Episode One - One Way Trip

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<<<< From Bridge

Hanger Bay
1037 Zulu
'53 Minutes Until Meropis Arrival'

As they entered; he rounded up the pilots and rio’s to his position. “Okay, I know the stars speech was boring as well. It even made Brett seem interesting;” he said giving his rio a smirk. “But our jobs are clear, the moment we drop out of hyperspace. We launch, no ‘ifs’ no ‘buts’, we got a job to protect the Sun Tzu at all cost.” he said as they looked at each other; its what they all signed up for. The ship was more important than a fighter; when it came down to it. “Okay, enough chatter. Get to your birds” he said as he jogged to his Talon, the F-302 was one of the core units of the fleet. It could handle being outnumbered and outgunned and still performed better than others its size. It was now going to be a boring ten minutes as the squadron ran its last diagnostics.

“Engine one, igniting”
“Engine one is green”[/i]
“Engine two, igniting”
“Engine two is green”[/i]
“Hyperspace, initialising”
“Hyperdrive is running under safety protocols”[/i]
“Missiles 1-4 are safe”
“Confirmed safe”[/i]
“Guns online, targeting ready”
“Targeting software loaded and tested”[/i]
“Everything good back there?” Tom asked his rio who was running his own diagnostics.

“Radar systems are good; ECM is functioning, life support systems are 100 percent. I think we’re good to go beaver”[/i] his rio replied as he connected his mask. Tom smiled; and did the same, he got the reports from others. Everyone was good so far; the runway lights activated; he waited inside the air conditioned cockpit. “It’s great, it starts with an earthquake…” Tom started to sing the R.E.M song “I feel fine”, also known as “It’s the end of the world and I feel fine”, in a few seconds Brett joined in.

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Hanger Bay
1037 Zulu
'53 Minutes Until Meropis Arrival'

Dmitri was standing in the back as he listened to the General’s speech, he was here yet again on another squadron in space. Little did security know Dmitri had brought along his fabled PSP for the ride. Dmitri grinned at Tom he hadn’t seen the guy yet, hell he probably didn’t even know that Dmitri was onboard yet well he was about to make his presence known. Dmitri climbed into his F302 after Tom had ordered all the pilots to do so, he wondered what the guy was thinking now that he had been promoted to leader of the squadron. Taking out his PSP he turned it on, the screen lit up and Ace Combat Skies of deception menu appeared. Dmitri started up a dogfight mode and began playing the game while in the cockpit of his F302. Yawning as he listened to Tom and Brett signing it’s the end of the world since he could hear it from the radio. “Hey Hammer guess who?” Dmitri asked over the radio as he leaned back and allowed Zack to go through the preflight checks. Dmitri continued to play the Ace Combat even though he had died a few times in the game, there was always the restart button ah good old restart button.

<TAG TOM>

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Hanger Bay
1038 Zulu
’52 Minutes Until Meropis Arrival’

Sitting in the cockpit of deadly, he looked at the screens. The hud was showing the altitude and speed and climb rate, was dark.. The systems knew when it was in the air. “So I saw you chatting up Renee the flight attendant” Tom said to Brett who was seated behind him. “She’s a flight controller”[/i] Brett replied as he sighed and continued to input new data. “So that’s like what was in Thomas the tank engine?” Tom chucked as a rubber bat smacked into his head, he smiled as Brett mumbled about lack of privacy when the squadron channel squawked. “Hey Hammer guess who?”[/i] he heard the voice and accent and grinned. “Don’t I have an AVO on you Blaze?” he joked, he was glad that Dee was back in the field. “Stop playing that damn PSP, I’ll shoot you” he continued as he smiled. Dee had always been his wingman; the guy was unlucky as hell. Every firefight he was either shot down or badly damaged. But it made the rest of the team feel good if he was hit.

“So, the stars speech made me sleep; what about you?” he asked his old Australian buddy. He could hear Brett talking to Zach, Dee’s Rio on a private channel; probably plotting against them or working out where the bar was. Which was still in progress; Tom had smuggled the famous pool table he had onboard, and had gotten some comfy chairs… all he needed was the bar to be finished and the pilots lounge would be for kings.. Plus it was hidden away under cleaning closet. No one would ever find it, and the pilots wouldn’t broadcast it. “Hey Dee; got a new… briefcase.. show it to you when we return from our deployment” he said to Dmitri in code. He smirked as he heard Dee’s reply, it was good to have him. Yet, he felt really worried that Dee was the XO… since the XO was as good as the CO… and Dee…. Well Dee had this love / hate relationship with the ground.

Staring back out towards the other group of fighters, his would the first to launch while Dee’s was the sixth which was slightly hilarious as Tom and Dee were always five, and six. “Brett, what’s our ETA?” he asked his rio. “47 minutes to launch”[/i] the royal air force flying officer replied.

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Hanger Bay
1038 Zulu
’52 Minutes Until Meropis Arrival’

Dmitri sat in the cockpit waiting for the pre flights to finish he could tell that Zack and Brett were talking to each other out something. Zack then told Dmitri that Brett finally got himself a girl. “Congrats Brett mate. You finally got yourself a girl.” Dmitri said over the radio. Dmitri could tell that flight control were probably getting annoyed with the pilots by now not that Dmitri was worried about it. “I’ll stop playing the PSP after I finish this level I’m almost done.” Dmitri explained as he flew his fighter plan to the right and began to dogfight with an enemy fighter plane in the game. “And besides it has cool music on it like it’s the end of the world.” Dmitri added in. Dmitri was amazed that he got the executive officer spot on the squadron someone must have been falling asleep on the job when his file came across their desk. “Didn’t really listen to it was playing Ace Combat.” Dmitri added in as Tom asked about the general’s speech. “Oh sweet I must have a look when we get back.” Dmitri said. “Hey have you heard from Sky lately?” Dmitri asked. Dmitri checked with Zach damn still 47 minutes to launch. Taking out his PSP he began to play the next level in Ace Combat.

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Hangar Bay
1039 Zulu
51Minutes Until Meropis Arrival

Whistling, Cira walked into the hangar bay right around the time when Brett mentioned there was about 50 minutes until launch time. She took marching band-like steps, displaying a cheery mood as she walked towards the number three F-302 and began a routine pre-flight. ~It's a good day ta be a space monkey!~ she thought as she began checking the right rear of the aircraft with a checklist in hand. ~I can't wait to go at this for real! This ain't nothin' like the Harrier, totally wicked. Training days are over!" She was tempted to climb on top of the aircraft, but it was best not to from this angle. So she waited until she checked the front and climbed into the cockpit, swinging her legs in swiftly. Time for a mic check. "Ello sirs, radio check, testing uno dos tres. Lieutenant Cira Knight reporting fer duty. Y'all got yerselves a new pilot." she said in a mild Texan accent. Cira nodded to her Radio Intercept Officer, Sadie Ford as she approached the aircraft. The woman was indeed a quiet one, this would be intersting. From what she could hear on the radio, the others wouldn't be too difficult to get along with.

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Adjacent Hallway
1039 Zulu
’51 Minutes Until Meropis Arrival’

Just down the hallway from the hanger bay, the doorway to a small supply closet opened. Sheepishly, a female member of the ship's medical detail ducked out of the closest and hurried down the corridor back to her post, adjusting her uniform as she went. Once out of sight, a second person exited the cupboard, though in a more relaxed nature. Aleksandr Kamarov, one of the finest pilots of the Russian Air Force, adjusted his flight suit and turned in the opposite direction, making his way back down toward the hanger. He still had time to spare.

Arriving at the hanger, the Russian reached into his flight suit and produced a small metallic flask. He took a swig from the container, which contained a clear liquid that wasn't quite water. It helped calmed his nerves, which was something he'd be needed in under an hour when they'd be flying air support for the cruiser. On the far side of the flight deck he spotted the F-302 he'd been assigned, and made his way over. A number of his new squadron mates were inside their ships performing pre-flight checks, but he decided to talk his time, and walked around his new ship inspecting it's every surface and curve.

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Hanger Bay
1037 Zulu
'51 Minutes Until Meropis Arrival'

Jimmy was one of the last pilots to walk into the Hanger bay, he stopped and stood in the doorway watching the crews and pilots checkout thier systems and spacecrafts. It was a nervous time for the pilot, he had a few of these pilots that had flowen with him and he was flying with them again. He was lost in his thought when a tap on his shoulder startled him. The woman laughed at him. "Gotta Jimmy" she said with a heavy scotish accent. He laughed and replied to his RIO, "Yes Lisa, you got me good". Still laughing the two walked to thier assigned craft and got in. "Lisa run the pre start checks please" he said to her as the screens begane to blink to life and slowly the list began to turning Green. Jimmy spoke again, "Confirm Jetfire, A green screen" he said to Lisa. "Roger that Dragon, A green Screen" she replied to him. Jimmy smiled and put on his radio, "Wolf Leader, Dragon has a green screen on pre starts" he said with his australian accent.

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Hanger Bay
1040 Zulu
’50 Minutes Until Meropis Arrival’

Looking at the console in front of him, he double checked everything once more. He didn’t know much about his fighter group, and it showed just realising Dee was in his group after three weeks. He contributed it to the fact he spent most of his time making the lounge, and not going anywhere else. He was about to call the people to duty, those who just turned up rather than getting there when he ordered. Part of him smiled, as he always turned up late.. due to a late night out… or a “meeting” with a hot lady; but since he became the fighter squadron commander; he had to make sure people knew about what they are suppose to do. "Gentlemen if I may interrupt. I want you all geared and ready, as soon as we drop out of hyperspace you have standing orders to launch. We'll be doing an initial scan of the planet from here but I want the entire wing to do a lap of the planet in formation, use your eyes and your short range scanners. It'll take you a few hours, but so long as we aren't being shot at we'll be alright. Understood?"[/i] he heard from the commanding officer of the ship. “Roger that control” he replied rolling his eyes. “Use our eyes? All we can see is forward and up”[/i] Brett commented. Tom laughed as he switched back to the squadron channel. “Is she onboard Dee?” he asked silently hoping; he waited a few moments before continuing. He then heard this accent on the radio; first he thought something was wrong till the person explained itself. “Bloody yanks”[/i] he heard Brett commented once more. “Ahh good to have you onboard Knight. And roger that Dragon; like old times ain’t it.” he smiled, glad to have Dee, and Jim by his side once more. “Okay, boys and girls who came late. Our orders are to survey the planet, stay in loose formation so that you can survey the planet and look over your wingman.”

Looking out at the hanger bay, he waited for everyone to finish their pre-flights. Though it was still 40 odd minutes to launch, doing pre launch now was better. At 10 minutes, the doors would open. “Okay, Tex you’re with me. Dragon, your three with Angel being four. Mutt; your Five with Dee being Six. Seven and Eight are out; their engines seem to have gremlins. If they become functional they’ll stick with the ‘Pol’ for CAP. Any questions?” he asked as he checked the MP7 that was inserted into its slot. The pilots had the MP7 and FN -57 due to the SMG’s weight and compactness along with the pistols mag capacity.

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Note:
Wolf Lead/One: McAllen (Hammer)
Wolf Two: Knight (Tex) – Normally filled by a rookie, and Cira stated that Knight was.
Wolf Three: Hardy (Dragon)
Wolf Four: “Angel” (Aussie Female, Based on you know who)
Wolf Five: Kamarov (Mutt) - Feel lucky Jay, that’s my old number
Wolf Six/XO: Sawyer (Blaze) – He’s always six…

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Hangar Bay
1042 Zulu
’48 Minutes Until Meropis Arrival’

"Rodger rodger, thank you sir. Green over here." Cira replied over her radio as she and her RIO Sadie paused their prefilght to listen to the orders from Control as well as Hammer. They had yet to warm up the engines and as soon as communication ebbed off a little, that was the next thing on their to do list. "Controls and HUD all functioning normally." she stated as a summary of the preflight.

"Affirmative, we've got maximum fuel load." Sadie replied as she adjusted her headset.

"Engaging engines for warm up," Cira informed as she engaged the ship's version of the clutch and started to fire the engines for warm up. Each would respond to the next item on the typical checklist, starting with Cira.
“Left engine, igniting.” Cira said as she adjusted the power settings slightly.
“Left engine, green.”
“Right engine, igniting.”
“Right engine, is green”
“Hyperspace, initializing.”
“Hyperdrive - running with protocols.”
“Missiles 1-4 safe.”
“Affirmative, safe.”
“Guns online, targeting ready.”
“Targeting software loaded and functional.” Sadie finalized. "Radar and life support, green."

Both she and Sadie fell quiet as they listened for any abnormal sounds, but each side sounded good. Engines remained at idle until the hangar bay doors would open. "So, you excited about flying, IN SPACE?" Cira asked Sadie cheerily, itching to get her hands on some action in this mean machine. "Straight up," Sadie replied. Cira couldn't see the smile on the woman's face, but she could hear it. "I never ever thought I'd get this chance."

"Neither did I! I look forward to working with ya, we can be partners in crime." Cira replied teasingly. Sadie chuckled. "I think we'll get along fine." Cira spoke over the radio again: "Wolf Two up ta speed, ready fer departure, over." if she had heard Brett, she would have added: "As they say in Knight Rider, keep yer scanners peeled'."

<Tags!>
-yeah, Cira's a rookie, in terms of being a space monkey XP

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Hangar Bay
1042 Zulu
’48 Minutes Until Meropis Arrival’

Dee just sat back in his F302. Every F302 he ever flew he nicknamed phantom only because it was a joke that Tom had started a while back now. It seemed that every mission he went on Dee’s F302 was the one that got seriously damaged or crashed it meant that the other pilots in the squadrons were alright if his F302 got damaged. Yawning Dee looked around wondering if the other pilots were going to turn up yet or if Dee and Tom where going to have to do this mission alone not that they hadn’t done that before. Their co spoke to them but Dee was paying more attention to his PSP game then the Colonels speech. Suddenly his radio came alive with the late arrivals of more pilots. “Knight sounds hot Hammer.” Dee said over the radio. Dee thought that he had opened a private channel to Tom but he didn’t activate it and it was on the pilots public channel. “Dragon buddy long time no see glad you’re with us.” Dee said to Jim. Dee, Tom and Jim this were going to be like old times all they needed was sky to pop in and they were set. Dee listened to Tom as he was calling the numbers, he grinned as he got six Dee always had six. “Wolf six ready for action. Hey Hammer whats that Russian doing out of his F302?” Dee asked as he spotted Aleksandr walking around his F302 instead of in it preparing for liftoff.

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Hangar Bay
1042 Zulu
’48 Minutes Until Meropis Arrival’

Serenity, Jimmy's Fighter, was in excellant condition for a fighter that had seen a few engagments. But in Jimmy's hands not many could touch her out thier and this had saved his life more times than he cared to recall. He started to test the flaps when Hammer came over the radio.

And roger that Dragon; like old times ain’t it
Dragon, your three with Angel being four

Jimmy smiled at this. "Yeah except that your in command this time" he said with a chuckle it was good to have someone he trusted in command and he couldn't think of anybody better than Tom. He then listened to the arrangments and raised an eyebrow. "Hey Hammer, That callsign sounds familiar. Should I be worried" he said jokingly over the radio. He returned to his pre starts as another came over the radio.

Dragon buddy long time no see glad you’re with us.”

"Blaze, I'm like a bad smell. You just can't get away from me. Oh and I see you from here. Maybe if you put that PSP away this time you might not get shot down this time" he said to his friend with a small chuckle as he finished with all the flaps.

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Hangar Bay
1043 Zulu
’47 Minutes Until Meropis Arrival’

"Hot as a Texan summer, DeeDee, sir, haha." she replied over the radio with a snicker. Cira swore she heard Sadie face palm behind her over the sound of the idling engines. Cira tested the F-302's ailerons. She could respect her higher ups no problem, but it was always fun to play along as well.

Closing the open frequency, Cira said to Sadie: "Hey yo, I think this birdy needs a name. She needs some respect." Cira said, patting the right side of the control panel where there were no buttons. "Spyker, KITT, EDI...What say you? Any suggestions?"
Cira asked. "KITT? Don't tell me you're a fan of Knight Rider..." Sadie replied as she started thinking of names. "Hey don' diss ze 80's, those were good times!" Cira replied as she tested the flaps again. "Hell yea, KITT's th' bomb! How about Eloise, the name of a vehicle from an old computer game?" she suggested. Sadie remained quiet for a moment, processing this. "I'm fine with that." she replied. "Eloise it is!"

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Hanger Bay
1044 Zulu
’46 Minutes Until Meropis Arrival’

After he gave the orders; or who is assigned to who he heard the Texan accent in his ear. He would have to get use to it either way; "Rodger rodger, thank you sir. Green over here."[/i] he heard as he continued to check his load out. All eight missiles of various types were functioning. He then heard the check in; "Wolf Two up ta speed, ready fer departure, over."[/i], “Confirmed Two” he replied as he checked his guns; “Knight sounds hot Hammer.”[/bb] Dee said over the radio; Tom checked and then sighed. “Uh; Dee, you said that on an open channel” Tom corrected as he heard the American reply. “Let’s keep it professional people” he warned as he heard Dmitri continue. “Wolf six ready for action. Hey Hammer what’s that Russian doing out of his F302?”[/i] Dee asked; Tom shrugged and replied. “He’s Russian, maybe in Soviet Russia plane flies you” he joked as he waited for the Russian to stop kissing his fighter and get in.

"Yeah except that you’re in command this time"[/i] he heard Jim say; “I now know what you went through, happy?” he smirked as he heard the others check in; “Hey Hammer, That callsign sounds familiar. Should I be worried?"[/i] he heard Jim ask. “It’s Blaze, so no.. means you can’t get shot down” Tom replied as he flicked the channel to the bridge. “Wolf Lead; were 6 birds operational.”

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Hanger Bay
1044 Zulu
’46 Minutes Until Meropis Arrival’

For the first step of his pre-flight check, Alek walked around his ship, making sure everything was in working order. Yes, there was a whole deck crew devoted to keeping these ships in perfect order, but jumping into a ship without checking it over first wasn't wise. Not that it had seemed to stop his squadron mates. The first mistake you made with air craft maintenance was usually your last. The Russian pilot walked the full length of the fighter, looking for any wear or tear that the mechanics might have missed. The F-302 was a new one, fresh off the production line, lacking the battle damage that in his mind made the craft look more formidable. At the moment the freshly painted ship looked like it belonged to a rookie pilot, not a seasoned warrior.

Satisfied the exterior of the ship was in working order, Kamarov ascended the ladder positioned next to his ship and climbed into the cockpit. His RIO, a French Navy pilot whom he'd only met once before, was already working down her pre-flight checklist. While she checked the weapons, guidance and radar systems - all her responsibility in battle - Aleksandr checked off electronics, engines and fuel. A deckhand moved in from of the fighter, signalling one at a time for Kamarov to check each of the ships flaps and control surfaces. With everything in order, Alek confirmed he had a green light for launch.

Over the radio, the squadron leader Captain McAllen reminded them all of their assignments and call signs. "Wolf One, Wolf Five. Board is green," he informed the Canadian in his thickly Russian accented voice. Now it was just a waiting game for launch.

OOC: Seeing how I'm Wolf Five and Blaze is Wolf Six, are we wing mates?

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Hanger Bay
1042 Zulu
"45 Minutes Until Meropis Arrival"

Corran and just finished his preflight walk around with the Crew Chief. Climing on to the crew ladder posted next to his aircraft Corran pulled a cross necklace from under his flight suit, kissed the cross and placed it back under his shirt. After running through his preflight check list and checking all flight controls with the Crew Cheif downstairs, Corran double check the radio frequency and said "Wolf One, Wolf Seven the my board checks green".