Smash and Grab (Air Wing)
Smash and Grab (Air Wing)
Summary: Air Wing side of Smash and Grab
Date: 66 ACH
Related Logs: Anything having to do with the Event or build-up.
Players:
Addie..Orion..Rue..Novella..Micah..Sloane..Tychon..Warwick..Dynames..

FINAL KILL COUNT:
Dynames: 5
Micah: 4
Novella: 3
Tychon: 3
Warwick: 3
Sloane: 3
Rue: 3
Orion: 2
Addie: 2

-=============================================================================-
Hangar Bay B Genesis - Deck 7
66 ACH 23817 Souls


The hangar deck is where the Genesis' Viper squadron, and its Raptor detachment are stored, repaired and maintained between missions. Ships land on the flight deck, one level above, and are brought down via massive elevators. Tow vehicles move the ships around the deck, their shrill alert beeps causing an almost constant cacophony of noise. The floor itself is a light gray in color, but wear and tear has left marks and scratches everywhere. Numbered sections are marked off with paint to house the various spacecraft.
The place is surprisingly tidy, with tool chests, machine parts, diagnostic equipment, and even the occasional spare engine or chassis scattered all in their appropriate place. Stairs lead up to other parts of the ship. The fourth side has a large sliding door leading to the flight deck elevators. On the port wall, Vipers are loaded into the launch tubes to be catapulted into space. Raptors take off from the flight deck.

----< Condition Three - Duty Area >----—-

Tempo comes down the stairs after Orion, her helmet held between her hands and a small willful smile at her lips as she approaches her bird for the preflight. Chin-up, stabilizers-check…. chin up, thrusters-check…..

Orion pulls his helmet on, takes a very, very deep breath, and gives Dyna a pat on the shoulder before splitting off to head towards his strike craft.

Warwick has moved for the Charon already, nodding a bit to the others as he moves to inspect his Viper a bit carefully.

Bayless clambers into the hangar and makes a path for Raptor 215. "Jammer, you're with me… Wideload, you and (OOC: Kalypso's training observer) grab an ECO and grab a bird."

Micah heads down the stairs post haste, and clambers up into his viper to get preflighted and harnessed in by a petty officer. There's a grin shot to Novella, if he manages to catch her attention, and then his helmet's tugged on and the hatch closed.

[Intercom] Attention! Action Stations! Set Condition One throughout the fleet.

Orion takes another deep breath, then climbs up the side of his viper, then crawls into the cockpit. He stops for a moment, scans the hangar for Kalypso and, in spite of the general cat and dog show they seem to put on, goes out of his way to give the woman a nod before settling back inside and pulling his cockpit shut. He starts the preflight immediately.

Sloane steps up Micah's ladder and offers a quick fist-bump before dropping off and heading over to his own. The Viper's been towed to be next to Micah's on the launching tubes. "Just you and me girl…" He says, as he climbs into his Viper and finishes preflight quickly.

[Nemamiah_109: Micah] Sloane's fistbump's returned, of course, along with a 'good hunting' from Micah. Then he's locked and loaded, and waiting for the tubes.

[RAPTOR_215: Bayless] Bayless can be seen through the cockpit glass, strapping into 215's driver's seat and powering the ship up.

[Tac1] "Scorch" Bayless says, "CIC, this is Scorch, Raptor 215. Beginning pre-flight."

[Flask_210: Orion] Flask, from within the crampt confines of his viper, checks his suit out. After that, he's flipping dials, checking readouts, and going through the usual preflight ritual.

Dynames signs something and nods to the crew before mounting up and getting strapped in. She affixes her helmet and buttons up, keying up the systems of the bird as she's taxi'd into the catapult.

[Tac1] "Cornbread" Sloane says, "CIC, Cornbread, preflight completed ready to launch."

[VIPER_1137: Tychon] Tychon exchanges a few parting words with the unlucky pair he has conscripted to join him in his mission, and then moves to enter his Viper. He settles into place, having his flight helmet attatched and the seal double-checked. He gives a thumbs-up to the deck crewman, and closes the cockpit. Soon, the Viper is being moved out into its launch tube.

[Tac1] "Tempo" Dynames says, "Good hunting everyone. CIC, Tempo, green for launch."

[Tac1] "Wide Load" Kalypso says, "CIC, this is Wide Load, Raptor 214. Beginning pre-flight."

[Tac1] "Jailhouse" Micah says, "CIC, Jailhouse, green for launch and ready to hit the pipes."

[Tac1] "Flask" Orion says, "CIC, Flask. Systems check. I am green, ready for tow."

[Tac1] "Archer" Tychon says, "Archer, green across the board. I ready for launch."

[RAPTOR_214: Kalypso] Inside her bird, Kalypso can be seen exchanging words with the Lieutenant riding shotgun with her, as well as running through all of the pre-flight checks. Seals. Strapped in. Everything looking good.

[Tac1] "Hound" Warwick says, "Hound, all green. Ready for whenever the show will be starting."

[Tac1] "Flask" Orion says, "CIC, Flask. I'm in the pipe. Five by five."

[NewDawn_1744: Novella] Novella sits in her Viper, helmet pressed against the rear of her ejection seat. Waiting. Ready. Payback.

[Tac1] CiC gives the greenlight once they are above the area. "Launch vipers."

[Flask_210: Orion] Orion's viper is absolutely rocketed out of the Genesis.

[Tac1] "Tempo" Dynames says, "Tempo launching!"

[NewDawn_1744: Novella] Novella's Viper kicks out of the launch tubes, the woman bringing her craft about and looking for Dynames to join up. Though the distraction of seeing Virgon close enough to touch seems to distract her a bit.

[Flask_210: Orion] Orion banks wide and easy, locking in Warwick onto his hud and lighting the burners enough to catch up to him, forming on the other pilot's side. Luckiyl for him, he's been out enough times that the stiff flying crap has worked itself out, though the inherent stress of this mission may as well bring that back.

[Tac1] "Flask" Orion says, "Hound, Flask. I am formed on your seven, tight as a drum."

[Nemamiah_109: Micah] Micah's viper is one of those spit out by the Genesis, lit up by a burst of afterburners as he maneuvers to Sloane's wing.

[VIPER_1137: Tychon] Archer's Viper spits out like a little metallic arrowhead, making a broad turn that gives all the other ships ample time to clear the Genesis, orient, and find their wings. Once the birds are all aloft, its thrusters kick up, pulling out into the lead, and angling almost immediately for the planet.

[Charon_840: Warwick] Getting out of the tubes, Hound rolls his Viper around a few times, looking around to see where Orion's placed, nodding as he sees the other pilot having formed up, and offering a more or less visible thumbs up gesture.

[Tac1] "Hound" Warwick says, "Flask, Hound. Good work, young one."

[Tempo_1741: Dynames] Tempo screams out of the tubes and comes about as she spies her wingman on her instruments, taking up a low spot on her five o'clock. She sees Virgon, home, before her and she swallows with a strangled noise.

[Tac1] "Archer" Tychon says, "All Vipers, Archer. You are on me. Make weapons ready, we're going in hot."

[Tac1] "Cav" Novella says, "Copy, Lead. Master Arm off."

[Cornbread_1623: Sloane]
Bursting out of the launch tubes, Cornbread falls into quick position on Jailhouse's five-o-clock. Not wasting any time at getting into position, Sloane falls into game mode and flips the switch on the flight yoke. "Lead, Cornbread, weapons hot and on wing assignment."

[Tac1] "Cornbread" Sloane says, "Lead, Cornbread, weapons hot and on wing assignment."

[Tac1] "Jailhouse" Micah says, "Copy, Lead."

[Tac1] "Tempo" Dynames says, "*voice thick* Cav, I have your five. *then with the new instructions* Archer, aye, *click-click* master arm, confirm weapons hot."

[Tac1] "Hound" Warwick says, "Copy, Lead. Weapons hot as iron at a forge."

[Tac1] "Flask" Orion says, "Copy, Lead. We will plow the field."

[NewDawn_1744: Novella] Novella's Viper drops down into position, following Tychon into the atmosphere. The engines glow blue, her form unmoving in the cockpit.

[VIPER_1137: Tychon] The lead Viper's engines burn hot, and with little more ceremony, it heads toward the planet. The atmosphere is evident first by a change of color in the engine flare, as the thrust meats gas rather than the empty void of space. A bit of a wake forms around the vessel, before it dissapears into the thicker opacity of its surroundings. Archer is going in.

[Tempo_1741: Dynames] Tempo follows as well, keeping her relative to Cav as she dives toward the atmospheric threshold, glancing down at DRADIS, what's in front of her, and her heat gauges.

[Tac1] "Archer" Tychon says, "All, Archer. Expect fire as soon as we break the chop. Repeat, its gonna light up real fast on the other side."

[Nemamiah_109: Micah] Micah throttles a little more aggressively as they hit atmo, keeping formation with a quick check to see that his wingman's still on his five. In they go.

[Tac1] "Cav" Novella says, "Lead, Cav. Tally! Six Raiders climbing through fifteen thousand feet! Eleven o'clock low! Looks like they've spotted us!"

[Tac1] "Archer" Tychon says, "Roger Cav. Air superiority, you are free to engage. Wildcat, Thumper, you're with me. We're gonna hit the deck hard."

[NewDawn_1744: Novella] Novella's Viper turns a bit towards the incoming Raiders. The throttles are nudged up as they rocket down through the atmosphere, grabbing speed like a fat kid in a candy store.

[Tac1] "Tempo" Dynames says, "Copy, lead!"

[Tac1] "Hound" Warwick says, "You all heard the man. Let's go knock those pieces of metal out of the sky."

[Cornbread_1623: Sloane]
It's on now. Sloane blinks and whispers something under his breath and watches Micah's Viper, following and providing clean up for the inward cut into the opposition that he senses coming. Remaining quiet over the tactical channel, he takes a final calm breath before it hits the fan. A moment of peace and serenity…until the loud noises break it.

[Tac1] "Cav" Novella says, "Tempo, keep on my wing. We're gonna Loose Deuce."

[Tempo_1741: Dynames] Dyna's Viper peels along the same vector as Cav and she opens up the throttle some to join the called fighting formation.

[Charon_840: Warwick] Heading in the direction of the Cylons, Hound looks around carefully for a couple moments, then back to the enemies.

[Tac1] "Tempo" Dynames says, "Cav, Tempo, aye, gotcher back, baby!"

[Nemamiah_109: Micah] Micah's going in hot as soon as the order's given. His bird rolls to port and cuts an aggressive swath of sky for his wingman to keep up with.

[Tac1] "Jailhouse" Micah says, "Loosey deucey on me, Cornbread. Ah'll knock 'em down, you clean 'em up. Easy on my five there."

[Tac1] "Cornbread" Sloane says, "Jailhouse, Cornbread. Copy. Slacking back another fifteen."

[Flask_210: Orion] Yeah. This is it. Flask flies looser, preparing to break formation.

[Cornbread_1623: Sloane] Falling back loosely to focus on defending Micah's Viper, Sloane fires off a shot at a passing target and continues to hang tight on Jailhouse's flight pattern. Sticking together, sticking together.

[Charon_840: Warwick] Following his Wingman for the same Raider, Hound keeps himself ready for any sudden moves.

[Flask_210: Orion] A shadow in tow, Flask goes high, grabbing altitude and slowing himself enough for his lead's target to blow right past him in persuit of Hound. He banks a hard left, unaccustomed to flying in gravity, narrowly avoids getting clipped, and ends up with a beautiful deflection shot on Hound's shadow, blowing it apart.

[Cornbread_1623: Sloane] Not getting a kill that time, but glad to see that Jailhouse got it, Cornbread glances at his Dradis while maintaining a vigilant post on Micah's tail. No need to sound off, they know he's there. Glancing around for incoming signs of more Raiders, he looks for glints of light in the sky as he continues to shadow Micah.

[Tac1] "Flask" Orion says, "Flask, Splash… splash one."

[Charon_840: Warwick] Missing his shot, and getting hit a little bit as well, Hound frowns a bit as he sees the Raider going for him goes up in flames. He turns, and heads for the one following Orion.

[NewDawn_1744: Novella] Novella squeezes the trigger and the sound of her guns chew through the air. Tracers arc through the sky all around her as she rolls and jinks through the sky. Her own rounds walk across the wing over her target and there's a muffled curse on the radio. She pops her speed brakes and yanks the Viper through a grueling 8-G turn to come back aorund on her target.

[VIPER_1137: Tychon] Wildcat and Thumper form up behind Archer, and the three of them throttle up - pushing to what must be the maximum. The entire three-Viper formation then performs what is certainly a rather insane maneuver - aiming into almost a straight nose-dive at that high engine velocity. Their aim is to get to ground as fast as possible, and the reason is clear. They're barely visible at a distance, but grow painfully so as they streak up from the surface, trailing plumes of white smoke. The diving formation scrambles, Tychon barrel rolling off to port, Thumper juking and firing back a counter-volley, clipping one of the warheads - flying through the explosion a second later. Wildcat is not so lucky - and takes an impact square in the cockpit. The explosion is tremendous.

[Tac1] "Hound" Warwick says, "Good work, Flask. I'm on the one following you there."

[Nemamiah_109: Micah] Wheeling his bird about in a sharp bank that's cutting it a bit close for atmo maneuvering, Micah turns on his wingman when he spots his shadow on DRADIS. The other pilot's fire is enough to weaken the raider, and Micah's scattershot takes it out as he cuts beneath the other viper.

[Tac1] "Jailhouse" Micah says, "Bogey's off your tail, Cornbread, wham bam thank you ma'am."

[Tempo_1741: Dynames] Tempo sinks below Cav's attack plan and slides to four o'clock before her guns open up on a Raider that's turning to engage her wing. The rounds hammer through the enemy's weapon and into the ammo-stores, devastating the Cylon from within like Tequila and a hot fudge sundae.

[Tac1] "Archer" Tychon's com chatter is audible throughout, between the lead bird and the two wingmen: "Hostile DRADIS." "We have incoming, repeat, we have incoming." "Thumper, evasive!" "I've got incoming… cover me cover me." "Wildcat, break, break-"

[Tac1] "Cav" Novella says, "Splash my bandit! Good Work, Tempo! Move to high cover on Jailhouse!"

[Nemamiah_109: Micah] Jinking sharply to starboard, Micah does a quick visual sweep to see that his wingman doesn't have any friends hanging around, then locks in on the bogey tailing Tempo. It's a clean hit, despite his bad angle, tracerfire walking a path along its underbelly as he leads it into a quick turn.

[Charon_840: Warwick] Spraying the tail on the Raider he were going for, Hound keeps on following the thing, frowning a bit as he sees it still flying.

[Flask_210: Orion] Perhaps it's because this is Flask's first interaction with live fire, but the rookie pilot takes no chances. Few bandits in the sky, considerably more of us than them, Orion decides to lead this thing on a merry chase over the skies of Virgon, banking hard and using the height he earned in his last maneuver, translating it into pure speed as he dives, heading for the deck and pulling up. He loses the cylon Raider completely, leaving it at the tender mercies of his partner.

[Tac1] "Tempo" Dynames says, "Copy-copy, Jailhouse rock, on the double!"

[Cornbread_1623: Sloane] Not focusing on offense, as he focuses on protecting Micah's tail, Sloane doesn't feel bad about missing his shot. Sensing incoming danger on Micah, he veers off a bit and angles to get a shot on the incoming raider. Falling in line on its seven, he opens fire.

[NewDawn_1744: Novella] Novella's guns bark again as the tracers arc across the blue sky. Little incindiary fingers reach out and walk across the Raider, exploding it in a ball of fire. She breaks hard and away, moving over the top in an Immelman to come around on Micah's pursuing Bandit.

[Tac1] "Jailhouse" Micah says, "Ah've got this bugger, Tempo. Cornbread, you on me?"

[Tac1] "Cornbread" Sloane says, "Lining up, Break left and roll out of it. We gotcha, Jailhouse."

[VIPER_1137: Tychon] Wildcat is down. Archer and Thumper reach the ground, banking up -hard- to keep from plastering themselves all over the terrain - the broken fuselage of their former wingmate landing behind them in a second large explosion. It hardly matters. They weave around obstacles, far closer to the ground than they should be. And then, breaking over the last barrier offered to them, they're face to face with it. Another missile, but Thumper intercepts, the explosion washing across the lead Viper - the deck crew will need to do a new paint job, but the occupant seems to survive. A moment later, Archer releases his payload, firing one missile, and then the other, the Viper rocking back and forth as each side fires. They fly true, slamming into the DRADIS installation. It explodes - visible even to the dogfighters below, a bright orange blast that quickly subsides, followed by a rising column of black smoke.

[Tempo_1741: Dynames] Tempo's bird slides into the Raider's six and puts a quick little burst right in between the thrusters before she rolls and peels in an off-horizontal loop to get angle on what's got Micah on it's mind. Not to slam his piloting skills, so much as to not give Novella reason to have Dyna's ass on -her- mind.

[Tac1] "Archer" Tychon's voice comes through: "Missile lock, tone is good. Bruisers away." A long pause. "We have impact, we have impact. Repeat, DRADIS destroyed, SAM systems neutralized. How's it going up there?"

[Tac1] "Hound" Warwick says, "Splash one, I believe. Looks clear so far, doesn't it?"

[Tac1] "Cornbread" Sloane says, "Jailhouse, Tempo! What's your status!?"

[NewDawn_1744: Novella] Novella rolls in on Micah's pursuer too late to do any good. She simply steadies out her aircraft and looks to form up on Warwick. Her head can be seen scannign the sky all around her and looking down on the airfield far below.

[Flask_210: Orion] Amidst what must look like entirely too many tracer rounds for one lowly Raider, Orion laughs over the radio, releasing the trigger and forming back on Hound.

[Tac1] "Jailhouse" Micah says, "Splash two, Tempo, your bogey's pushin' up daisies. Good work, Cornbread."

[Tac1] "Flask" Orion says, "*slightly nervous laughter* That is absolutely a splash of some kind."

[Cornbread_1623: Sloane] Turning his eyes at the last second at the explosion, something he's not often shown, Cornbread watches the Raider get a few shots off as it dies in a fireball. He can't even tell who finished that one off. Barking over the comms for a status report. He curses himself.

[Tac1] "Archer" Tychon says, "Genesis, Archer. Skies are clear. Bring in the big birds."

[Charon_840: Warwick] Getting to the right position, Warwick fires off a quick round at Raider3, spinning to the side as he sees the Raider turning into fireworks. Getting back into position now, and looking for any possible other enemies down there.

[Nemamiah_109: Micah] Micah cuts away in a hard burn as Dynames' pursuer goes up in smoke and shrapnel, though his own bird takes a severe beating as the flyer on him lays hard into his guns. That's going to be some interesting footage later; one of his engines is smoking and he's obviously having trouble keeping his viper under control.

[VIPER_1137: Tychon] Archer and Thumper come around, passing through the smoking DRADIS installation. They're not fast enough to rejoin the dogfight, but it doesn't matter - the explosions of the last remaining raiders are welcome enough.

[Tempo_1741: Dynames] As one of the many, many sources of angst turned to bear against the Raider chasing Micah, Tempo fires and, as will likely become a trademark at this rate, she rips through the emeny's guns to detonate the magazine, which, is likely all that's left as nearly a half dozen other vectors of fire tear the Cylon apart. As she starts to peel out of the kill, her friend manages to graze her tail with it's own fire.

[Tac1] "Jailhouse" Micah says, "Lead, Jailhouse, requesting RTB, I repeat.. *crackles* ..serious damage here.. *more static* my comm array's fried.. requesting RTB."

[Tac1] "Archer" Tychon says, "Roger Jailhouse, you're clear to withdraw."

[Tac1] "Tempo" Dynames says, "Ha! *th-th-th-thmp!* Damn! He bit my ass! I still have good control. I can take him back."

[Tac1] "Jailhouse" Micah says, "Copy, Lead. I.. *static* -TB."

[Cornbread_1623: Sloane]
"FRAK!" Sloane growls off the channel, pissed that Micah's bird was hit. That is his wingman. The raider practically sacrificed itself, no, DID sacrifice itself in the attempt to kill the pilot. Resisting the urge to punch something, he taps his comm on.

[Tac1] "Cornbread" Sloane says, "Lead, Cornbread, permission to cover Jailhouse on RTB."

[Tac1] "Archer" Tychon says, "Cornbread, go ahead. All remaining Vipers, Archer. What is your status?"

[Tac1] "Cav" Novella says, "Archer, Cav. I'm clean."

[Tac1] "Tempo" Dynames says, "Archer, Tempo, I got clipped in the tail. I don't think it's bad, but I can't tell from in here."

[Tac1] "Flask" Orion says, "Archer, Flask. Not a mark, here."

[VIPER_992: Micah] Micah swerves out of formation and peels back up out of atmo as the order's confirmed and Cornbread forms up on his tail. With no time to lose, it's an all out burn of thrusters and a goodly amount of smoke that whips off his bird.

[NewDawn_1744: Novella] Novella sidles up next to Tempo. She flashes a thumbs-up to the other pilot after checking over her tail.

[Tac1] "Cav" Novella says, "Tempo, Cav. Tails a little perforated but you look good."

[Tac1] "Archer" Tychon says, "Tempo, Archer. Stick around. All Vipers, hold and patrol the LZ. Genesis, Archer. Do we have an ETA on the Raptors?"

[Tempo_1741: Dynames] Tempo does a little wing waggle then she looks out the canopy to her wing, returning the thumbs-up.

[Tac1] "Hound" Warwick says, "Archer, Hound. Took a few bullets to the wing, but otherwise good."

[Tac1] "Tempo" Dynames says, "Thanks, baby. Lead, Tempo, aye, still in the game."

[Tac1] "Cornbread" Sloane says, "CIC, Cornbread. Jailhouse on approach vector for landing tubes. Visible damage. Prep deck crew for limped bird landing."

[Tac1] "Genesis Actual" Regas says, "Archer, Raptors are away, ETA five min."

[Tac1] "Tempo" Dynames says, "Flask, Tempo… how you doin, baby?"

[Tac1] "Archer" Tychon says, "Roger that, Genesis."

[VIPER_992: Micah] It seems Micah's comm is completely fried, by the time they reach the flight deck. He brings his viper in for a hands on combat landing, sparks and smoke spitting as thrusters are put in reverse, though manages to avoid a wing-touch. From there, one can only assume he's peeled out of that mess on the double, and loaded into another alert viper.

[Tac1] "Flask" Orion says, "Enjoying the view, Tempo. Enjoying the view."

[Tac1] "Fender" Addie says, "Sweet talk over tac, what's this wing coming to?"

[Fender_211: Addie] 211 joins the fight after some problems at launch, and accelerates toward fight. Look out, Fender coming it hot. Check your bumpers. So to speak.

[Tac1] "Cav" Novella says, "Heyyy. Welcome to the party, Fender!"

[Cornbread_1623: Sloane] Cornbread flies a small CAP while waiting for Micah's re-birding.

[Tac1] "Archer" Tychon says, "Fender, Archer, welcome to the show. Want to take these guys off my hand, Captain?"

[Tac1] "Tempo" Dynames says, "Post fight nerves, sir!"

[NewDawn_1744: Novella] Novella's Viper slowly climbs up through the clouds, accelerating up towards 80,000 feet. She weaves in and out of the high clouds, keeping an eye on the space above. She does a lazy circle loosely around the airfield.

[Charon_840: Warwick] Just keeping on moving like he's supposed to, Hound glances around once in a while, to see that there's nobody out there. Otherwise keeping silent and focused, for now.

[Tempo_1741: Dynames] Tempo remains essentially on Cav's wing, looking around as she goes on. The skies over Virgon nag at her, and she goes quiet in thought as she works on pushing the baggage back where it belongs. Stick time isn't angst time.

[VIPER_992: Micah] It's like a pit stop in a formula one race, down there. Micah's back out of the launch tubes in record time, a bob of one wing given to Cornbread as he streaks past. A vector's laid in for the patrol coordinates, and he's off with a growl of afterburners.

[Tac1] "Jailhouse" Micah says, "Cornbread, Jailhouse. Ah'm good to go, let's get back in there."

[Tac1] "Cornbread" Sloane says, "Jailhouse, Cornbread. Back in position."

[VIPER_1137: Tychon] Archer and Thumper, missing their fallen 3rd, now form a more usual wing-pair. They fly lower to the ground, and eventually swing by Wildcat's wreckage - although the visit is surely more sentimental than it is functional, the missile hit left little chance of survival. They mimic their earlier flight path, using the smoking DRADIS installation as a checkpoint, circling around the now miles-high plume of thick black smoke. On the way back, they skim past the now inactive SAM installation, and Archer veers over nearer the command building.

[Cornbread_1623: Sloane] When Micah bursts out of the launch tube, Cornbread turns his viper using the nose-thrusters and boosts back into position, flying at hard burn with Micah back towards the defensive position.

40 MINUTES LATER

[Flask_210: Orion] Orion stays firm on Hound's wing, keeping an eye on the skies, an eye on the ground and an eye (?) on his controls. He's just a rookie: He only has three eyes.

[Tempo_1741: Dynames] Tempo is maintaining her 80k patrol elevation, holding to Novella's five o'clock with an eye on DRADIS, and the other on the world around. She's humming a tune to herself, soft enough that the mic isn't picking it up, to settle her nerves.

[NewDawn_1744: Novella] High above in the clouds, Novella continues her circling. Not even visible from teh ground at this altitude, the sky is a deep violet and stars can be visible, contrasting beautifully with the sunny surface. Eyes keep her scan up, but why can't one admire, right?

[Cornbread_1623: Sloane]
Sloane, flying covering winman position with Jailhouse, is keeping one eye on his DRADIS and the other on Micah's formation. He's being very by-the-books.

[Charon_840: Warwick] Still keeping his attention on what's happening, or rather hopefully not happening, outside his Viper, Hound looks around rather carefully. Glancing over once in a while to check that Orion's where he's supposed to be.

[VIPER_992: Micah] Micah maintains a defensive patrol position just ahead and to the left of Sloane, afterburners bleeding a slow trail in his wake as he keeps his eyes on the sky.

[Fender_211: Addie] 211 takes a wide perimeter, keeping an eye on all of the pilots, with one eye on the ground. She continues to fly without a wing, monitoring the other pilots and their collective six.

[Tac1] "Fender" Addie says, "Stay frosty. Hug your wing, and monitor your fuel. You run out here, all the SAR in the fleet wont save you from a crater. Nice shooting all."

[VIPER_1137: Tychon] Archer and Thumper have continued their patrol route pretty much unbroken, flying lower, maintaining visuals on the various structures, from the smoking DRADIS installation, his own proud handiwork, to the various still-intact structures, particularly once the Raptors land and the colonial forces engage on the ground.

[NewDawn_1744: Novella] FAAAAR below, one of the Vipers is conducting a low-altitude CAP. It skirts the ground near one thousand feet, keeping a close eye on the airfield. Its then that the Viper suddenly rolls hard to port, yawing hard in the same direction. A black belch of smoke kicks out of the engines, the blue of the Tylium burn quickly glowing into an orange/red mixture with the black smoke.

[Tac1] The stricken Viper's pilot suddenly calls out. "Bird strike!! Port and ventral engines out!! Losing power!

[Wrongway_101: Rue] A blip on the DRADIS appeared between the last wave of enemy combatants and now, coming from the direction of Genesis. Near enough now, it resolves into a Colonial signal. Another Viper. From the text on the side, Wrongway. Doing the wrong thing, yet again, probably. The ship approaches at a cruising speed. No afterburners.

[Tac1] "Wrongway" Rue says, "Wrongway joining the party."

[NewDawn_1744: Novella] The stricken Viper struggles for altitude, trying futiley to climb away. Its pilot firewalls the throttle as he banks away from the airfield, but that was the fatal mistake. Just as the last engine's burner glows it brightest blue, the entire rear of the aircraft explodes while fan blades rip through the engines and skin of the aircraft. Raw Tylium dumps into the air behind the jetwash producing a magnificent trail of smoke and red flame.

[Tac1] There's a loud bang over the radio when the engines explode. "No control! Engine fire!! Request SAR!! I'm punching out!!" Then static as the mic is disconnected.

[Cornbread_1623: Sloane] "Frak…" Sloane curses off of the tactical channel. Watching Micah's lead, he spins over to try to get a look, but then quickly rights himself. He's not getting out of position unless ordered to.

[NewDawn_1744: Novella] The canpoy's explosive bolts fire and the the plexiglass rolls high into the air behind the Viper. Within a third of a second, there's a flicker of light as the pilot's seat rockets him up the rails and into the air above him. The chair separates and falls away as his chute opens. The Viper itself rolls hard to starboard as the stick is jarred during the ejection. It begins a death roll over to the side and explodes less than one hundred feet fro mthe surface, coating the ground i nflaming wreckage.

[Tac1] Kalypso says, "This is Wide Load, still waiting on the ground troops here to finish loading up. Not sure what we can do from here."

[Charon_840: Warwick] Seeing that Viper go down in a piece of firework, Hound grimaces a bit, "Frak and more frak…" he mutters, making sure he didn't transmit that to the channel.

[VIPER_992: Micah] Maintaining patrol formation a few lengths ahead of and to Sloane's left, Micah twists his head about to peer down at the stricken viper. And watches in helpless silence as it explodes with a -bang- and forces its pilot to take a nylon letdown. It's the raptors' job to get in for a SAR, and his job to keep watch on DRADIS, stick hand at the ready. Keep it cool, keep it cool.

[Tac1] "Wrongway" Rue says, "Genesis Actual, Wrongway. Requesting a SAR at the following coordinates: <insert coordinates here>."

[Flask_210: Orion] Orion keeps on Hound's wing, both eyes fixed to his DRADIS at this point.

[NewDawn_1744: Novella] Novella's Viper rolls a touch to the side so she can have a peer down. The finger of black smoke is barely visible from this height.

[Tac1] "Archer" Tychon says, "Lead, Archer. Me and Thumper are low, and I'm still carrying some heavy ordinance. Permission to take a look to see where the hostile fire is coming from."

[Tac1] "Wrongway" Rue says, "Archer, have a look. And if you can, get some exact coordinates for a SAR to pick up our stray man."

[Tempo_1741: Dynames] Dyna's fighter rolls a smidge to the side, but at their altitude, it's barely a dark wisp in the air. She murmurs a soft prayer to the Lords, then levels out.

[Tac1] "Archer" Tychon says, "Roger that. Thumper, stay close and watch for hostiles."

[NewDawn_1744: Novella] The pilot hits the ground and he rolls away, gathering his chute quickly. Well-trained. Those down close may be able to see him reach for his sidearm and radio.

[Tac1] "CIC-TAC" Drusus says, "Wrongway, Genesis, scrambling SAR now. Kalypso, take SAR."

[Tac1] Downed Pilot says, "Lead, I'm down safe. Looking for cover. Let me know when I should be looking for a ride!"

[Tac1] "Wrongway" Rue says, "Genesis CIC just scrambled one. Hang tight."

[VIPER_1137: Tychon] A few seconds later, Archer's Viper's engines brighten and it picks up speed. A fast-moving target is at least a -little- less likely to get blown out of the sky. They start toward the rough coordinates, weaving side to side with a bit of a rocking motion.

[Cornbread_1623: Sloane] Cornbread continues on Micah's wing, maintaining a vigilance on his Dradis and looking for visual contacts. Flying the pattern that his wingman is, he chews at his lip and frowns, listening to the tactical frequencies.

[Wrongway_101: Rue] Once into the atmo, Viper 101 settles into a smooth cruising pattern, helping to guard the 'high road'.

[Tac1] "Archer" Tychon says, "Looks clear."

[Tac1] "Wide Load" Kalypso says, "CIC, Wide Load. Relayed to those on the ground and am on my way for SAR."

[Tac1] "CIC-TAC" Drusus says, "Copy that, Wide Load."

[RAPTOR_214: Kalypso] From the roof of the base hospital, Raptor 214 takes off and makes its way out to help a pilot in need. Hopefully the Marines can hold off the cylons long enough for her to get back.

[Tac1] "Archer" Tychon says, "Wide Load, this is Archer. We'll hold near the downed pilot and keep you company."

[Tac1] Downed Pilot says, "SAR, I'm down on the ground. I can see you. I'm shooting a flare at my position now." And he does. A small red burning ball of magnesium arcs high into the air.

[NewDawn_1744: Novella] Novella's Viper suddenly rolls hard to starboard and dives in towards the ground, hoping the Dyna is keeping up. Her burners glow bright blue while the altitude unwinds at an incredible pace.

[Tac1] "Cav" Novella says, "Lead, Cav! Gaggle of bandits!! Low on the horizon, approaching from the South!! I'd estimate around a dozen of them! They're headed right for the airfield!"

[Tac1] "Wrongway" Rue says, "When it rains it pours. Pilots, form up and engage."

[Tempo_1741: Dynames] Tempo's bellies over and tries to stick her nose in the dirt as Cav goes on the dive. Her throttle is kicked to pursuit speed and she glances at her weapons stores as she acknowledges.

[VIPER_992: Micah] Talk about manhandling the stick. Micah wheels his bird over in a hard barrel roll to starboard when Rue gives the order to engage, punching the thrusters as he streaks off after Cav. Sloane better be quick on his mark, if he's going to stay on his lead.

[Tac1] "Jailhouse" Micah says, "Copy, Lead. Weapons hot and goin' in."

[Tac1] "Wide Load" Kalypso says, "Copy that Archer. I see your marker, ground. Coming in now with the cavalry."

[Tac1] "Tempo" Dynames says, "Tempo, aye. Cav, I'm on your seven, weapons hot!"

[Tac1] "Cav" Novella says, "Copy, Lead! Cav's in hot! Master Arm off!"

[Charon_840: Warwick] Hound drops his Viper in that direction, moving as fast as he can now. Heading in the direction of those enemies.

[Cornbread_1623: Sloane] Not missing a beat, Cornbread rolls into line behind Micah and veers off again to take a distanced five-o-clock on his tail. In the clean up position, defending his wingman, he thrusters forward as well in anticipation of the move. Hunting time resumes.

[Tac1] "Hound" Warwick says, "Copy. Heading down there now. Hang on, Flask. Time to do some work again."

[NewDawn_1744: Novella] The Raiders slowly climb up in altitude as it becomes apparent they've been spotted. They slowly slice off into groups and target their prey.

[Flask_210: Orion] Here we go again. Orion pushes the his stick forward, pushing enough negative Gs to make his world start to turn a little red. He zips in behind Hound, off formation, but not enough to be a problem.

[Tac1] "Flask" Orion says, "Got your back, Hound!"

[Tac1] "Wrongway" Rue says, "All weapons free. Plow the road!"

[Tac1] "Archer" Tychon says, "Thumper, you're with me. Wide Load, get it in gear, we've got company. Making missiles safe and spinning up the guns."

[RAPTOR_214: Kalypso] Kalypso's Raptor adjusts its course, weaving through the Vipers on its way to the downed pilot. "Just keep it steady, Leto," she murmurs to herself. The heat of combat is definitely being felt by her. This is more serious than mini asteroids. The sighting of the raiders has tension sinking into her shoulders. "The other flyboys have your back." Yes, little internal pep-talk here.

[VIPER_1137: Tychon] Archer is in the midst of one of his lazy circles around the crash sight when the bogies are picked up. Quickly, he cuts the circle short and moves to intercept, speeding directly into the space between the site and the incoming bandits.

[Fender_211: Addie] 211 pulls a sharp maneuver to burn after the rest of the Wing, throttle down. Fender's got enough experience in atmo to be dangerous. Gotta love high speed dogfighting with a hard deck. Welcome to pain, raiders.

[Wrongway_101: Rue] Taking a descending course towards the incoming Raiders, Viper 101 is aiming to spring a little surprise on them. From above. Possibly death?

[Tac1] "Flask" Orion says, "Hound, Flask. You wanna take this high and low?"

[Tac1] "Jailhouse" Micah says, "Cornbread, we're on babysittin' duty. Let's keep the bogeys off our friends in the trundlebug, aye?"

[Tac1] "Hound" Warwick says, "Flask, Hound. Sounds good."

[NewDawn_1744: Novella] Novella's Viper blasts through the Mach as she levels out over the terrain, rapidly catching up with the rest of the squadron. She fingers the trigger and carefully lines up the target even as the Raiders begin to lay down fire against the incoming Vipers.

[Cornbread_1623: Sloane] Diving into the fray, Cornbread changes his posture from defending Jailhouse to protecting the Raptor. Lining up a shot at one of the incoming Raiders, he opens fire.

[Tac1] Zaharis says, "Genesis Actual, Medical away. Zaharis. We are at the hospital, reporting two dozen centurions on their way to our position. Our Raptor's taken the frak off and we need an extraction."

[Tempo_1741: Dynames] The Viper at Dyna's control slides a little further to Novella's seven o'clock and lowers a bit. She eyeballs on what seems to be Cav's most likely target and decides to help her plant it with a gentle spritzing of 'get-the-frak-off-my-planet!'. She perforates it's fuselage bad enough that the entire wing starts to wag like a crippled bird's before sheering off completely.

[Tac1] "Jailhouse" Micah says, "Wide Load, Jailhouse, your tail's clear for now. Good job, Cornbread. On me, let's show these frakkers a good time."

[Tac1] "Cornbread" Sloane says, "Cornbread, Splash one"

[Tac1] "Wide Load" Kalypso says, "Medical away, this is Wide Load. Was tapped for an emergency extraction of downed pilot. Operation underway. What's your ETA on those Centurions?"

[Tac1] "Tempo" Dynames says, "Tempo, splash one! Still got a friend, Cav, but I'm about to sort'm out."

[Tac1] "Wrongway" Rue says, "Medical away, are you in a position where we can give air support?"

[Tac1] Zaharis says, "Wide Load, Medical away. ETA is right the frak now, we are taking fire."

[Charon_840: Warwick] Moving into position to send a shot off for the Raider, Hound fires off his shots, then rolls away to narrowly avoid the incoming fire. Turning his Viper, he heads for the Raptor that shot at him.

[Flask_210: Orion] True to the plan, Flask goes high while his wingmate goes low. Flask works with his wingmate, trapping the raider and pulping it when Hound does. He banks hard, lights the burners, and avoids intereference from either of his two shadows.

[Tac1] "Hound" Warwick says, "Flask, Hound. Good work there. I'm going to remove this clown that's tailing me."

[RAPTOR_214: Kalypso] Kalypso lowers to the ground after avoiding getting shot by a raider. The hatch is opened up and the downed pilot is waved in and just as quickly, the Raptor's hatch is closing back up. Up, up and away! Time to make room for the Marines and the rest of their loot.

[Tac1] Zaharis says, "Wrongway, medical. Team is headed towards the roof. Centurion breach on the upper level, more headed up the stairs."

[NewDawn_1744: Novella] Novella once again fails to kill a Raider on the first pass. Not the same as in the sims. She blows through the pack and rolls back hard, chopping her throttles to bleed some energy.

[Tac1] "Flask" Orion says, "Hound, copy that. Loose Deuce it?"

[Tac1] "CIC-TAC" Drusus says, "Wide Load, Genesis. Report progress on SAR? Scramble Medical away extraction, ASAP."

[Cornbread_1623: Sloane] Falling back to protect Micah, Cornbread spies a Raider moving into position. He adjusts his direction to an intercept from the Raider's Ten, opening fire in hopes that he can pull this one off before it gets shots off on his wingman this time.

[Tac1] "Fender" Addie says, "Nice guns."

[Fender_211: Addie] 211 zeroes in on a raider and pulls hot pursuit, blowing a furrow in its body large enough that it probably causes some troubles for the evil machine. She stays on hot pursuit, intent on feeding the cylon raider to its fiery doom.

[VIPER_992: Micah] It's a one-two— make that three punch from the vipers that blows Kalypso's bogey to bits. Not even bothering to veer around the debris field, Micah strafes right through it, afterburners hot as he wheels about, and comes to bear upon his wingman's bandit.

[Tac1] "Cornbread" Sloane says, "Jailhouse, Cornbread. You've got a tail."

[Tac1] "Wide Load" Kalypso says, "Thanks for the cover boys, Wide Load, away. Medical, I'll be there shortly."

[Wrongway_101: Rue] The strategy works. Wrongway's viper blows a Raider into it's component pieces in a violent burst of gunfire, then slips right through the enemy line and heads down further into the atmo, incidentally headed after Wideload's Raptor.

[Tac1] "Jailhouse" Micah says, "Then consider it your gods-given duty to show 'im a good time, Cornbread. You know the drill."

[VIPER_1137: Tychon] That Raider on the Raptor really gets ventilated. There can't be much left of it even -before- its fuel supplies blow, let alone after. Continuing at high speed, Archer's viper goes through the flaming cloud and hooks sharply around. He picks up Rue's tail and gives pursuit.

[Tac1] "Wrongway" Rue says, "Wide Load, I'm coming with. Fender, you have the lead. Medical Away, we are on our way. Keep your heads down. I may have to get creative."

[Tac1] "Archer" Tychon says, "Wrongway you have a friend. Hold -reeeeeeal- still."

[Tac1] "Hound" Warwick says, "Let's just get rid of the things, Flask. No matter what way."

[Tac1] Zaharis says, "Copy that, Wrongway."

[Tac1] "Jailhouse" Micah says, "Cornbread, time to jink your arse off. Ah'm on your six still."

[Tac1] "Wide Load" Kalypso says, "Medical, Wide Load. Waiting for you at the extraction point."

[Tac1] "Cav" Novella says, "Splash one off your tail, Flask!"

[Tac1] "Wrongway" Rue says, "Thanks for wiping off that dribble, Archer."

[Tac1] "Cornbread" Sloane says, "Cornbread, Splash two. Going Evasive!"

[Tac1] "Archer" Tychon says, "My pleasure, sir."

[Tac1] "Fender" Addie says, "Splash one."

[Fender_211: Addie] 211 blows through the remains of her exploded target, bits falling to the planet's surface, avoiding any return fire with flying one might call a little crazy. But not out loud. Never out loud. Neeeext?

[Tac1] "Fender" Addie says, "Wrongway, Fender. Good hunting, copy."

[Cornbread_1623: Sloane] With his wingman's suggestion as they're in the furball, Sloane grins as he records his kill. That one didn't get Micah that time. The gunfire past his cockpit doesn't go unnoticed. He waggles his right, then left, then rolls up and to the left again, attempting a juke.

[NewDawn_1744: Novella] The shots from Dynames don't arrive in time and the Raider scores hits across her tail. She curses in her cockpit, jinking madly. Once dispatched, she rolls hard into a Raider that's got it in for the Nugget. She wastes no time to a Lead Pursuit angle and mashes her trigger, exploding the offending toaster.

[Charon_840: Warwick] Getting some grazing bullets to his tail, Hound's fire barely misses his target, and he keeps at it for the moment, frowning a little bit.

[VIPER_992: Micah] Gun cannons blazing, Micah swings in a little too shallow on the turn and doesn't quite manage to pick off his target on the first go-round. Punching the thrusters, he goes in for a more aggressive strategy against the bandit.

[Flask_210: Orion] Peeling off from his wingmate, Flask rocks wildly to one side, pulling a split s which he comes out of just a few feet below the hard deck. He hits the burners for extra speed, spots one of his hunters turning left, and he rolls right to meet him just as weapons fire from Novella pulps the other Raider on him. His shots miss, the othe raider jinking wildly and managing to get several shots on his hull.

[Tac1] "Tempo" Dynames says, "Tempo, splash one! Looks like Flask and War could use some cover!"

[Tac1] "Flask" Orion says, "Cav, Flask. I owe you a drink."

[Tac1] "Cav" Novella says, "Tempo, hug me, we're on Hound's bandit!"

[VIPER_1137: Tychon] Archer seems like he's playing defense - if defense equals blowing every raider tailing one of his squadmates into little itty-bitty pieces. Orion seems to be somewhat in trouble, and so he adjusts again and goes peeling off join the little scrape.

[Tempo_1741: Dynames] Throttling back to reduce her airspeed just a bit, Dyna settles in and begins to climb anew, her guns speaking the language of loathe to the enemy crafted, and reducing it's right wing to a bare framework… or testament to modern art, if you prefer. Nodding for her own benefit at her wingman's words, then follows her into a new attack vector. she trusts her wingmates, they'll get Orion home.

[VIPER_992: Micah] Looks like the second time's the charm. Micah's gunfire rips through the bandit, lighting it up like fireworks in july. The thing doesn't stand a chance at getting off a return shot at his wingman, and comes apart violently at the seams as Jailhouse swerves around the detritus.

[NewDawn_1744: Novella] Novella's guns bark once more, trailing hits across the Raider's aft section. Sparks fly as it banks away. She turns after it but is too fast and overshoots. Her Viper pours on the power and streaks vertical to come back over the top. But seeing as their enemies have all bit the dust, she throttles back.

[Tac1] "Jailhouse" Micah says, "Bandit's bought the farm, Cornbread, you're in the clear."

[Charon_840: Warwick] Firing off a shot, before he rolls to the side to avoid any further incoming enemies, Hound starts looking around for another target, pausing a bit as he doesn't see any.

[Flask_210: Orion] Smoke streaming from Flask's viper, the rookie pilot looks around the cockpit, then puts all that airspeed to good use: He goes up. Way up. It's enough for anyone who's got his back… and Archer most certainly does have his back, to have a much easier shot at the cylon who foolishly chases him. Flask aborts the climb, spirals down, and blows the raider's right wing off, shots connecting right when and where Archer's does.

[Tac1] Pandora Actual comes across the tac now. "Trucks are loading up. We're out of here in ten."

[Cornbread_1623: Sloane]
The sky is a cloud of smoke and raining debris as Cornbread wonders for a nanosecond how he avoided getting hit that time. It's the good wingman. Slowing his airspeed, he responds over the tactical and falls back into position quickly and ready.

[Tempo_1741: Dynames] Coming in behind Novella, Dyna cuts hard and stomps a pedal to bring the ship around, albeit more sluggishly than in the black, she lines up on the target and as she wings-over in anticipation of it's pursuit turn, she opens up and rips the damaged Raider apart. her head practicly spins on her shoulders as she looks for new hostiles, and, seeing none, she forms up on Cav.

[Tac1] "Flask" Orion says, "Archer, nice shootin' for a vet. *light chuckle*"

[Tac1] "Jailhouse" Micah says, "Nice flyin', Cornbread. Wrongway, Jailhouse, you need any assistance down there?"

[Tac1] "Tempo" Dynames says, "Tempo splash one, I read zero bandits! Confirm, over?"

[VIPER_1137: Tychon] There -really- must not be much left of that wing! Archer lays some -heavy- fire into it, and combined with Flask's, the thing just comes off - or perhaps simply evaporates. Either way, the Raider doesn't fly well with just one of those left, and goes spiraling, wildly into a lethal crash below. The two Vipers criss-cross, and Archer pulls his around to get a look at the fight, making sure no one else needs a hand.

[Tac1] "Jailhouse" Micah says, "Copy, Tempo, just the clouds up 'ere."

[Tac1] "Fender" Addie says, "Nice flying, great shooting. Let's pull back and cover our marines for extraction. Keep the enemy off their six, mow through any resistance we encounter before they make it off the planet. Let's take it out of atmo people, and keep the field clear."

[Tac1] "Cav" Novella says, "Copy, Fender. Tempo, stay on me on the way up."

[Tac1] "Wide Load" Kalypso says, "Genesis Actual, Wide Load. Extraction of medical complete, mission accomplished. Making our way home."

[NewDawn_1744: Novella] Novella's Viper yanks back and rockets up at near vertical, the flames growing in intensity. The altimeter winds up.. 60k.. 65k.. 70k..

[Tac1] "Tempo" Dynames says, "Tempo, aye! I'm on your five, baby, lead us to the roof."

[Cornbread_1623: Sloane] Back in position, Sloane continues to cover Micah's back. He's a very dutiful wingman in this sense. One eye on his DRADIS and the other on following the flight path of Micah, he waits.

[Tac1] "CIC-TAC" Drusus says, "Copy that, Wide Load."

[Tac1] "Jailhouse" Micah says, "Copy, Fender. Let's move out, Cornbread."

[Charon_840: Warwick] Being in position with the others, Hound seems to be ready to move out, looking around a bit thoughtfully once in a while.

[Tac1] "Cornbread" Sloane says, "On your five and loose, Jailhouse."

[Tempo_1741: Dynames] Dyna's Viper comes up hard as her wing lead goes for the ceiling and she opens the throttle to make escape velocity, one eye on DRADIS, another making time on the world between glances at her heat guage.

[Flask_210: Orion] Flask, streaking a thin trail of smoke, grease, and gods-know-what behind him, ignites its burners and trails upwards to meet up with Hound, though the craft isn't quite as fluid as it was before getting shot.

[VIPER_992: Micah] Nose up, Micah swings his bird to starboard and peels away with a roar of 'burners after the Lead viper.

[VIPER_1137: Tychon] Once that wide survey is complete, Archer rejoins with the rest, climbing. The pilot doesn't push the engines, however, and lags just a bit, waiting for the trailing Raptor, before forming up off to one of its wings.

[Tac1] "Archer" Tychon says, "Wide Load, Archer, hope you don't mind a bit of company."

[Tac1] "Flask" Orion says, "Hound, it's Flask. I'm on your five, hurting a bit. No idea what's hit yet, but burners are a little off. Request you keep an eye."

[Tac1] "Wrongway" Rue says, "She's got some, Archer. But I'm sure she wouldn't mind a few more."

[Tac1] "Hound" Warwick says, "I'll keep a look, Flask."

[Tac1] "Wide Load" Kalypso says, "Don't mind more company."

[Tac1] "Fender" Addie says, "Visual confirmation on a Basestar hiding around the way, looks like 8 raiders inbound to engage."

[Tac1] "Fender" Addie says, "Line them up and put them down."

[Tac1] "Hound" Warwick says, "Don't these guys know when to quit?"

[Tac1] "Wrongway" Rue says, "They're machines. They'll never quit."

[NewDawn_1744: Novella] Novella's head spins in the cockpit and she yanks her Viper into a hard bank as they break atmo. She brings her guns around on the approaching Raiders and flicks her Master Arm once more.

[Fender_211: Addie] Zooooom. Fender breaks out of atmo a little off from the rest of the wing, takes a wide arc to get a look at the field, relays over comms, then puts the throttle down again.

[Tac1] "Fender" Addie says, "They just need a friendly reminder, Hound."

[Cornbread_1623: Sloane]
Sloane continues behind Jailhouse and falls a little lower, providing an underside defense. That slow peaceful breath comes again to clear his head before the fighting starts. He hangs onto the moment, and then sharpens his eyes.

[VIPER_992: Micah] Fuel shortage? What fuel shortage? Micah's burning tyllium through the nose as he streaks in to engage. Nothing like a bit of speed for an adrenaline junkie. His viper's swathed in a haze of thinning cloud cover as he breaks atmo.

[RAPTOR_214: Kalypso] Raptor 214 rises from the roof of he planet and is making its get away with its precious cargo. Medical supplies… oh, yeah, and those Marine-types that wanted to be picked up. One cranky el-tee Raptor pilot in the front, a cheerful ECO, and a no-longer marooned Viper Jock. It's a full bird.

[Tempo_1741: Dynames] On word that there's a basestar and inbound Raiders about to play speedbump for their evac, Dyna wheels her Viper around with her wingman. She glances back at the rest of the Vipers, seeing some trails behind some of them, then she scowls darkly and switches her weapons back to live, then she puts the hammer down.

[Tac1] "Hound" Warwick says, "Flask, Hound. Up for another round at those troublemakers?"

[Tac1] "Archer" Tychon says, "Wide Load, Archer, you're clear of bogies, book it. I'm breaking to engage."

[Tac1] "Tempo" Dynames says, "Fender, Tempo, aye! *under her breath, though not quite enough* Here's what we think of solicitors, you motherless frakkin' scrap…!"

[VIPER_992: Micah] Micah's only got eyes for his wingman at the moment. Well, and the DRADIS. When he spots a bogey coming in hot on Sloane, he strafes in to chase.

[Charon_840: Warwick] Glancing around as he hears those instructions, Hound looks for those Raiders. He then starts moving towards them like the others.

[Tac1] "Flask" Orion says, "Hound, Flask. You good? Fender, you need a hand?"

[Cornbread_1623: Sloane]
It's now started again. Angling his Viper to protect Micah, he sees that one's coming on his tail and Micah is wheeling around in the same manner. Time to open the loop. Narrowing his eyes, he tries to get a bead and opens fire.

[VIPER_1137: Tychon] Archer breaks off of the Raptor and punches up the thrusters, savoring the greater speed and maneuverability of open space. Immediately, he's painted by hostile DRADIS. He goes right ahead and paints it back, ready to run the raider down in a good old fashioned showdown.

[RAPTOR_214: Kalypso] Given the word that her tail is clear, Kalypso fires things up and with her escourt, she's gone. Just click your heels three times and say 'there's no place like home'… There's some bouncing and jostling as Kalypso maneuvers the bird with what could be called 'less than smooth' flight technique through the dogfight. There's doging, there's twisting, and the passengers are given a good ride through the fight on their way out.

[Tac1] "Hound" Warwick says, "I'm *always* good, Flask. Always."

[Tac1] "Wrongway" Rue says, "Stars are starting to come out. Stay on target, Wide Load."

[Tac1] "Fender" Addie says, "I seem to have a tail, Flask. Feel free to engage at your convenience. No pressure."

[Cornbread_1623: Sloane] Missing his shots, Cornbread hisses as the main fuselage of his Viper is struck. A few yellow lights pop up on his console and he sounds off over the tactical, making the report. There is an explosion on his tail as the Raider that was chasing him winks out of existence, and he keeps his focus on defending Jailhouse. It's worked so far…

[VIPER_1137: Tychon] The game of chicken yields a draw result - both Archer and raider streak toward each other while rolling to avoid fire, and break off to pass one another. The raider is not as lucky, however, as Wrongway picks it up once it maneuvers away from Archer. With a crackled thanks over com, the Viper whips around and rejoins the fray, opportunistically seeking its prey from among the emerging dogfight.

[NewDawn_1744: Novella] Novella burns through the gaggle of bandits, guns blazing. Her tracers find the Raider while she dodges through the angry swarm of Raiders. She's keeping a close eye on that Basestar, though!

[Tac1] "Archer" Tychon says, "Guess that makes us even, Major."

[Flask_210: Orion] Peeling off from Hound, Flask struggles against one of Fender's two 'real big fans'. He delivers a nice, solid hit to one of them, blasting apart one of the cylon's cannons, but at terrible expense. A stream of shots pour into his craft, tearing armor plates and sensitive electronics apart. There's a subtle blast of air and gas, followed by an unsubtle one. Flask is smoking, and smoking bad.

[Tempo_1741: Dynames] Dyna's initial run is largely a joust, nose to nose on approach though either accounting for turbulant drift where there isn't anymore, her guns speaks over the Raider's proverbial ear as it's warms her belly, and she swears before peeling off to get an angle on the bandit that started chasing Novella.

[VIPER_992: Micah] Leading perfectly into the turn, Micah pours two thirty gauge cannons' worth of aggression into Sloane's bandit. It goes up in shrapnel and flames, but somehow manages to pop off a few rounds into St. Germain's wingman.

[Tac1] "Flask" Orion says, "Aah… Flask, I…am I dropping? Am I down?"

[Tac1] "Jailhouse" Micah says, "Cornbread, your bandit's history but it looks like 'e took a piece of you with 'im. How're you doin' there?"

[Charon_840: Warwick] Going head to head against Raiders. Always fun. And so Hound goes straight for the face of the enemy, firing off his shots before he rolls to the side to try avoiding the incoming. Which isn't more than a scratch. He then heads for the one that dared firing at his wingman.

[Tac1] "Archer" Tychon says, "Flask I'm on your bandit's tail."

[Tac1] "Wrongway" Rue says, "Just doing my job, Archer. Watching all your backs."

[Tac1] "Cornbread" Sloane says, "Jailhouse. I'm hit, yellow on nose thruster feed, but other than that I'm fine."

[Tac1] "Hound" Warwick says, "Flask, Hound. You stay flying, you hear me? We'll clear out that bandit. Get out!"

[Tac1] "Flask" Orion says, "C.Copy. Am I bad?"

[Tac1] Pandora Actual, "This ship is off this rock."

[Tac1] "Flask" Orion says, "Lead, Flask. Permission to RTB."

[Tac1] "Tempo" Dynames says, "Frak! Cav, I've got one on my six. I'll angle on yours. Break hard right and I'll nail'm!"

[Tac1] "Fender" Addie says, "RTB, Flask. Warm up the coffee for us, hear? Good flying."

[Tac1] "Cav" Novella says, "Copy, Tempo! I'm crawling all over yours!"

[Tac1] "Fender" Addie says, "Splash 2."

[Tac1] "Cornbread" Sloane says, "Cornbread, Splash 3."

[Tac1] "Fender" Addie says, "Pandora Actual, Fender. We've got a Basestar on DRADIS, estimate 5 minutes until weapons range and serious enemy reinforcements are in play. Suggest pedal to the metal."

[Tac1] "Cav" Novella says, "Tempo, splash your trailer!"

[Tac1] "Tempo" Dynames says, "Cav, splash your tail!"

[Tac1] "Hound" Warwick says, "I think that was splash number three for me? Either that or two."

[Tac1] "Jailhouse" Micah says, "Splash four, you're in the clear Cornbread. Nice work on that bandit."

[NewDawn_1744: Novella] Novella whips the Viper through a high-G flip and pops off a snapshot at Dynames' trailing Raider. Mashing the trigger, her cannons fire to empty just as the Raider explodes! Just in time!

[Tac1] "Cav" Novella says, "Lead, Cav. I'm Winchester at this time."

[Tempo_1741: Dynames] Anticipating Cav's move as directed, Tempo slips into the inside track of the raider's possible pursuit and pells away as she leans on the trigger, practily sawing the thrusters from the Raider before it explodes.

[Tac1] "Flask" Orion says, "Genesis, Flask. I am RTB on a busted bird."

[Tac1] "Fender" Addie says, "Cav, Fender. RTB and sound off any new DRADIS you catch on the way."

[Tac1] "Wrongway" Rue says, "Splash 3. It's raining toasters."

[Cornbread_1623: Sloane] Keeping on his path, dogging the Raider's tail as it tries to get to his wingman, Cornbread opens fire. A series of traced white-hot rounds trail behind the raider until connecting with the left wing. Igniting the fuel inside of the enemy, the Raider starts to list and spin out of control before imploding due to internal fires.

[Tac1] "Genesis Actual" Regas says, "All birds return to the Genesis, combat landings. We're jumping out of here before that Basestar wants some slap and tickle."

[Tac1] "Hound" Warwick says, "Nice piece of rain, that one, isn't it? Returning to base as instructed."

[NewDawn_1744: Novella] Novella turns her Viper hard towards the Genesis. Throttles to the firewall, she's defenseless at this point. Going 'dirty' on approach, she comes in a bit hot but touches down safely.

[Tac1] "Archer" Tychon says, "Roger, returning to base."

[Tac1] "Jailhouse" Micah says, "Copy, CIC. I am RTB. Beautiful flyin' out there, Cornbread."

[VIPER_1137: Tychon] Archer comes around after his last volley of fire and makes for the Genesis. No speed is wasted - the fuel ratio is better in space, at least.

[VIPER_992: Micah] Weaving his way through the debris field, Micah finally throttles back a little on those abused thrusters, and brings his bird around to head for home.

[Flask_210: Orion] Flask's ride, all busted up and nowhere to go but home, swings in towards the hangar, gear down and, at least during the outset, ahead of the other vipers. Leaving the atmosphere is the best thing the craft could do… at at least puts an end fo most of the burning. If anyone could see the pilot, they'd see wide eyes and dialated pupils, that's for sure. He comes in a little too low… then a little too high… and manages a respectable, if unspectacular combat landing, sparks and all.

[Cornbread_1623: Sloane]
Smiling at the order, Sloane looks to Virgon one last time before turning towards the Genesis. Pressing a hand to the glass to say goodbye to the pilots left behind, he comes in for a soft, well practiced landing.

[Tac1] "Cornbread" Sloane says, "CIC, Cornbread, RTB and Landing."

-=============================================================================-
Hangar Bay B Genesis - Deck 7
66 ACH 23817 Souls


The hangar deck is where the Genesis' Viper squadron, and its Raptor detachment are stored, repaired and maintained between missions. Ships land on the flight deck, one level above, and are brought down via massive elevators. Tow vehicles move the ships around the deck, their shrill alert beeps causing an almost constant cacophony of noise. The floor itself is a light gray in color, but wear and tear has left marks and scratches everywhere. Numbered sections are marked off with paint to house the various spacecraft.
The place is surprisingly tidy, with tool chests, machine parts, diagnostic equipment, and even the occasional spare engine or chassis scattered all in their appropriate place. Stairs lead up to other parts of the ship. The fourth side has a large sliding door leading to the flight deck elevators. On the port wall, Vipers are loaded into the launch tubes to be catapulted into space. Raptors take off from the flight deck.

-----< Condition One - Duty Area >----——

[Tac1] The Genesis is just a wink away from leaving Virgon airspace. First the Pandora jumps and as soon as the last bird is onboard, the Genesis winks out, leaving a rain of sudden missiles and nukes behind in their empty spot. Maybe next time, Basestar.

Orion crawls out of his busted ride with a little help from the deck crew. The cylons really tore into the body of his craft. The man himself looks.. he's a little shocked, but has likely learned his lesson from last time: If condition two was a bad time to get drunk, then condition one is proooobably not much better. He leans against his viper, pries off his helmet, and breathes nice and deep.

Warwick remains seated in his cockpit a little bit longer, looking around at the people outside. "Looks like we did it," he remarks, leaning back in the seat for a few moments, removing the helmet.

Exiting his Viper with a few holes in it not far from the cockpit, Sloane pulls his helmet off and lets it hang in his hand. Blinking heavily, he heads across the bay towards Micah, grinning like a madman at his wingman.

Rue is in her cockpit for a while as well, helmet removed and handed off, but ass firmly planted. Breathing deeply, she runs a hand through her damp hair and glances down the line of Vipers from her perch.

Novella's cockpit opens and her chief scrambles up the ladder to help her with the straps and safe her ejection seat. There's a few whispered words between the two and a shared hug before she does a quick post-flight checklist. The blonde slowly rises out of her chair and stands in the cockpit, looking down the line of returning pilots. A grin slowly creeps across her face.

Tempo's bird is brought in from the bay, a little chewed around the tail, but otherwise undamaged, though, awful light with all the operational loads expended. The pilot, herself remains still in the cockpit, arms folded and her head bowed.

Tychon emerges, one of the deck staff helping him with his flight helmet, before he climbs free and makes his way down the ladder. Once his boots hit the deck, he starts taking a tour of the ship - checking it for any damage, and nodding in a sort of self-satisfied way when he finds very little. The paint is scorched from flying through the huge explosion from his ground assault, but that's about the worst of it. That done, he walks away from the bird, undoing a couple of the clasps of his flight suit to get some air.

Micah tugs his helmet off and lifts his arms as a petty officer helps extricate him from his bird. Unlike a few of them, he isn't spending any more time sitting still than he strictly needs to. Down the ladder, he hops the last few rungs and rakes his fingers through sweaty hair. Well, that was a riot. Cornbread's immediately sought out and angled towards. A fist-bump and slap on the shoulder seems to be in order. "Frakking awesome work out there, Sloane." He beams a grin at the smaller pilot.

Sloane grins at Micah and slaps an arm on Micah's shoulder as well. "Hey we owe eachother what, three each? I'll buy." Sloane replies, grinning to his wingman and turning to the rest of the group. Pulling off his gloves and unzipping his flight suit, he watches the incoming pilots approach.

Addie get an assit from a deck tech as her viper is towed, helmet removed. She was last to clear the combat area, and she is a little slow clearing her viper, pausing to sit on the access ladder. "We lost Wildcat and Mermaid." Both NPCs. "Moment of silence, then bring on the frakkin' coffee. The drinking comes when we're off Condition One." Addie, gruff.

Warwick just got to his feet as those words comes from Addie and he stops, standing in the cockpit, keeping silent as he hears that. Expression a bit thoughtful again.

Novella's grin fades with Addie's words. She stares at the woman for a moment before looking around again, then back over her own Viper. Reality check. There's some nice holes in her tail and one gash along her wing. She sighs and climbs down from the ladder, unzipping her flight suit. The woman's long hair, done up in a bun, is completely matted to her skull. Tying off the arms of her suit around her waist, her undershirts are soaked with sweat. Hawt. She makes her way over towards Micah with a small smile. "Good shootin', Tiger. Glad to see you could handle a section on your own."

When Rue gets nudged the third time by her chief, she finally starts to push up out of her seat. Making her way carefully down the ladder, she reaches up and unzips her collar a little. She watches the other pilots, but remains at the side of her bird.

Sloane bows his head, having already said goodbye. At least they get to rest back home with the rest of the colonists. Sloane's immediate elation at still being alive fades, taking a long moment to mourn before looking up again.

Micah's grin falters a little when Fender gives her speech. No, his expression turns downright solemn. "No argument here, Corny," is murmured to Sloane. As others file off their birds, he offers a few congratulations around. Nothing as boisterous as was given his wingman, but the sentiment's the same. Novella gets a cuff of his hand across the back of her head, sibling-like. "You doubted me? Ah'm all grown up now," he teases.

The canopy opens at last, and Dyna, with some help from the ground crew, emerges from the fighter, climing down the ladder without a word. Her helmet turns toward Addie as she gives the butchers bill and a nod follows. She clasps her hands and bows her head, praying to the Lords for the fallen. Only when the moment is done, does the remove her helmet and rub at one of her eyes before she turns and relays the damage to the crew.

Orion doesn't react too much to Addie's words. Sure. He lowers his head in silence, but he wasn't saying anything to begin with. First combat, and it was a doozie. This'll take a while to work through his system. He scans the room, peering at the other pilots.

That reminder is entirely unneeded for Tychon, Wildcat's loss coming on his command, on their mission. He breathes a sigh, and just shakes his head, silent thereafter - not just for the moment, but afterward as well, not rushing to join in any kind of congratulatory ceremonies among the rest of the squad. He leans against the nose of his Viper, arms folded.

Trust Addie to bring the party down. The Captain tugs off her gloves and loosens her flight suit, tugging the zipper down a little. She stows the gloves in the habitual pocket. "You did good today." Despite two losses, the mission was accomplished. That said, she pulls her hair free of its sweaty tail, and goes over to grab a post flight checklist to fill it out.

"Uh huh. All growed up. I won't be happy until I think you can lead a squadron, Ensign Saint Germain." Novella smiles at the touch to her sweaty (ew!) hair. That's what he gets. She hooks an arm around his waist for a little sisterly hug before backing away and looking around. She's beat. Between the recon and the dogfights.. Addies words get a small, but proud, smile. "You too, Captain."

Oh great, it's touchy feely time and Micah's so not a touchy feely guy. But Novella gets away with almost anything, including hugs. He even leans into it slightly, mumbling, "One of these days. Turn around an' that'll be me." Flashing her a smile, he peels away then to finish post flight and cast a look toward his injured bird. Wince.

Warwick finally gets down from his Viper now, stepping onto the floor and looking around a bit carefully.

Fade…

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