easier to view things when you liken it to stuff that you've done before?" You supplied, you sort of knew what she was going through. But that was back when you flew that deep reconnaissance mission into the Soviet Union. Not a fight that would have you running into multiple pissed off Soviet ships.

"Yeah, to a degree..." Scorpion was silent for a few second after, that before Zeus interrupted her.

"Nose hot or cold? It'll take a bit of time to fully warm up before we get into range." Zeus asked, cutting into your conversation with your wing mate.

>"Keep the nose cold. We can data-link to the other Tomcats."
>"Get the set online, we need the best picture possible for our missiles."
>Other (write in)

>>2148285
>Keep the nose cold. We can data-link to the other Tomcats."

>>2148285

>"Keep the nose cold. We can data-link to the other Tomcats."

>>2148285
>>"Keep the nose cold. We can data-link to the other Tomcats."

>>2148285
>>"Keep the nose cold. We can data-link to the other Tomcats."

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"Keep the nose cold. We can data-link to the other Tomcats." You replied, while your Phoenixes would go active on their own with enough time for the missile to get back on course, thanks to the newer seekers. Even then however, you doubted that both missiles would hit their targets. Your AMRAAMs on the other hand could be cued to your IRST, allowing you to engage the enemy without tripping their missile warning receiver until the last second.

"It's just... I know what happened to the Indianapolis. The last thing either me or Vampire want is to reenact Jaws... and that's not to mention the Soviets." Scorpion continued, her voice lower and more serious than ever before. "That's if they're in the mood to take prisoners."

"Firstly, you're not going to get shot down. You're too good of a pilot for that. Secondly, we have the shark replant to keep sharks away long enough for either the the SAR helicopters to get you, or for an Orion to drop you some more. And that's not even getting into the rafts. And finally, after such a massive attack, do you really think that the Soviets would stop in hostile waters long enough to pick up enemy POWs?" You began, deconstructing your wingmate's worries. You always found that it helped well enough when trying to comfort someone. If you showed them that their worries were unfounded, or were otherwise less severe than they thought then they would more often than not would stop worrying so much.

"Who said that they would pick us up? It doesn't take much to send over a helicopter to machine gun pilots in the water. The Japs did it, the USN did it. What's to say that the Soviets wouldn't?" Scorpion pointed out, bringing up how the US and the Japanese weren't exactly too happy with recovering enemy pilots back during the last world war.

"That's why we leave aircraft overhead to provide cover. And if they did, they would be giving us a free pass to do the same to their pilots. It's a bad precedent to set." You pointed out, of course you doubted that the USN or Japanese would stoop so low as to kill enemy pilots on the deck just because the Soviets did. While your friends had changed since the last war, the Soviets hadn't really. As evidenced by the reports coming out of Europe.

"I suppose so..." Scorpion replied, her voice trailing off as she accepted what you were saying. The pair of you were quiet for another few minutes as the mass of fighter split up into their two groups, which then widened as the various flights gained separation from each other. Your group swelling by close to 3 times it's original size to 26 fighter. Though most of them were hornets with only a pair of Sparrows and a pair of Sidewinders for air-to-air. eventually however, Zeus spoke up.

>CONT

>>2148633

"Scorpion is nose hot. Data linking to her." Zeus remarked idly after a few minutes, you had been glancing between your IRST feed and weapons list. Unsurprisingly, none of your missiles barring the 2 Phoenixes that you had fired at the Foxbats had gone for walkabouts. You still had 4 sidewinders, 4 AMRAAMs and 2
Phoenixes.

"What are we looking at? You asked, knowing that he already had the data running through your birds computers to identify the enemy planes.

"Flankers. Around twenty of them, a Melierax flying AEW support for them and..." Zeus began, only to trail off after a few seconds. Pausing in a very unexpected way.

"And?" You prompted, poking him to spill the beans.

"Tomcats! Eight of them in the enemy formation!" Zeus called out, not over your internal link but over the combat frequency. Allowing him to tell everybody else in the attack element. A second later, he switched back to the internal network. "We're in Phoenix range."

>Take out the Flankers! The more you can kill now, the more you can skew the numbers in your favour.
>Take out the Melierax! If you take out their AEW then it will be harder for them to coordinate.
>Take out their Tomcats! They may be A models, but you can't let them get their Phoenixes off!

>>2148649
>Take out the Melierax! If you take out their AEW then it will be harder for them to coordinate.

>>2148649
>>Take out the Melierax! If you take out their AEW then it will be harder for them to coordinate.

>>2148649
>Take out the Melierax! If you take out their AEW then it will be harder for them to coordinate.

>>2148649
>Take out the Melierax! If you take out their AEW then it will be harder for them to coordinate.

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It didn't take you too long to decide upon your first target. You had already seen the Melierax before. The big AEW bird was the Soviet answer to the USN's E-2 Hawkeye. Both performed the same mission, had similar engines and a similar design. And as such, you had to assume that it had similar capabilities. Aside from that however, there was also the numbers to consider. There was only one Melierax, and you had a pair of Phoenixes that you could launch at maximum range. Well before the Ali-cats could get a good enough shot for a missile launch. Their old AN/AWG-9s and "A" model Phoenix missiles would only be able to get a solid lock on you at 87 nautical miles away, giving you a decent enough window of opportunity to get your missiles away. And with the other Tomcats in your group probably looking to take out the enemy Tomcats before they could fire, you didn't really have to worry about them.

"Zeus, lock up the Melierax. We're going to blind them." You ordered, and paused for a few seconds as you waited for your RIO to get a good solution for you.

"Got a solution, uploaded to missile autopilot. Fire when you're ready, they're on your trigger." Zeus said after a few seconds, spacing his words out in an odd fashion as he spoke between tasks. And not a moment too soon, as you noticed Scorpion fire her Phoenixes. The bulky missiles dropping from between her bird's nacelles and lancing out towards their chosen targets.

"Freelancer two-one, fox three!" You crowed over the radio as you hit the launch button twice. Your aircraft shuddered a bit with a muted chu-chunk as the bulky missiles were ejected. A few seconds, you spotted the missiles rocket out from beneath the nose of your jet. The massive missiles heading off to do what they do best, kill big and unmanoeuvrable targets from far away.

"All fighter aircraft, break and engage!" Siren ordered just after you spotted you missiles as they joined the barrage of Phoenixes that were sprinting for the enemy. All of the other tomcats that you flew with were carrying a standardised load that permitted only a pair of Phoenixes per bird. But even then, that still put up a solid 22 missiles in the air, with Scorpion providing the biggest contribution with 4 missiles.

>Hit your afterburners and sprint to AMRAAM range! The sooner you can bring the bulk of your missiles to bear the better.
>Advance quickly, but slow enough that you can go evasive if you need to. You don't want to end up like the Foxbat from earlier.
>Hang back and get your jammers ready, the Ali-cats are going to fire their Phoenixes back. You need to lay goalkeeper and keep as many of them from hitting as possible.
>Other (write in)

>>2148906
>Hang back and get your jammers ready, the Ali-cats are going to fire their Phoenixes back. You need to lay goalkeeper and keep as many of them from hitting as possible.

>image related
Interesting.

>>2148906
>Hang back and get your jammers ready, the Ali-cats are going to fire their Phoenixes back. You need to lay goalkeeper and keep as many of them from hitting as possible.

>>2148906
>Hang back and get your jammers ready, the Ali-cats are going to fire their Phoenixes back. You need to lay goalkeeper and keep as many of them from hitting as possible.

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Holding back on your throttle, you relaid your plan to your RIO. "Zeus, do you think you can spoof the enemy Phoenixes as soon as they go active?"

"Maybe? I'm not sure due to the range, same plan as last time?" Zeus asked as your radar began to warm up, the internal set quickly painting you a picture as the rest of the flight began to blow past you. You noted with a bit of disapproval that a few Hornet drivers had ditched their ship-killing Harpoons just to get into the fight.

"You mean the time where you almost burned out our radar trying to knock out all of the incoming missiles?" You asked, remembering back to the 3rd combat flight you had performed in the war. A flight that seemed so long ago.

"Yeah, though due to the smaller seeker size and associated electronics pack it shouldn't be too hard to do. Though I'm not going to lie and say that isn't a chance that we'll loose the set." Zeus reported, pausing for a couple of seconds to wait for your answer. "Phoenix launch detected from the Ali-cats! You need to think fast boss!"

>Blind the missiles! You may burn out your set but if it stops those missiles then it ought to be worth it.
>Use the purpose built jamming systems! You need to keep the radar for later missions.
>Other (write in)

>>2149107
>Blind the missiles! You may burn out your set but if it stops those missiles then it ought to be worth it.
Dead equipment is better than dead allies.

>>2149107
>Use the purpose built jamming systems! You need to keep the radar for later missions.

>>2149107
>>Use the purpose built jamming systems! You need to keep the radar for later missions.

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"Get the standard jammers up! Don't burn out the set, we need that later." You ordered hastily. While it was true that dead equipment was better than dead allies, you could ensure that less allies died later down the line by keeping your radar working. You couldn't guarantee that your shipments wouldn't be sunk en-route to Japan by the Soviets after all.

"On it, jammers are up!" Zeus called out after a few seconds. "Enemy missiles are going active in ten seconds."

"Just tell me when we have to go evasive."

"If I have to tell you then we're not going to have much time to evade." Zeus warned you, before calling out the time. "Five seconds!"

You gritted your teeth and waited with your hand on the throttle. Your thumb teasing the afterburner toggle and you waited for your RWR to start screaming as the Phoenixes went active. "Zeus, have our missiles hit the Melierax?"

"No idea, missiles active!" Zeus replied, only to change topic halfway through as your RWR began to scream. You held your heading with a grim resolve as you wiated for the call from your RIO.

"Hold... hold..." Zeus cautioned you as your nerves began to flare. In the distance, you could just barely spot the miniature flashes of Sparrow missile launches from the assorted Tomcats and Hornets before you. You wished for a second that you were out there, firing your AMRAAMs and claiming kills.

"BREAK BREAK BRE-" Zeus was gut off as you snapped your 'cat's nose skywards and slammed the throttle home, your thumb pressed down as if your trying to bury the button into the throttle. You kept up the ascent as you passed 50,000 feet. The cold beginning to chill you through the cockpit as your RWR finally fell silent, you chopped your throttle and pushed the nose back over to level off.

"Did it work?" You asked while your jet began to exceed mach 1 again as you made for AMRAAM range.

"Sort of, I'm tracking three missiles confirmed to have been spoofed by our jammers. They lost another six to missile failures but five still got through." Zeus explained as your jet thundered past mach 2. You noted drily that the strike element was now down at most 5 aircraft. Which roughly translated to 20 harpoons that wouldn't be slung towards the Soviet fleet.

From your perch up high as you entered AMRAAM range, you noted that the Soviets had taken a number of losses too. In addition to the Melierax, they had lost half of their Tomcats and a good 8 Flankers. But as the distance to Sparrow and Atol range began to decrease, you wondered just how well the Soviet s could return the pummelling. Not that you intended on letting the Soviet s leverage their full BVR capabilities. You had 4 AMRAAMs that were just dying to give Ivan what's coming to him

>Take out the Flankers! The more you can kill now, the more you can skew the numbers in your favour.
>Take out their Tomcats! They may still have phoenixes!
>Fire your missiles on maddog! Let them choose their own targets in the Soviet horde.
>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.

>>2149454
>Take out their Tomcats! They may still have phoenixes!
No Tomcats for you.

>>2149454
>Fire your missiles on maddog! Let them choose their own targets in the Soviet horde.

>>2149454
>Take out their Tomcats! They may still have phoenixes!

>>2149454
>Take out the Flankers! The more you can kill now, the more you can skew the numbers in your favour.

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Many months ago, you would never have been counted among those who felt sorry for aircraft. You always felt that assigning thoughts and feelings to an inanimate object was a mark of insanity. Those pilots who dd were almost always the kind who thought too much about about such mortal concepts as rules and regulations and not buzzing the tower and pissing off everyone inside. In spite of that however, you always felt bad for the poor Tomcats that were sold to Iran. They had essentially been damned, with no hope for new missiles and parts. It was the equivalent of sending a horse out to a farm in the middle of the desert. They were still flying of course, but you had no idea what kind of Frankenstein style shit that the Iranians had to perform in order to keep them flying.

And as with most things that lived a tortured existence, death was always a better alternative to continued suffering.

As such, you locked up the Tomcats with your AMRAAMs. The enemy fighters sticking out from the mass of Flankers in the Soviet lines. Your radar, now switched on and searching on it's own was able to pick out the 4 remaining Tomcats and achieved a solid radar lock on them. As you caught up to the rest of your interdiction group, you hit the launch button. All 4 of your missiles dropping off their launch rails, but only 3 streaked out for their targets.

"Ignition failure on missile two, pretty sure that was one of the early model ones." Zeus remarked as you watched the other aircraft in your group fire their sparrows. A good 20+ missiles lancing out and racing for the Soviet fighters. And a few seconds later, the Soviets responded as your MAW screamed into life.

"What's incoming? You asked as you looked down at your radar, which was now tracking both the incoming and outgoing missiles. A few seconds later, all be 3 missiles disappeared from your radar.

"We've got a pair of Alamos and a Sparrow incoming! Alamos are heaters." Zeus informed you as you broke right and hit your afterburners. Unlike the other aircraft in your element, you could manoeuvre without having to worry about guiding your missiles to their targets.

"Great, we get to start spewing flares before we enter the damn dogfight!" You huffed, as you waited for your MAW to shut off. Your jet was set to ditch countermeasures automatically, so if one of the missiles got close enough to be an issue then you would at least have a bit of automated defence to offset your now massive heat signature from the mach 2 sprint.

As soon as your MAW system shut off, you slammed out your breaks and broke back towards the Soviet flight, just as it was about to merge with your allies. You noted from your radar that there had been roughly equal losses on both sides, and that your wingmate was not among those who were going to be taking an unexpected swim today.

>CONT

>>2151371

"What's the plan Razor?" Scorpion asked as she began to slow down, escaping from your mass of allies before they entered the merge. You'd be late for the opening salvo of IR missiles, but you hoped that would allow you to get in without someone trying to take you down.

>Stick together and take out Flankers one by one. It's slow work, but it's almost guaranteed that nobody will be able to get on your tail.
>Break apart and take out targets of opportunity. It's worked before so it ought to work again.
>Hunt down any and all remaining Soviet Tomcats. You don't want to leave any chance of them surviving.
>Hold back outside of the dogfight and make sure that the strike package gets into range. You can't allow anybody to leak past the dogfight.
>Other (write in)

>>2151375
>Hold back outside of the dogfight and make sure that the strike package gets into range. You can't allow anybody to leak past the dogfight.
Fuck your ships.

Need another vote...

>>2151375
>>Hold back outside of the dogfight and make sure that the strike package gets into range. You can't allow anybody to leak past the dogfight.

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"Hold back for now and engage any Flankers that manage to leak through. Our boys have the numbers advantage for now." You ordered as you watched the mass of fighter s collide. Your radar's picture slowly degrading as the air filled with manoeuvring fighters, missiles, countermeasures and debris as the aircraft fought and died to complete their respective missions.

"Understood." Scorpion responded as she formed up with you. The pair of you waiting a few kilometres away from the dogfight. The pair of you looking for any incoming fighters with your radars.

You didn't have to wait too long for a handfull of leakers to break off from the dogfight.

"Tally ho! Four Flankers have broke off from the dogfight, they're inbound on us." Vampire announced after only 2 minuites. You looked over in time for the fighters to be marked out on your HUD. You banked the flight towards the enemy fighters, noting that they weren't trying to go around you. They were headding straight for you.

"Freelancer two-one, Fox two!" You crowed as soon as you achieved a pair of locks in the incoming Flankers. The sidewinders launching from both sides of your aircraft, just a couple of seconds before Scorpion launched her missiles.

The Flankers immediately broke apart as they tried to dodge the missiles. Flares dropping from their aircraft as they tried to evade the missiles. Fortunately for you however, a pair of missiles hit their marks, and 2 Flankers were shot down, a missile from you and the other from your wingmate both contributing to the kills. Unfortunately, the remaining Soviets were both fairly competent, and managed to snap their jets back into the fight just before you made the merge. A missile from the jet that you were diving upon managed to ruin your pass before you could fire, forcing you to go evasive. As soon as the missile passed you however, you tried to get back onto the Flanker, only to find him trying to do the same to you. The pair of you only just entering a horizontal circle as the pair of your tried to gain positioning on the other.

>Climb above him! You can climb better than him, unlike the Tomcats that he's faced before.
>Drag him low! Your bird flies better on the deck!
>Stay where you are and wait! You have the manoeuvrability to outpace him in the long run.
>Fire a sidewinder! It may not hit him, but it ought to get you the space you need to get on his tail.
>Other (write in)

>>2152066
>>Climb above him! You can climb better than him, unlike the Tomcats that he's faced before.

>>2152066
>>Climb above him! You can climb better than him, unlike the Tomcats that he's faced before.

>>2152066
>Climb above him! You can climb better than him, unlike the Tomcats that he's faced before.

Pulling your stick back, you pulled your jet into a vertical climb. Your jet's giant engines burning fuel and air with a savage roar as you pushed the jet into the sky. Your attitude indicator going firmly into the blue as you pushed up as far as the jet could go.

"He's on our tail!" Zeus called as you committed to the climb. You plan to use the Sukhoi's own tactic against it apparently working as you kept just outside of the enemy's gun range. You simply grunted back to your RIO and continued on with the climb. You blew past 40,000 feet quickly enough, and soon you began to wonder just how long it would take before the Flanker would fall off your tail.

"He's backing off! Levelling off!" Zeus called out, prompting you to look up into your rear-looking mirror in time to see the Flanker to drop out of view. You chopped your throttle back and activated your airbrakes, the combination of all of those factors quickly causing you to stall.

As soon as your nose fell below the horizon, you quickly spotted the Flanker that tried to get on your tail. This enemy jet was trying to sprint towards Scorpion, and had managed to cover a decent amount of distance. His progress was quickly halted however as you dived towards him, he must have spotted you levelling off. You tried to dive onto him, but overshot as he performed a brutal dive to try and gain speed and separation at the expense of altitude. All this did however was give you more time as you quickly reversed your course onto him and tried another pass, this time coming into his blindspot just behind and below his tail.

You waited for just a second before firing, this burst slashing out and cutting into the root of his left wing. The effects of the damage at almost transonic speeds was terrifying as the wing was sheared off before you finished firing. The enemy jet entering a brutal and unrecoverable roll as is spiralled towards the ocean below.

You didn't look as it fell. You didn't want to know if you had just sent a man to be turned into chunky salsa via slamming into the waters below. Instead, you looked for your wingmate.

And you watched as Scorpion killed her Flanker. A burst of cannon-fire cutting the Flanker's tail apart and forcing it's pilot to eject. The enemy pilot riding a rocket out of his doomed bird as it began to break apart form the sheer forces it was subjected to. Beyond them, you noticed that the dogfight beyond was still equal terms. The Hornets were managing to match out the Flankers in a turning fight while the Tomcats kept them from speeding into a better position over the Hornets with high-speed passes. In spite of such teamwork, your comrades were loosing just as many birds as the enemy. At this rate, there would still be Soviet jets in the area when the strike group arrived.

And you could bet that the Soviet pilots would drop whatever they were doing to take out even a single strike plane.

>Continue playing goalkeeper.
>Get stuck in and kill the Soviets quickly.

>>2152717
>Get stuck in and kill the Soviets quickly.

>>2152717
>>Get stuck in and kill the Soviets quickly.

>>2152717
>>Get stuck in and kill the Soviets quickly.

>>2152717
>>Get stuck in and kill the Soviets quickly.

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"Come on, we ought to help them clean up." You ordered Scorpion as you banked towards the dogfight, managing to turn in time to see a Hornet fall away from the fight in flames. You approached cautiously, watching the Soviets as they were held in place by your allies. You formed up with Scorpion and picked a perch over the dogfight with the remaining few Tomcats to observe just what was going on.

Below you, the remaining Soviets -9 aircraft in total- had been forced into a 3 tiered defensive circle. Your allies were busy keeping the Soviets pinned in place, with the Hornets running a tight ring around the Flankers. Meanwhile, the Tomcats were busy making diving passes on the trapped Soviets. With a a pair of Tomcats gunning for a single Flanker.

You arrived in time to see a pair of Tomcats with the characteristic black tail of the Jolly Rodgers dive onto a Flanker with a smoking engine. The Soviet jet tried with all his might to evade his death, and even managed to dodge the first stream of tracers in time. But in doing so he choked his remaining engine, leaving him as easy prey to the remaining Tomcat. His jet was killed swiftly, but not the pilot, as he ejected from the wreak before it's fuel went up. He managed to get his jet to fall within the defensive circle, removing the risk of his fellow pilots crashing into it.

Almost a few seconds after this pass, the Soviets reformed their defensive arrangement, practically deleting the middle circle and spreadding the fighters within it between the upper and lower circles. Leaving them with 8 aircraft as the VF-103 birds climbed back up to the perch.

>Try and get the soviets to surrender, this is a pointless slaughter!
>Stay out of it, but let your allies continue. You might as well let them get a few kills in.
>Get stuck in! You aren't just going to let so many easy kills just evaporate!
>Other (write in)

>>2153161
>Stay out of it, but let your allies continue. You might as well let them get a few kills in.
Eyes open for other things too.

>>2153161
>>Try and get the soviets to surrender, this is a pointless slaughter!

>>2153161
>Try and get the soviets to surrender, this is a pointless slaughter!

Glaring down at the corralled Soviets, you began to frown at what you saw. The Soviets were either extremely unlucky, or they were being lead by an uncaring commander. Either way, they needed a way out. A way out that didn't require them to eject from stricken aircraft. And you felt the need to extend that particular olive branch to them.

"Freelancer two-one to Siren. Requesting permission to try and convince the Soviets to surrender." You asked the AWACs as soon as you switched over to their channel. The line was silent for a few seconds, before the controller answered with a dismissive snort.

"Negative Freelancer two-one, not unless you can speak fluent Russian." The controller answered, a muffled chuckle telling you that he thought that you were joking.

"As a matter of fact, I can speak Russian, and I am personally responsible for the defection of Svetlana Vaikinov. I am more than experienced in this." You replied confidently, undeterred by your first answer from the man in the cushy control aircraft.

"...if you can actually get them to defect then go for it. I'll order our aircraft to hold off their attacks. But if you're not done after five minutes then I will order them to engage." The controller relented after a few seconds of stunned silence, his voice now deathly serious.

"Understood, thank you." You thanked the AWACs director, before then switching back to your internal channel. "Zeus, can you get me a direct radio link to the Soviet jets?"

"Ok, give me a few seconds. I think we still have the backdoor from when we entered the Soviet channels last time." Zeus replied, before being quiet for around 30 seconds, before speaking again. "Alright, we're in on channel six."

"-Americans are no longer attacking us?" A young voice spoke as soon as you entered the Soviet radio network. If you had to peg this pilot, he was probably young, much younger than you.

"I do not know comrade. Keep your guard up! They may attack at any second." An older and sterner voice answered the young pilot. The authority in his voice denoting him as either an officer or a more experienced pilot. Certainly a flight leader like yourself.

"Attention Soviet pilots. You are all currently cut off from your fleet with no chance for support. It is pointless to continue the fight. Surrender now, and you will be treated fairly. " You stated firmly into the Soviet frequency, you didn't have time to try and listen in any further.

"Surrender? Never! Get out of our channel American!" Another, higher voice replied. A more feminine voice. for a second, you began to think back to what Svetlana had said about her time in the Soviet fleet, before casting the thoughts from your mind, returning to the task at hand.

>Continue trying! Even if you don't convince their leader, you might be able to convince his subordinates. (Optional write in)
>Well, that didn't work. Give AWACs the clear to send in the Hornets.
>Other (write in)

While we wait for 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.

>>2153558
>Continue trying! Even if you don't convince their leader, you might be able to convince his subordinates. (Optional write in)
>"Seriously consider your options here. We have plenty of missiles and bullets, more than enough to shoot all of you down. I am offering all of you a way to get out of this alive."
And perhaps make an appeal for them to disobey their commander if she doesn't surrender.

>>2153558
>"The thousands of eyes watching us from below belong to sharks, not family. What will fighting to the death here accomplish?"
They don't need to be told they're in deep tactical shit. What we should do is attack their beliefs like we did with Svetlana.

>>2153707
>>2153558
This.

>>2153558
Supporting >>2153707

>>2153564
How's the European front looking at the moment?

>>2153558
>>2153707
This.

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"The thousands of eyes watching us from below belong to sharks, not family. What will fighting to the death here accomplish?" You asked, trying to get through to the Soviet pilots below.

"We fight to protect our fleet. Much the same that you would do. You are Navy airmen after all." The older, commanding voice replied. His voice measured and contained, in stark contrast to his female subordinate.

"That is true, but even you have to admit that this fight is unwinnable. I'm offering you a chance to not only escape from this with your lives, but a way out of this war in it's entirety." You offered, trying to get to the point as quickly as you could. You didn't have time to waste.

"And where would we go? Out behind a shed to be shot like dogs? Into some deep and dark hole to waste away?" The female pilot asked sarcastically, obviously a firm believer in the words of the Soviet propaganda machine.

"If you honestly believe that we would do something like that, then you are an idiot. We do not treat prisoners so brutishly." You answered the female pilot, before then addressing the remaining pilots. "If you surrender wilfully, then you will have a choice of either staying as a prisoner of war, in which you will be taken to a POW camp somewhere in America. You will be treated fairly and shall receive three square meals a day, along with decent accommodation and as much communication with your families back home as possible. You might be expected to work dependent on the camp that you are sent too, though if you have to work you will be paid. Alternately; you can assist our military in one of many ways. If you choose to do so, you will be put on the fast track to American citizenship and will be paid substantially more."

"Would this work be forced or optional?" The younger Soviet pilot asked, his voice neutral. A stark contrast to his female wingmate.

"It's illegal to force prisoners to work. So it would most likely be voluntary. I'm not exactly an expert on how those camps function by virtue of my job. I can assure you that you will be treated in accordance to the Geneva Convention." You explained, you didn't know much about how prisoners were meant to be treated, but you had read through the Geniva convention during your training. Especially in reference to what you could possibly expect from the Soviets if you were captured yourself.

Assuming that they were also following the Geneva Convention.

"Bah, American lies! Tell me, what happened to that traitor Vaikinov? Was she treated fairly?" The female pilot asked again, her voice dismissive. She obviously thought that she already knew the answer to her question.

>CONT

>>2155753

"Yes, she was. She was given the option to either be taken into our defector protection program, or to assist in pilot training as a teacher. I do not know which option she chose." You lied, you absolutely knew that Svetlana had joined up with your unit. For better or for worse. The real question however, was could the Soviets prove that you were lying?

The Soviets were quiet for a bit of time as they considered their options. But from your perch you could see that you were having some effect. A number of jets had started to slow down, the pilots lowering their guard as they considered whether or not if they should take you up on your offer. However, a few aircraft kept up their formation. And you were sure that the female pilot was among them.

"Three minutes Razor. If you've got anything to add, then add it now." Zeus informed you, his voice tense as he waited for you to get results.

>Continue trying! You're making progress, but you still have to keep this up. (Optional write in)
>Keep quiet and wait. They need some time to mull this over.
>Well, that didn't work. Give AWACs the clear to send in the Hornets.
>Other (write in)

>>2155760
>>Keep quiet and wait. They need some time to mull this over.

>>2154017

Fairly bad. While you don't know exactly how bad it's gotten in character due to nobody wanting to watch the news, you do know that the first of NATO's defensive lines have been breached. Berlin has been fully occupied by the Soviets and while the Soviets have been taking losses. They are still making rapid progress.

>>2155760
>Continue trying! You're making progress, but you still have to keep this up. (Optional write in)
>"I wouldn't be making this offer for the sake of cheap labor or an occupied cell on an island in the middle of nowhere."

>>2155760
change>>2155809
to>>2155930

>>2155760
This >>2155930

>>2155823
Well, crap. Will we be going there sometime?

"I wouldn't be making this offer for the sake of cheap labour or an occupied cell on an island in the middle of nowhere. I want you all to survive." You said bluntly, trying to prompt more of a response from the Soviet pilots.

"You've made your point. I surrender!" A young pilot finally relented. And you watched as one of the Flankers ejected it's remaining missile and broke formation. It's navigation lights snapping on as the pilot surrendered.

"TRAITOR, YOU-" The female pilot roared, only to be silenced before her manic tirade could begin.

"SHUT UP PAVLOVNA!" The young pilot yelled, his voice strained and desperate. "WHY CAN'T YOU SEE THE OBVIOUS? IF WE STAY HERE WE WILL ALL DIE!"

"Both of you shut your mouths!" The older pilot growled, his tone commanding the ear of both insolent pilots. He was quiet for a few seconds before sighing into the radio."It is over. All remaining aircraft are to eject all remaining ordnance and await further instructions."

"ARE YOU MAD? THEY WILL KILL US!" The female pilot roared as a number of jets ejected their remaining missiles. Only around 5 missiles fell from the jets as the now disarmed aircraft slowly drifted into a tight pylon turn. A couple of aircraft however retained their weapons and continued their defensive circle.

"I would rather lead this squadron to a prison and uncertain future, than throw us into unto a meat grinder for no gain. Now stop being difficult and follow your orders!" The officer ordered, his tone firm and solemn as 5 aircraft joined up with the young pilot, the first one to surrender.

"I refuse! You can run away and be slaughtered like animals, but I will not bend my knee to these capitalist dogs!" The female pilot answered, her tone uncompromising. You took this opportunity to quickly switch back to your channel to Siren.

"Freelancer two-one to Siren. I've managed to get a number of the Soviet pilots to surrender and fly with us to the nearest airbase. Be advised, a couple of Soviet pilots refuses to surrender. Once the surrendering pilots have gotten clear of the area, release the Hornets to clear up the rest." You informed your E-3 support aircraft, and battlefield commander.

"Good work Freelancer. Be advised, IJN Shinano is closer than any other land base. You can land the Soviets on her deck if you need to. Have the co-operative Soviets descend to angels fifteen and fly under the hornets. You will follow them down and make sure that they don't try and attack the Hornets from underneath." Siren responded, the operator sounding vaguely pleased. Though you couldn't tell if he was happy at you being able to convince the Soviets to defect, or that the attack that he had planned had been performed so well.

>CONT

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>>2156366

"Understood Siren, Freelancer two-one out." You complied, before switching back to the Soviet channel. Your jet descending towards your new charges as your radio crackled. "It's time to go, so final call for anyone looking to survive this."

"This is all you're going to get I am afraid." The Soviet officer replied glumly, his vice slightly hoarse from his recent yelling match.

"I understand. All surrendering aircraft are to descend to fifteen thousand feet off the deck, I will follow you down. Once we've formed up with you, you will follow us away from the combat zone." You ordered, making sure to keep your voice as friendly sounding as possible. Almost to the point that your order sounded more like a simple request.

You didn't have to repeat yourself, as the Soviet pilots began to descend, all of them flowing in a loose line as they slowly spiralled towards the deck, before levelling out and waiting for you and a number of Hornets to follow them down. You quickly took up position just behind the loose delta formation of Flankers. A flight of Hornets boxing them in from each side as you began to heard them back towards friendly territory. As soon as you were relatively far away from the rolling cloud of angry Hornets and Tomcats above, you radioed back to Siren.

"Freelancer two-one to Siren. POWs are clear, release the Hornets." You informed your AWACs, before cutting back to the Soviet channel. The channel was quiet for a few seconds longer, before a burst of static cut across it. This was followed by another less than a seconds later. The sounds of aircraft being cut off from their comrades by their own destruction were followed by the sight of the remains of the pair or remaining flankers fell to the ocean in flames.

You did not see any parachutes.

You continued to help direct the Soviet pilots towards the airbase at Hachijō-jima. The aircraft being forced to fire off all of their remaining gun ammunition before they were allowed to go any further, lest they fire it at the strike element as they passed each other. The mood in the air was heavy, and none of the Soviet pilots talked for a solid few minutes, until one of the pilots finally found his voice.

"I'm running low on fuel. How long until we get to your airbase?" The pilot asked, and in spite of his best attempts to sound unfazed, you could hear the worry in his voice.

>Continue on to Hachijō-jima. They will only get a single shot at landing. But the runway is more than big enough to accommodate them.
>Divert to the Shinano. They will have to land on an unfamiliar deck, but they will have the fuel to try again a few times.
>Other (write in)

>>2156203

Not for a while. The European theatre was going to be the subject of the quest if you chose to be a USAF pilot during the discussion in the first thread. You may be deployed there eventually, but not for a while.

>>2156375
>Divert to the Shinano. They will have to land on an unfamiliar deck, but they will have the fuel to try again a few times.
they can always eject next to the carrier if it gets too low

>>2156375
>>Divert to the Shinano. They will have to land on an unfamiliar deck, but they will have the fuel to try again a few times.

>>2156375
>Divert to the Shinano. They will have to land on an unfamiliar deck, but they will have the fuel to try again a few times.
If need be they can dump their planes near the CV and be picked up by rescue crews.

>>2156375
>Divert to the Shinano. They will have to land on an unfamiliar deck, but they will have the fuel to try again a few times.

>>2156386
Wonder how many possibilities you've planned for and how many you've thrown out.

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"Not too long. We will be landing onboard the Japanese aircraft carrier Shinano. It shouldn't be too different to landing on your old vessel." You explained as you looked down at the map on your MFD. The Shinano was certainly closer, but you'd have to land with the wind at your backs. Not exactly the best conditions but you had to do what you had to do.

"Would we be aken as Japanese prisoners?" Another pilot asked, sounding fairly worried.

"No, you'll only spend a little time onboard before being flown back to an American base. From there, you would then be shuttled back to the US. Though I'm not sure if you would be flown back on a transport aircraft, or if you would be put on a ship back." You answered with a calming tone. You guessed that the Soviets were probably basing their assumption of the Japanese off their experiences back during the '40s. Those weren't good years for Japan's global image, especially on the treatment of prisoners front.

Before any more questions could be asked, you switched over to your channel to Siren. "Freelancer two-one to Siren. We're going to have to divert to the Shinano. Can you call ahead so that they can get ready to recover us?"

"Understood Freelancer. Be advised, once the Soviets have landed, you can choose to recover and resupply onboard the Shinano. be aware that they don't have any of your unit's specialist equipment, so if you want to get your shiniest toys back then you'll have to return to Tokyo. Either way, after rearming you are to return to your patrol route. Due to losses amongst the Hornets and Tomcats, you'll have to pick up the slack. Though it's your choice if you want to orient more towards anti-shipping or air defence." Siren laid out as you looked over at Scorpion. Your winmate's bird had been splattered by burning aviation fuel in a few places, but was otherwise fine.

"Understood Siren. Freelancer two-one, out." You cut off the link, before switching back to talk to the Soviets. "Alright, follow my instructions and we'll get to the Shinano soon."

Thankfully, the Soviets proved fairly adept at following your instructions. Even though you knew that you mispronounced a few words, the captured pilots seemed to understand your messages. The entire idea that you could even capture a guy in a fast fighter jet seemed absurd. Until you considered that a few of the Hornets still carried their Sparrow missiles. While you knew that their Flankers were fast, you didn't know of a jet that was fast enough to outrun a speeding missile. And soon enough, you met up with the Shinano's BARCAP flight. A pair of F-14Js in the blue and grey sea camouflage of the IJN sniffed over your flight, and took up position next to you as you approached the fleet.

>CONT

>>2156810

The fleet itself was odd to say the least. The most modern ship in the fleet being the Kidd class destroyer USS Chandler, the second largest being the Ise class cruiser IJN Hei, and the oldest ship being the Second World War era IJN Yukikaze. The mixed fleet was sailing into the wind in order to allow the captured Soviet aircraft to safely land on the Shinano's massive angled flight deck. The Soviets for their part adapted well for the carrier landing, though that was mostly due to the efforts of the Shinano's landing controllers. The aircraft themselves almost always landing first time. With only one aircraft having to divert due to a freak gust of wind knocking it off course. It caught the wire on his second landing.

>Land on the Shinano yourself and rearm. You need to get back on patrol quickly.
>Return to Tokyo and rearm there. You can't perform your duties well without your best weapons.

>>2156817
>>Land on the Shinano yourself and rearm. You need to get back on patrol quickly.

>>2156554

Surprisingly, I haven't thrown out too many ideas aside from basic ones. If I can't use an idea due to player choices or a change of heart on my part, then I'll just keep it around for if I want to use it again.

I guess the biggest Idea that I've thrown out recently was my plan for if you guys had chosen the USAF instead of the USN. Though most of that was just me wondering what aircraft you would choose to fly out of advanced training.

>>2156817
>Land on the Shinano yourself and rearm. You need to get back on patrol quickly.

>>2156817
>Return to Tokyo and rearm there. You can't perform your duties well without your best weapons.

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"Zeus, can you get us into the landing bracket for the Shinano?" You asked as you checked your fuel gauge, noting that you'd burned off just a bit too much fuel. If you wanted to get back to Tokyo, you'd need to hit a tanker. And if one wasn't on station then you were boned.

"Sure, we can refuel on deck while we decide our load." Zeus agreed, before clicking out of your channel and setting up the landing for you. You didn't have to wait too long, but you did still have to wait. A Japanese Hawkeye had to land due to engine troubles, and had to be taxied out of the way before you could land. And even then, it took you a pass to actually land. You perfromed one of the few bolters in your career as a navy pilot because the ship rolled too damn much. The addition of an angled flight deck and other deck reinforcements must have severely upset her balance, as she rolled as if the sea was far choppier than it actually looked. However, you made up for your first failure by catching the 1st wire on your 2nd pass. Your jet coming to a screeching stop in under a hundred meters. You chopped your engines back to idle and followed Zeus's instructions as an aircraft tug quickly retrieved you and pulled you away from where you had landed.

"Alright, so our loading may be an issue. On the plus side however they have Lima model Sidewinders, as we are already rigged for those we don't have to worry about them." Zeus began as you were directed to park next to the ship's island. The parked Flankers having been moved up to take position over the ship's number 1 catapult, probably just a temporary move until they could be moved off to Japan.

"The biggest issue is BVR stuff. They don't have AMRAAMs, only Sparrows. Thankfully however, we have a choice between the newer Mike version, or the IR Romeo. Neither is as good as the AMRAAM, but they have similar enough range. They have Phoenixes, Charley models. But for anti-shipping we have a bit more choice. We can either haul Harpoons or AGM-123 Skipper twos. Your choice on what load you want though." Zeus continued as you thought on your options, the sparrows begin the biggest one. The "M" models were active radar, so you could only guide one at a time. However, they were hard to spoof and had decent enough range. On the other hand, the "R" models were IR guided, faster and you could ripple fire them. However they were also shorter ranged, and could be spoofed by IR flares. You didn't have to worry about the Phoenixes, as you would choose the "C" model above the "A" model any day of the week. Anti-shipping weapons were also a debate. The AGM-84s were long range and were actually designed for killing ships, but had the smaller warhead, courtosey of the weapon's active radar seeker and guidance system. On the other hand the AGM-123 Skipper IIs was smaller, an had a bigger warhead. However, it lacked the range and guidance of the Harpoon. It was also slightly heavier, but both weighed over 1000lbs anyways.

>CONT

>>2157142
NOTE: If a choice has OR in it, then you have to make a choice between the two options presented.

>Take a medium range air to air load: (x4 AIM-9 sidewinders | x6 AIM-7Ms OR x6 AIM-7Rs)
>Take a medium-long range air to air load: (x4 AIM-9 sidewinders | x2 AIM-7Ms OR x2 AIM-7Rs | x4 AIM-54 Phoenixes)
>Take a long range air to air load: (x4 AIM-9 sidewinders | x6 AIM-54 Phoenixes)
>Take an anti-ship load: (x4 AIM-9 sidewinders | x4 AGM-84 Harpoons OR x2 AGM-84 Harpoons and x4 AGM-123 Skipper IIs)
>Take a mixed load [mid range AA and harpoons] : (x4 AIM-9 sidewinders | x4 AGM-84 Harpoons and x2 AIM-7M/R OR x2 AGM-84 Harpoons and x4 AIM-7M/R)
>Take a mixed load [long range AA and harpoons] : (x4 AIM-9 sidewinders | x2 AGM-84 Harpoons and x4 AIM-54s OR x4 AGM-84 Harpoons and x2 AIM-54s)
>Make your own load! (You can load stations 1b, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8B with one of the following: AIM-7M, AIM-7R, AIM-54C, AGM-84, AGM-123)
>Ask Zeus if the Japanese have a specific weapon (what?)

If you have any questions about specific weapons, feel free to ask me. I'll help you out as much as I can.

>>2157144
>Take a mixed load [mid range AA and harpoons] : (x4 AIM-9 sidewinders | x4 AGM-84 Harpoons and x2 AIM-7M/R OR x2 AGM-84 Harpoons and x4 AIM-7M/R)
4 harpoons

>>2157169
>Take a mixed load [mid range AA and harpoons]

>>2157210
Do you want IR or Semi-active Sparrows?

>>2157211
How many Harpoons VS sparrows do you want, and what type of Sparrows do you want (IR or Semi-active)?

>>2157169
>>2157210
Supporting this

>>2157238
I read the note and did it again anyways. Fuck.

>x2 AGM-84 Harpoons and x4 AIM-7M/R

>>2157279
Do you want IR (AIM-7R) or Semi-active (AIM-7M) Sparrows?

>>2157304
And reading comprehension.
>Semi-actives

Waiting for either (>>2157210) To choose between IR (AIM-7R) or Semi-active (AIM-7M) Sparrows, or for (>>2157279) to get enough votes to get a majority.

>>2157169
Supporting >>2157279 with semi-actives

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"We'll take two Harpoons under stations one and eight. Four "M"-model Sparrows under the fuselage." You ordered as you heard a jet scream in behind you. You looked over your shoulder in time to see your wingmate catch the wire on her first attempt. Her jet's thunderous speed being curtailed almost instantly by the arresting wires.

"Just so you know, they're going to have to remove the targeting pods mounted just forwards of hardpoints three and six in order to fit the Sparrows. So we won't have any of those functions." Zeus informed you as you made sure that your engines were chopped well back. The last thing anybody wanted was for someone to be sucked into a jet engine.

"Will they be able to return them to us?" You asked as an ordnance elevator arrived at the deck in front of you. A pair of carts bearing a Harpoon anti-ship missile each were quickly rolled off the elevator and pushed over to a waiting Kate IIs as the elevator began it's trip back down below deck.

"Yeah, they're going to be transferred to the Chandler along with the Soviet POWs. They should be back by the time we return form patrol." Zeus explained, before going silent. Your RIO engrossed in his job of getting your plane rearmed. And as was usual with this kind of thing, you were left to sit around and watch as the deck danced before you. The assorted crewmen working in harmony to service and re-launch jets as fast as possible.

A pair of purple-shirted fuel handlers began to haul over a fuelling hose in order to refuel your jet while their counterparts, the green-shirted maintenance personnel worked fast to perform basic checks, repairs, and clearing the way for your choice of ordnance. Red-shirted ordnance men quickly moved to load your jet with your chosen weapons as soon as they were delivered to the deck. A harpoon under each wing and a full battery of Sparrows between your nacelles. All the while, white-shirted liquid oxygen crews and air transfer officers ran over your life support systems with practised efficiency to ensure that you were safe to fly. You watched out of your canopy as a second horde of deck hands swarmed over Scorpion's jet, which had been moved into a parking position on the other side of the landing area.

Soon enough, you were directed to release your parking brakes as an aircraft tug pulled your jet towards the clear number 2 catapult. The jet blast deflector needing to be hosed down with seawater in order to cool if off. The heat from dozens of launching jets having started to have an effect on the specially treated metal. You were connected to the catapult and waited for a few seconds before being the given the signal to bring your engines up to full military power. You waited for a bit before checking your controls, you knew that they worked, but this was more of a show for the final checkers and safety observers. You watched your shooter like a hawk as the yellow-shirted crewman waited for the all clear from the checkers.

>CONT

>>2159584

Around 30 seconds later, he got the all clear and raised his arm into the air, you watched as he held it for a few seconds before bringing it down, pointing forwards as he lunged into a crouch to stay clear of your extended wings. You quickly saluted him, before he launched you off the deck. The force of the shot slamming you back into your seat as thundered off the deck, only to surge forwards and grab the stick as soon as you were clear of the deck. The combined weight of your fuel and anti-ship missiles weighing you down and causing you to fall for just a second, before you pulled the stick back a bit and began to climb back into the sky.

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

I'm gonna call the thread here folks. Sorry for the shorter run today, but a lot of that was meant to be rolled yesterday's run. But due to some issues with choosing what missiles to carry, we had to wait until now for it to be sorted. Eventually, we'll get the ordnance system sorted.

Just a quick question for you, would ya'll want me to run a Christmas themed Pilot quest run, some other quest, or would you just want some time off?

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.

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>>2159590
Christmas Pilot Quest sounds great. See ya soon, boss.

>>2159590
>Just a quick question for you
Follow your heart, of course! Or more seriously, I wouldn't mind whatever you do, because I'd still follow along.

Concerning weapon selection, I feel it's overly complex for the quest. We're making too many decisions about it without much reason or knowledge to choose one way or another. This is why I keep voting for non-committal loadouts.

Picking between things devolves if there's no clear context for why you have to make a choice in the first place. Asking for a loadout of missiles and bombs is one thing. Asking for a loadout of missiles and bombs given an incoming naval force with fighter escort is a whole other ball game. You can write the choices in the form of action-and-reason like you do with non-loadout choices.

>Take an anti-ship load. Those ships are the reason they're here, and you'd like a boat-shaped kill mark on your cockpit.
>Take a long-range anti-air load. You won't let those fighters get close to your ship-killers.
>Take a short-range anti-air load. The fighters will try to draw you away with a dogfight. That won't last long for them.

This is a lot easier to parse (especially if you're like me and alt-tab out of video games every half-hour at best), and the projected consequences are much clearer. I don't know how often you could realistically have this kind of information available, but it's a lot more interesting than playing a video game's loadout screen by text, no?

>>2160143

I'll change that for next thread, maybe the one after it if we pick up with the maritime patrol mission. The option to build a specific load will be retained just in case somebody has something special for the mission, but hopefully reducing the system down should make it easier for people to pick their weapons.