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Description
First Sortie, Part 1

It was a beautiful spring day over the Irish countryside. Some clouds here and there, but with mostly clear skies and great visibility, a fine day for flying. The quiet humdrum of the landscape was only contested by the distinct buzzing sound of Rostock-made piston engines propelling two fighter planes across the sky.

-“How’s that bird, treating you, Sapphire?”

“Sapphire”, Tachikawa’s new callsign, a tone of blue to go with Windhover’s “Indigo” and Nakajima’s “Iris”.

-“Oh, she’s wonderful” – Tachikawa replied into the radio microphone – “very responsive and light on the stick. ‘Might be on the best planes I’ve ever flown!”

Windhover chuckled warmly, few things brightened up his day like excited new blood.

-“Well, you’ll be pleased to hear our mechanics take pride in pampering us when it comes to aircraft maintenance, our crates are handled by the best hands in the business.”

He did it again. Sharing the sky with him left her feeling just plain happy for no particular reason. She loved flying, seeing the ground from up high and frolicking among the clouds always put a smile on her face, but the thoughts she spared soaking in those good feelings were now replaced with ones drifting to her flight lead.

She hadn’t really thought about it until after she had parted ways with him the day before, but Daniel Windhover was quite the interesting fellow. Starting with the most obvious fact: he wasn’t a Kildren, he was too old. Not that he was old, he was a young man in his prime, 25 or younger, the only thing making him old was the company he kept, seeing as Kildren never progress beyond their teens. Nevertheless, his were rather boyish looks. Whatever age she gave him, he was definitely a couple of years older, the odd thick hair root or dried nick from consistently intervaled passes of razor blades on his neatly shaven face being among the few details that openly gave him away.

What really brought out these little things here and there, what really made him stand out from his peers, though, was... something she couldn’t quite name. He was by no means a wise man with all the answers, nor did he ever attempt to pass on such an image, but he had these little ways of looking at things that were just... different. She had only been around him for about a day and a half, but she could already tell he somehow gave things their proper weight. The way he talked, the way he thought before talking, the way he acknowledged the small things, how he managed to skirt the apathy that trademarks most Kildren and how he felt no detail was too small or unimportant. It all came together into a young man that, to her eyes, was frankly exotic from the sheer “different” factor about him.

He was one of that rarest breed of combat pilots roaming the sky: naturally born and raised human pilots. “Thoroughbreds” as they came to be known, and he was the first she had ever come across in person.

-“Sapphire, if you want to ask something, there’s no need to be shy about it.”

Even Windhover’s usual light-hearted tone didn’t prevent Tachikawa from being thrown off, she had been silently lost in her own thoughts for a while now, yet that statement of his almost made it feel like he had a direct radio channel to her mind. She even caught herself feeling hot under her oxygen mask, how red in the face was she?

-“Oh, u-uh, yeah, well... actually... I was just thinking, that plane you’re flying, that’s a Suiga, an M-V model if I’m not mistaken.” – That wasn’t necessarily the biggest question on her mind, but it was something that also peaked her curiosity once she saw her flight lead’s steed first emerge from the hangars back at the base – “I was wondering, the whole Suiga line was discontinued a long time ago, how come you’re flying such an old bird?”

“Here we go again”, Windhover thought to himself with a smile, he had went through this song and dance so many times before, but he enjoyed it every time, because every time always felt like the first time.

-“Well, for two reasons, really. One’s a bit of sentimentality, I guess, the other’s practicality.”

The answer’s preamble alone intrigued her, she eagerly perked up her ears for the rest.

-“I’ve got a soft spot for this particular model. You’re only half right about the Suiga being discontinued. It actually wasn’t, production was just greatly downsized. Nowadays, Suigas are relatively cheap to build and way more forgiving to fly than Sankas, hence why you can still find them in rear line or remote bases the company operates. Kildren are naturally gifted flyers, you can jump straight into a Sanka and do barrel rolls on day one. Pilots like me, we’re a little different, we need to be eased into flying, start with crates that handle nice and easy before moving on to the more... delicate types. The first bird I ever flew in the company was a Shinsei, a trainer, *chuckle* ‘bet you didn’t even know about those, huh?”

She didn’t, she had no idea planes specifically made for training pilots even existed.

-“Anyway, once I got to grips with the basics, I moved on to a Suiga. For all intents and purposes that was an... intermediate kind of plane.” – He pause for a moment, clearly enjoying his reminiscing – “... I logged a lot of hours on that bird. I loved every second of it. The Suiga isn’t the fastest or the most agile fighter in the sky, but it’s very pilot-friendly, easy to handle and solidly responsive. Eventually I moved on to the Sanka, but... it just wasn’t the same...”

He paused again, promptly snapping right back – “So, once I got some bars on my shoulder, I called up a friend of mine to see if I could get my hands on a Suiga again. He came through and here I am now.”

The answer, almost story-like now, truly captivated her. She had no idea one could go about flying like Windhover described it. Learning how to pilot planes by starting small, growing attached to a particular model when, to her, all planes were just metal, wiring and bolts made to carry their pilot from point A to point B, it all sounded to strange, so alien... so wonderful...

-“... What about the “practicality” bit? How is a plane that’s slower and less manoeuvrable than a Sanka more practical?” – She asked, genuinely eager to hear more.

-“Right, here’s how it goes. The Sanka is, quite simply, a Kildren’s plane. It’s built from the ground up with maximum performance in mind. It thrives when handled by pilots who can squeeze as much performance out of it as possible, which is what Kildren do best.”

It all made sense to her so far.

-“The downside of that design philosophy is that the Sanka as it exists today is not very pilot-friendly. Its controls, while superb if handled perfectly, are actually very twitchy, any little mistake or oversight on the pilot’s behalf can devolve into a catastrophic problem very quickly, and that’s the sort of thing you can do without having to worry about in the middle of a dogfight.”

She couldn’t quite tell if he was right about that, after all she had been flying Sankas for years and she’s never had control issues. Then again, she was a Kildren, flying was more natural to her than walking, she was practically born inside a cockpit. Under those conditions, the only way to fly imperfectly is to do it on purpose... maybe he was right, from where he stood, anyway.

-“The Suiga, on the other hand, was built with the pilot in mind, rather than pure performance. Like I said, its controls are wonderfully pilot-friendly, not as quick on the draw as the Sanka’s, but much easier to handle and, frankly, more comfortable. You don’t have to constantly be absolutely millimetric all the damn time.”

Tachikawa renewed her attention, now came the best bit.

-“With this in mind, the Suiga’s handling naturally appeals to pilots who prefer to work in concert with others, while the Sanka’s high performance invites its pilots to excel as individual dogfighters. Not being a Kildren, I found out pretty early on that I couldn´t compete on raw performance alone, not by myself anyway, so I turned to tactics and coordinated manoeuvres with my wingmen to offset the discrepancy.”

Yet another thing she hadn’t thought about until now. As far as she knew, Kildren had the technique aspect of flying running at a 100% at all times. How could a pilot compete with anything less?

-“This required precision, sustained precision, the kind that a pilot like me pulls off best in a plane that handles more forgivingly than a twitchy Sanka, preferably one that can also take a hit or two. Enter the Suiga, catering ever so sweetly to my specific flying needs.”

Flying in concert with others. The idea only sounded strange to her until she gave it some real thought. Kildren flew in formations all the time, flawlessly so in fact, but most dogfights did usually boil down to each plane fighting his own battle. They helped each other, sure, but he was right, she couldn’t remember any one time she and another pilot actually actively worked together in a dogfight.

-“Of course I wouldn’t get very far without someone at the top of his game to work with. In comes Ayane Nakajima, the best dance partner I’ve ever had” – His voice softened – “I have yet to find someone who works two-plane manoeuvres like her... Heheh, the “Coupled Cormorants” they called us...”

He hung on that thought for a moment before returning to reality.

-“Well *ahem*, I’ve rambled on long enough, we should really return to our patrol, don’t you think?”

-“Roger that, sir.”

They had been flying for long enough, he figured, it was time to move things along.

-“Ok Sapphire, time to wrap this up, scan the clouds one last time, see anything on your end?”

She looked carefully all over her left side. Being on the trail position of their pair just behind Windhover’s left wing, the sky to their left was hers to watch over with doubled attention, while Windhover did the same on the right.

-“I don’t see anything.” – Tachikawa said, not expecting to find anything in the first place at that point – “I think we’re clear to RTB, sir...

Sir?...”

Description
First Sortie, Part 1

It was a beautiful spring day over the Irish countryside. Some clouds here and there, but with mostly clear skies and great visibility, a fine day for flying. The quiet humdrum of the landscape was only contested by the distinct buzzing sound of Rostock-made piston engines propelling two fighter planes across the sky.

-“How’s that bird, treating you, Sapphire?”

“Sapphire”, Tachikawa’s new callsign, a tone of blue to go with Windhover’s “Indigo” and Nakajima’s “Iris”.

-“Oh, she’s wonderful” – Tachikawa replied into the radio microphone – “very responsive and light on the stick. ‘Might be on the best planes I’ve ever flown!”

Windhover chuckled warmly, few things brightened up his day like excited new blood.

-“Well, you’ll be pleased to hear our mechanics take pride in pampering us when it comes to aircraft maintenance, our crates are handled by the best hands in the business.”

He did it again. Sharing the sky with him left her feeling just plain happy for no particular reason. She loved flying, seeing the ground from up high and frolicking among the clouds always put a smile on her face, but the thoughts she spared soaking in those good feelings were now replaced with ones drifting to her flight lead.

She hadn’t really thought about it until after she had parted ways with him the day before, but Daniel Windhover was quite the interesting fellow. Starting with the most obvious fact: he wasn’t a Kildren, he was too old. Not that he was old, he was a young man in his prime, 25 or younger, the only thing making him old was the company he kept, seeing as Kildren never progress beyond their teens. Nevertheless, his were rather boyish looks. Whatever age she gave him, he was definitely a couple of years older, the odd thick hair root or dried nick from consistently intervaled passes of razor blades on his neatly shaven face being among the few details that openly gave him away.

What really brought out these little things here and there, what really made him stand out from his peers, though, was... something she couldn’t quite name. He was by no means a wise man with all the answers, nor did he ever attempt to pass on such an image, but he had these little ways of looking at things that were just... different. She had only been around him for about a day and a half, but she could already tell he somehow gave things their proper weight. The way he talked, the way he thought before talking, the way he acknowledged the small things, how he managed to skirt the apathy that trademarks most Kildren and how he felt no detail was too small or unimportant. It all came together into a young man that, to her eyes, was frankly exotic from the sheer “different” factor about him.

He was one of that rarest breed of combat pilots roaming the sky: naturally born and raised human pilots. “Thoroughbreds” as they came to be known, and he was the first she had ever come across in person.

-“Sapphire, if you want to ask something, there’s no need to be shy about it.”

Even Windhover’s usual light-hearted tone didn’t prevent Tachikawa from being thrown off, she had been silently lost in her own thoughts for a while now, yet that statement of his almost made it feel like he had a direct radio channel to her mind. She even caught herself feeling hot under her oxygen mask, how red in the face was she?

-“Oh, u-uh, yeah, well... actually... I was just thinking, that plane you’re flying, that’s a Suiga, an M-V model if I’m not mistaken.” – That wasn’t necessarily the biggest question on her mind, but it was something that also peaked her curiosity once she saw her flight lead’s steed first emerge from the hangars back at the base – “I was wondering, the whole Suiga line was discontinued a long time ago, how come you’re flying such an old bird?”

“Here we go again”, Windhover thought to himself with a smile, he had went through this song and dance so many times before, but he enjoyed it every time, because every time always felt like the first time.

-“Well, for two reasons, really. One’s a bit of sentimentality, I guess, the other’s practicality.”

The answer’s preamble alone intrigued her, she eagerly perked up her ears for the rest.

-“I’ve got a soft spot for this particular model. You’re only half right about the Suiga being discontinued. It actually wasn’t, production was just greatly downsized. Nowadays, Suigas are relatively cheap to build and way more forgiving to fly than Sankas, hence why you can still find them in rear line or remote bases the company operates. Kildren are naturally gifted flyers, you can jump straight into a Sanka and do barrel rolls on day one. Pilots like me, we’re a little different, we need to be eased into flying, start with crates that handle nice and easy before moving on to the more... delicate types. The first bird I ever flew in the company was a Shinsei, a trainer, *chuckle* ‘bet you didn’t even know about those, huh?”

She didn’t, she had no idea planes specifically made for training pilots even existed.

-“Anyway, once I got to grips with the basics, I moved on to a Suiga. For all intents and purposes that was an... intermediate kind of plane.” – He pause for a moment, clearly enjoying his reminiscing – “... I logged a lot of hours on that bird. I loved every second of it. The Suiga isn’t the fastest or the most agile fighter in the sky, but it’s very pilot-friendly, easy to handle and solidly responsive. Eventually I moved on to the Sanka, but... it just wasn’t the same...”

He paused again, promptly snapping right back – “So, once I got some bars on my shoulder, I called up a friend of mine to see if I could get my hands on a Suiga again. He came through and here I am now.”

The answer, almost story-like now, truly captivated her. She had no idea one could go about flying like Windhover described it. Learning how to pilot planes by starting small, growing attached to a particular model when, to her, all planes were just metal, wiring and bolts made to carry their pilot from point A to point B, it all sounded to strange, so alien... so wonderful...

-“... What about the “practicality” bit? How is a plane that’s slower and less manoeuvrable than a Sanka more practical?” – She asked, genuinely eager to hear more.

-“Right, here’s how it goes. The Sanka is, quite simply, a Kildren’s plane. It’s built from the ground up with maximum performance in mind. It thrives when handled by pilots who can squeeze as much performance out of it as possible, which is what Kildren do best.”

It all made sense to her so far.

-“The downside of that design philosophy is that the Sanka as it exists today is not very pilot-friendly. Its controls, while superb if handled perfectly, are actually very twitchy, any little mistake or oversight on the pilot’s behalf can devolve into a catastrophic problem very quickly, and that’s the sort of thing you can do without having to worry about in the middle of a dogfight.”

She couldn’t quite tell if he was right about that, after all she had been flying Sankas for years and she’s never had control issues. Then again, she was a Kildren, flying was more natural to her than walking, she was practically born inside a cockpit. Under those conditions, the only way to fly imperfectly is to do it on purpose... maybe he was right, from where he stood, anyway.

-“The Suiga, on the other hand, was built with the pilot in mind, rather than pure performance. Like I said, its controls are wonderfully pilot-friendly, not as quick on the draw as the Sanka’s, but much easier to handle and, frankly, more comfortable. You don’t have to constantly be absolutely millimetric all the damn time.”

Tachikawa renewed her attention, now came the best bit.

-“With this in mind, the Suiga’s handling naturally appeals to pilots who prefer to work in concert with others, while the Sanka’s high performance invites its pilots to excel as individual dogfighters. Not being a Kildren, I found out pretty early on that I couldn´t compete on raw performance alone, not by myself anyway, so I turned to tactics and coordinated manoeuvres with my wingmen to offset the discrepancy.”

Yet another thing she hadn’t thought about until now. As far as she knew, Kildren had the technique aspect of flying running at a 100% at all times. How could a pilot compete with anything less?

-“This required precision, sustained precision, the kind that a pilot like me pulls off best in a plane that handles more forgivingly than a twitchy Sanka, preferably one that can also take a hit or two. Enter the Suiga, catering ever so sweetly to my specific flying needs.”

Flying in concert with others. The idea only sounded strange to her until she gave it some real thought. Kildren flew in formations all the time, flawlessly so in fact, but most dogfights did usually boil down to each plane fighting his own battle. They helped each other, sure, but he was right, she couldn’t remember any one time she and another pilot actually actively worked together in a dogfight.

-“Of course I wouldn’t get very far without someone at the top of his game to work with. In comes Ayane Nakajima, the best dance partner I’ve ever had” – His voice softened – “I have yet to find someone who works two-plane manoeuvres like her... Heheh, the “Coupled Cormorants” they called us...”

He hung on that thought for a moment before returning to reality.

-“Well *ahem*, I’ve rambled on long enough, we should really return to our patrol, don’t you think?”

-“Roger that, sir.”

They had been flying for long enough, he figured, it was time to move things along.

-“Ok Sapphire, time to wrap this up, scan the clouds one last time, see anything on your end?”

She looked carefully all over her left side. Being on the trail position of their pair just behind Windhover’s left wing, the sky to their left was hers to watch over with doubled attention, while Windhover did the same on the right.

-“I don’t see anything.” – Tachikawa said, not expecting to find anything in the first place at that point – “I think we’re clear to RTB, sir...

Sir?...”