>>382282
>[] Keep quit and wait for and explanation.

>>382282
>[] Keep quiet and wait for an explanation.

>>382282
>[] Keep quit and wait for and explanation.
Probably shouldn't annoy the brass. Not yet anyway.

>>382282
>>[] Keep quit and wait for and explanation.

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You decide to keep quiet and wait for the officer's to speak. Everybody else does the same, waiting patiently for an explanation.

A few minutes later, the group of officers finish their discussion and move off to the side, leaving the CINPAC to speak.

"Ladies, Gentlemen. I am sure that you are wondering why you have been brought here under such tight circumstances. Certainly this isn't like any unit transfer you've ever had." The CINPAC speaks as the lights in the room slowly power down, leaving the room barely lit. A projector at the back of the room snaps on, lighting up the wall behind the CINPAC with an image showing the unit crest of VF-21.

"In the past few months, the situation worldwide has grown progressively darker." The image shifts to a picture of soviet troops marching triumphantly through the city of Kabul. "The soviet victory in Afghanistan has only caused the Reds to grow more aggressive. The Chinese have continued staking their claims in the pacific and incursions into western Europe have sharply increased. The top brass are worried that this might blow up, and I agree with them." CINPAC continues, speaking clearly and seriously.

"The US Navy High Command has decided that there needs to be a number of units made for supporting SEAL teams from the air. Said unit must be equipped with the best gear and be manned by the best pilots we can find. You are those pilots." He says as he looks at everyone in the room with a sweeping gaze as the picture behind him switches to a picture of the unit's Tomcats. Each one similar but different, all bare one thing in common, the symbol of VF-21 on their tails. You note that your jet is 3rd from the camera.

"In the next few days, you will be trained. Trained to use new personal weapons, new versions of your jets and new weapons." The image switched to a new type of F-14. This one was slightly different to the A and B models you've seen before, a bulbous sensor system hangs beneath it's chin. Two new sets of weapons were fixed to it's wing glove hard points."Your current birds will be upgraded while you are in training. So without further ado, welcome to VF-21 Freelancers." CINPAC says with a broad smile, the assorted guards and other suits around the room begin clapping in response, the room finally becomes quiet a minute later.

"Your designations are as follows" He said as the projector turned off and the lights turned on.

"Lieutenant Commander William Davis and Lieutenant Shane Combs. Freelancer 1-1." Two men near the front nod in acknowledgement and take note. Prompting you to take out your notepad and pencil and quickly scrawl down their names, ranks and designation.

"Lieutenant Kenneth Spencer and Lieutenant Lorenzo Green. Freelancer 1-2." Another two people near the front nodded. One shot a grin over to one of the first pair.

"Lieutenant Bradly Poole and Lieutenant Michael Shawcross. Freelancer 2-1." You nod at the CINPAC and taking down your notes.

>CONT

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>>382506
"Lieutenant Minna Wiess and Lieutenant Karla Knobloch. Freelancer 2-2." They both nod before Scorpion elbowed you in the side with a smile. Someone was obviously happy about being your wingman.

"Lieutenant Eleanor Halsey and Lieutenant Samantha Lancaster. Freelancer 3-1." The pair nod as CINPAC moves on to the final pair. "Lieutenant Steve Miller and Lieutenant Brent Rekker. Freelancer 3-2." The final pair nod in response. One playfully winks at Slider.

Oh god you felt so bad for him. He was so screwed.

"I know that this isn't a very large unit at the moment." CINPAC continues, dragging your mind back to the matter at hand. "But we're waiting for the others to arrive. Until then we'll have to get moving with what we have at the moment." He opens his mouth to continue but is interrupted when a man stepped up to him and whispered something into his ear. The man then quickly retreats as CINPAC glares at him.

"As it turns out." CINPAC start, his voice betraying his obvious annoyance. "All of our training birds are down for maintenance. So you will have a few hours off. You will be given radios so that we can contact you if you are off base. Are there any questions?"

"Is there anything off base sir?" One or the people at the front, Green if you remember correctly, asks.

"There's the boneyard if you're interested in that. Though we are about 5 miles southeast of downtown Tucson. I here that there are a few good bars and restaurants there. Not to mention stores if you are looking to buy something small." CINPAC answers, his knowledge of the area makes you wonder if he's been here before. "Though if you are leaving the base then you are to stop buy the armoury and get a sidearm. We don't want any of you wandering down the wrong street without a gun. Any more questions?" As he speaks, a marine walks buy each desk handing each person an ID card and a small radio.

When nobody spoke for a few more seconds, he speaks for the final time "If that is all, then you are dismissed." At that, everybody stands and salutes, CINPAC salutes back as everybody leaves.

As you walk out into the morning sun, you wonder what to do with your free time.

>[] Go downtown. You want some beer.
>[] Go to the boneyard. Your daddy used to fly B-29s over Korea. The B-50 isn't too different to that.
>[] Stay on base and relax.
>[] Other (write in)

>>382511
Lets see if we can get the Germans or Brits and lets go downtown and get to know the city.

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>>382511
>[] Go downtown. You want some beer.

>>382511
>[] Go downtown. You want some beer.
Drag the Germans along.

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You stretch out in the sun, you were planning on hitching a ride downtown. You'll need to grab a pistol from the armoury, but if there's beer at the end then that's all the motivation you need.

"So." You say as everybody walks out. "Who wants to go downtown?"

"I'm going to have to say no." Davis said as he walked by. "Me and Combs might need to do some paperwork. What with being the unit commander and all that." With that, the pair walked back inside.

"We're planning on checking out the boneyard." Green says happily, causing Spencer to roll his eyes. With that they walked off towards the armoury.

"I don't know about you." Rekker said as he stretched out. "But I'm going back to the barracks."

"I'm going with him." Miller said as he walked off, only to stop and say "See ya sweet cheeks." to the girls as he left.

Talk about digging your own grave.

"I'm up for going to town." Scorpion said deviously, you know that she's looking to get some revenge supplies. And from the chorus of agreement from the other girls, she wasn't the only one.

With the group in tow, you headed off to the armoury. Walking past the rows of what you discover are actually QF-100 target drones. Likely just pulled out of the boneyard for a final flight. You arrived just as Green and Spencer walked out with their pistols hanging off their waists.

You walk in and up to the barred window where an annoyed looking marine is standing.

"You one of the new pilots?" You open your mouth to answer when he cuts you off. "Don't bother, I can tell from your patch." He said as he walked away and came back with 3 pistols.

"You get to take one. It will be your service pistol and will be part of your survival gear. I'll give you a holster and some mags for it. If you're going off base then keep it concealed and under your civvies." He says in a rather bored voice. Upon closer inspection, you see that he's offering you a choice between an M1911A1, an M9 and an M11.

>[] M1911. Older than the other two, but is more powerful and is combat proven.
>[] M9. newer than the M1911 but older than the M11. Not proven but it's got the biggest magazine capacity.
>[] M11. the newest and most accurate pistol. But unlike the other pistols, you've never shot one of these.

>>382631
>[] M1911. Older than the other two, but is more powerful and is combat proven.
Can't go wrong with an American classic.

>>382631
>[] M11. the newest and most accurate pistol. But unlike the other pistols, you've never shot one of these.

>>382631
>[] M1911. Older than the other two, but is more powerful and is combat proven.
It's the Corvette of pistols.

>>382631
>M11. The newest and most accurate pistol. But unlike the other pistols, you've never shot one of these.

>>382631
>>[] M1911. Older than the other two, but is more powerful and is combat proven.

We now need a tiebreaker between the M1911 and the M11.

>>382676
Scratch that.

Writing now.

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After some careful deliberation, you choose the M1911. It may kick more than either of the other pistols, but it was by far the most powerful. You only had to shoot something once to make it stay down.

Zeus goes for the .45, just like you. Both of you take your holsters and 4 magazines. Taking a couple of seconds to put on the holster and load a fresh magazine, but making sure to keep the chamber clear before you left the base. Armourers in particular tended to get annoyed if you loaded a weapon on base.

The Germans practically default to the M11. Choosing, in Scorpion's words, "proud West German engineering". The Brits were more split over their choices, but chose the M9s after being told that there were no Hi-Powers.

With your weaponry acquired, your next stop was the barracks, so that you could change into more appropriate clothes. Changing was relatively uneventful and everybody assembled to find a ride into the city.

Finding a ride proved to be just as easy as getting the pistols. All you had to do was go down to the motor pool, bribe a couple of guys with promises of beer and grab a pickup truck that was usually reserved for odd jobs around the base. You got in the drivers seat while Slider called shotgun. The rest of the girls squeezed into the back seats while Zeus sat in the truck's bed. A few minutes later you were out of the base and driving into town with the radio blasting Tears for Fears.

It was just getting onto midday when you pulled into Tucson. You felt that there was very little to be worried about. The city felt calm and relaxed, certainly not the place where guns were needed. You pull up into a parking space and walk to the nearest bar and grill. Less than a few minutes later, you are all sat down on the restaurant's rooftop patio.

"So what do you think?" Slider asks as you sit down. "About the new unit and everything."

>[] "I love it! We've got a great deal going on."
>"It's pretty good. Not what I was expecting, but I doubt anybody was expecting what we had got."
>[] "I don't like it. I'd much rather be back with the fleet."
>[] "I feel sorry for Miller."
>[] Other (write in)

>>382769
>"It sure as hell beats my previous one."

>>382769
>"It's pretty good. Not what I was expecting, but I doubt anybody was expecting what we had got."

>>382769
>"It's pretty good. Not what I was expecting, but I doubt anybody was expecting what we had got."

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"It's pretty good." You say as the waiter comes over with your drinks, everybody had ordered some kind of beer or cider and a jug of ice cold water. "It's not what I was expecting, but I doubt anybody was expecting what we got."

Slider nodded as you took a sip of your nice and cold beer. "I agree, I personally was expecting to be sent to a carrier, but I suppose that this is just as good. Maybe even better." You nod in response, you had also expected a carrier posting after so long on land.

"One thing does bother me." Vampire speaks up. "Why are there so many aircraft on the base hen it's only our squadron on base?"

"Judging from the number of aircraft I highly doubt that we are the only ones training there." Scorpion said as she took a sip of her Märzen beer.

"Most of those aircraft are QF-100 target drones. The rest are either trainers that might be used as drone control aircraft or pursuit aircraft." You explain you earlier findings. "If anything, there are only about 10 fighters there, and 8 of them are going to be undergoing servicing."

"I saw a couple of DC-130s." Zeus piped up from his seat. "I saw them loaded up with firebees, but they could be used to control the QF-100s."

"I like the unit. But I can't stand that scumbag Miller." Mags said, causing a murmer of agreement from her fellow aviators.

"Don't worry little sister." Slider said as she pinched Mags's cheeks. "We'll deal with the big bad scary pilot." Everyone laughed as Mags got free from her cackling friend, before shooting an annoyed glance at everyone.

"I just feel sorry for him." You say rather solemnly. "He has to deal with all of you getting ready to kick his ass."

"You have no idea." Scorpion says as a scorpion climbed onto her hand. She looked down at the little arachnid and said darkly. "I'm going to call you Saden."

The conversation swiftly took a turn away from that and soon you all ordered your food. You and Mags ordered burgers while Slider and Vampire ordered hotdogs, Zeus ordered the spicy Cajun chicken while Scorpion ordered ribs. Possibly so she could give one to her new pet scorpion.

"So, does anybody think we'll be going out on dangerous missions?" Vampire asked with a hint of fear that was really out of place.

>[] "Possibly, hell that's part of the job description."
>[] "Hopefully not. Hopefully this all blows over."
>Other (write in)

>>382892
>>[] "Possibly, hell that's part of the job description."
Sugarcoating things can get people killed. It's best to be frank with her.

>>382892
>[] "Possibly, hell that's part of the job description."

>>382892
>"Possibly, hell that's part of the job description."

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"Possibly, hell that's part of the job description." You say as your food is delivered. "That's assuming that the reds are stupid enough to escalate it."

"That's assuming that the Reds actually do anything." Zeus says you catch him glimpsing over at Scorpion feeding her new pet a rib.

You feel yourself slightly recoil, that is creepy as hell.

"I'm still shocked how Scorpion managed get that scorpion." Mags says with a hint of astinishment.

"It's really easy once you get the hang of it. After all, how do you think I got my nickname?" She asks as she devours a rib, her scorpion trying to mimic her with little success considering it's size in comparison to the rib. "There aren't any scorpion shops, I had to find them and charm them. Mostly I would find yellow-tailed scorpions, but the methods work with them all."

All conversation stopped at that point. Everybody focusing on eating their food before Scorpion used it to gather an arachnid army. About half an hour later you decided it was time to get some shopping done. The group split up with you walking towards the shopping malls.

>What do you want to buy? (You will buy at least enough beer to pay back the motor pool guys)

>>382974
Shopping list:
>Beer for motor pool guys
>Plush toy scorpion for Scorpion
>The entire Akira manga for Zeus (we don't actually know if he likes it or not, it's just the first manga we see)
>A pair of stylin' aviators for ourselves

I'm gonna leave it for 15 minutes more just to see if anybody else wants to buy something. If not then we'll buy just the stuff already mentioned.

Writing

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As you walk through the mall you wonder what you should buy, now that you think about it, the best way to build friendship and camaraderie is to buy people gifts. The only problem is that it can also damage friendship with people who you didn't get gifts for. And while you have a few ideas about what to get for the girls and Zeus, you have no idea what to get for the guys.

So you start with what the few ideas you have. Your first stop is a books store, you remember his talking about some comic called "Akira" that he wanted to read, but could never find. It too some asking around and a bit of digging but you finally find the first 3 volumes hidden behind some lifestyle magazines.

A typical trick, hide something you want to buy later by relocating it. Unfortunately it only works if you pay off the staff not to tell anyone.

Your next stop is a hat shop, where you pickup 15 "US Navy" baseball hats for the unit, and another baseball hat with "Boss Man" stitched into it. You grab a set of very stylish aviators from the store next door and put them on with one of the "US Navy" hats.

On a whim, you pop into a kids shop and search around for a plush scorpion. While the sight of a burly, obviously military affiliated man with shopping bag full of hats, Japanese comics and wearing a baseball hat with aviators indoors while looking for plush toys. But you manage to find what your are looking for and leave with two plush animals in tow, a scorpion for Weiss and a snake for Slider.

You briefly consider buying Slider and Scorpion a set of sexy lingerie each. You walk past a lingerie store and can conjure up some mental images, but considering what they tend to do to people who flirt with them, you decide against it.

With the gifts for the women done, you move onto the gifts for the guys. With the main gift for the boss done, you decide to focus of the few pilots you have any rough ideas for.

You grab Green a model Tomcat, a 1/144 scale model at that. You don't want go give him something too cumbersome.

Rekker gets a nice pillow, considering how much you've seen him sleep.

Miller gets a rude T-shirt as that's literally the only thing you can think of for him.

The boss gets some pretty good pens. If your time in the fleet has told you anything, pens are a commodity at sea.

On your way out you make a few more snap purchases. Including a beefcake calendar for the Brits and a pair of really stereotypical German beer steins for the Germans along with other things that you might need, like anti-venom drugs. Your final stops on the way out are a chocolate delicatessen and the liquor store. Where you pickup chocolate and liquor respectively. Including a case of beer for the motor pool guys, and a bottle of whisky for yourself.

With your shopping done. You make the trek back to the truck.

"Damn Razor." Zeus says as you walk over with the assorted stuff. "You buy the whole damn mall?"

"Shut up and help me load this in the back." Is all you say.

CONT

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>>383130

You successfully load everything into the back as the rest of the group trickled in. Less than 10 minutes later you were back on the road again.

By the time you returned to base, everybody had already cleared the chambers of their pistols. You drive the pickup over to the barracks, offload your newly bought items and change back into your flight suits. As you attempt to leave the building, you round the corner and find yourself looking directly at the CINPAC with 4 people in tow.

"Sir!" You stop and salute smartly. He does the same.

"At ease son." You relax as instructed. "I take it that's your truck just outside?" He asks in that fatherly tone that he always seems to use.

"Yes sir. I borrowed it from the motor pool so I could go downtown with the rest of the unit." You announce. You've done nothing wrong by leaving the base, he autherised it after all.

"He was allowed to leave the base?" One of the women behind him asked, a French pilot form the sounds of it.

"Yes I did. Our training birds were down for maintanance. But thankfully their back up again." He turns to you and speaks again. "I want you to find your RIO and head down to the flight line as soon as you've dropped off that truck. You're up for a test flight. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir." You answer affirmatively. "Should I get my wingmates?"

"Negative. You're heading up with 1-2. They will be flying off your wing. Now get moving, time's wasting." You nod and make your goodbyes before grabbing Zeus and dropping him off at the flight line, where the crew of 1-2 are preforming their walk around.

You quickly return after returning the truck and handing over the beer. You climb into the cockpit almost as fast as when you were scrambled back in the fleet. Except this time you climb in and come to a dead stop.

The entire cockpit is different, gone are the thousands of different knobs and switches. Now they were replaced with two large TV screens. As you begin running through the start up procedure you get the rundown from Zeus.

>CONT

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>>383134
"We're doing a missile and systems test today. We're armed with a pair of AIM-95 Agiles and 6 AIM-120 AMRAAMs." You looked and realised that the Agile was the short, finless missile while the AMRAAM was the large, sparrow like missile.

"What's the mission details?" You ask as the canopy closed and the ground crew got out of the way. Giving you the all clear to start the engines.

"Simple, we'll be facing a mixed force of QF-100s and Firebees. For the first test we'll be testing how the radar's multi-locking capabilities work when facing multiple targets and when facing ECM jammers at different ranges." You look out to your right and see the conga-lone of drones and drone control aircraft rolling towards the runway. Bringing up the rear you can see 3 Hawk trainers carrying ECM pods

"For the second stage we'll be shooting down the firebees by firing all of our AMRAAMs. So that we can test how well the radar can direct 6 AMRAAMs onto their targets." Zeus continues as you release the brakes, allowing your aircraft to roll forward and propel itself down the taxiways towards the runway.

"Finally, we'll be hunting the QF-100s with the Agiles and guns to test short range combat capabilities." He finishes as you line up on the runway, Freelancer 1-2 sitting behind and to the right of you.

"Tower, requesting takeoff clearance." You transmit to the guys in the air control tower. A few seconds later you get clearance and takeoff.

"How do you want to play this 2-1?" Your wingmate asks you as you ascend to the target range.

>[] I'll lead. You stay on my wing.
>[] You lead. I'll cover your wing.

>>383138
>>[] I'll lead. You stay on my wing.
Things tend to go badly when we let someone else take the lead.

>>383138
>I'll lead. You stay on my wing.

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"I'll lead 1-2. We'll do this by the books up until the Agile test." You instruct, as soon as you finish your first sentence, 2-1 pulls just behind you. Holding in a typical combat separation.

"Wow, Razor doing things by the books? What is this sorcery?" Zeus joked over the internal channel. You just shake your head, with such new aircraft you were forced to go slowly. You had to treat a new variant with a bit of suspicion anyways. You wouldn't know if the aircraft would suddenly loose power duning a mock dogfight.

You fly for a few more minutes before the tower tells you that the test is to begin. You switch one of the MFDs to show radar picture. It automatically shows the blob of radar contacts on a 2D plane. You held your heading for a few minutes before the range officer gave you the golden words.

"Test 1 complete. Moving to Test 2. Fire AIM-120s on Freelancer 2-1's command." The range commander said with a bored tone.

"AMRAAMs on your trigger Razor." Zeus confirms.

"1-2 to 2-1. We're ready to fire on your mark." 1-2 confirmed his readiness. You pause for a second before answering them all.

"Freelancer 2-1 and 1-2. Fox 3! Fox 3!" You say as you thumb the missile release button. You feel the aircraft lighten almost immediately as the combined weight of all the AMRAAMs drops away. You watch as a second later, all 6 of your missiles streak through the evening sky Mach 4, leaving behind only their pale white trails. The missiles of 1-2 follow them just a second behind.

You watch the radar screen as the cluster of 12 missiles lance toward the blob of target drones. You watch them get right on top of the drones and wink out, taking out all but 6 drones.

"Freelancer 2-1 and 1-2. Test 2 complete, continue to Test 3." The announcer says before taking his leave.

1-2 comes on the line a second later. "2-1, how do you want to play this?"

>[] "Split up and take them out. Their just drones, we don't have to worry about them fighting back."
>[] "Keep together. This may be a test but splitting up is a stupid idea in any situation. Besides, CINPAC might be watching."
>[] Other (write in)

>>383195
>>[] "Keep together. This may be a test but splitting up is a stupid idea in any situation. Besides, CINPAC might be watching."

>>383195
>[x] "Keep together. This may be a test but splitting up is a stupid idea in any situation. Besides, CINPAC might be watching."

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"Let's keep it together. This may be a test but splitting up is a stupid idea in any situation. Besides, CINPAC might be watching." You say as you vector towards the group of bandits heading North. "We'll bounce them and see if we can take them out in one pass. If not then we'll do another pass."

"Talk about the boring approach." He said as you increased altitude.

"We're keeping this by the books. I don't want to have to be the one who has to tell CINPAC that one of us crashed our jets. We can go off the rails later." You say sternly. It takes only a few minutes to get into range with the Agiles. You spy the formation flying in a loose triangle.

"I'll take the one on the left. You take the lead and right-hand aircraft. I'll mop up what you can't finish." You instruct and begin your dive. 1-2 turns on his burners to get ahead of you.

"1-2, Fox 2." he says as he looses an Agile. The missile lanced out and slammed out into the lead aircraft, blowing it to peices in a massive jet fuel boosted fire. The remaining aircraft split, one breaking left and one breaking right.

You locked one of the fleeing aircraft with the Helmet Mounted Sights and loosed an Agile. the drone tried to drop flares to confuce the missile, but the missile wasn't spoofed so easily and the missile exploaded underneatht the QF-100, shreadding it's engines and tail controls.

You looked over in time to see 1-2 completely miss his gun run. You pull the jet into a hard pull up. Bringing you onto the drone's tail. You drag your pipper across the aircraft as you hold down the guns trigger. The stream of 20mm shells shredded the aircraft's aircraft's engine and ripped off it's wing, sending it's aircraft int a death spiral.

"Let's get on with the last 3." You say as you level off, thankfully they had moved towards you, thus making your job easier.

"Freelancer 2-1. Fox 2!" You announce as you let loose your final Agile, the missile lanced away and slammed into one of the oncoming aircraft. The missile went straight down the jet's intake and exploded inside the jet's guts, directly below where the pilot would have been seated. Thus shattering the aircraft into 3 large sections and a mist of shrapnel and assorted aircraft bits.

You looked over as 1-2 rocketed past you and bounced one of the fighters. Shredding it with his 20mm cannon. You mirrored him by raking your guns down the sides of the final drone, practically bisecting it.

"Freelancer flight. All aircraft confirmed destroyed. Test complete, return to base." The range commander announced.

"Well that was fun." 1-2 pulled up on your right.

>[] Ask him what 2-1 what his callsign is.
>[] Keep quiet.
>[] Other (write in)

>>383255
>[] Ask him what 2-1 what his callsign is.

>>383255
>Buzz the tower

Time for Razor to make a comeback.

>>383255
>Ask him what 2-1 what his callsign is.

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"Yeah it sure was." You said as you eased back on the throttle. You could still feel yourself shaking as Adrenalin pumped through your system.

"Yeah." 1-2 paused for a couple of secconds before speaking again. "Hey 2-1. What's your callsign?"

"Razor. My RIO is called Zeus." You announce almost automatically. "What about you?"

"I'm Ahab, my RIO is Ishmael." Ahab responded. "I'm sure your wondering why?"

"Yep. How'd you get it?" You ask, letting your curiosity get the better of you.

"Well, it was a while back." He began, hes voice already sounding more prideful, as if he liked how he got his callsign. "It was beck when I flying off the Midway. I had to fill in for the pilot for an S-3 Viking. During out ASW patrol, the sonar operator thought he saw something that resembled an attack submarine. We called it in and were told to drop some delayed fuse MK-82s on it. We decided that overkill was the best kill and dropped all 10 bombs on it. When a helicopter finally got over there they confirmed that we hadn't hit a submarine. We had killed a whale! So after that everybody started calling me Ahab and the name stuck."

You have to stop yourself from laughing when he mentioned killing a whale. But a few snickers manage to come through.

"So Razor. How did you get your callsign?" He asks as you bring yourself into position to reclaim that bit of manliness you gave up when you decided to do things by the books.

"Well, I got it the same way as any other pilot with the same callsign..." You trail off as you slowly ease the throttle into position. This is after all a well practised dance that you have performed many times before.

"Oh... I get it." Ahab says as he gets into position behind you.

Good. Nice to have a wingmate who shares you passion for passion off the people in the tower.

You come in on a landing run to catch the tower guys off guard, before slamming the throttle to the max and slamming on the afterburners, accelerating to just below the speed of sound as you pass by with barely 100 meters seperation. You glance back and see Ahab following you.

And that Zeus is holding up that flag again.

Great whooping laughter radiates from you, Zeus and Ahab's crew before the channel with the tower comes on.

"Freelancer flight." Your laughter stops as the icy cold voice of the CINPAC comes over the radio. "Please land and make your way to my office immediately. I would like a word." The radio goes silent just as quickly as it came on. Everything is quiet until touchdown, when Ahab finally speaks.

"That might have been a bad idea." He says solemnly.

>[] Yeah, that might have been a bad call.
>[] No, that was absolutely worth it.
>[] Other (write in)

>>383318
>>[] No, that was absolutely worth it.

>>383318
>[] No, that was absolutely worth it.

>>383318
>[] No, that was absolutely worth it.

>>383318
>>[] No, that was absolutely worth it.
They don't want timid for special missions anyway.. right? right?

>>383358
There's the possibility that they might want their aircraft back intact.

>>383318
>No, that was absolutely worth it.
Remember guys, CINPAC is GOD.

>>383411
>CINPAC is GOD.
Yeah! And he didn't tell us to not buzz the tower!
>>383374
overrated. we'll stress-test the equipment... no, don't tell that to the CINPAC...

"No. It was totally worth it." You say as you taxi the jet into one of the large hangers, designed to conceal the biggest bombers in the entire US inventory. You note that your original aircraft is missing. It had probably been sent back to the factory for it's upgrade.

You stop in the middle of the hanger and shut down the aircraft as Ahab pulled in next to you. As soon as your feet touched the floor you were on your way to CINPAC's office. You had no idea where it was but you assumed that it was somewhere in the administration building. You and your partners in crime arrive as one outside the CINPAC's office. You go to knock on the door when you hear a voice from the other side of the door.

"It's open." You enter immidiatly, take 3 steps in and salute as smartly as you can. Your partners follow your lead and enter with dignity. In front of you sits the CINPAC. In front of his desk sits a pair of chairs.

"Ahab, Razor, sit." He gestures at the chairs n front of you. "Ishmael, Zeus, leave. You have paperwork to do regarding the AIM-120."

You and Ahab sit to the sound of Zeus and Ishmael leaving. The door closes and CINPAC waits for either of you to show weakness. But this isn't either of your first rodeos. So 5 minutes later he sighs and kicks his feet up on the desk.

"You know. I should ground both of you and your RIOs. That stunt you pulled was dangerous and could have killed everybody in the tower if you had fucked up." He said in scolding voice, before pausing for a few seconds to let it sink in before continuing.

"But. It was also proof that both of you are great pilots. Not to mention that you came in at the right moment." He said as he tossed a pair of photographs on the desk in front of you. The first showed him in the tower with the rest of the unit, and just over their backs you could clearly see you and Zeus looking right into the camera with Zeus holding up and American flag. The second picture Ahab and Ishmael doing the same, but without the American flag.

"You can obviously see that it's served rather well." CINPAC says. "I might even send the pictures to the guys in PR and get them to scrub out the patches before releasing it. But that's besides the point." He takes the pictures back before returning to his serious demeanour.

"Those are two of the most advanced Tomcats in the world at the moment. Hell, they are even partially owned by NASA. And while I appreciate the need for stress testing and for you to keep your skills in top condition. I don't want those aircraft to reach the end of their service lives in a few months. They are not just training assets. They are the testing aircraft for ALL F-14s around the world. Even the ones that the Japs are using. So knock it off alright?" He calmly explains, never once raising his voice.

>CONT

>>383455
"Yes sir! No more stunts." You say with relief. Despite the lack of either yelling or punishment. You still think this was among the worst chewing out you had ever had. Not because it felt like you were in the wrong, but because it felt like you were letting down someone who was genuinely helping you.

"Good. Now, you have some paperwork about the testing you did today back at the barracks. Get that done and to me by midday tomorrow. You are dismissed." You wait until CINPAC had finished before saluting and leaving.

>[] Head back to the barracks and get that paperwork done.
>[] Head back to the barracks and meet the new guys.
>[] Wander around the base.
>[] Other (write in)

>>383457
>Give everybody their gifts.

>>383457
>>[] Head back to the barracks and get that paperwork done.
Get it done quickly (chewing out helped) then have some fun gifting gifts - plush toy :)

>>383462
This. Lets boost some morale around here.

>>383457
>Head back to the barracks and get the paperwork done.
Then give out gifts.

I'll be right back. I need to move a table.

In any case, votes are called.

>>383576
>move a table
torn ligament: Get well soon! Hope you can QM in the future! :)

>>383576
That table must have killed him

>>383837
It must have been the Round one.

>>383758
>>383837
>>383849
I'm back. Turns out it wasn't just a table. that needed to be moved.

>>384054
They always say it's just a table and then it's a whole house, I feel you, dude.

>>384054

Finally caught up man, glad to see this is doing well since the end of thread one

The moment you enter the barracks you get down to paperwork, grabbing the files and setting yourself down at a table in the rec room. Ahab follows you to the same table with his files. Together you both piece together the timeline of the tests from your perspectives, you also put in opinion pieces on many parts of the jet. Including your experiences with the AIM-95, AIM-120 and the jet overall. This takes you until just before chow, so you both decide to hand in our paperwork and then meet the rest of the unit at the chow hall.

The chow hall itself was rather modern. The serving stations were rather new, having just been replaced with newer units. The tables and benches were old though. Finding your unit wasn't too hard, considering that they were the only people in flight suits.

"So how'd it go?" Zeus asked as the pair of you sat down. All eyes on the table, including the eyes of the 4 new people, immediately snapped to you and Ahab.

"It went rather well actually. CINPAC was actually rather forgiving." You reveal, only to excite a snort from Davis.

"Figured he would." Davis said disapprovingly. "He thinks we're so important that he's willing to bend the rules to keep both of you in rotation after what you did." Davis shook his head.

"Come on Dredd." Scorpion spoke up, curiously without Saden.

"No." Davis, or Dredd as he was apparently otherwise known. "It's unprofessional." He said before rounding on you and Ahab.

"I don't want any more antics, you hear me?" He sad sternly. "You will either follow orders or so help me I will punt you asses back down to basic flight training! You get me pilots?" He said firmly, his voice betraying no remorse.

"Yes sir." Both you nodded, effectively burying the discussion right there. You stay quiet throughout chow, instead trying to get a read on the newcomers. From what you can guess, you may have enough presents to give everybody something if you divide it right.

As soon as you get back. You immediately go up to your room and take inventory. There's enough stuff to give everybody a hat and a bar of chocolate each.

"What's all that?" Vampire asked as she peeked into your room.

"Presents for everybody!" You say gleefully as you hand her her presents. A hat, a bar of chocolate and a beer stein.

With that delivery completed. You bundle up your gifts and begin making your deliveries with a smile. The next person you come across is Dredd, the boss. You hand him his gifts as he gives you a rather confused look.

"You know. You usually supposed to give out gifts around Christmas time. Not during the middle of August." He said sarcastically as he put on his hat.

>CONT

>>384192
"Yeah, but we probably aren't going to be in the States around winter time. And trust me, it's a bitch to get bulk orders of anything shipped out to a carrier battle group." You say as you heft your sack of goodies over you shoulder and make your way from room to room. Many of the people in your unit were getting ready to go to sleep, so it was easy to find them. The only ones you can't find are Slider, Scorpion and Zeus. They turn out to be in the rec-room, watching TV.

"Present delivery!" You say with pride as you put the sack down on the table in the centre of the assembly of sofas that make up the rec-room. The pair were beaming as you handed them their presents, although Slider started blushing as soon as you gave her the calendar. Zeus made a pretty good impression of a fish when you gave him the japanese comics.

"How the hell were you able to find these Razor?" He demanded. "These have only just started to be shipped to the US and are being snapped up."

"Found it in a book store. Someone had hid it behind some lifestyle magazines." You shrug noncommittally, you always had a skill for finding things that others couldn't find.

"Thanks you herr Bradly." Scorpion said from her seat as she hugged the plush scorpion like, well, a plush toy.

"Yes. Thanks Bradley." Halsey said as well, as she hugged the plush snake.

You simply laugh and enjoy their smiles. You had to admit that sight of the pair of them hugging their plush animals was rather cute.

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

Gonna end this thread here folks. Sorry about the whole break we had when I was moving all of that crap. I'm probably going to have to be back there tomorrow ho help them finish off clearing house. I am a bit annoyed that they asked me to move a table for them and then ended up roping me into helping the move out.

Anyways, I'll archive this thread. I'll post the link to the next thread here so you can just hop over. It might come in a couple of days as I have to help those people finish clearing house. But hopefully by then I'll have set up a twitter account so you can get updates from there.

If you have any questions about either the characters or the world in general, then feel free to ask. I'll answer them as soon as I can.

>>384194
Thanks for running. And I know how you feel when it comes to getting roped into moving, I'm the only one in my friend group with a pickup truck.

>>384194
Get them to invite you out +free beer and snacks while moving
Thanks for running this quest! I look forward to WW3 after Razor buzzes one Mig too many :).

>>384194

Thanks for running man, I am liking the cast we've got with us and even a CO that deserves utmost respect

Some stuff has come up that means that I won't likely be running for at most a few days.

I am really sorry, but IRL stuff comes first.

NEW THREAD

>>393182