“Ok, lets break. Ceiling of 25000, no lower than 4000, two shots or a missile lock and you’re out. Good?” Nighthawk decided it was time to get some real, if fun, work done. The team split off into their respective groups ready to have some real fun.

Plans were set in place, “Let’s take down the rookie first, I want him out of the way so we can concentrate on the other three.” Angel was the planner in the first team with G.D and Eagle prepared to let her lead. “Since Key’s making this huge fuss about how we have to ‘learn each other’s style’, I’ll pair off with Eagle and G.D can cover us. Next we go for Wildcat, then whoever comes after. Positions switch every takedown.” The team pulled 180°’s and headed towards where they assumed the other team would be.

“Tiger, since you’re the rookie, let’s give you a shot at planning. Lay it out.” Nighthawk tapped his comms button and scanned his radar for the other team.

“Ah, well, I kinda had a rough plan. Since we have four and they have three, they are going to have to have one person on cover not two. I think it’ll either be Eagle or G.D as Angel’s the leader there. She’ll always play, rarely sit back and let the boys run her plan. She normally partners with G.D so he’ll probably be cover for her and Eagle. I say Nighthawk and me go for Angel and Eagle. Free-fall and Wildcat, you go after Eagle. We won’t need cover so take it as it comes.” Tiger explained the plan he’d been formulating in his head since they got in the air.

“Alrightly then, move out!” Nighthawk had the final say as the team moved into positions.

“Bogey, west coming in fast, make that two.” Wildcat relayed the information to her buddy Free-fall. “Shall we head above them?”

“Yep, head above, they probably won’t be worried by us. They’re sitting low too; if we get high enough and sit together they won’t be able to see us on radar.”

The two planes quickly accelerated vertically upwards, headed up into the cloud layer and settling into a flying pattern with a low radar view.

The other two planes, consisting of the rookie and the team leader also saw the oncoming planes and prepared for a firefight.

“, tracers coming at you.” Angel yelled over the roar of tracer fire from Tiger and the insane beeping of Nighthawk trying to get a missile lock on her plane. “Move baby move,” She coaxed her plane into a vertical dive to try and rid herself of the incoming missile. She got free, turned her plane in a 180 and started wildly firing at Nighthawk. Tracers burning the air, Nighthawk ran. He came out of a cloudbank to discovered Tiger also on the run from a missile-locking, tracer firing Eagle.

“Fall back and recoup. Now, go. Get out of missile range.” He realized someone was going down from this one and decided it might as well be him. With the advantage of three on two, Nighthawk rationalized, since he would probably be able to take out one plane, Tiger and the others could take down G.D and Eagle. Angel would have to go down, since her and G.D were an incredible fighting duo and she was the planner of the team.

“Tiger go now. Catch up to Wildcat and Free-fall, that way I’ll keep these two busy till you can take down G.D.” Nighthawk squared off with Angel and Eagle.

“But that’s against regulations, we’re meant…” Tiger was reluctant to leave his partner.

“Do you want to win or not? Mach 1! Now!” Nighthawk was locked on Angel and had a missile ready to take her down.

Tiger turned tail and started to call over comms to Wildcat and Free-fall. “We have a problem with the plan. Nighthawk’s taking a fall so we can win. I’m coming in towards you guys now.” He switched back to Nighthawk’s line. “Good luck Nighthawk.”

“It’s never about luck, it’s about skills. And I got ‘em.” Nighthawk flipped away from incoming tracers from both other planes. He then accelerated upwards, away from the pair.

“Nighthawk, you can do this.” He spiraled downwards, hitting both planes with wild tracer fire, but not enough to take them down.

On the other side, G.Dragon was getting suspicious. He knew they’d be sending someone to take him out and they hadn’t arrived yet. His radar ‘binged’, he swore loudly in Russian and realized that they hadn’t arrived because they were doubling back behind him. He looked behind to realize it was Wildcat and Free-fall, the hell of the skies and the trickster. G.D accelerated to Mach 1 to outrun any missiles the pair had tried to lock on him then headed straight up to try and get off their radar screens.

Up at the top of the training flights ceiling sat Tiger, in wait for his prey. “Knew you’d have to come up sooner or later.” He spotted the fleeing G.D and locked on his missile. G.D’s plane ‘bleeped’ loudly as the missile locked on.

“ in hell. Not fair Tiger, no fricking way.” He swore again in Russian, “Guess that beginners Russian course wasn’t completely useless.” He opened a line to all planes, “This is G.Dragon, caught and apparently killed by the rookie. Yes, that’s right, the rookie. Please mock me later.”

“And that’s one good thing. Nighthawk out too. Angel and her stupid flippy tracer trick.” Nighthawk opened the line to report in his loss.

He and G.D met up at the second rendezvous point for ‘shot down’ planes. The pair played with tricks they’d heard about from one of the Hellcats pilots, including a trick known as the ‘Keyhole’ named after it’s inventor, and their Top Brass leader, Key. While this happened the staged battle was still raging on with three slightly less experienced pilots against two with slightly more experience.

“Tiger going down.” Angel locked a missile on the rookie and he registered the win with an all planes call out informing the others he was down.

“I think we have a fight on our hands.” These wise words coming from the mouth of Eagle, watching Wildcat and Angel in a fierce battle for supremacy.

“Too true mate, too true.” The trickster, with one raised eyebrow, watched Angel and Wildcat battle back and forth, guns blazing and trying for missile locks any time they could. The boys gave up chasing each other for the time being, just to watch the girls go for it.

“Ahhhh. YES! Got you Angel! Happy dance for me,” Wildcat waggled her wings as a sign of her joy. Angel sadly announced her loss to the squad and resigned herself towards the second RV point.

“Yes. Double points to me today!” With both boys well distracted by the ‘ fight’, Wildcat had managed to sneak up behind Eagle and shoot him down. After he announced his shoot down, Nighthawk called the team in to the carrier. Though it had only felt like a short time in the air, the squad had been up for a good three hours and needed to head back to debrief, eat, sleep and prep themselves for the battle they were heading into.

Enjoy subbies.

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Lioness Over and Out.