| Nipping at Their Heels |
| Summary: | Sometimes a plan goes…according to plan. The Air Wing clears a path through the mine field for Operation Silent Mastiff in style. |
| Date: | 05 Feb 2042 AE |
| Related Logs: | Directly precedes The Dog That Didn't Bark |
| Players: |
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| Minefield Surrounding Cylon Foundry |
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| Pretty much what the room name says. In Space. |
| Post-Holocaust Day: #344 |
[Harrier-651: Cidra] At 14:00 Hours the battlegroup ships jumped back into Tauron space. Or, rather, on the outer fringes of what was Tauron space. The weeks of preparation have come to an end, and Silent Mastiff is now commencing. The bulk of the nasty work will be done by the boarding party, but they'll need to get the foundry first. And it's beyond an ancient but still active minefield, a remnant of the warring factions that were the Twelve Worlds before unification.
The task is simple enough. Vipers fly by dumb proximity mines, mines go boom, field is clear. But is it ever really that simple? The Vipers have just finished launching and are flitting off to their designated zones along the edges of the minefield. Where they'll meet up with the Raptor that's been standing sentry at that point for the last half-hour. Surveying, using its data to plot preferable flight paths, making ready as best they can. There's been much preparation. But will it be enough? We shall now see.
[Harrier-303: Marko] "Okay, Bunny." Marko calls over the intercom as he finishes a final final check on his gear. "DRADIS is clear. ECM's on standby, and nothing's radiating." he reports. settling back into his seat a little. "You can signal Drips he's good to start his run whenever he's ready."
[BlackKnight-309: Andrea] Andrea's bird gives its wing a bit of a wiggle to greet Cidra's bird as she approaches her zone. Her lights start flashing. "Evening, Ma'am. Hear you have an infestation you need taken care of?"
[BlackKnight-662: Wade] After the assignments were made, Wade ended up working with Bunny and Marko. Right now, the man is moving his Viper towards their Raptor, or, their Raptor that has a few additions to look like junk. The man is in radio silence mode at the moment so he'll be using his signaling lights to communicate with the Raptor and maybe with the other Vipers should the situation find a need for it. Regardless, he makes his way to where he needs to be. He flashes a 'Clear eyes and steady hands' to the other Vipers while he flies in formation with them but soon separates from the group to get closer to Bunny and Marko. When he gets there, he waggles his wing a little, signaling that he is ready for his run.
[BlackKnight-855: Roland] Blue checks his spacing on the other two Vipers, wondering to himself if anyone told the Chief they were about to set of mines with them. He flashes his signal light twice in response to Drips, and adjusts his trim.
[Harrier-303: Evandreus] Evan does a passable impression of a piece of space debris. At least, from the outside of the boat. Inside, it's a flurry of activity as he codes in several dozen paths of trajectory to run against one another in a battle for ultimate surpemacy. "Right, Flasher," he calls back, and, pulling down the console flap for the light signal switch, he taps in the code. From Wade's perspective, a beacon suddenly picks out the Raptor from the rest of the space junk, splashing a message, short, sweet, simple: ZONE ALPHA READY
[Harrier-651: Cidra] Cidra's lights flash in return to Andrea. Managing to be slightly dry, somehow, even in code. 'That is Sir, Hosedown. We are nearly ready. In position. I wish you quick, safe flying.
[Harrier-307: Ulixes] Ulixes gives the wings of his Raptor a little waggle, just glad to be out and flying again and taking any opportunity he can to actually, you know, fly. He doesn't show off, though, nor does he go off the planned course set for him. Just a mild case of showboating, really.
<FS3> Evandreus rolls Raptors: Terrible Failure.
<FS3> <FS3> Cidra rolls Raptors: Great Success.
<FS3> <FS3> Ulixes rolls Raptors: Good Success.
[BlackKnight-309: Andrea] "Yes sir, thank you, sir." Andreas flashers reply as she maneuvers into position to start her run. She feels remarkably cool about the whole thing… she has mama bear looking over her shoulder, after all.
[BlackKnight-662: Wade] Wade looks at the Raptor at his right and turns his light to start signaling 'What's the flight plan?' asks the Viper pilot, looking ahead again as he awaits for the answer. His attention moves to his controls for just a brief second but looks outside again as he gets ready to receive details from them.
[Harrier-303: Marko] :has his screen split, one half depicting the passive DRADIS display, just in case any Cylons should decide to crash the party. The other half shows the minefield. A touch of a key overlaps the two, which he does now. "Dense clusters at one four six carom one two seven through carom one four four." he calls out. "He definitely doesn't want to get close to those."
[BlackKnight-855: Roland] Blue glances over as Wade signals. He studies his Dradis for a moment before signaling back his entry coordinates, and the exit on the far side of the field. He checks his spacing before watching for any reply.
[Harrier-651: Cidra] Blink, blink. Blink, blink, blinkity blink. Communicating with Cidra via signal code is not much different than communicating with her in real life, Andrea might find. The CAG is quite sharp on her signal lights to Hosedown, so she seems to want to relay with gusto whatever it is she's picked up from trolling the debris field. It's relayed in coordinate numbers, ended with a textual 'Clear eyes and steady hands.'
[Harrier-303: Evandreus] "Huh? Crap," Evan mutters as two more clusters of debris drift right into his optimalized flight path. "Just… sit still for like two freaking seconds," he pleads of the debris itself as he frantically tries to punch through the new numbers, rather bull-headedly not thinking to scrap the entire thing and start over, since his Viper compatriot is… well, waiting. Instead, the entire thing comes out needlessly complicated, the flashed directions looking like he's trying to orchestrate an aerial ballet rather than get a guy through some shit.
<FS3> <FS3> Andrea rolls Vipers+15: Great Success.
Wade has spent 1 luck points on Stupid Mine Field.
<FS3> <FS3> Wade rolls Vipers-10: Good Success.
<FS3> <FS3> Roland rolls Vipers+10: Great Success.
[BlackKnight-309: Andrea] It's a lot like a dance, really. Andrea closes her eyes for a second to visualize the coordinates she is fed by the CAG, and then starts her Viper dancing through mines, setting off explosions and then easily getting out of the blast radius, even avoiding any secondary contact from debris pushed by the explosions. It's actually a whole lot of fun. At one point, she sets two off more or less at once, and flies through the trigger zone of a third in evading their explosions. Good times.
[BlackKnight-662: Wade] Wade arches both eyebrows at the flight path that Bunny is laying down. Then? He completely adopts a 'What the frak' face. He looks at the minefield, looks back at the Raptor and presses his lips together. Well, this is going to be interesting. His acknowledgment? It's simply a 'Right' flashed back to the Raptor. Now, the man starts warming up the engines for a high g blast to start with high speed right from the top. After a few seconds. WOOSH! Off he goes, speeding towards the mine field. The first few feet go well then he has to do a violent barrel roll to his left, followed by an almost 90 degree lift with another roll to the right on the way down. He gets a more straight path and starts dodging mines. Mines that start to go boom boom boom behind him. Hard left only to roll back into position, diving his nose and pushing on the tail position thrusters to avoid getting it hit by a mine. He moves up again and for now, he is able to dodge everything. Success.
[BlackKnight-855: Roland] Blue mutters to himself, and lines his Viper up on his best guess at a safe way in. He pauses a few seconds before he sees the way open up. With a grin he smashes the throttle forward, feeling the fighter jump, pressing bim back into the the pilot seat. He banks away from one explosion only to reverse the turn, and line up on another hole in the field. The pilot actualy grins as he rolls and darts between a pair of mines, leaving the detonation in his wake.
[Harrier-303: Marko] "The hell?" Marko asks as he watches Wade's aerobatics display on the DRADIS display. "What did you tell him, Bunny?" he asks with that certain tone one uses when one is speaking to someone who might be mentally ill.
[Harrier-307: Ulixes] Besides a few bobs of the wings to get a better feel for the bird, Ulixes flies in a far more conservative fashion than he used to. And he's not filling the radio with useless chatter either. He's just focusing on what he's doing, moving along at a decent pace and doing his best not to hit anything as he goes.
[Harrier-651: Cidra] Flashes of brief blasts of firelight flare up in the blackness of space as the Vipers flit past them, but none are caught in the blast zone of those first explosions. These were weapons made for an age long gone, never made to contend with modern aeronautics. And the pilots of the Fighting Fourteenth, it must be said, know their shit going in. They leave a wide swathe of open space in their wake where debris, and hidden mines, once were. But they aren't through it yet. Only half the field has been clear, and those pilots are still navigating space that is, quite literally, explosive.
[Harrier-303: Evandreus] Evan, for his part, watches from the fore viewports, brows rising quietly as the maneuvers look a lot more complicated in the air than they seemed in his head as he was sending them out. "… uh. That. I guess," Bunny's lips twitch, not quite a smile. "Boy can sure dance, can't he?"
<FS3> <FS3> Roland rolls Vipers+10: Success.
Wade has spent 2 luck points on Stupid Mine field IN SPACE!
<FS3> <FS3> Wade rolls Vipers-10: Success.
<FS3> <FS3> Andrea rolls Vipers+15: Success.
[Harrier-307: Trask] And this is why a frakton of prep-work is a always good idea. Bootstrap cut no corners when it came to the flight path and debris drift projections, nor did he cut anyone slack when it came to test runs for the scenarios in the sims. A small but decidedly pleased smile forms, lingering for a moment — but just a moment. The day is far from over, and there's still more of the battle plan to successfully execute.
[BlackKnight-309: Andrea] She's getting silly, and one blast comes a bit too close for comfort. With a sigh, Andrea stops showing off and simply follows the route sketched out for her, triggering mines independently and getting well clear before they go off. They're not awarding style points, after all. As she comes out of the route, she spins her bird to face Cidra's Raptor and flashes her lights. "Path is clear. Fly safe."
[BlackKnight-662: Wade] Not done yet, not done yet. Wade has his complete attention on what he is doing. There's a deep formation of mines it seems and that kinda sucks. Kinda. He keeps his Viper at a steady speed and twists the bird to the right, passing right through two different mines. He straightens the Viper right before going past them so one of them doesn't hit the tail. A new nose dive to avoid another group and a harsh pull up that forces him to roll to his left this time. After these first, the last ones dodged on a more…normal way. When he is done, he turns the bird around and signals the Raptor 'Path Clear'
[BlackKnight-855: Roland] Blue's smile doesn't last as he watches the debris slowly close on the window he was about to shoot through. He banks hard, sitting his Viper on her tail before kicking in another direction. A bump of the afterburner and he clears the explosion. The light from the detonation illuminates the cockpit for a moment, as he rolls away from another mine, zipping past the rest of the debris, and burning into open space. As soon as he's clear of the field he lets out a howl, that echos in the tiny space. He hit the signal lights, and sends, "Clear on this side."
[Harrier-303: Marko] "Heh, yeah, good thing, too." Marko chuckles, shaking his head a little. "Or he'd be in pieces right about now." he adds teasingly. "Okay, Zone Alpha is…cleared. Looks like we did it, Bunny. I've got the whole thing on video in case Boots or Toast want to take a look." he reports. "Looks like we're ready to head back to the barn."
[Harrier-651: Cidra] Cidra angles her Raptor upward, to watch the sea of explosions as they blast across the minefield. It was supposed to be an easy job. And…it actually was. "Thank all gods," she mutters, shaking her head. It speaks, perhaps, of the lives they lead that it is somewhat surprising when a plan goes very according to plan. Her lights flash, blinking sharply in Andrea's direction. The command a simple 'Well done. RTB.' Across the field the signal spreads, and the other Raptors follow suit in flashing their Vipers back to their waiting ships. For once, the Deck crew will not be complaining after an Air Wing run.
[BlackKnight-309: Andrea] After confirming the command, Andrea gives her Viper a bit of a push and heads back to the barn, her part in the operation played. She gives the CAG a little wave through her window as she heads home.
[BlackKnight-662: Wade] Wade sees the message from Cidra and pushes the throttle on his Viper to form up with Bunny and Marko's Raptor. He waggles his wings and then flies with them back to the Barn. Success, nobody died, nobody got hurt and the birds are ok. He can't be more pleased about that.
[BlackKnight-855: Roland] Blue lines his Viper up for the return to base. He cruises by Ulixes Raptor, and gives him a thumbs up before, he hits the throttle, falling into formation.
[Harrier-651: Cidra] The Vipers who participated in the minefield clearing will be down for post-flight, refueling and equipment checks, while a double-CAP from the Mighty Lions of the Cerberus and the Areion's Thunderhawks take up a sentry patrol around their ships. Alert Vipers will be standing by while the ship remains in space here. And, as the Raptors back on ship prepare to load up with boarding party personnel, they are replaced on the flight deck by SAR buses who will be at the ready, if worse comes to worst. Because the next leg of this will not be nearly so simple as dancing the G-forces with high explosives.