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[Joker]

Major Sterns' orders after the fiasco of a briefing that had just happened should have been fairly simple: go get breakfast and make sure you're awake by go-time. Of course, in the amount of time he spent on this ship, he had been able to surmise that these people could make an issue out of anything. Especially if Chorizal was present. Whatever may or may not have happened between the time the depriefing was dismissed and now, however, was not really his conern. Nothing untoward had happened to or around him, so he wasn't terribly concerned. He hadn't even gone to have a "chat" with Chorizal after the zentran proceeded to call his squadron was "untrained" and "untested". If Sterns for even one second thought that his people weren't up to this, he would have said as much to Viachi. And that would have won Chorizal's little argument for him, unless Viachi was really intent on waking up one morning as Bubba's pretty little girlfriend.

Sterns was the first of Wildfire's pilots to arrive in the hangar bay, having gotten there well before it was time to launch. He was finally in a UN Spacy flight suit, with a new helmet, although it was adorned exactly the same as his old one, tucked under one arm. Perhaps due to the ever-present scowl on his face, he was given a wide berth by the scramble of technicians preparing their VF-19s for launch, and that empty space on the hangar floor would be where he planned to conduct his briefing. He didn't tell any of the pilots this, of course, but he felt it was more or less apparent... expecially considering the fact that if they strayed too far, he would yell at them.

"Alright, I'll make this quick," he said once all of his pilots were gathered. "First of all, new flights. Red flight will be mine, with Second Lieutenants Navarro and Sasaki. Black Flight will be under Lieutenant Lorcasf, with Second Lieutenants Liatos and Thaianch. Now, Sasaki brought up a good point during the briefing; striking at hard targets isn't really part of the Ranger's training regimen. That being the case, Red Flight will take point, fronted by Sasaki and Navarro. Clear the way for the rest of us, then pull back when we get to the target, and Lorcasf, Liatos and I'll take it out. Thaianch, keep your eyes out for anything comin' at us. If any of you are new to close quarters flying like this, just remember to try and keep steady. If you think you're losing it, go to Gerwalk for stability. Any problems, just watch me. I've done this before." The Major, of course, left out the fact that during the big canyon run he did, three of the four VF-19s got shot down fairly quickly. And the fourth one was piloted by an asshole.

[ShadowValkyrie]

Chorizal's little tirade on Domerin in the hallway had had quite the opposite of it's intended affect. Instead of making him yet more grumpy and surly, it had actually cheered him up. After the briefing had been dismissed, Domerin had gone off on his own. He'd gotten a couple more cups of coffee in himself, enough that he felt he could properly face the morning ahead of him, and then he'd gone for a nice, long run. The feeling of sweat on his brows and his lungs demanding he ultimately slow down and catch his breath always made him feel better for some reason. It reminded him that, every once in awhile you had to slow down and face what fate had in store for you, even if you just wanted to keep running.

A cold shower later and Domerin was ready to face their mission into Death Alley. The events of the morning and all the bitter words that had been thrown back and forth between himself and others was forgotten. In fact for Domerin it had all been forgotten the moment he left the hallway. He wasn't the sort of person who held grudges unless someone did something really bad to him and honestly deserved to earn his ire for it. It wasn't like he hadn't traded words with other pilots before missions before, and even the insults he'd traded with Chorizal were out of his head ten minutes after they'd been spoken. With a mission as important as this, it didn't due to dwell on such petty things. The heat of the moment had long since cooled, and he couldn't afford to be distracted when he was flying. After all, he'd come here to do a job, and he intended to do that job well, no matter who ended up disliking him along the way.

When he entered the hangar, however, his flight suit already on and his hair pulled back into the usual tight braid ready to be tucked up under his helmet when the time came for them to launch, he did take the time to detour from his squadron long enough to apologize to Scott for the angry words he'd leveled in his direction. At least the reason for Scott's dissatisfaction had made sense - and he said as much along with his apology. Unlike the rest of the people he'd traded words with, Domerin actually liked Scott Valentine, and he actually cared if he'd somehow offended him. But once his apology was given, Domerin was unlikely to think back on the morning's events. It was in the past, after all, and the only thing that really mattered was the future.

Having given his apology, Domerin hurried over to join the rest of his squadron gathering around Major Sterns, before the Major could start griping at him for wandering too far away. After all, he was sure Sterns had some orders of his own to issue before they got under way, and Domerin still firmly believed that he should make it easier for Sterns to keep them all alive, since he rather enjoyed being alive and in one piece. Unlike alot of the other people on the ship, Domerin also somewhat respected Sterns... even if he didn't have it in him to like the other man. It was obvious that the man had determined who would do what for this mission based on the skills they were best suited to. If he hadn't, Domerin wouldn't have felt all that great about undertaking a mission of this kind. It was clear that Sterns was actually an able leader, and Domerin didn't mind following someone through the gates of hell as long as they knew what to do once they got there.

He only nodded, though of course the plan didn't require his approval. "We'll try to take it out fast, Sir." Was all he said out loud. "The less time we have to spend in that death canyon, the better it'll be for all of us." After all, the more passes they had to take at the target, the more chances there would be to shot down, and Domerin didn't particularly want any of his team mates - not even the ones he wasn't all that fond of - to end up as smoking craters on the surface of the desert planet.

[Shadow Hunter]

"I tell you what, they sure will talk you to death 'round here, won't they, Erika?" DJ muttered to his fellow Ranger as it became apparent that there was going to be ANOTHER briefing before they could actually do what needed to be done.

He listened quietly as Sterns went over his plan. Both hands were on his hips, one resting on the butt of his pistol, the other grasping his helmet. When it was over, he shrugged.

"Aight, now we're red and you want us to blow stuff up before you blow stuff up. Got it," he said, heading towards his fighter.

"Hey Sasaki, first one who has to go Gerwalk's gotta buy the first round when we get back," he called out to his wingman from across the hangar with a grin.

Settling into the unfamiliar cockpit of the VF-19, he tried again to get used to it. With a longing sigh, he glanced across the hangar to his beloved Della Belle.

Finally, he settled into his seat, going through the checklist to make sure that this overly complicated bird wasn't going to explode under him as soon as he gave it some fuel.

[Thumper]

As Pascal stood he reflected internally on the current situation with a emotionless expression. Thank god I'm not the only one getting pissed of with this crap and to top it off I got to see the Major rip into Viachi Pascal thought to himself as he waited until Domerin had finished before Saluting Major Sterns and quietly leaving the briefing room not making eye contact with anyone."Well this god damn ship is a model for teamwork " Pascal said quietly to himself as he quickly walked down the corridor on his mission to get coffee. Some time later Pascal returned to the hanger in his flight suit with his helmet under his left arm and a piece of toast with egg on top in his right hand. "Five minutes early, well that's a change" Pascal said mildly surprised as he strolled into the hanger and continued to eat the rest of his breakfast. As he finished eating Major Sterns had gathered the squadron for last minute details and Pascal provided the Major with a casual salute before he briefed them.

"Yes sir, funny I'm actually going to be doing something remotely close to what I've been trained for, should be interesting" stated Pascal casually as he brushed his right hand through his hair and turned to Lt. Lorcasf. Pascal maintained his plain expression as he spoke "Looks l get to play look out... I'll keep my eyes pealed but with some luck we can hit them fast enough that they won't be able to get their birds in the air while we are in the canyon" he exclaimed to Domerin casually as he looked over his helmet. " Plus it could be worst sir, you could have DJ watching your back" said Pascal with some obvious sarcasm.

[Raven]

Erika's jaw clenched and the muscles about her chin bunched as she fought down a yawn. There wasn't anything inherently boring in Major Sterns' squadron briefing that provoked the reaction, but letting her jaw gape open probably would have given off that impression, and she figured it wasn't worth it to anger her new CO and embarrass herself over a misunderstanding. She was legitimately tired that morning, after spending the night fitfully tossing in her bed. The medicine dulled the disturbingly abstract dreams and the pain in her joints to a point, but not enough to buy her a full night's sleep. She made a note to go back to the infirmary after today's flight and ask Doc Liatos for a stronger dose.

After the major finished speaking, Erika's green-grey eyes tracked upward to regard DJ as he offered his assessment of their leader's monologue. Always trying to get under their skin, she reasoned with a faint smile that never made it to her face. "That's because we're actually flying a mission," she murmured back to her wingman. "Those require 'plans.'" Briefings at the wing and squadron levels weren't as common in Nuevo Tejas' elite air militia, since most of their sorties came in the form of combat air patrols and defensive scrambles that didn't require this level of preparation. The whole process was unusual to Erika, too.

To Sterns' credit, though, he was brief. After his little speech and the pilots dispersed to see to their fighters' last-minute preparations, Erika pulled away from where she stood beside DJ and started toward her CO. "Hold on a sec, Hunter," she said hastily, patting the other Ranger's arm before she hurried off to catch the major before he got too far. "Sir. Can I have a minute?"

[ShadowValkyrie]

When Major Sterns had finished his briefing and the pilots had broken up and begun heading in the direction of their fighters, Domerin was content to make his way to his fighter without any further comment. As far as he was concerned, the mission began now, and his mind was fully focused on it. Even if DJ had tried to start something with another one of his comments, he wouldn't have let it get under his skin - or at least he'd have tried very hard not to. But when Pascal turned to him to make his off-handed comment, Domerin couldn't help but smirk back in response. He didn't have any complaints about Pascal. He might not have been the single most pleasant individual alive - but then neither was Domerin, and at least he flew well. Flew well and knew when to keep his mouth shut. And Domerin was fairly sure he could trust his back to Pascal.

"I trust you to it," Domerin replied, meaning his back. It was his way of offering his agreement without saying anything bad about DJ in return... after all he was supposed to be the squadron XO, so he supposed he was supposed to be above those sorts of things now - not that DJ didn't deserve a couple off-handed remarks though. "Just don't get him all turned on again," he added, the sardonic smirk still in it's place, "After all, he's supposed to be watching our front."

[Joker]

Sterns didn't like briefings. While he didn't particularly keep this a secret, but nor did he announce it to the world. However, he was also a firm believer that a wing-wide briefing couldn't properly address squadron-level tactics, especially in a situation like this, where the squadrons were acting independently of one another. It had been his way of doing things for some time to give an impromptu briefing in the hangar before launch detailing exactly what they were doing. "That's more or less right," Sterns said, answering both Domerin and DJ in the same statement. Apparently he wasn't much of a talker, either. But that part shouldn't have been much of a surprise by this point. He then looked toward Pascal rather expressionlessly. "It's hilarious, Thaianch. Just make sure you're not laughing so hard that you miss birds coming up on our six."

With all that done, he turned to begin heading toward his fighter. He stopped, however, when Erika addressed him. Turning again, he looked back to her. "What's on your mind, Sasaki?"

[Shadow Hunter]

DJ was on his way to his fighter, his helmet halfway on his head when he was brought up short by Erika. Normally, anyone stopping him would have gotten another smart alec response. They'd wasted enough time already as far as he was concerned.

But this wasn't just anyone, this was Erika, another Ranger. She must have had a good reason for whatever it was she was doing. So, he pulled his helmet free, giving his head a shake. No matter how brief a time he had his helmet on, it always felt like it had been stifling him after he took it off. It was perfectly comfortable while he was wearing it, but as soon as he was free of it again, he was reminded of how closely it fit.

With his brow furrowed in curiosity, he planted his hand on one hip and held his helmet pinned to his other, waiting to hear her question and Sterns' answer.

[Raven]

When her squadron commander turned back to face her following her address, Erika clenched her fists and squared her shoulders in a visible effort to steel her nerves. It wasn't because the major made her nervous, nor the idea of what he could do to her if he decided she was speaking out of turn. It was a genuine feeling of trepidation over what she and her team were about to do. She'd said as much during the air wing briefing: she considered herself a patrolman more than a soldier, and the idea of striking a non-military target - however tied to the enemy force it was - didn't sit right with her. She knew that her little speech back in the joint meeting with Striker Squadron had been dismissed by some of her new military comrades as nothing but trouble-making. Maybe because they were soldiers, and blowing up what the higher-ups told them to without question was something that came naturally to them as a consequence of their training. On the other hand, maybe she was naive to think she could get through all of this without getting her hands dirty.

Even if she was holding unrealistic expectations, though, she would still try to see them through. "I didn't bring this up in the briefing because I thought the IO would shoot the idea down, but I think you'll consider it. My family are industrial magnates on Vergessenheitstor, so I know a thing or two about production plants like this." At this point, she hesitated briefly. Erika was frantically tight-lipped about her past, even to DJ and Angelos. The only thing anyone on Nuevo Tejas knew about her was that she had fled from her homeworld with a small group of militia personnel loyal to the defunct colonial administration. "If we hit the power station directly like the sub-director wants us to, we're guaranteed a high body count. But if we hit the cooling tower instead, it'll start a chain reaction that'll accomplish the same thing, only giving the power station workers time to evacuate before it blows."

The Ranger pilot drew in a deep breath and stiffened her back, as if preparing for Sterns' rejection. After all, if he was going to turn the idea down, it would be after hearing this part. "I won't lie to you, if the engineers on-site have a real set of grapefruits, they could stay behind and shut the station down before it blows. Even if they do prevent a meltdown, though, the power station would be unusable until they manage to ship in a prefabbed cooling tower from off-world and assemble it. That takes months, and millions.

"Sir, those factory workers are only civilians, even if their bosses are in bed with the SSF. Ever since I came here, I've heard people brush everything off by saying 'he made his choice', 'she made her choice'. That's not a good enough reason for me to bomb people who are stuck between us and the SSF. I think you feel the same way, sir - you're not like the sub-director or the general staff - so I'm giving you another choice."

[ShadowValkyrie]

Having nothing else to say, and under the impression that there was nothing more to be said to him, Domerin retreated to his fighter to perform his pre-flight checks. Not a moment too soon, in his opinion, for no sooner was he satisfied that his fighter was ready did the announcement come from the bridge that they were to be ready to launch the moment they came out of fold. At least the bridge didn't seem willing to dick around in this situation, that was some small comfort. He paused at the top of the stairs leading to his cockpit to listen to the announcement, then hastily crawled into his cockpit and got himself strapped in to perform the rest of his pre-flight checks. When he was satisfied he sealed himself into his cockpit and allowed himself a small sigh. This was the part he hated - waiting to get going. It was, by far, his least favorite part of every mission.

[Joker]

Sterns raised an eyebrow slightly as Erika went into her explanation about being from Vergessenheitstor. Not that he was terribly upset or wary about the fact that she had been raised on an enemy planet; she had proven to be willing enough to shoot down Sigma fighters during the last mission, as he'd seen it, and if she were going to do anything stupid... well... he'd be behind her for most of this run. He was, nonetheless, mildly surprised about it. One doesn't expect someone to be not fighting alongside their own people in the middle of a war, after all.

As she goes on with her plan, however, he nods. He had to agree that Viachi would probably shoot the idea down. No wonder the guy couldn't catch the killer before he got gassed; it was hard to catch someone that was killing people when you didn't give a shit about human life. "Good plan, Sasaki. We'll do that." He didn't say anything about people making or not making their own choices. He felt he didn't really need to, evidently. With another nod, he turned and continued back toward his fighter.

While he was heading up the ladder to his fighter, the call from the bridge came in. "Roger, Bridge. Seventy-Seven squadron, standing by," he responded into his communicator, then climbed into the cockpit, pulling his helmet on and lowering the canopy, running through all the necessary pre-flight checks. "One more thing before we go, ladies and gentlemen," he addressed the rest of the squadron. "While we're in there, try stick with gunpods and laser cannons where possible. Otherwise, it could get ugly in a closed space like that."

[Shadow Hunter]

DJ was simultaneously ashamed and proud. He was ashamed of himself for not thinking about the civilians at the location they would be attacking. It was one thing to shoot down and kill an enemy pilot. They knew what they were getting into and usually, they were trying to kill him too. It was an entirely different story to blow up schmoes who were just going to work. Sure, some of them were making munitions that could be used to kill people, but most of them probably just thought of it as a job. Not to mention the fact that they'd also be blowing up janitors and secretaries, people who had nothing to do with building bombs or bullets and were just trying to make a paycheck. He'd been on this ship too long, he was beginning to think like someone from Spacy, what with all the blowing people up indiscriminately and needlessly.

On the other hand..."I'm real proud of you, Erika," he said as he fell into step with his fellow Ranger and walked with her. "That's some good thinkin'. Ain't no need to blow folks up if we can hit the target without killin' folks. Good job."

He hooked an arm over her shoulders, giving her a friendly squeeze before breaking off and heading to his fighter. Before climbing in, or putting on his helmet, he gave Sterns a long, appraising look. He couldn't say he was too confident that the man would take Erika's advice. After all, it would be easier just to spray the area with missiles and let the explosions fall where they may.

Then, of course, the guy has to talk about the missiles. "Madre de Dios!" he muttered as he put on his helmet and strapped himself in. "It's like the damn things are coming out of the cabrone's personal paycheck."

[Archangel]

Angelos had been silent during the entirety of the briefing and afterwards. He was well known to be the quiet type, really only speaking when he thought there was something important to be said after others had already made their own points but this time he was more so than usual. In fact he'd been noticeably distant, even from Domerin, since the attack on the pilots in the sim room, the second attack on himself. It was upsetting, of course, it had no doubt been for all of them but something was troubling him though it would have been nearly impossible for anyone to get a hint of what it might have been.

It was even more pronounced by how late he'd shown up in the hangar. Like his brother he had an almost annoying habit of being on time to everything but he made his showing several minutes after the rest of the squad, though he was dressed and ready to go and well enough enough in time to get the shorter briefing from Sterns. He had no problem with the plan though the thought of moving in such close quarters was still somewhat daunting.

Unlike Domerin he hung around long enough to hear what Erika had to say to Major Sterns, only overhearing at first but then remaining so that he could catch everything she had to say. It was part personal curiosity about her, after all it was true he knew very little; he had never been one to pry in anothers past, especially then when he had his own to hide. But even more than learning about her it was her words that struck him. Out of all of them she'd been the one to point that out and to vocalize it and like DJ he felt displeased with himself for thinking nothing of the civilians in the plant. He was silently pleased when the Major took her up on the offer.

He watched the two Rangers head for their fighters and then followed though he did not impose himself. Climbing into his fighter without further ado he strapped in and readied it and himself for the mission ahead. The wait was not easy for anyone but as always while they sat to await deployment his mind went to that quiet place it always found when he flew.

[Raven]

Erika had never been the sort of person to wear her heart on her sleeve, and although her spirits were instantly lifted by Major Sterns' agreement with her plan, the only outward indication she gave of the surge of relief she felt was a slight rise of her dark brows upon her forehead. "Thank you, sir," she said quickly before Joker walked away to board his fighter. "I'll ID the new target and paint it with my radar when we reach the plant." With that issue settled, she tucked her flight helmet under her left arm and started back toward her own aircraft.

She was slightly surprised to see DJ and Angel standing behind her, presumably eavesdropping on her conversation with the major. The Ranger felt her ears burning even before her old flight leader said a word, but the speech he gave her about being proud of her and whatnot as he guided her toward their fighters practically had her blood boiling under her skin. Being somewhat of a solitary person by nature, having people overhear her when she put herself out and heap praise on her afterward was not something she was used to dealing with. "Uh... thanks," she finally stammered in response when she reached the foot of the ladder hanging down from her cockpit.

Erika grasped the side of the ladder and placed his foot on the bottom rung of the ladder, but before she started to climb up to the VF-19's cockpit she paused and swept her gaze back toward Angel. "I still owe you a drink for losing our wager at Olau," she called out to the other Ranger. "I'll meet you at the bar after debriefing!"

[Thumper]

Upon hearing the responses from both the Lieutenant and Major, Pascal straitened up and casually saluted both men and said with a slight smile on his face "No problem Major Sterns sir, I'll slot anyone that tries to shoot us in the back". As Pascal turned to walk towards his fighter he over heard Raven get the Major's attention. Well this should be interesting Pascal thought to himself as he turn his head while still facing away to hear the conversation unfold. After everything was said and done Pascal had to admit to himself that he hadn't even considered civilian casualties within this operation. There was no shame in this train of though be he was a bit disappointed that is hadn't crossed his mind but nothing more. While still looking over his left shoulder Pascal said out loud in a flat tone directed at no one in particular "Well this is interesting, if it means less time for them to shoot at us I'm all for changing targets. As long as we get out alive and cripple the enemy I have no problem going for a quick target like the tower or turning the entire canyon into a crater".

With this blunt statement of his perspective on the situation he continued walking towards his fighter without looking back. He circled his fighter once briefly to ensure that there wasn't any external problems. Pascal then quickly climbed into his fighter and put on his helmet slowly. Once he had checked all his seals he strapped in and his hands moved over the controls as he check his pre-flight. Well if there are a lot of people around that tower they better run fast since I won't think twice about shooting it while my ass is the line of fire Pascal though as his heads up display indicated that he was ready for launch.

[Joker]

Joker had clearly not responded further to anything that anyone else had said after he told Sasaki that they'd do what she'd suggested. He wasn't there to talk forever, or to be their friend. He was there to get the job done, and the job wouldn't get done if everyone stood around talking to each other about blowing up the facility or just blowing up the cooling towers or walking inside in Battroid firing on individuals. Sure, maybe the fact that he tended toward being aloof from the rest of his squadron on a personal level might make him less than popular at first, they would probably notice after not very long that they were still alive and getting paid, because the less time they spent flying, the less time they spent getting shot at. And the less time they spent just standing around talking, the less time the enemy had to get prepared to come at them.

When the launch order came through, Sterns taxied to the lift, raising his VF-19 up to the launch rail. As the lift went up, Sterns pulled something out of one of his flight suit pockets, duct taping it to the console inside his cockpit. Hitting a few buttons, he apparently finally settles on something, his cockpit is filled with what promises to be the same sort of music as both times he'd flown around the Shogun before, although it started somewhat quieter than other times. "Red Lead, launching," he reported to the bridge. Then, as the music picked up, he fired up his engines, speeding down the launch rail and into the blackness beyond. It was almost as if he'd planned that.

[Shadow Hunter]

Shadow Hunter powered up his own fighter as Sterns moved to the launch rail. He was not one to listen to music or go through any other pre-flight superstitions before taking off. So, after checking everything in his Valkyrie again, he followed his current commanding officer to the launch rail.

His fighter slotted into the launch bay. "Red Two, Launching," he called to the bridge. A moment later, he was pressed back into his seat as his fighter was shot into space. A smile came to his face. He had to give Spacy one thing, it sure was fun to get launched like this rather than the cold launches that normally occurred from dropping away from a freighter.

He put a little more speed on to draw ahead of Sterns. He WAS supposed to take point, after all.

[ShadowValkyrie]

Domerin hadn't been present to overhear the conversation between Raven and the Major, so he was blissfully unaware that their target had changed. He was also unaware of the fact that there was a way to pull off this operation with minimal risk of death to the civilian population of the factory. Unlike the rest of his squadron as they made their way to their fighters, Domerin felt no guilt while he sat in his cockpit and waited for the order to launch. As far as he knew, there was no better way to pull off this mission than the way that they had been told to do it. The civilian population inside the factory could hardly be considered innocent, after all they knew that they were in a stolen munitions factory which had been sized by an act of war. they had to know that it was only a matter of time before something like this happened.

Of course if someone had seen fit to inform him of the fact that there was a way to minimize civilian death and give the people in the factory a chance to escape, he would have been somewhat relieved, though he was unlikely to feel the guilt which was running rampant through the rest of the squadron. He wasn't in the habit of enjoying killing innocent people, though it was occasionally an unfortunate side effect of his job.

As it was, he was in business mode. Focused and ready for the mission that was waiting for him. Of course he didn't enjoy the ride through the psychedelic world of fold space. Somehow he had just never gotten used to that sensation. He hated to feel like his senses were going haywire, like everything was different than it was supposed to be, that he was somehow not aware of just everything that was going on around him. But he was a soldier, and he had long ago learned to put the disconcerting sensation in the back of his mind and go on as if it wasn't there at all. Of course it didn't help that his anticipation for the mission at hand was building all the while, and he wanted nothing more than to launch and get his fighter moving.

He was nothing short of relieved when they finally returned to normal space and the order to launch came. At the moment, he couldn't have imagined what it must have been like for Striker Squadron. If he had been staying behind, he'd have been going positively stir crazy watching the other squadron blasting off for battle. Luckily for him, however, he was no longer a part of Striker Squadron, and he didn't have to wait long for his turn to take off.

"Black Lead launching." He said as he felt the engines of his fighter begin to purr beneath him. He moved his fighter into the proper position and took a deep breath as he was launched out into the void of space beyond the ship. He wasted no time in bringing himself into position behind Sterns while he waited for the rest of the squadron to join them.

[Joker]

Joker immediately felt somewhat better when he heard Restra's singing come over the comm in his cockpit. He kept his own music on, sure, but he never blasted it, or else he could very well miss out on something important. That, and the music was more in the nature of a ritual than out of any sort of enjoyment of it; he had to keep up appearances that he didn't enjoy anything, after all. The calm that came over him when the second voice entered his cockpit was something beyond that of what the singing was supposed to do. In all those battles a decade ago that none of them had ever expected to come back from, the ones that had depicted since then in shows and movies as heroic battles between Gamlin Kizaki against the universe while the rest of the pilots just got shot to hell, there had always been some asshole or group of assholes singing somewhere, and it seemed to work, so he never argued with it. Truthfully, he had never been really comfortable going into battle without a sound energy specialist, although he never told anybody that. The people following him didn't need to see him as a person with the same beliefs and comforts as them, after all, but as something more symbolic in nature. He honestly didn't give a rat's ass what he meant to the people following him, as long as they understood that the things he told them to do were going to keep them alive before getting them killed.

The dusty red orb that was Twycross looming larger in front of him broke Joker from his reverie. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself for what was to come, then switched on his comm. "Alright, Seventy-Seven, time for entry. Nose up and go stealth; once we break atmosphere, we dive and get into the canyon at the designated entry point. This is gonna be like threading a needle once we start goin', so be ready." No sooner had he finished his instructions than was it time to carry them out. Pulling back on his stick, he flattened out his fighterin preparation for entering the planet's atmosphere. He wasn't really a fan of this part. It was always shaky, no matter how many billions were spent on the aircraft. Some people hated folding, but Joker hated re-entry.

[Raven]

Once she scaled to the top of the crew ladder, Erika slid her lithe form into the cockpit of her VF-19 Excalibur and secured herself to the flight seat. She had to force herself to slow down as she ran through her pre-flight checks by repeating over and over in her mind that this wasn't a defensive scramble. The Nuevo Tejan Ranger was accustomed to suiting up and taking off in a hurry, which of course raised the chances of something going catastrophically wrong with each step of the startup procedure she skipped. She had plenty of time to be thorough now, though, and with the mind-boggling level of high-tech equipment that the VF-19 was outfitted with relative to her venerable Cutlass, she didn't want to run the risk of being overly hasty. The last system on her checklist showed green when she was halfway up to the launch rail, and when she felt the telltale shudder of the catapult latching onto her fighter, she keyed up the bridge on her comm. "Shogun C&C, this is Red Three. Requesting clearance to launch."

It only took a moment for the communications officer on the bridge to respond, "Clearance granted, Red Three. Good luck."

"Roger." Raven toggled her radio back to the squadron channel, then smoothly opened the Excalibur's throttle until the dull rumble of the engines became a shrill whine that stabbed through her helmet and into her ears. Inertia threw her back and buried her in the flight seat when the catapult released, launching the fighter down the rail and into open space. It was an odd feeling, going from the cramped quarters of a freighter or military starship to an empty expanse vast beyond human perception all in the blink of an eye. A sinking sensation in the pit of her stomach that she had never gotten rid of, just learned to live with. Just as she got into position off Major Sterns' left wing, he signaled the squadron to prepare for re-entry, and Raven tilted the nose of her fighter up until the dusty red planet below her nearly disappeared from view. Let's see how well this turkey takes a beating...