[IC] Sky Warrior Stories: The New York 5 (closed)

[Dolerman]

@bluetommy2@ChaoticFox

Times Square, Manhattan

The sound of warplanes buzzing above was hair raising. They didn't quite sound like planes, advanced technology and ancient models combined with poor maintenance made the engines sound like gargling monsters, a low growl with a disturbing buzz, the metal hornets of the sky. They were almost all flown by bandits, low level gang members or drifters, every hour or so the sputter of gunfire and a crashing explosion would signal the end of a dispute or the start of a turf war. This was a normal day in New York City, and Governor Ovince Rhodes watched it all from his fortified office window. Ken Yi and Alex Robins sat in the lounge area, luckily for them, there was no short supply of coffee in New York.

Ovince Rhodes sipped his own coffee, still looking out of the window as a pack of bandits raced by his building.

You know, I used to be a bit of soldier, drove a tank as a teenager for the ground division back in Buffalo, NY. I remember how helpless I felt when those hunter class Biplanes pounded us in to nothing, I only survived because my tank malfunctioned that day and I had to hold back to repair.......anyway. Doesn't matter now, the real conflict takes place in the sky, and you two have been really kicking ass in Stanten and Brooklyn, they say the bandit plane sightings have decreased by 27% in those districts since you two started. I can show those stats to the rest of the council when they next try to complain about your funding.

Ovince took another sip of his coffee and strolled over to the city map next to his desk.

As you guys know, weve been aiming to put an expert pilot in every borough to individualy keep the enemy number down, but we also were thinking of having all of you fly as a team for a mission we had in mind. We are looking to put an end to the tyranny in NYC permanently, and give the citizens here another chance at a somewhat normal life. A week ago we hired Hannah to patrol Queens, shes also been doing a stellar job and before we hired you Ken we had pilot from the west coast call Eldon Newman take up work in the Bronx. 4 very skilled pilots spead across the boroughs, we orginially though Manhattan was safe enough, but the threat level has been steadily increasing, so we hired someone today, and we want all 5 of you working together from now......Send him up.

Rhodes pressed a button on his intercom and suddenly the office elevator switched on and after a few seconds of engine whirring, the doors opened, and out stepped a British Expat pilot named Larcen Fields.

Walking into the office he seem to freeze mid-step and turned to the Brooklyn pilot in disbelief.

Ken.....my god is that you?

[ChaoticFox]

Alexandria "Staten Island" Robins

---

The roar of the twelve cylinder Griffin engine resonated throughout the sky as the Scarlet Harlot cruised above the clouds, on the prowl. The sleek Spitfire XII was rather unimpressive at first glance, but underneath the hood she was a monster of a plane. Next to the rumored Red Tail, the Harlot was one of the fastest planes in the sky once you put it into the full supercharger gear. It had been built from the ground up to be light and fast, with a re-done airframe and slightly thinner body panels adorning it's exterior.

Inside the cockpit, Alex sat rather calmly behind the controls. She looked to her altimeter before reaching up to check that her flight mask had made a full seal. 15,000 feet and holding steady. The whole of the Staten Island area-- Alex’s designated patrol area, passed below as she peeked out of the cockpit, making sure no one had managed to sneak up on her. Once she had completed her visual check, she reached over and pressed the talk button on her radio, linked directly to the airfield.

“This is Staten Island to airfield, come in.”

“Yes Staten, we’ve got you loud and clear. Go ahead.”

“My patrol has come up with nothing major, just the usual junkers. No longer a threat to the area. I’m bingo on fuel and I’m coming back to base.”

“Roger that, Staten Island. We’ll see you back home. Out.”

Alex reached over and flicked a switch, engaging the cockpit speakers before sliding in a CD in front of her. A few seconds later, the opening riffs to AC/DC’s Stormy May Day resonated through the plane. With a gentle bank Alex corrected her heading to return home, before pushing forward on the stick to bring the plane into a rather steep dive. She watched her airspeed climb higher as her altimeter dropped like a stone. Within 2,000 feet of the ground, she leveled off the aircraft and unleashed a rain of machine gun fire onto an unsuspecting bandit P-39, sending it quickly to it’s grave as the 20mm rounds pounded its airframe. Before anyone could intervene, the Harlot's engines roared back to full throttle and sent the plane rocketing away.

As the airfield came into view, she grinned to herself and kicked the engine into the F.S gear before pulling back hard on the stick, executing a rather low altitude barrel roll.

---

The quiet governor’s office had begun to bore her. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the governor, in fact, he was the reason she was not behind bars. It was that she was used to the adrenaline and the excitement of sitting in the cockpit of a fighter. She listened to what he had to say before turning to the new arrival.

”You’ve brought us some fresh meat I see, governor. This will be fun.”

[Skepic]

Hanna von Falkenheim

With a heavy sigh, the young woman leaned back in her cockpit as the burning wreckage of some god awful junk plane fell into lake of Corona Park. Another unfulfilling kill during another unfulfilling day. These past few months have made Hanna anxious, restless even. The question of when to attack was always floating around her mind. Perhaps these weak governors that hired her would be just satisfied with hiding behind her guns? Well today answered that as she was called for the first time since arriving at this pit of scum to a meeting with the other pilots and the leader of the council that was the closest thing to a government in these parts.

The Focker-Wulf 148 "RedTail" banked as she headed to the main airfield of the region. It was needless to say that her expectations for the other pilots was.... exceedingly low. "They probably wouldn't even survive the first week of one of my training regiments..." Hanna wondered aloud as the plane was on approach. Greeting the control tower with her practically trademark monotone voice, the aircraft began its decent onto the runway.

It was apparent that the pilots had already arrive. A shame, really, as it meant they weren't entirely useless, yet will most likely still get in Hanna's way. The tricycle gear of the 148 lowered and the tell tale high pitch hum of the aircraft's turboprop engine began to whine down as the plane's wheels touched the ground without a sound. After a brief taxiing, Hanna climbed into a waiting car that took her to the governor's office.

Hanna entered the waiting room, looking as clean cut and sharp as ever, and noticed that the pilot designated as "Staten Island" was also waiting. Without a word, Hanna silently went over to the coffee maker and poured herself a cup of coffee. All the while, she sized up the pilot with her piercing orange eyes. She seemed to be fairly unassuming, looking almost no different from the street rabble Hanna shot down a daily basis. With a sigh, she took a seat across the room, paying no mind to the pilot.

To Hanna, it seemed, that this pilot was not worth the oxygen.

@ChaoticFox

[Bluetommy]

Ken Yi

Ken loved New York.

It was where he had lived since he was a child, yes, but it was more than that. The years had not been kind, and it was for the worse as a result, but in the winter, it was clear and clean like there had never been a human there in the history of the Earth, well, except for the giant locusts, but he took care of those. Of course, he patrolled all of it, why wouldn't he. It was tiring, of course, but it was worth it, he didn't tell anyone else, it was his little secret. Maybe now was the time to stop, it would be hard, but the initiate was only growing, who knows how many people were going to be in the air by the next year. Maybe next year he'd be patrolling sub-boroughs.

Oh well, that meant he didn't have to see so many people starved to death in alleyways, so that was good.

Flying in, his old plane sputtered and smoked through the air as he approached the ground. She worked hard, sometimes too hard, he'd have to get to repairing the engine once he had settled. Pushing through the collection of junk in his lap, he pulled the handset out of the ramshackle radio that had been shoved into the panel and checked in with the airfield.

"Yo dog, Brooklyn has returned, you can rest easy!" The tired man on the other side sighed and reluctantly responded.

"Roger, Brooklyn, this is airfield, do you have a status report?"

"No combats of note, area secured and coffee needed."

"Roger that, you're cleared for landing."

"Thanks a bunch my dude."

"Cut the chatter Brooklyn." airfield reprimanded boredly, as he had done for quite some time. Ken landed in a textbook fashion, leapt out of the plane in a less textbook fashion and limped his way over to debriefing. He greeted Rhodes with a high-five invitation that was ignored and proceeded to fall out of his chair as a result of his incessant fidgeting. When he finally sat correctly he had to lock his knee in place to prevent it from bouncing.

He beamed with pride when the mention was made of the decrease in bandit sightings, he worked hard for those stats, perhaps too hard. Yes, shooting parachutes was heavily discouraged, but it was a necessary evil. As Ken saw it, less bandits alive means less planes come back to kill innocents, maybe some other people didn't see it that way, but whatever, Ken knew no-one else would know.

Suddenly, a memory walked through the door, his old friend from school. Well, friend was not quite the way to describe it, Ken started off resenting him for his talent, but eventually they became friendly, even if Ken kept trying to outdo him.

"Larcen? My man!" Ken yelled, practically leaping from his chair and pulling the Brit into a surprisingly tight hug considering his minute size. He laughed a little before letting Larcen go with a pat on the back.

"Man, you look... well, looks don't matter anyways. Where the hell were you man? You knew I lived here, you could have come to my mom's place. Ah, doesn't matter, I've got to introduce you to my plane, you'd love it!" he bellowed out in a baritone that had never matched his face.

[Dolerman]

The coffee was hot and delicious, Ovince Rhodes didnt wait to pour himself a fresh cup while Larcen and Hannah entered the briefing office. He was hoping that all the young pilots could get to know each other organically, but he was wary there could be a clash of personalities, even though all 5 hadn't arrived yet.

The Manhattan Meeting

Larcen immediately ran up to his old friend Ken and gave him a hug, they had definitely been rivals in the past but it was mostly friendly even at a young competitive age, and there was always immense respect for each other. Rhodes looked on and smiled.

I take it you two have crossed paths before then?

Larcen grabbed his old pal by the shoulders with a smile but still in mild shock. In a dangerous future where you have lost everything, a familiar living face can mean so much.

Damnit Ken, America is a big place, I had no bloody idea you were on the East Coast! and flying for hire nonetheless, I do need to see your plane, but I want to see it shoot down some junker trash, just like target practice back at the training fields right?

Larcen looked around them room and noticed two female pilots along with the Governor's puzzled face.

Ahem, sorry everyone, my name is Larcen Fields, I'm a.....freelancer, I've flown in from Philly, but I'm originally from England, pleasure to meet you all. Ken and I went to flight school when we were teenagers, he's a killer pilot for sure, but I'm guessing you all know that.

Ovince Rhodes decided to speak up for the girls, as he knew they weren't always the friendliest especially when it came to new people, Alex referred to Larcen as 'meat' when he came through the door, and Hannah was well known as being just a few shades away from a total sadist.

Ahem Larcen, Alexandria Robins is an Ace pilot from Canada, she's been assigned to Staten Island and has flow with ken a couple times before. Hannah von Falkenheim works independently from queens, she is one of the most qualified merc....uh freelancers from Europe. She has flown once or twice with Elron Newmon from the Bronx, but he's currently still on patrol. He should be joining us soon.

Larcen shook Alex's hand with a respectful nod, but his eyes narrowed slightly when he looked at Hannah.

.....Von Falkenheim was it? That sounds kind of German, you wouldn't happen to be part of the WEC would you...?

Larcen was now anxious and stand-offish, his hand swayed slightly closer to where he kept his pistol near his side holster, she could have been waiting for him for all he knew.

[Skepic]

Hanna von Falkenheim

".....Von Falkenheim was it? That sounds kind of German, you wouldn't happen to be part of the WEC would you...?"

The pilot who had introduced himself as Larcen obviously had some troubles with the Western European Coalition. Perhaps she was meeting someone who had fought on the other side of the Karlsland conquest? Interesting as it may be, his jumpy behavior and drifting hands near his sidearm only made warranted a huff from Hanna. Such cowardliness this man showed, and he was to be joining this flight? Well, he might meet an unfortunate end if he stepped out of line.

Standing calmly, without even the slightest hint of being intimidated, she stared Larcen dead in the eyes, her orange glare borrowing deep into his head. "During the Karlsland Conquest, I earned my Silver Wings for the Western European Coalition for my actions while participating in the 203rd Hunter Squadron, bombing Karlslandic industrial complexes behind lines and scoring twenty four kills. I then went on to train and lead the 105th Raider Squardron before finally being honorably discharged. However make no mistake, Tommy, I no longer serve under their banner. So I suggest you calm down if wish to participate on this job." she said in a firm voice, staring Larcen down.

Like many in this room, this man would be no more than just another stepping stone. Maybe the other pilots could prove useful tools to be used, but this one, well, had already shown Hanna all that she needed. This one was not going to last long, no doubt, and is nothing more than a nuisance, not even worth the effort. At least here, the ladder was more flexible than during her time in WEC forces.

[Dolerman]

Larcen's warm embrace on Ken loosened as he turned square on to Hannah, quick draw hand now balled into a fist, he was stunned but mad.

The fuck you calling Tommy!?, only way to 'discharge' a WEC attack dog is through the seat ejector with no parachute, any rookie can bomb a helpless Karlsland factory town, houses don't shoot back....but I do.

Governor Rhodes had heard enough, he knew two strong personalities were not going to resolve themselves this early on, too much to prove. He slammed his hand on the desk and glared at both of them.

Ovince Rhodes

Damnit, pilots keep your shit together, there are over 600 targets to kill in borough alone, don't be wasting this crap on each other. Larcen, Hannah is one of the best Rabbit class pilots Europe has to offer, I'm not paying you to be offering your political stances, forget the fucking WEC you all work for the NYC now!

The room went silent, with Ovince's rant, but the tension was still thick in the air. The Governor attempted to change the subject to something more constructive.

For task at hand, we have a starting point for you, thanks to Ken's excellent work in Brooklyn, we've discovered the remains of the vicious 'Jersey Devil Mob' have rallied and dug in around there. The mission is simple, following Ken's lead you go there and you exterminate them, destroy the leader and take out as many of the mob as possible.

Finishing his coffee he pointed to his world map which was close to his world map.

After we smash the Jersey Devils in Brooklyn we can take back New Jersey after the team disbands and make use of their intelligence stations to find out what we need about France, as you know, Paris became an independent city state over 20 years ago and his been causing trouble for the east coast recently, we suspect a major invasion anytime soon, but we need New Jersey first, can you do it?

Larcen put his hands in his bomber jacket pockets, and smirked.

If Ken AND me are on it, then those mobsters haven't got a hope in hell, Chief.

Larcen turned toward Alex and gave her a thumbs up. He was honored to be flying with an Ace.

So, Miss Robins, are you Canadian military? Toronto Air division maybe? I would have thought a Canadian Ace would have ended up working for Roland Shaw or something, did you hear he is putting a new Sky Warriors team together?

Ovince Rhodes called maintenance downstairs to prep the 4 pilots planes, they would be preparing to fly in 15 mins.

[ChaoticFox]

So, Miss Robins, are you Canadian military? Toronto Air division maybe? I would have thought a Canadian Ace would have ended up working for Roland Shaw or something, did you hear he is putting a new Sky Warriors team together?

Alex looked up to the governor, shaking her head gently. Oh how he was far off from where she came from. “If you’re so interested, Mister Rhodes. While I wish I had the pride to say I was in the military, my past is a little more on the darker side of things. You may recall seeing my name on the prison roster here in New York.” She paced over to the wall and leaned back on it, rolling her shoulders and neck before speaking once again. “I was arrested for smuggling illegal goods across the border from Canada. Drugs, weapons, documents. You name it, I would take it if the right price was paid.”

Alex seemed to take pride in her trade, having the look of a criminal about her. From her black leather jacket to the numerous sets of dog tags-- presumably from fallen enemies, hung from her neck. “Where I was born, we mined gypsum and uranium for the prospectors that had all but taken the town hostage. Not the glory and pay that comes from a military life.” she sighed, motioning to the Governor’s above average outfit and furniture.

“And Roland Shaw? Not a chance. I’m only here because it’s better than rotting in a cell. The glory and saving lives bullshit? That can stay with him and his damn freedom fighters.”

[Bluetommy]

When Larcen suddenly yelled out, Ken was shocked a moment, but cooled down as the boss interrupted.

Ken gave an exaggerated bow when his work in Brooklyn was mentioned, and he smiled from ear-to-ear when the Jersey Devils were mentioned. They had never been more than a nuisance to him, but he had noticed that their raids were getting more and more numerous and sizable, seemed like they wanted the city badly, too bad that the class of... whatever year it was, had reunited, ready to kick some ass.

He pumped his fist and made a satisfied grunt when he was designated as the lead plane of the flight, he may not have been the most experienced, but he was one of the few pilots in New York with actual flight-school experience, not that that said much, considering the mess that the city was. Of course, flight school did not equal officer school, and English wasn't even his first language, so perhaps leadership wasn't his strongest point... oh well, power was power.

As Alex flew into a rant about her past, Ken mouthed along with a goofy expression on his face. He had gotten the same lecture before, it was like listening to a fourteen year old describe a story they wrote. Sure, her life was bad, but that didn't mean she had to be so up-front about being in it for the freedom.

"You see, Alex? This is why I don't want you watching my back, I like my plane just fine how it is right now, not a flaming husk buried in what used to be a hospital. God, I just like it when my wing-mates actually give a damn, you know?" Ken was never a big fan of the Canadian, recruiting a criminal who had come from those wáng bā northerners and then putting her in the most elite wing in the city? Might as well give a rat a plane and teach it to fly.

He sniffed and muttered "gōng gòng qì chē" under his breath. He had already told her it meant bus, though she had no idea why he kept calling her that.

It was because everybody gets a ride on the bus.

Never-mind that, he decided, calming down. He turned to Larsen and began describing his plane in heavily technical terms, hoping that his old friend hadn't forgotten his essentials.

[Dolerman]

Manhattan Air Base

The Thoughts of The City

After the not so smooth introduction of all the pilots, the 4 of them hurried down to the ground floor to see their planes in shining glory. The 'airfield' which was essentially a damaged parking lot looked a mess but the NYC engineers did a great job on all the pilot's planes, refueled, buffed and tuned up to full potential. After the lead mechanic drove them over, Larcen took a bit of time to admire Ken Yi's fighter to see if it was impressive as his old rival had explained.

Damn, Ken what airfield did you have to rob to put this together? I'm glad I'm on your side!

Larcen quietly acknowledged the other two planes in the airfield, Alex's Scarlet Harlot and Hannah's Focke Wulf were both very attractive machines but Larcen didnt want appear too overly excited.

All 4 pilots got in their planes and got ready for take off. The were heading to Bensonhurst, Brooklyn where Ken knew the Jersey Devil Leadership would be hiding.......

____________________________________________________________________________________________________

Times Square Governer's Office

After finishing up with the pilots Ovince Rhodes returned to his office only to see two people sitting in there already. His office was now clouded with cigarette smoke the two figures polluting his room were Governor James Hillier and Councilwoman Etta Fransen The both appeared to have been talking before he came in. Ovince coughed lightly on the smoke and went to the far side of the room to open a window.

I know we are low on usable building space, but you still have to book this office in advance if you want to use it, and smoke outside for christ sake, the air in this city is polluted enough as it is.

The peculiarly dressed Etta Fransen put out her cigarette and turned to Ovince slowly.

Vince darling, me and James have been discussing world events, particularly the ones that concern this city. Your expensive pilot project has slowed down some big operations for us my dear.

Ovince raised an eyebrow and poured himself a glass of bourbon before leaning against his desk in curiosity.

Hiring those 5 Hot Shots may look good politically, but it cut deep into our budget, we paid them in advance and they could be killed at any moment, I know you managed to get a discount on that Robin's girl because of her arrest, but aside from a few flashy bandit kills in Brooklyn and Bunkers destoryed in the bronx what are we really achieving here? Long Term?

Ovince took a long swig from his glass, he wasn't interested in responding right away, he knew they wanted to say their piece. James now spoke up in a more confrontational tone than the councilwoman.

We know you've just sent them to wipeout the Jersey Devil leadership, thats a good start, but you hired ANOTHER pilot! To protect Manhattan? there hasn't been any major gang in Manhattan yet, that Larcen fellow didn't come cheap. We are bleeding our budget here, we still need more capital if we are going to finalize that deal with Vegas.

Ovince put his glass down on the desk firmly, his eyes meeting James' with equal aggression.

James, for the love of god, please tell me you havent still been talking to Vegas, after we, as the council decided to to cut ties with them, remember James? it was 7 votes to 3, no talks, no back channeling. We want nothing to do with Vegas. They are still under control by the Mob.

Etta and James went silent, they were still slightly intimidated by the governor. Etta reached into a folder and pulled out a dossier it read Albion Avengers, Scotland Airfield Base.

Ovince jolted back in surprise, there was a look of mild horror on his face. James put out his cigarette and looked Ovince in his eyes.

Favor for a Favor, Vinny, we have to work with Vegas now, we aint got a choice.

The room went silent.
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Brooklyn Bridge

Meanwhile... back in the air the 4 pilots were flying towards their destination, following Ken Yi's lead. Larcen radioed through to Ken and the rest of the squad to test the headset.

Hey so has anyone here flew against these Jersey Devils in New York before? Anything I should know about their skills in the air?

@bluetommy2@ChaoticFox@Skepic@Stern Algorithm

[Skepic]

With the eye rolling incident of Larcen's oh so calm and controlled response, Hanna lifted her Focke-Wulf into the air with incredibly low expectations for her so called wingmen. The pilots of great incompetence were her company on today's mission, and while this was nothing entirely new for her, as sadly weakness ran through any institution, this particular group did not sit well with her. First and foremost was the aforementioned trigger happy Larcen who seemed about as competent as the horrific paint job he had done to an otherwise perfectly fine A6M3 "Zero". What probably angered her the most in regards to Larcen was his simple minded stupidity above all else. The phrase "Think before speaking." must not have even entered the same star system as him.

Secondly was the blond girl, Alex, a failure on several levels in just from her little history lesson before. Hanna had a hard time understanding how this blonde had even been able to properly maintain her otherwise lovely classic Spitfire with such incompetence. To Hanna, this is someone who she'd send to man a pillbox just behind the lines, just so that Hanna could quietly rid somebody when the enemy inevitably shelled such an easy target.

Lastly, at least so far, was Ken Yi, the asian pilot who apparently knew Larcen from a flight school. Now he was actually an interesting one, because while his character came off as somewhat sloppy and loose, his combat record proved otherwise. Yes, the others had decent records as well, but what was interesting was Ken's thoroughness in his job. Shooting parachutes and circling/strafing crashed enemy aircraft, while seemingly cruel, was necessary in these environments to completely eliminate the problem. Perhaps, in a different scenario, he would have made a decent candidate for the 105th Raider Squadron, maybe even a flight lead. At the very least, Ken was not as much as a lost cause as the other two for Hanna, but regardless, he was certainly not up to Hanna's standards.

However, Hanna's musings on her new found squadmates was abruptly cut short by Larcen's voice coming over comms.

"Hey so has anyone here flew against these Jersey Devils in New York before? Anything I should know about their skills in the air?" he asked to the group. A blunt question coming from a blunt mind, so Hanna simply sighed, and turned on her comms.

"Well, Tommy, if you had allowed yourself to be properly be briefed, perhaps you would not ask such basic questions. The so called 'Devils' are no more than street toughs with wings and will fight like such. Easily baited into stalling, crashing, or whatever trap you want to lead them into. The only thing these simple minded people have going for them is there brawn and primitive ferocity, not unlike what you bring to the table I presume." she finished with a smug smile.

Let's see how easily provoked this Tommy really is.

[Bluetommy]

"Alright everybody, calm down, we're reaching the CZ right about now, I don't want any friendly fire, even these junkers will take advantage if we don't work well as a unit. From what I've seen their planes are pretty bad, so we should get out of this without a scratch. If any one of you dies, I will be the one who gets the blame, so please don't do that." Ken stated calmly, flipping the switch on his scanning computer and preforming checks to insure he was in fighting shape.

All was well, and Ken spoke back into the radio as he surveyed the area.

"My plane's got an on-board scanning computer and an EMP if things get hairy, I'll be sure to scan for weaknesses if I get the chance. If any of you have special armament, be sure to use it, don't save it to surprise us unless you want to be surprising our corpses."

As he scanned the air around them, he noticed a shadow darting around in the corner of his vision, he assumed it to be a wing-mate until he heard the telltale roar of a jet-engine.

A jet engine? He furrowed his brow in a mixture of confusion and dread. Leaning forwards, he managed to catch a glimpse of a jet flying in a circular pattern around a larger plane.

Oh boy, looks like I shit the bed on this one. Ken thought, sweat beginning to form on his forehead.

"Hey, uh, guys? I see a jet... or two... or three... tā mā de," he swore under his breath.

A painted jet appeared far above them, loudspeaker blaring from underneath the cockpit.

"Well well, look at this merry band of old farts, it's almost sad. You were the ones gunning down my scouts? Well, we'll see how well you fight when faced with an opponent who can shoot back!" The distorted voice yelled, somehow managing to be heard over the cacophony of powerful engines.

Suddenly, a group of five jets began circling the air directly to the front of the group, with a larger duel-engined plane lagging behind them. Ken stared a moment, slightly afraid, but quickly getting over himself when he noticed how badly coordinated their movements were. He pushed his controls down and plunged into a quick dive, preparing himself for the intense G-forces he'd be under.

"I'm going to draw one or two away, it'll be easier to face three jets than five!" He yelled into the radio as he continued to plunge. This was going to be a first for him, non-simulated wing-on-wing combat, he almost felt excited through the anxiety and fear, though that may have been his bowels getting ready to vacate themselves.

JD 1

JD 2

JD 3,4,5

JD 6 (ace)

@Dynamo Frokane@ChaoticFox@Skepic@Stern Algorithm

[Dolerman]

Mission Control, The Bronx

Scotti McCrae

Her computer was making all sorts of sounds, it was almost drowning out the sound of her snapping bubblegum which annoyed her mildly. She turned away from her import tuner magazine to read the alert on her screen. Her face went white.

PILOT CRITICALLY INJURED

She quickly spun towards her interface to read the report, it seems as if their Bronx Pilot, Eldon Newman had been injured in dogfight in the Bronx River, apparently he was shot through the chest when a bullet went through the canopy of his cockpit. Scotti grimaced an the thought of such a grizzly injury, but was also surprised he was still alive, apparently his co-pilot Hajar Mezgouri managed to not only escape the enemy but fly Eldon back to the medic bay, but then being told to meet the rest of the NY5 in Brooklyn.

Scotti radioed through to Hajar, it looks as if her bomber plane, The Israfil was now only 5 mins away from the rest of the NY5.
@Stern Algorithm

Come in, Hajar Mezgouri, this is Scotti McCrae of the Bronx mission control. Looks like youve been promoted, as of right now your file officially has you as the Bronx Pilot of the New York 5. I'm really sorry to hear about Eldon, but I've seen your reports, you are a great pilot in your own right. You are about 4 mins away from the combat zone in brooklyn, your co pilots are Larcen Fields, Ken Yi, Alex Robins and Hannah Von Falkenhiem. Theyve just made contact with the enemy, it looks like a straight up dogfight, but be aware there are Dangerous Ground Targets to be aware of, the Jersey Devils like to get the edge in the air by fighting near their own Anti Air Guns and garrisoned buildings. Good Luck Pilot!

Scotti turned her radio off and began to pray, not only for Hajar, but for Eldon in the medic bay too.

Bensonhurst, Brooklyn

Larcen didn't have time to respond to Hannah calling him Tommy a second time, luckily he now had some bandits to focus on. The shocking thing is they seemed to come out of nowhere, they didn't show up on his radar until the last minute, and they were a few jets among them too. Not that jets should be a problem.

Crunchtime

Woah, how did they sneak up on us so damn quickly? Do you think they have position scramblers or something? Shit and they got jets with them, Ken, you aint a Rabbit, dont draw 3 of them away, even with that awesome plane of yours they will catch up to you, let me engage one of those jets directly!

Ken had bravely flew up against Jersey Devil 2,3 and 4 and they began firing at him with machine gun fire, he was flying like a pro, but the sheer volume of bullets in the sky was too much for any pilot to dodge, let alone a scanner. Ken's Hu took 16% damage from machine gun fire, managing to maintain his flight path.

Shit! Goddamn it Ken, let me try and lighten the load a little.....locking on...come on you bastard line up ON THE WAY!

Larcen blazed towards JD3, one of the jets and let loose a homing missile, but he was panicking, he rushed his shot and the jet was able to pull a last minuite combat turn and avoid the missile. The good new was, he was off Ken's tail, and the aerial turn cause the machine to stall slightly, which allowed Larcen to rattle off some machine gunfire an put more than few dents in the jet, which cause whisps of white smoke to fly from the bullet holes.

Ahh I was only able to wing him, Alex maybe do a follow up?

Jersey Devil Ace (6):
Can't let you do that....Staten Island.

The black painted jet rattled off some gunfire at Alex's Scarlet Harlot for 5% Damage and was now lining up to fire a missile at the Canadian.

Jersey Devil Ace (6):
I know who all of you are, especially you Canadian! dont think that prison record kept me from getting into your file Ms Robins, I represnt the Jersey Devil head of security here in Brooklyn, if you want to kill our boss, well sadly you'll have to get through me first, this is a NO FLY ZONE.

Holy shit, this aint good.

Larcen slammed hard on his brakes as he prepared for a hard U-turn to re-engage the Jet.

Meanwhile, the large craft, JD1 and the last jet JD5 started to fly directly at Hannah's Focke-wulf,she was the furthest behind in formation so they werent quite close enough to shoot. JD1 started to climb in altitude, while JD5 flew head on at her.

The fight was now on.

[Stern Algorithm]

Come in, Hajar Mezgouri, this is Scotti McCrae of the Bronx mission control. Looks like youve been promoted, as of right now your file officially has you as the Bronx Pilot of the New York 5. I'm really sorry to hear about Eldon, but I've seen your reports, you are a great pilot in your own right. You are about 4 mins away from the combat zone in brooklyn, your co pilots are Larcen Fields, Ken Yi, Alex Robins and Hannah Von Falkenhiem. Theyve just made contact with the enemy, it looks like a straight up dogfight, but be aware there are Dangerous Ground Targets to be aware of, the Jersey Devils like to get the edge in the air by fighting near their own Anti Air Guns and garrisoned buildings. Good Luck Pilot!

@Dynamo Frokane

Astaghfirullah! (God have mercy) Hajar swore mentally as she flew towards the combat zone, the wind still whistling through the hole in the cockpit where the bullet that hit Eldon had come through. One of the mercenaries her village had temporarily hired, Eldin had lost his plane in a particularly bad fight, but had managed to parachute to safety. Grounded, he was willing to mentor Hajar in the ways of air combat in exchange for letting him take Israfil as his own. They had spent a few years together as teacher and student, pilot and co-pilot, as she received hands on training, making small airborne repairs to the plane, as well as modifying it to her ease of use. Eldon had been telling her for a while that she was ready to pilot herself. Sure she could fly the plane, but she had never been in a fight alone. She thought that in her first fight, she would just switch seats with Eldon, but as she flew, the co-pilot's seat was hauntingly empty.

Looking to her tablet computer, she flipped around, accessing the playlist, and selecting just the track to take her mind off of Eldon and get her into combat mood, flipping back to her homebrew turret management program once song started.

"Alright you Jersey shayateen (plural for shaytan, Arabic for devil), let me play for you the song of my people! Allahu akbar, Motherfuckers!" Hajar shouted into her mic, her abrasive voice being blasted from the loudspeakers that were mounted on the outside of Israfil from back when it still served as a city defense building. However the song that followed was anything but what one would consider traditional North African music.

Pillar Men

Israfil plowed towards JD5, laying in with its forward facing mini-guns, Hajar adding in a bit of extra fire power with the front turrets as well, though using the top swivel turret to fire at the ascending JD1. Of course trying to pilot and control several turrets at once was no walk in the park, and Hajar had little hope for real accuracy, but she hoped that some covering fire would disrupt whatever team tactic JD1 and 5 had planned for Hannah. She planned essentially to distract them, give Hannah an opportunity to react, and then head towards the gun emplacements. Of course, she was also keeping an eye out for anything that might look like a ground-based jammer.

[Bluetommy]

"Larcen you dolt! I just showed you my plane! I don't need someone covering me, I've got that handled!" Ken yelled out as a few rounds peppered his plane. Her engine was close to the back so it was dangerous for him to have folks behind him. Of course, he had thought of that, and installed a beautiful copilot to help with defense. Pushing a few buttons in the console, he activated the rear-facing cannon, which quickly began firing at the pursing JD 2 and 4. After a few shots had echoed through the cockpit he pulled down the gun and executed a double aileron roll to move himself out of their flight-path.

He prepped the scanning computer and pulled up towards the rest of the unit, attempting to get a lock on the Devils' ace.

"I'm activating the computer, if we're lucky this should give us a chance to take down this piece of crap!" He yelled out with a smile on his face. Things were starting to go his way, he could get the others started on taking down the ace, then focus on the larger one, then mop up the other losers.

Meanwhile, JD3, recovering from Larcen's attack, shot towards the Brit, aiming to get some revenge for almost knocking him out of the air, attempting to get off a few shots on him and landing around two, dealing 4% damage to Larcen's Pepper Bird

JDs 2 and 4 were fooled fairly well by Ken's turn, but managed to collect themselves and fly back towards him, with 2 taking the higher position and 4 flying beneath.

JD 5 meanwhile, clipped multiple times by Hajar's assault (16% Damage), turned away from Hannah to take down the wildly shooting Moroccan, getting a few good hits on the large Israfil for 10% damage.

@Stern Algorithm@Dynamo Frokane

[ChaoticFox]

Alexandria "Staten Island" Robins

---

Alex opened up the throttle on the Spitfire, the crisp yet throaty roar of the engine resonating across the tarmac. The Scarlet Harlot screamed down the runway before Alex pulled back gently on the stick to take her up into the air. She looked back to the remaining planes on the runway with a grin, before calling out over the radio “You guys just gonna sit there or are you actually gonna fly?” She quickly yanked on the stick and pulled the Harlot into an inside loop over the runway, before sending it into a barrel roll with a flick of the controls.

A few minutes later her plane cruised with the rest of the squad, more specifically remaining on Hanna’s wing. She matched the speed of the heavy fighter quite easily before glancing over and speaking into the flight mask that now covered the lower half of her face. “We came here to fight together, I don’t wanna be shot in the back, German. Your WEC bullshit stays on the other side of the ocean.” She made sure to make eye contact with the blonde, both a untrusting and competitive feeling between the two.

"Well well, look at this merry band of old farts, it's almost sad. You were the ones gunning down my scouts? Well, we'll see how well you fight when faced with an opponent who can shoot back!" The distorted voice yelled, somehow managing to be heard over the cacophony of powerful engines.

Jersey Devil Six

Alex glanced over to the group of jets in the distance before she saw Ken veer off in the corner of her vision. Then, a voice came over that sent shivers down her spine.

“Can't let you do that....Staten Island. I know who all of you are, especially you Canadian! dont think that prison record kept me from getting into your file Ms Robins, I represnt the Jersey Devil head of security here in Brooklyn, if you want to kill our boss, well sadly you'll have to get through me first, this is a NO FLY ZONE.”

Jersey Devil Six

Alex gritted her teeth as machine gun fire riddled the main fuselage of the aircraft, putting holes in the recently repainted hull of the ace’s plane. She slammed the plane into full supercharger gear and took off after JD6, the engine of the spitfire matching the twin jet engines of the ace in front of her. She flicked up the switch cover on her flight stick before pressing the button, unleashing a rain of both .50 cal and 20mm bullets at the ace in front of her. The crackle of the six guns filled the air as she tailed the ace “This is Staten Island, I’m engaging the fucker in the Black Jet. Could use someone on my wing.”

[Skepic]

Hanna saw the blonde one match her aircraft and shoot her some sort of look. An evil sort of grin came across Hanna's face as she responded, flight mask hanging off to the side due to the low altitude. "Well, Fraulin, I would say that this squadron could benefit from the training programs I ran with WEC, but on second thought you're right." Her face darkened. "You'd all be long dead before the enemy would ever see you. So yes, Miss Spit, I'll leave that particular thing behind."

Sadly, before Hanna could keep verbally abusing her squadmates, the fools that were the Jersey Devils decided to give them an expensive live fire exercise.

Well, as expected from the mongrels that seem to infest these skies, from both sides, nobody had a game plan except Hanna. For you see, she had anticipated such an event to a reasonable extent, as all the elite pilots flying in formation at such a time would create an optimal condition for the enemy to deploy its best without potentially wasting them. In fact, it was so obvious, that as Hanna calmly banked her plane to attempt to nimbly maneuver into JD5's turning circle as the jet was haphazardly distracted by the newcomer's attack. She decided to ignore the more flimsy prop plane that was climbing. She had seen ones like it in WEC, where it was used more a reconnaissance, but knowing these junk rats, they could have turned it into a missile carrier for all she knew. Either way, she was confident, perhaps a little too much so, that she could handle the paper weight later. Besides, that Hunter just provided an ample opportunity to pounce.

"What amateurs, this ruined city is filled with waste and weakness." came Hanna over open comms. The nose of her Focke-Wulf became alight with gunfire as she opened up on JD5 while pushing her turboprop to close the distance to hit the Rafael jet fighter at closer range. She smirked as the 20mm and 30mm rounds flew towards their target, in a beautiful yet deadly stream of high explosive shredder rounds. "Know this, scum. I never took prisoners back in my homeland. And I don't intend to take any now. Your deaths will be absolute. So pray and take that opiate of the masses, because I'm here prove to you once and for all that what awaits beyond that blackness of death is nothing but the void and your rotting corpses." she finished saying just as she finished her burst of fire.

[Dolerman]

The apartment buildings surrounding the now very active fight in the sky were preparing fortification, in particular the tower blocks were filled with a lot of the lower level Jersey Devil enforcers who pushed drugs through the apartments, the were preparing for the worst as they heard the rattle of gunfire in the air.

Sweet Venagance

@ChaoticFox
Alex Robins was hot on JD6's tail, but the wily ace was doing a good job of flying in a complicated zig zag pattern, evading damn near all of her machine gun fire but managed to do 2% damage , his advanced thrusters kept him far enough ahead of her optimum range and just as she managed to catch up..

Jersey Devil Ace (6):
Oh you're good, no doubt about that doll, but that fossil you're flying is a little too slow.

JD6 slammed his air breaks and pulled a viciously tight somersault which suspended him just above the Scarlet Harlot as she flew underneath him and he blazed his machine gun fire to slam into the top half of her plane.
The rounds were standard but well placed, and hit Alex for a heavy 28% damage, he was now on her tail, and lining up for his next attack.

JD5 however was being torn apart, first the damage by the Flying Fortress knocked him off his attack path and the he was cut in on a sharp angle by the Focke Wulf as she sprayed him with her deadly hi calibre burst rounds. Black smoke was pouring from multiple holes in the jet.

JD5:KOfff Arrcckkm, I cant seee!!!!, too much smoke Koff Koff....splutter..

The combined fire of both Hannah and Hajar had not only damaged the plane but a lot of shrapnel hit the pilot in the canopy as well, blind and fatally wounded, the unlucky Jersey Devil found his plane crashing hard into a Tower Block Killing Him Instantly.

BOOOOOOMMMSSSSHH

Larcen was being tailed and hit a little bit by the gunfire of JD3, luckily it seemed like the pilot wasn't particularly skilled even in a jet, and the british pilot was keeping out of his firing line fairly easy, he turned as soon he heard the explosion and noticed a large Flying Fortress plane that seemed to had entered the battle out of nowhere, although initially worried, he remembered that the NY5 had a bomber from the bronx so he radioed in.
@Stern Algorithm

Nice shooting there, aint got a lot of time for introductions but I'm Larcen, Callsign: Manhattan, I take it you're Eldon Newman from the Bronx?

Larcen also noted some very impressive shooting from Hannah, but chose not to praise her over the intercom this time. His focus was also now split between his own situation between JD3 and Alex calling for help over her intercom against the Black Jet.

I cant see you Alex! is your plane okay? Fly a little closer to the fray and I can see if I can patch you up. Can anyone help Staten Island? I'm busy with a bandit on my tail!!

@bluetommy2
JD2 and JD4 were now catching up to Brooklyn but still having trouble hitting him only managing to get a 3% hit on the chinese pilot. The were clearly getting fustrated so they started shouting over the Radio.

JD4:Arrrrrrgghh fuck this, Tony! you stay on that Brooklyn Merc's tail I'm calling in the ground guns, were gonna fuck that German up! She just shot down Eddy!!

JD2 as ordererd opened his throttle and began to chase Ken hard, now lining up one the Jet's lock on missiles to Ken's Hu.

JD4 peeled off and flew over to the large JD1 to protect it as they both circled to fly towards Hajar.

On the ground, the orders were in, on the tops of some of the towers Large Flak guns and Anti Air missiles were being revealed from secret hatches, the Jersey Devils were now retaliating from the ground as the started pounding the sky with flak, hoping to hit something when.......THA-DUNK
@Skepic

Hannah's Focke-Wulf was hit in the underbelly almost directly by a Flak round, for a whopping damage of 36%. The fight was now truly on.

[Stern Algorithm]

"Fuck!" Hajar called out as JD5 took some potshots at her, but before she had chance to say, 'bogey on my tail', Hannah's Focke Wulf put more holes than a salt shaker into the enemy aircraft, sending it crashing in a blaze. "Allahu akbar!" Hajar called out in celebration, then in response to Larcen, "Hajar Mezgouri, Bronx Bomber. I...was Eldon's copilot..." She didn't want to think about Eldon's untimely death right now, not in the heat of battle.

Seeing a shot of flak hit Hannah's plane brought Hajar's mind back to the battle. Being of poor maneuverability, Hajar tried to turn Israfil in a large arc in an attempt to set herself on an optimal, straight line path that would have the maximum of number of ground emplacements lined up below her. From there, it would be a relatively simple matter to drop bombs while the plane cruised forward by itself. Looking down the clear forward turret to make sure the enemy anti-air was where she wanted, she ran back to Israfil's belly. The bombs still needed to be dropped manually. Opening the hatch, she kept an eye on her tablet, noticing with the turret cameras that JD1 and JD4 were closing in on her. She tried to have the turrets fire back as best she could while still making sure to time her bomb drops well enough to disrupt the gun emplacements. Automating bombing procedures and linking it to her tablet was the next thing on her to-do list.

[ChaoticFox]

Alexandria "Staten Island" Robins

---

Alex grunted as the rounds from the Ace ripped through the fuselage and canopy of the Harlot, severely damaging her craft. Spots flew across her eyes and gritted her teeth, placing a hand on her now bleeding gut. “...This is Staten Island, I’ve been hit. Shrapnel wounds, nothing more.” Alex looked back over her shoulder to see the Ace still hot on her tail and slowly gaining. With a quick glance to her altimeter, she realized there was only one thing the Harlot could do, that a jet couldn’t do quickly. Slow down.

Alex aggressively throttled back and brought her airspeed down, before slamming the accelerator forward and pulling back on the stick. The aircraft climbed for a moment, before it began to drop out of the sky like a rock. Then with a practiced hand, she twisted the yoke and purposefully brought the aircraft into a spin. The engine roared to life as the airflow to it was restored and the Harlot screamed off in between the buildings. (Slower example of the “maneuver” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKIk-dqml6U)

The blonde circled for a moment, taking her time to assess the wound before looking around her surroundings. “Where are you….you little bastard..”

Noticing the jet tailing Ken, Alex grumbled to herself before pushing the throttle forward and chasing after the assailant. The Harlot’s engine roared as it slowly began to catch up to JD2 and Alex began to line up her shot. “Ken, I’m on your six. Gonna see if I can get a shot.” While keeping an eye on her own tail, Alex carefully aligned herself with JD2 and squeezed the trigger on the stick, sending a large volley of .50 cal and 20mm rounds at the enemy. Flak exploded around her and the aircraft shuddered, but it remained true to it’s pilot’s commands and stayed on target.