Fandom Ace Combat: Rebirth Of Razgriz

[ChoShadow]

Kasumi was still in shock as she heard A.J. confirm he'd take over as flight lead until they got home.

"This is Kasumi... Roger. Falling in at your six." She said absentmindedly.

And she did. She fell in at A.J.'s six o'clock, though it took her a minute or two to get in position due to how slow her plane was going. But once she was in position, she went quiet once more. There would be little else for her to say at this time until they made it back and she had found the time to properly grieve for her fallen squad mates and flight lead.

Whisker Commissar Darman LoneSniper87 SirDerpingtonIV Razgriz

 

[Whisker]

AJ Riley

Landing - Arieno Air Force Base

1150 Hours

Once everyone had found their way back into formation, AJ took the reigns as promised and began to lead his fellow nuggets home. No one spoke much on the return journey. The laughter and jokes that had been a staple of their previous flights were nowhere to be found. The only thing holding them together now was the mutual need to make it home before it could happen again.

For AJ, it seemed to take years. But finally, after constant adjustments of the radar and close examination of their heading, he saw the lights of Areino airfield before them.

He switched his frequency to contact the control tower.

“Arieno Tower, this is Manticore 02. Requesting clearance to land.”

“Roger, Manticore 02. You are cleared to Land, proceed to Runway 4 at vector three-six-zero.”

“Three-six-zero, copy.”

Then he switched the channel and addressed the rest of his squadron:

“Welcome home, everyone. We all have clearance to land. If you’re like me, you’re riding on essentially bingo fuel so let’s not waste time.”

He then pulled his flaps as he spoke and lowered his landing gear in preparation to take the west-facing runway.

ChoShadow LoneSniper87 SirDerpingtonIV Commissar Darman

[Much shorter than I wanted it to be, but at least it's finally up.]

 

[ChoShadow]

Kasumi had been silent the entire trip back. Her mic was off and inside her cockpit she was basically an empty shell with only her will helping to steer the craft. Her brain was numb to basically everything except the hum of the wind racing by the cockpit and the grumbling of the engine.

As they came within sight of Areino Air Force Base, Kasumi's mind slowly came back into focus as she fell in line and took up a position to land on the East Facing runway opposite A.J. She gently led her plane down bouncing on the runway as she did so and brought it around to the hanger and guided it to its designated space.

Without a word she opened the cockpit and crawled out. She absentmindedly hopped down to the hanger floor and was grateful to have her feet on solid ground. She halfheartedly greeted the ground crew and made her way out towards the runway. She had a feeling the others would want to meet up before heading in for a debrief.

Whisker SirDerpingtonIV Commissar Darman LoneSniper87

 

[Whisker]

AJ hit the tarmac and winced as his craft bounced unsteadily at the back end. On a good day, he could land his F-16 as smooth as butter, the back wheels holding touch-and-go style for several meters before the forward wheel towards the nose ever touched the ground. Today, it thumped forward after just a few seconds, the whole craft shaking with a groan. His throat tightened. Then relaxed again as his plane zoomed down the runway without further issue. He passed Kasumi’s shiny F-16 towards the center and heaved a small sigh of relief that at least one of the others had made it down.

He didn’t want to be on the ground alone.

When he finally made it to the hangar he had shared with Amelia, Justin, and Johan, he slowed the plane to only a crawl as the ground crew guided him into position. Once he was given the signal to stop, he did his final check, and then finally put his baby to sleep, the engine’s shrill scream dying into nothing but an echo.

He sat in the cockpit and listened to it die away. AJ was vaguely aware that the ground crew below were scurrying for ladders to help him down. That they were pointing and whispering about the bullet holes that lined the back end of his plane. And that the empty spaces on either side of him were looking larger than ever.

He sighed listlessly and closed his eyes tight. He must have sat there for awhile for the next thing he knew, the crew chief was knocking on his canopy.

“AJ!”

AJ blinked rapidly a few times, then hastily popped the canopy.

“Are you - ?”

“Naw, I’m good. I’m not hurt.”

He noticed the other studying him from behind the dark safety glasses. Hastily, the weary pilot frowned and changed the subject.

“The others. Are they down yet?”

“Just Kasumi so far.”

AJ nodded.

“Right. Help me outta this thing.”

Together, they got the harness straps undone, and within minutes AJ was back on solid ground. He stayed long enough to give some final requests to the chief.

“Check her over and give her the full run-down and refuel. I want her in the best flying shape you can get ‘er as soon as possible.”

He had the queasy feeling that he’d need to be ready to go airborne at any moment. But first …

AJ left the hangar and started out towards the adjacent one, his helmet dangling by the tips of his fingers. He spotted Kasumi also leaving the hangar and quickened his step.

“Heya, Kas.”

He managed a weak smile that made his jaw twinge.

“Good to finally see a friendly face.”

His gaze turned towards her hangar, darkening a little as he recognized the Captain's spare plane still sitting inside.

“Church? Mike?”

ChoShadow LoneSniper87 Commissar Darman SirDerpingtonIV