|
Post by Tracker89 on May 17, 2007 8:15:44 GMT -5
Fletcher immediately reacted to the trawlers' apparent hostility and the Admiral's order. With the line of destroyers ahead of him, Fletcher slightly changed course to find a gap through which he can fire without risking hitting a friendly ship. He kept a close eye on his sonar, wanting to know exactly where to aim his gun once the trawlers came into sight again.
-----------------------------------
Tanya Gurevich looked up from a months-old and nearly empty can of jet fuel as she heard Alek's tires squeal against the deck. The old MiG-29 offered him a gesture of greetings before staring beyond the edge of the carrier at the sea. She was probably the oldest plane among this group of former soldiers, having joined the Soviet Air Force(the part which would later become the Ukrainian Air Force) in the early '80s, when the Union was still glorious and feared by the rest of the world. She had watched it slowly decline, transform into the very enemy they had been fighting all these years, and finally abandon her and thousand of other brothers and sisters in the process.
And I used to think it couldn't get any worse than Afghanistan...
Resting next to her was Ivan Chernov, a much younger Su-27 who was part of the "New Generation", people who had only glimpsed their nation's former power in their childhoods. He had joined the Force after the collapse, spending only a few years in that humorous "stunt team" before he and Tanya were dumped into the poverty-stricken taxiways of Kiev's aviation district. The Flanker shifted uncomfortably...he was still not used to the modifications his body had received to make it carrier-capable.
|
|
|
Post by fierano on May 17, 2007 8:23:28 GMT -5
Alek took a few deep breaths of the sea-air as he slowly taxied over to meet Tanya and Ivan, looking rather frustrated with himself. He nodded in greeting and sighed.
"Okay comrades," Mikhail radioed in Russian, "We're gonna head for the Strait of Malacca. Should be about a day or so when we arrive at safe perimeter, then you guys can go out and play!"
Alek grunted in approval before turning his attention back to the other aircraft on deck. "Empty-winged again. I'm actually more afraid these missiles are going to explode if they wait too long."
|
|
|
Post by ebonyviper on May 17, 2007 8:31:21 GMT -5
The trawler leader's first target was Nerina and he charged toward her. She fired at him to get him to veer off from his course. He changed ever so slightly, but he never diverted his attention off of this obviously female destroyer whom he thought shouldn't be there.
(((((OOC: Hmmm... I'm actually thinking of taking up this guy as a major character and giving him a name. He could be the pirate leader.)))))
|
|
|
Post by fierano on May 17, 2007 8:47:40 GMT -5
((@eb: Yaaarrrrrr. What etymological region of the world you thinking?))
|
|
|
Post by ebonyviper on May 17, 2007 8:59:16 GMT -5
(((((OOC: Somalia, on the Horn of Africa in East Africa.)))))
|
|
|
Post by Tracker89 on May 17, 2007 10:29:08 GMT -5
Once he found large gap between Nerina and the destroyer next to her, Fletcher stopped his turn and shifted his concentration back to the trawlers. Without hesitation, he targeted the trawler that had tried to shoot down Tobias, swiveled his forward gun towards him, and fired.
-----------------------------
"It's not your fault that this place is deader than a tank battalion that had just encountered a Hind squadron." Tanya replied sympathetically, her thick Ukrainian accent showing. "Wherever Mikhail is taking us, I hope it'll give me a chance to stretch these rusty old wings again."
"Although it makes you wonder..." Ivan butted in. "What is making him so excited about that place any way?"
|
|
|
Post by fierano on May 17, 2007 11:24:48 GMT -5
((@eb: Given current events there regarding the Islamic Courts Union, I'm definitely thinking something with an Arabic ring to it. You could also try a European-first-African-surname mix for a classic African militia warlord flair.))
"Beats me," Alek replied. "I suspect that there's some real action going on down there. The pirates around the strait have been acting up again...enough to call in some of the Americans."
Alek then grunted and looked off into the blue, wondering where the world went without him. With the so-called "evil empire" gone, the bourgeoisie he'd been raised to hate were now fighting their cold wars with cold hard cash...and churning their surplus ammo on letting the rats wipe each other out.
It was disturbing the young-but-thinks-himself-old Fullback less and less that it was pretty much the reflection he saw of himself whenever he looked into the blue.
|
|
|
Post by Tracker89 on May 17, 2007 12:44:38 GMT -5
"Americans..." Tanya hissed. "Sticking their noses into everything now that there's nobody to keep them in check... but sooner or later, they're going to be disciplined, like they were back in Vietnam."
"Americans? You mean that there's a good chance we'll actually be fighting them?" asked Ivan, his eyes wide in surprise. Unlike the two older jets, he didn't hate the US, at least not more than any other nation. All he knew is that they were the world's most powerful military and not to be taken lightly.
|
|
|
Post by Evangeline on May 17, 2007 14:08:54 GMT -5
<<< I'm actually thinking of doing an old F-14 on the eve of retirement. And given how terrorists travel all about these days, a Somali or Mahgreb type working in the straits of Malacca is not implausible>>>
The trawlers skittered back, respecting those guns, and respecting the missiles even more. But they didn't comepletely retreat; pride would not allow them to do that. They most especially didn't want to be seen running from a woman.
Yvonne and Elspet rolled along some back ways in Djakarta's aircraft district, paths that Yvonne had known from the age of ten and that her daughter knew from the earliest days. These mean streets had been the Arrows' first permanent refuge before they secured an abandoned U.S. air base as their home, buying that little pied-a-terre lock, stock and barrel with their earnings as armed couriers and mercenaries. Many of the locals remembered them, and at the least didn't cause them trouble. As they entered the market, an elderly Boeing Stearman took note of them and waited in his stall, where he sold used goods. They would be around soon enough.
|
|
|
Post by ebonyviper on May 17, 2007 14:14:26 GMT -5
Nerina could tell that the trawlers had moved back some once Fletcher engaged them, but they weren't entirely going to go away. Oh no. They now knew about her being in the fleet and weren't going to make it easy for her.
She so much wanted to chase them down and sink them.
|
|
|
Post by Tracker89 on May 17, 2007 14:52:11 GMT -5
Noticing the trawlers' fear, Fletcher moved forward and fired another shot. He was amazed by their sheer stubborness in the face of a superior enemy.
They're brave, I'll give'em that. Too bad there's not much of a difference between bravery and stupidity.
He ordered some idle mechanics to go and equip Janet with Hellfire missiles...he had a bad feeling about this skirmish.
|
|
|
Post by Evangeline on May 17, 2007 17:08:39 GMT -5
The trawler in lead decided to push Nerina a little more. Those American women who joined the military, he figured, might have attitude problems or something to prove which might come out with a little goading. It was regrettable that Jakar had overreacted with a spray of gunfire, but if they played this right, it would look like the Big Bad U.S. against the Poor Wee Trawlers and catch the fleet in an uncomfortable position between them, their own JAGs and politicians and the big media, who often as not were sympathetic to "underdogs" and had been so since the days of Vietnam. So, he struck out further in her direction, taunting her and making nasty remarks over the radio band that he knew they monitored.
|
|
|
Post by ebonyviper on May 17, 2007 17:25:08 GMT -5
Nerina growled and tried to ignore the remarks said to her and about her over the radio, but tried to keep herself from being the impulsive one and tearing after the trawler who was making those remarks. She was aware of Fletcher nearby and probably knew that he was listening in too.
If anything, she didn't want to cause bad relations between the fleet and foreign nations. Now was a bad time to do that.
She kept herself in check and continued on.
~~~~~
In another part of the sea, a lone merchant ship, an Oil Tanker, her tanks empty, was plodding along on her regular trade route. Her destination was Somalia, but she was aware that there were pirates lurking about and had to be careful.
Those pirates could be anywhere and she kept her radar active just in case she were suddenly ambushed...
|
|
|
Post by Tracker89 on May 17, 2007 18:18:52 GMT -5
Although Fletcher tried to ignore the taunts directed at Nerina, his face twisted into an annoyed scowl once he heard his own crew snickering at some of the more colorful comments coming from the trawlers.
First the tribeswomen, and now this...this drama looks like it has a life of its own.
"They're trying to provoke and bait us...we shouldn't fall into their trap." He radioed, keeping the signal encrypted. He slowed down to a near-stop and continued bombarding the trawlers with his guns. If results didn't come soon, he would have to move up to something deadlier and more accurate.
|
|
|
Post by Evangeline on May 17, 2007 18:56:27 GMT -5
Tobias smiled. So they wanna play chicken, huh? The Harrier mix banked sharply around and came at the trawlers from the opposite bank, giving them time to move if they wanted to, but not swerving from his intended path. The green-hulled one who appeared to be leading took a look in his direction, alerted by the engine noise. Then, he gunned his engine and scampered back. The other two were not so lucky, being swamped in his wash. One of them capsized, and the other sought to drag him back.
|
|