Of Mail and Wings

by Wiz Ahmad

The Interceptor

With our first flight session complete, we all sat down for a lunch break. Many of us were quite excited to be performing all together, and there was a lot of interpersonal talk.

"You need to loosen up a bit in the air, man!" Steve remarked, giving me a friendly shoulder punch.

"It's not that simple," I shot back. "You may have some prior experience from who-knows-where, but I certainly don't, so cut off a thick slice of slack cheese, will ya?"

Steve rolled his eyes and gave a little groan. "I'm just saying you need a bit more guts when it comes to maneuvering. Being a pilot is about being daring and testing personal capabilities and limits, right?"

"True, but not especially risky ones," I replied, taking a mouthful of beans, roast chicken, and hot cooked rice.

Exactly twenty minutes later, Shane entered the room, and he had some very strict words for us all.

"Listen up!" he hollered with an ear-piercing whistle blow. "Most of you have performed very well in your first round of duo flight. I gave you all minimal restrictions, thus allowing you to test your knowledge and previously acquired flight skills. I hope many of you are grateful for giving you such free rein."

"However," he continued, in a much deeper and serious tone, "you all will now fly together, as a group of five – I mean, four pilots. No horseplay this time, is that understood?"

"Yes sir!" we all replied in a chorus.

"Good." Shane's smile was rather peculiar – half-evil, half-pleasant. In other words, a weird mix of the Joker and a proud dad. "I'll call out formation patterns and all of you follow in sync. Is that understood?"

"Yes sir!" we all repeated in sync again.

"All right then. You all got five minutes to finish up. The maintenance crew wants to see that table spotless, so keep it clean! See you all in the hangar at 12:00 sharp!" Shane concluded, and turned and walked out the door.

Not wasting a minute, Steve scarfed down the rest of his meal, dropped the foam tray into the trash bin, and ran back to the locker room as if he was being gunned down by snipers. I, on the other hand, took my time and finished every last bit of it. As usual I was the last one to finish eating, but I caught up with the others very quickly.

"I hope you all know the severity of this session," I told Steve, looking at him straight in the eyes. "You gotta open those ears and lock up your freestyle BS, understand?"

"Relax, I got this bro," he replied, tapping my shoulder. "You gotta chill out, man! Why the red ears?"

"Just stay obedient and focused," I muttered under my breath, taking out my flight suit.

By 11:55, we were all suited up and had started to proceed down the hall towards the sliding doors, which opened up into the hangar. Sure enough, Shane and a few other ground crew members were waiting.

"Alright, lieutenants, I hope you all are ready to begin the first four-jet squadron. This will be quite simple, as you all will fly in battle spread, then make a smooth banking curve, forming a echelon as you do so. Finally, a fluid four with a rise and descent. Best of luck and remember to keep those masks on at all times. Your lives depend on it."

I fought back a snicker; I couldn't believe he had to mention that. It was such an obvious rule.

Without a word, we headed over to our jets and made our preparations. Having gone through this process several times, I could do it much more quickly and efficiently. I had my helmet, oxygen mask, and radio all strapped on and connected in just three minutes – four times faster than when I first flew.

Before one of the pilots could even get up the last step of the boarding ladder, I'd flipped the canopy and the engines' pre-ignition stage switches.

One ground crew member took off running, indicating that one pilot was good to go. I then watched as one jet left. Judging by a notable ID code on the lower fuselage, it was Ace. What I saw below me, though, took my breath away.

It was my ground crew member, and he was flashing me an "OK" sign. My eyes widened.

You mean... I get to go next? I'm the second one to leave?!

As if to confirm my initial shock of doubt, my ground crew member nodded, and I flashed him a thumbs-up. Right at the same time, my headset crackled loudly.

"Spinner, this is Primary Flight Control, you are clear to proceed towards the taxiing runway, over."

"Roger that."

The chocks were pulled, and once again, I began my slow but smooth journey down the runway, observing the sky above occasionally to take mental screenshots. I did this so that I'd be able to get a better sense of our positioning as a formation flying team. Soon, I was in position at the start of the main runway, awaiting instructions.

"Spinner, you are clear for take off. Please proceed."

"Roger that, sir."

I aligned myself with the middle of the runway and gunned the throttle, igniting the afterburners two-thirds of the way. The end of the runway soon came into view... and the jet started to rise. I gave the stick a gentle pull, and rose ever higher. Banking east and moderating my speed, I soon caught up to Ace.

"Ace, this is Spinner, are you ready?"

"Ready when the others are, Spinner."

I glanced down and checked my altitude. Both of us were at around eight thousand feet, so there wasn't too much worry about breaking the "sky barrier" – the strict limit of how high we could fly. Looking around, the aura of blue skies and faint wisps of clouds greeted me. Suddenly, I heard more jet engine noise. Gazing around, I caught sight of two other jets behind me, rising up to the same altitude.

"Ace, this is Spinner, Viper and Delta have arrived. Are you ready?"

"Let's do this, Spinner. I'll call out Delta, you take care of Viper."

"Roger that, Ace."

We parted, and I came up in front of Viper, switching my radio signal.

"Viper, this is Spinner, are you ready?"

"Whenever you are, Spinner."

"Good, get beside me on the left so we're even as fork and spoon." I ordered, before switching signals. "Ace, you and Delta are ready?"

"Viper and I are even."

"Great," I replied, trying not to sound sarcastic. "Now come up and align yourselves with me and Viper."

I took a glance behind me on my right, and sure enough, Ace and Delta were steadily approaching. I grinned as they came nose-to-nose with Viper and I. At last we were all neatly lined up.

"Everyone ready?" Shane's voice came over all our headsets loud and clear.

"We're ready, sir," I replied. We all flashed each other a thumbs-up and climbed in succession to nine thousand five hundred feet, then leveled out.

"Dive, then make a smooth banking arc, alright?" I called out to the others.

We flashed each other thumbs up, ready to begin our synchronized formation flight. But as we began a smooth descent down to seven thousand feet, Ace made an emergency call.

"Alert, this is Ace, there is an unidentified object approaching us from behind. Closure speed is 600 knots."

"Have you got any identification details, Ace?" I called out quickly.

"None yet, but with the minimum cross-referencing of my radar, it's very tiny. Possibly a foreign UAV."

To both of our surprises, a foreign radio call came in to both of us.

"Pilots of the Air Force, this is Lieutenant Fleetfoot, requesting permission to join the squadron. Over."

My eyes almost blew out of their sockets and my hands started to shake. I couldn't believe it: Fleetfoot had tracked down the Air Force base and was determined to display her capabilities. And how in the heck did she manage to achieve radio contact?

"I say we report back to base and have them investigate her. What you say, Spinner?"

"Let her in, Ace. If she has the power to fly from so far off and approach us, yet request permission, then she's not a foe. The enemy never requests permission from his targets. But do report to Shane what's occurring."

"As you wish, Spinner. But you're calling the shots if anything goes wrong – and with whatever Shane throws at us after this session is over."

"Challenge accepted," I replied with a huff.

Ace took the lead, and talked with Fleetfoot over where to position herself and what formation technique we were to apply. With our fifth member now in line, all five of us began our descent down to seven thousand feet. Then we started to bank and fly synchronously in a smooth arc, followed by a sequential echelon. I looked back and smiled. Fleetfoot wasn't flashing no attention-seeking BS – in fact, she was even more in sync than Delta. As we began to descend in a fluid four formation, I radioed Shane.

"Flight Control, this is Spinner, we have added a fifth member to the squadron, requesting flyby for identification purposes, over."

"Spinner, this is Shane, who is it? Did you identify it before reporting?"

"No report, sir, it has given out radio contact and does not have any enemy attributes."

"You all are clear to engage," Shane replied. I could hear the disappointment in his voice, but I knew this was my only chance to get him to appreciate Fleetfoot's aerial capabilities.

I relayed the plan of action to Ace, Delta, and Viper, and we all dove down and made a sharp banking. Aligning straight in a fingertip motion, we made a low pass over the runway in clear sight of the control towers at a steady 400 knots.

"Aerial synchronized formation flight complete, requesting permission to land," I radioed to ATC.

"Spinner, you and your team must now distance themselves and take turns to land with a distance of a kilometer between each aircraft. Over and out."

Ace was the first to land, followed by Viper, then I, and finally Delta. Fleetfoot didn't land on the runway; instead, she made a sharp right and flew straight towards the hangar. That's when I noticed something rather peculiar: there was a thin trail of smoke coming out from behind her, just like our jets!

As I landed on the runway and turned in towards the arrival pad, my brain kept grinding away at itself, trying to find an answer, but nothing seemed logical. So I did the next best thing: accept it as an unexplained natural cause.

At the back of the line-up of jets, I cut the engine, equalized the pressure, and opened the canopy, before looking over at the ground below.
Shane was standing there, looking baffled but also cross.

I sighed, taking off my oxygen mask and helmet and slowly descending the boarding ladder.

"You are in water beyond boiling hot now, Spilner."

Author's Note:

Here it is. The moment you've all been waiting for. I may add more details later but so far this isn't too bad Hope y'all enjoy.

Comments

[p61blkwidow]

this is really getting good! well done to you!can not wait for the adventure to continue!

[Bronycommander]

I Don't Know How Fleetfoot managed To Do that but it's hilarous. Reminds me of a dream where the us Military used uavs and the armed Version that looked like the wonderbolts

[bentonjack22]

kilometers

Distance in aviation is measured in nautical miles

sky barrier

I think you mean "ceiling" although I don't know if the altitude limits in a mission are actually called like that.

Also, their reaction was... Unconventional. I might got it wrong but...

First: why they assuemed it could be a forengin UAV? Couldn't it be an allied one to test them? And if so, how did the UAV not appear on the radar?

Second: when Fleefoot makes radio contact, how they react so casually about beeing addressed? I mean, if I was flying with my squadmates and suddenly someone new made radio contact, they would be confussed to say the least, and even more when they find nothing in the radar screen. Also, how is that nobody detected her? Sure, her body is too small for a radar to get a reading, but, the ground station and the pilots are in the same frequency, so everyone listening would have heard Fleefoot as well.

The story is good, but needs some work

PS: So the main character is a pilot trainee for the United States right? Then... How is that he gets to fly the Eurofighter Typhoon? You guys don't have thoose, you have the overpriced winged bathtub AKA F-35 :P

[Wiz Ahmad]

7947794 She's too sneaky Also, it DID appear on radar - that's how Ace noticed her. UAV #becausesmallsize. Radio and ground control error noted, sir. Will fix soon. Like I said before, I chose the Eurofighter because I LOVE it.