There's a bit of a  chuckle,..that  would  fit the bloody bill alright...save time   for the ground crews too..not havin' to run out  everything  something leaves or  enters...


 Flicking the  COMs Rhino 4..Shadow here..on our  way out... I'll See  The Major as soon as we're done...


 after he eases  the Rhino out, He  Gives Kong-We  a look  as he says ,..was hopin' to take the other fighters  out, one  by one  for about   10 minutes...give you folks somethin' ta look at, make sure they'er all workin'

 Adjusting the vector,  they come  down the flank of the Marco. The  engines look even more massive this  close up. he  spins   Rhino 4  about gliding  back tapping the thrusters.

 Alright  folks.. Time Ta get us flyin' straight.... he signals the  ramp opening, waiting for thumbs up..then opens the  Ramp for  the folks to  get to work.

 He'll keep  an eye on his position,  as well as  take  a look around..... wonder if  anythin' is out there  watchin'? Heck? That stolen Rhino  could be floating out there..an' we wouldn't know it...

Fixing the bent vanes takes the team a lot less time than Kray expected. Helped by the weightless state in the expanse, they came off easily despite being twice a man in size, and placing and bolting down the new ones took only a few minutes longer. The crew worked well together, coordinating their different tasks expertly and quickly. Directed by Cornell through the numerous monitors attached to the outside of the Rhino they encounter no trouble during their work.
Within half an hour the team was back in and ready to get back to the CS-8, the three bent vanes expertly replaced.

  Once the   team boarded  and  his  checks  were  all ok on the ramp and cables, he peeled off towards the Black, so he  could  bend her in to a  nice  smooth run at the hanger doors.

  In to the COMs to the  Team he says,...gotta say?..you blokes are better  men then I am... gettin' that thing put  together like that?.. DArn good Job all around.

 Once the door  are Open   he enters, slowly spinning the  Rhino around. Once the ship settles onto the  deck. he  shuts her  down and says,..alright Mates, Time ta  disembark..That's fer flying  " air Shadow"..

 Looking over  at Kong-We, he offers her  his hand, Nice  workin' with ya.... these  bricks-with-wings need 2 sets of eyes... even if one set belongs to  a Hotshot pilot!

<<<<<<<< after   engineers fixed the engine vanes

   Exiting the Rhino after talking, He   COMs  Major Ascott....Major?  LT Shadow? I'm  back from our  fly-about..The Blokes  did a right proper job out there... Where  should a meet ya?

"I'm currently on my way to the barracks for some dinner." Ascott replies over the comm. "So either there if you are hungry, or in my office around 19.00?"

 ..I"ll Meet ya in the barrackis then, Major...sir... Could  use some coffee, and a might bit of food.

   after  returning the suit, leaving the tag  , showing  for it to be checked after use..  he will  Give  Kong-We another nod , as he walks towards  the fighter Hanger.

  If he sees Hanchel, he  stop and ask him how #19 fighter  is... then  give the  fellow a clap on the shoulder as he moves on to the Barrickss.

Shadow to Barracks>>>>>

<<<<<<<<<<<<  from Hanger 4

  returning to the Hangers, He looks around for Kong-We.   When he sees her, he  approaches and says,..G'day again SGT?... Major told me  ta see if there is anythin' ya need  'elp with..that..I could 'elp?..um..with?

  Looking around he says,..i did  preflight on all the  fighters ,'cept the  spares...  they were recorded on the   Clipboard... But? I'm supposed to  see if  i can 'elp?

  While  he waited to see if there was anything he could Help with, Kray Moved  around  to Check his  fighter over again.

   When he's  done there, the Pilot  moves to where the armory is  to see if he can get a look at the missiles  close up. Weapons were  weapons, he preferred the guns, but if they had these things, he may was well get used to using them.

Kong-We seems as distant as she was at first now that she is back to her maintenance tasks. As Hanschel notices this he grins. He makes a hands up gesture as if to say hey, what can you do?
As Kray moves to the armory the german mechanic follows him.
"Planning on a weapons run Lieutenant?"

The void missiles are small, about the size of an old sidewinder missile, with an internal engine, twelve manouvring thrusters and a large airsupply to counter the lack of oxygen in space. It's 500 kg warhead is more than enough to take out any fighter, and since its the new CT91 explosive they might work against capital ships too, at least in space. In an atmosphere they function moderately at best, designed to be used in a vacuum zero-G environment.
Their relative small weight allows the Hellcat to carry 6 on each of its eight hardpoints though, so with a load of 48 void missiles a single Hellcat can still be a formidable opponent. If the Major is right in them functioning a lot better in space that is.

"Those void missiles are nasty. You going out to try them?"

 He  nods  and shrugs as he grins  at Henschel.

 When  Henchel asks  about the  weapons  run, Shadow's  half  smile turns up.well?  I asked about  taking the fighters out   so you folks  can get some read outs on the Bloody things... The Major  said about takin' the 4 spares  out..and maybe tryin' the missles...

 he looks around  and leans towards  Hechel and says in a low voice,..nerve much liked  Missles... Like to go to guns an' all..like a dog fighter? ya know?...but?  if they work like he says..well..could  change  my mind, right quick....

"I'll get a couple of them loaded up on #22 then. She'll be ready in fifteen."
Hanschel went looking for an ammo wagon. When he found one he started to load up four void missiles.
"Go ahead if you want to pre-flight her," he added.

     There is a Nod  and a grin, as he climbs up into the cockpit. leaving it open. Checking the systems  as he  flicked  switches  and  moved  toggles.

  Looking at the control panel he double checked  the canopy light to make sure it was red.

  ...old  Flight Instructor , told us..' make sure your do your system checks with the cockpit open..

 he  peers over the edge,..never understood  why, until last year  it our flight course, we were  doing startosphere  dogfights?... One  Bloke?   British..always wore a scarf ..it got bloody caught in the seal..and the red light didn't  come on.. so?.. first deep dive he  did.  Canopy popped  under the stress.. and he was almost strangled .. he hadda  crash land the bleedin' thing...when I left for my speical trainin'..he was demoted to a classroom instructor...all? because of a bloody scarf...

..i think our  flight instructor wanna us ta make sure   the cockpit  would register..if it wasn't  closed...

..looking over the  panel , he'll record what he sees as he did  when he was by himself., Once he is  Finished he  move to his locker, double and  triple  checking the seals and such.

 When Finished  he'll hand the  clipboard to Hanchel,..That's what i can see from in here, Mate... we'll see if  anything shakes  lose  when i take her out, and have at the  Drones...

"Just fitting the last missile. I got you six of them, should be enough for four drones."
Finishing up he then clears the doors can be opened.

  Thank Ya..what i miss  witht eh  Missles..i'll finish off with guns....

 he gives the deck salute, as he takes off for target practice....

 when the doors  opened he glided in..pivoting to get the craft into its berth.

 Once the door closed  He got out of the  Cockpit..  shaking his head.That was   fun, an' that's the truth. But i'd be bloody lyin' if i said i was happy with  my performance....

 He patted  22 on the   side  as he  walked to Henshel and handed him the  Disc...She got a bloody good  work out... used a few moves i haven't used fer a while... if anythin' is loose..it should show up.

"I'll give her a decent check-up. 21 and 23 are ready for action too if you are interested. Take special care when taking out 23, she has a bit of a temper in her Left wing flap. Its more reactive than her right side. Could just be from standing still, so maybe a little workout will loosen it up. Fresh oil didn't do her much good," Hanschel states as he sticks his helmeted head out of the fuselage of number 24.

"Have they not taught you to double up the void missiles Lieutenant?" Kong-we's voice sounds harsh, almost mad. "Your gun cam shows you launched the moment you got lock. While that works sometimes, judging by your two hits, the missiles work a lot better when you give them three seconds longer. Your lock will go from red to green, meaning the missile's own locking system has found the target too. With those four drones you would have hit all of them. They should have taught you that when you enrolled in the squadron. They practiced on it for a month. Yueng would have remembered."
She looks at him, hands resting on her hips, waiting for a reaction of sorts. She could actually be considered pretty in the low light of the hangar, if she wasn't so uptight about everything.

  He  smiles a thin smile as she berates him, while he climbs out.Well..SGT you may be right about that..but 3  seconds in a hellcat is a lifetime...sometimes..literally He plops  down on the deck and walks to 23, since she may need more care then the other.

  ..now? I'm real good  at remembering.. my scores in class room and such show that...but? ya can't remember  wht you haven't been taught...

 as he looks  23 over from the outside he says. almost to himself, but its  plain he's talking to them both...I only used voids in atmo...an' let's face it.. they ain't much good in Atmo, uness you're  coming from behind....

  As he climbs up  to get into the cockpit he adds,Only had  3 days  with the Squadron, before they  put us in cold storage?... 9 'ells.. i only met  about  4 of the Blokes..and The russian?..only greeted me, 'cause  we flew with and against each other in war games..I ..um...was brought up, 'cause there was an openin'..  with a final shrug he says,..In the end? I'll get used ta them...but the pilots way back in the old days, when they had that Korea thing?..Americans fell in love with missiles.. and alot of them died..wasn't  until they started  that Top gun thing.. that less of them died in that Vietnam thing..Cause they  taught them how ta dogfight again...so?... if the  time comes  that we have ta fight something else... they know  I can use guns....

 But, them were good  tips  ya give me... theres a friendly 'Shadow' half smile...I'll keep them in mind, when i get  a few extra seconds!

 He winks  as he   slides his helmet on  and closes the Canopy.. and waits for the OK to launch
This message was last edited by the player at 03:27, Wed 05 Apr 2017.

  Entering the Hanger, the Pilot uses his thrusters to park 23 in her berth.

  Once the  Doors   are Closed and  the lights  change,  Kray pops the cockpit and the flight disc for the Techs  to see and work off of.

  ..Bloody  9 'ells , the ship kicker 'er bloody engines in as   i flew down 'er spine.... 


 Motioning to 23 he adds,..the  sticking broke lose?.. might  wanna  check the  tubing though.. there  could be some build up...I dunno..it  just felt..kinda  jerky until the fluids  started to pop through

 Happily logging in his  flight  time, on which ship  and  making notes in the note section of what transpired   with 23.

  Asking  Marco,..Marko?  Ask  the brdige if i can take another figther out?..or  does the MArco have plans...

According to the bridge you have at least eight more hours. Captain is currently running engine checks, so stay clear of the exhausts.

  Thank You Marco....

  He looks  around the Deck,..Alright...Gonna  take  21 out for a few ta see how she  shakes out....    Looking around the outside of the  aircraft he  looks  sign of fluid  leak and such, though he knows he  really doesn't have to.Since they just checked it out.. it was all part of his pre-flight habit.

 Climbing up, and Climbing in, he does  his preflight...Once everything checks... the Canopy comes  down, hisses shut.

 Giving the door  operators  a salute... the happy pilot  takes the  Next craft into the Black........

 >>>>>>>>>>>>  Shadow to space.

<<<<<<<  from space.

  gliding in and   pivoting around to find the berth...the  Hellcat looked like it was almost finding its own way.

  Once he steeled her  down. popped the   canopy, and climbed down. He  looked for  either Henschel or Kong-we. To give the disc readout to.

  ..she was a bit stiff..but worked out real well... might need  some tubes cleared though?  I'm gonna go for a bit  now, Id they  don't 'ave nothin' fer me tomorrow... I'll take a few more out.

 He nods with a smile to them, heading off to his quarters and a shaower. Slapping the side of the door as he replayed the drone tagging him, in his mind.


>>>>>>>>>>  to quarters.

"Have a good one Lieutenant," Hanschel replied as he took the disk and went to check the ship.
"Looks like you shot yourself down eh?"

  He  shook his head  as he chuckled,..right, Mate.... i wonder if i'll get a confirmed kill fer that!....he waved and was off.

The hangars are a lot busier now than the day before, with several marines working hard to check up on the gun emplacements next to the hangar doors. Some drag boxes of ammunition towards the ports, others carry buckets of cleaner or work bottles of gun oil to get them all fresh and clean.
Kong-We and her crew are busy locking down all the crafts for transport, so when needed the hangar doors can be opened without the unused fighters drifting off into space.
The only exception is number 19, which sits at the launchpad, prepped and ready in case it is needed.