Ace Combat Zero: The Aether Guard

[Katamari Roller]

OOC: Ace Combat Zero: OOC and Casting Call
________________________________________________________________



The sky was as blue as it could possibly be over Valais Air Base, with an ever-present accumulation of grey clouds swirling in it like a fish in the water. It reflected on Miranda's eyes. Then, a white trail appeared from the clouds, a metallic glint... and she blinked.

Valais Air Base, the last bastion of the Ustian forces in the country, had been the main target of enemy attacks for one whole week. Now, second day of April, they seemed to have receded a bit... perhaps planning something bigger.

Miranda incorporated into a sitting position, on top of her F-15, where the wing met the main fuselage. Behind her, a roaring F-20 waited in first runway to continue the patrols around the air space. She stood up with an energetic hop, feeling unusually vigorous today. Rumours had been spreading of new recruits coming in, and the Osean air force was finally going to send in the first reinforcements in a couple days. Miranda didn't really feel any curiousity about them, but they would be a great addition to the Ustian airforce, relying now on mercenaries to keep a foot in the country. But those in Valais were good. Her own F-15 was an excellent fighting machine.

The white pegasus under the cabin and on the tail fin were Miranda's emblem and callsign. A rampaging winged horse, ready to take to the skies.

The F-20 shrieked down the runway, and up into the blue, where it met with two more already waiting for it. The team, Tracker, would head north to see how things were at the border between Belka and Sapin.

Fishing a cigarette out of her flight suit, Miranda hopped off the wing, took the brunt of the fall (hurting her legs in the process... she should have known better), and walked off to the mess hall. The morning breeze at Valais was good for waking up, but it was also way too cold to withstand for a long time without a coat of some kind. Breakfast would be ready by now, too... a good, strong one. Perhaps bacon and eggs...

She passed by her fighter's ground crew, and they waved at her sympathetically. In the last sortie, Miranda had lost her last wingman, a volunteer from Osea. Now, she would be assigned to a new team, although 'merged' was probably the case. In the last week, four teams had been created to assimilate the loss of ten. The damn Belkans were good fighters... but still, Valais was giving them a bloody nose for it. And when the next wing of mercenaries came...

Miranda stopped to light the cigarette, but just when she managed to do it, a cold wind swept the runways and turned it off. Her blonde hair was ruffled by the wind, and she cursed, looking up. That was when she saw the group of aircraft coming in to land. She hadn't noticed them before. About ten or fifteen, most of them old models like the F-4 or the F-20. But those were only the first to land...

 

[Steiner]

Hydra

As he guided his Strike Eagle towards the base, he saw that the hardstandings were packed with technicians and pilots heading to and fro about their tasks. The temptation to show off in front of so large a crowd of his peers proved simply irresistable to Kurtz, and he wasn't generally one for ignoring temptation at the best of times.

Bringing the sea-green Eagle down to about 100m from the deck, he hit the override switch on the altitude alarms and firewalled his throttles. The speed leaped up - his big plane wasn't armed apart from its gun and his fuel was low too - and he was supersonic by the time he passed over the flightline. Behind him he could see some of the more nervous diving for cover, and the ex-Belkan strike pilot laughed aloud over the intercom, before contacting the tower for permission to land.

The officer of the day was NOT happy with him and ordered him to immediately enter the pattern as he should have done before hand - but Vanya Kurtz was a mercenary, not one of those Ustio Airforce dogs, and he didn't sweat at the mans tone. Ustio needed pilots and Vanya needed paying work - who he did or didn't piss off in the meantime wouldn't affect things - not when he had his beautiful sea green Strike Eagle to contribute to Ustio's defence.

Although he was a Belkan, Vanya felt no stirrings of patriotism against having to fight his own airforce. Belka was a repressive place these days, and he'd found that his freespirited ways had not endeared him to his superiors. Although he had been entrusted with a position in Grun squadron, he'd quickly worked out that this was not an environment where he'd prosper. He took his aircraft and, during a particularly busy furball, he'd run for it into Osea.

There he'd rendezvoused with his contact in a mercenary unit looking for recruits, who'd been highly surprised when he'd landed in his fighter at the meeting point. They sold the plane and split the cash, which he used to put the first downpayments on his F-15E. After a few jobs for the Osean's he'd heard that Ustio paid better and, as the payments on the Eagle were so expensive, he'd headed down that way to grab doublehandfuls of Ustian largesse.

Dropping the Eagle down onto the tarmac he taxiied to the hardstand indicated and popped the canopy, to be met with the hard gaze of the Ustian airforce personnel he'd recently startled so badly. Vanya knew how to win over ground crew, however, and the first thing over the side of his cockpit was a case of whiskey. "For my ground crew!"

 

[Katamari Roller]

Miranda sneered derisively watching the display by the green Strike Eagle's pilot. Another Top Gun wannabe, it seemed. There had been a few. Oh, they kept their planes in good working order, and sticked to the rules most of the time. But they eventually went crazy and crashed, to the dismay of the cleaning crews.

A couple wreckages lay, blackened and abandoned, on the skirt of the peak Valais was erected on.

Miranda watched the pilot give the ground crew a case. She guessed that would be his luggage, but then it seemed he also had some in bags and suitcases, so she couldn't tell what he could be bringing in in a case. Shaking her head at the display, she moved on to the mess hall. Standing right beside the mobile walls separating the combat aircraft, the mess hall was not too big, nor looked too solid. Just a hangar refitted to its new duties.

Before entering, Miranda stopped to watch the newcomer more closely. He was huge, and seemed something of a maverick. A troublemaker, she guessed, and judging by his hair, a regular at that. Miranda decided to drop those thoughts with a sigh, no sense in making herself miserable today, and instead managed to light her cigarette again. One last look at the man, one drag of some relaxing nicotine, and off she went, into the mess hall...

 

[Dynosius]

Twisting and turning around, Mayana closed her eyes and sighed deeply. She like it, almost enjoying it. She felt free, invigorated. Her breathing went heavier, almost panting with the effort. Just a few more... Almost...

"Hnngghh... Mmmhhh..."

*Clunk*

Damn bolt... Finally it came loose and she could take away the metal panel that hid the electronics. Yeah, she might not be big and strong, but Mayana worked her way with a wrench. Her efforts were put to a halt though. The sounds of landing aircrafts got her attention. More metal for her tools!

Mayana rolled underneath the plane she was working on. An expression of joy on her face. All she wanted to do now, was inspect the incoming planes and patch them up if needed. Mayana walked towards the runway, checking out the planes in her dusty, oil-stained, and worn green overall, smiling.

 

[Wyldfire]

The woman walked into the sickbay her heels clicked as she walked, the sway of her hips could be considered flirtatious if one ignored the expression on her face. The new doctor had just finished her inspection of the medical facilities and things were going to change. But there were pilots that needed their physicals. This unit was lacking as far as Doctor Kayla Martins was concerned and the pilots were all overdue for fitness for duty exams.

She walked over to her desk and picked up the phone dialing the number to the Offices. "Yes, this is Doctor Martins. I need to have all pilots report as soon as each of them can," she paused to put a cigarette between her red lips and light it, "They are all overdue for fitness for duty exams and shot updates. Yes, yes I know. Only pussies bigger than pilots are grunts. Tell them that if it'll hurt their pride and get them in here. Yes, that does include the commanding officer. Now shut up and make it happen or maybe the office staff will be the next to have to come in for exams. Yes, I know I'm a bitch. But your saying so has earned you the task of being the scape goat for the corpsmen when it comes shot day. Now get those pilots in here."

Kayla leaned back in her chair and took another drag of her cigarette flicking the ashes into the ashtray she'd had to supply for herself.

 

[Steiner]

Vanya "Hydra" Kurtz

He was signing the last papers - it was an incredible deal, Ustio was truly desperate! He knew the recruiter was thinking of Belkan tanks rolling up that valley to pound this airbase into submission, and thinking of a Seagreen Strike Eagle ripping them to pieces with cluster bombs. The man had actually licked his lips as Hydra signed!

"That's the last of the formalities, 2nd Lieutenant Kurtz. Welcome to the Ustian defence forces! Now we'll get you assigned to barracks..." he was interrupted as a uniformed administrator with a harried expression hurried over to him and whispered in his ear.

"Oh, wait. Seems there's a need for a physical check too. Make sure you're not on death's door or something..." he glanced up at the muscular, towering, Belkan dubiously. "Not that you don't look pretty healthy... Ah well, I'm sure it's just a formality. For the insurance or something..." he wound down, looking nervous, but Vanya just laughed easily.

"Don't worry, Colonel. I'm pretty sure I can get through a physical - unless they try to impose height restrictions or something similar... I take it you'll waive those for me?"

The Colonel nodded. "Yes, yes. You've provided your own aircraft. So long as you can eject safely from it, I don't care if you're 3 meters tall." Vanya nodded and grabbed his kit bag, turning towards the coloured tape arrow that pointed the way towards the medical section.

As he walked he chuckled softly to himself. Paperwork. Medical Inspections. Part of it made him a little nostalgic for his days as part of the Belkan airforce. All the bustle and noise of this mainline Ustian airbase was quite a different from the small, dusty, temporary strips that mercenaries usually operated out of.

There was the medcenter now! A large white building, no doubt with a cross on the roof to deter raiders from attacking it. Vanya saw a couple of bombcraters nearby and a few broken windows attested to the fact that some Belkan pilots were less than discriminatory as to their targets.

Entering the big double doors, Vanya walked up to the receptionist and presented his orders.

"Second lieutenant Vanya Kurtz reporting for pilots physical exam!"

 

[Katamari Roller]

Miranda burped quietly, and grinned, satisfied. Today's breakfast had been specially tasty, with juice and warm bread (warm bread was something of a rarity) accompanying the eggs and bacon.

Miranda slid her fingers into her breastpocket to fish out another cigarette. She would prefer a good cigar to go with this, but... eh. You did what you could with what you had. As did everyone else. The mess hall was packed today, more than usual. That was strange... the pilots never had their breakfast all at the same time, yet here were some one hundred guys sitting relaxedly, talking more than eating.

Miranda stood up and walked over to Mac. Mac was a heavily built A-10 pilot, an ex-Osean airforce who was expelled after a friendly fire incident. His version on the story was that his superior had ordered him to fire without checking for friendly positions... of course, that was his version. It didn't necessarily mean it was true.

"Hey, Mac, what's going on? Don't remember this many people together since the very first day we received our briefings..."

Mac turned, and grinned at her. If she didn't know him better, Miranda would have interpreted that as a lewd gesture. "New medical chief!"

Miranda brought a hand to her face, and sighed. "Damn..." By now, Miranda knew that her health problem was not that she was quite thin. It was her smoking. It always was her smoking. Hell, since she was a kid, it had always been smoking that the doctors blamed for any illness or physical inadequacy she suffered. And now she had to play the game of patient conscious of her illness again. One of the perks of this job was just lost.

"See you later, Mac. And good luck on the exam." Miranda waved at him before leaving for the mechanics area. She decided the examination could wait. A new shipment of radars had been just brought the night before, and Miranda wanted to secure one of those for her Eagle. Her Ustian F-15 didn't have a bad system, but a better one wouldn't hurt, and one of the night-fighters had told her this one added a ten miles boost. She had a few savings that perhaps she could invest on that...

 

[Dynosius]

Aaah... The aircrafts that had just landed... Old ones, new ones, and everything in between. Mayana got a kick out of them. She stared like a child in a candy store. Only she was barely a child anymore, and her candy were metal planes weighing tons and most of them were armed with dangerous weaponry...

Mayana kept staring at the planes from afar. Her gaze seemed to glaze over somewhat, a blank stare towards the metallic vehicles. There had been a new shipment of parts, more advanced parts. Some of the crafts were compatible, mostly because they had newer systems...

Damn, Mayana wished she could start installing those systems. But no, there was more important work now. She had to finish patching up a damaged F-14 Tomcat first. It had been hit by a SAM-missile and the left wing was riddled with bullet holes. How the pilot got back home "safely"... Mayana did not know. For now, she just had to rewire the electronics and she was done.

Before Mayana crawled back under the Tomcat she noticed a pilot strolling towards the mechanics area. Taking a closer look, Mayana could make out a familiar face. A smile appeared on her face.

"Miranda!" She waved, hoping to catch her attention.

"Miranda, over here! I got a shipment you might like!"

 

[dragonrazor]

Reaper

Jack Grimm looked out the sides of his Harrier's cockpit. The heavily modified VTOL fighter was state of the art, with the most advanced radar location finding technology and a special nightvision display. He had been assigned to a special international unit, but there was a minor problem. He was lost, even with the radar. He couldn't find the airbase he was supposed to land at. He was about to give up and call for a refuel, when he saw several warbirds landing nearby. He grinned, and snapped his fingers. "Jackpot. Now to radio them." He turned on his radio, and spoke into it. "This is Reaper, of Osea. I've been assigned to Valais. Requesting permission to land. I'm kind of low on fuel, could you make it quick?" He looked at the timepiece on the jet, and shook his head. "Man. I'm gonna righteously beat those guys on the Nemesis. Their directions were way off." He sighed, and waited for his permission to land. Suddenly, a voice came through.

Permission granted, Reaper. Welcome to Ustia. We'll have the mechanics out to refuel and give your bird the onceover when you land. The voice was male, and seemed more than a little amused at his predicament. Jack shook his head again, then responded.

"Roger that, Control. I'm on my way down." He flipped a switch, and the jets on his Harrier changed position, slowing him down and putting him in a hover. He slowly lowered the fighter down to the ground, and then shut down the engines. Breathing a sigh of relief, he opened the cockpit cover, and pulled his helmet off slowly. As they brought a ladder over, he stood up, and then climbed out of the cockpit, patting the Harrier's side lovingly. "Good girl. I told you we'd find it before you ran dry."

 

[Wyldfire]

He was signing the last papers - it was an incredible deal, Ustio was truly desperate! He knew the recruiter was thinking of Belkan tanks rolling up that valley to pound this airbase into submission, and thinking of a Seagreen Strike Eagle ripping them to pieces with cluster bombs. The man had actually licked his lips as Hydra signed!

"That's the last of the formalities, 2nd Lieutenant Kurtz. Welcome to the Ustian defence forces! Now we'll get you assigned to barracks..." he was interrupted as a uniformed administrator with a harried expression hurried over to him and whispered in his ear.

"Oh, wait. Seems there's a need for a physical check too. Make sure you're not on death's door or something..." he glanced up at the muscular, towering, Belkan dubiously. "Not that you don't look pretty healthy... Ah well, I'm sure it's just a formality. For the insurance or something..." he wound down, looking nervous, but Vanya just laughed easily.

"Don't worry, Colonel. I'm pretty sure I can get through a physical - unless they try to impose height restrictions or something similar... I take it you'll waive those for me?"

The Colonel nodded. "Yes, yes. You've provided your own aircraft. So long as you can eject safely from it, I don't care if you're 3 meters tall." Vanya nodded and grabbed his kit bag, turning towards the coloured tape arrow that pointed the way towards the medical section.

As he walked he chuckled softly to himself. Paperwork. Medical Inspections. Part of it made him a little nostalgic for his days as part of the Belkan airforce. All the bustle and noise of this mainline Ustian airbase was quite a different from the small, dusty, temporary strips that mercenaries usually operated out of.

There was the medcenter now! A large white building, no doubt with a cross on the roof to deter raiders from attacking it. Vanya saw a couple of bombcraters nearby and a few broken windows attested to the fact that some Belkan pilots were less than discriminatory as to their targets.

Entering the big double doors, Vanya walked up to the receptionist and presented his orders.

"Second lieutenant Vanya Kurtz reporting for pilots physical exam!"

The receptionist smiled up at the big man. "One moment please," she said then picked up a phone and dialed, "Yes Ma'am. One second lieutenant Kurtz here for his physical. Yes, he's a new pilot Ma'am. Yes Ma'am I'll send him right back to you."

The girl hung up the phone and pointed to a door. "Right through there sir. Good luck." This last was said with a grin that said the pilot might not make it out alive. The first guy almost hadn't.

As Lieutenant Kurtz entered the examination room he could see the doctor. She stood waiting for him in the skirt and blouse of the unit's uniform. "Okay Lieutenant, strip to your skivvies and we'll begin," the bushy haired blonde said around the burning cigarette in her mouth, "When was the last time you had your immunizations and booster shots?"

 

[Steiner]

Vanya "Hydra" Kurtz

"Shots?" the burly Belkan frowned at the slip of a doctor. He unzipped the flight suit and began to shrug the sleeve over his shoulder. "I suppose the day I joined the Belkan airforce. About five years ago. I don't remember which things they gave me shots for though. You know how it is when you're a cadet - nobody ever bothers to explain anything. Doctors especially."

Peeling the flight suit down over his torso, he bent to hop out of the legs with at least some semblance of dignity and/or grace. At least he didn't get his feet caught and stumble, he figured - although the doctor was regarding him as if nothing he could do or say would affect her opinion of him in the least.

The smoke from the cigarette pricked at his nose and he fought down the urge to wrinkle it or cough. "Most doctors don't smoke, ya know?" he said, keeping his voice light and a little bantering, but generally surprised. Just about all Belkan's smoked, but he'd kicked the habit himself in Osea, where few people smoked these days, and had been pleasantly surprised with the improvements to his training.

Finally, he stood there in green socks and a pair of white briefs, folding his hands behind his back and standing at an approximation of parade rest. If the doc wanted things by the book, then that's what Vanya would give her. Nobody made trouble for the Doc - it was like making trouble for the supply chief or the cook.

 

[Wyldfire]

"Shots?" the burly Belkan frowned at the slip of a doctor. He unzipped the flight suit and began to shrug the sleeve over his shoulder. "I suppose the day I joined the Belkan airforce. About five years ago. I don't remember which things they gave me shots for though. You know how it is when you're a cadet - nobody ever bothers to explain anything. Doctors especially."

Peeling the flight suit down over his torso, he bent to hop out of the legs with at least some semblance of dignity and/or grace. At least he didn't get his feet caught and stumble, he figured - although the doctor was regarding him as if nothing he could do or say would affect her opinion of him in the least.

The smoke from the cigarette pricked at his nose and he fought down the urge to wrinkle it or cough. "Most doctors don't smoke, ya know?" he said, keeping his voice light and a little bantering, but generally surprised. Just about all Belkan's smoked, but he'd kicked the habit himself in Osea, where few people smoked these days, and had been pleasantly surprised with the improvements to his training.

Finally, he stood there in green socks and a pair of white briefs, folding his hands behind his back and standing at an approximation of parade rest. If the doc wanted things by the book, then that's what Vanya would give her. Nobody made trouble for the Doc - it was like making trouble for the supply chief or the cook.

Noting the pilot's reaction to her cigarette the doctor took one last drag off of it then snubbed it in the ashtray. "Yes, most doctors don't smoke. I do."

She began by placing the blood preasure cuff on his arm and inflating it, slipping her stethescope just under the cuff to listen to his pulse. Her other hand taking his pulse. Counting the beats as she waited for the sound of his pulse to start through the stethescope. Good pulse rate. Good BP. She noted this on the lieutenant's chart. "Your pulse rate and blood preasure are good. Now open wide so I can get a temperature." The man did as told and she slid the thermometer into his mouth.

"Now you say you haven't had shots in five years?" At the man's nod she went on, "Okay then. Full spread of immunizations and vacinations." With that she turned to a cabinet and starting pulling files and making notes in his chart.

"I'm also going to give you a shot card so you can avoid this many shots in the future. That and to insure you know when you're due for more. We need to keep you pilots healthy now don't we?" Kayla told the large Belkan. She began loading syringes. There were twelve in all. "Now I'm going to let the whole turn and cough part of this go, you seem healthy enough. No history of heart conditions or any other family health history?"

 

[Steiner]

Vanya "Hydra" Kurtz

He grinned at her "That's good, because normally I insist on dinner and a movie before people get to grab my undercarriage."

He watched her lay the immunisation card on the desk. "Actually, not many employers care enough to do the whole medical service drill. If I want to get shots and so forth, I gotta pay in most jobs. Get it done privately. There's no history of anything in my family, except my uncle died of lung cancer."

He flinched as she approached him with twelve loaded needles - each one looking to be full of some poisonous gunk that was soon to enter his body.

"Say, Doc. These shots won't affect my flight readiness, will they? They won't make me woozy or light headed or anything?"

 

[Katamari Roller]

Miranda grinned when she saw the over-eager mechanic coming towards her. Mayana was one of those few rare specimes of born mechanics. The people who fixed everything in the movies with a gentle kick, simply because they knew a kick was enough. Miranda thought of her dedication and skill as admirable.

And if that wasn't admirable, then her being one of the mechanic crews chiefs was a pretty damn good reason to respect her. "Good morning!"

Taking another drag from her smoke, Miranda felt a slight variation in the wind current. To her right, in one of the heliports adjacent to the aircraft maintenance area, a Harrier was landing. Miranda quite liked the sight. It was like watching a whale float in thin air.

Turning to address Mayana again, Miranda exhaled the smoke. "What's that shipment? You still have one of those radar updates I asked you about?"

 

[Dynosius]

Mayana kept smiling, even though she did not quite like Miranda's smoking. She tried it once, when she was still in high school. The smoke stung her eyes, making them tear, and the taste was so filthy that she was sick for three whole days. When her parents found out... Boy, had she been in big trouble.

Those days were over now. Mayana finished her school without any further touch of a cigarette, sigar, or any other tobacco product. She was quite happy with that...

Taken back into the present, Mayana followed Miranda's gaze. Indeed the winds had changed. And the Harrier... Wow, what a piece of engineering. Vertical thrusters, normal thrusters, and one big roaring hunk of a motor. The mechanics behind the machine were just... Wow...

"What's that shipment? You still have one of those radar updates I asked you about?"

The question only came half through. Mayana was still staring, almost drooling at the sight of the Harrier. Not that the other airplanes weren't beautiful. Each has its own appeal to Mayana. But the Harrier... That type still remained one of her favorites.

"Radars...? Oh... The shipment, right. You bet I still have one."

Mayana grinned, smiling widely. She had to keep everyone away from those systems. They were almost state of the art. And every pilot wanted one. But not all aircrafts were compatible and many had been disappointed. Of course, Miranda's plane was compatible, Mayana had made sure that the radar would fit her F-15.

"Everyone wants one, but I kept one save just for you."

Winking, Mayana gestured for Miranda to follow her to the cargo hangar. In there the crates stood with the systems. Not the best of storage places, but anything was better than out in the open. On the way to the hangar, Mayana kept walking next to Miranda, with an occasional glance at Miranda in her flight suit.

She looked good in that...

 

[Wyldfire]

He grinned at her "That's good, because normally I insist on dinner and a movie before people get to grab my undercarriage."

He watched her lay the immunisation card on the desk. "Actually, not many employers care enough to do the whole medical service drill. If I want to get shots and so forth, I gotta pay in most jobs. Get it done privately. There's no history of anything in my family, except my uncle died of lung cancer."

He flinched as she approached him with twelve loaded needles - each one looking to be full of some poisonous gunk that was soon to enter his body.

"Say, Doc. These shots won't affect my flight readiness, will they? They won't make me woozy or light headed or anything?"

"Oh I think if I weren't in a charitable mood the dinner and a movie would be my finger getting acquanted with your prostate." Kayla said with a wink.

She began with the large man's right arm. five shots in all in that arm. Five in the left was followed by her answer to his question about the shots. "Oh, you're going to get the rest of today and part of tomorrow off from anything more than filling out forms. Now do me the honor of turning around and baring that well developed tushy. The last two go there. And tomorrow, no jumping out of bed or anything. The last one I'm giving you will feel like a charley horse in the morning."

Dr. Martins gave the big man the last two shots. The second no doubt felt like she'd just loaded the man's ass with quick crete. Kayla turned and filled out the shot card and again wrote the information in the chart she'd been building. She wrote one last thing on a slip of paper. "This last paper is your permission to sleep in chit. Now try to not scare the rest of the unit okay? You're only the second I've gotten to. I already think I'm going to have to go on safari to get the rest in here."

Kayla turned and picked up her phone and dialed to her office gerbil. "Yes, dear. Do be a sweetheart and bring me my "special medicine" from my desk please. And two glasses."

 

[dragonrazor]

Jack stretched, then headed to the commander's office for his briefing. He'd probably have to deliver his papers to the medic's office too. As he walked, he noticed two gals, one staring at his Harrier as if it were a piece of meat. He grinned, realizing she must be an engineer, probably the chief mechanic. The other woman was dressed in a flightsuit. That must mean she was one of the other pilots. He pulled open a door marked Office, and stepped inside. "Jack Grimm, I just got assigned here. I'm supposed to see the Commander of the base, right?"

 

[Katamari Roller]

Miranda walked to the cargo hangar together with Mayana, and saw the Harrier pilot enter the offices. But her attention was more drawn towards Mayana. She was a shortie, but that fit her youthful, lively demeanour. Truth be told, Miranda, being a single daughter, would have loved to have such a sister.

"Say, don't you ever wash that suit? Or do you have many of them? I think I saw that same grease stain there on your wrist a couple days ago..."

Miranda said that with a comfortable, trusting grin on her face. There weren't that many women in Valais, and being acquainted with all of them didn't take long. There were a couple of cooks, a nurse, Mayana, and herself, as far as she knew... and she had made sure to be good friends with the cooks. She had tried with the nurse, but she was an irritating, arrogant bitch when it came to her smoking habits.

Finally, Mayana stopped beside a few crates with what looked like radar displays, cones, and other complicated hardware lying there, waiting for some big-hands engineer to screw with them and make a mess. The display looked fairly comfortable, though, with the disposition of buttons and screen making better use of the surface. Miranda could already tell that this thing was made with some imagination behind it. Perhaps it was even Belkan material, from Grunder Industries, but the Oseans were not too shabby either.

"Looks fine, Mayana. How long do you think it would take to install this thing?"

 

[Dynosius]

The walk was short and brisk, but it was kinda nice walking with Miranda. Though smiling all the way, Mayana blushed a bit at Miranda's noticing her dirty suit.

"Say, don't you ever wash that suit? Or do you have many of them? I think I saw that same grease stain there on your wrist a couple days ago..."

Mayana wasn't a slob, not at all. Whenever possible she tried to clean herself and wash her clothing. But lately, she hadn't really paid attention to it. Mayana was just... Busy with stuff.

"Eeh... Well, yeah..." She coughed to clear away her slight embarrassment. "I have several suits, but I did not got around cleaning them and... this one..."

She tugged at her sleeve, almost trying to rub away the stains. Mayana was glad that they reached the hangar and the crates. Something else to take their attention away from the "suit-issue", as Mayana began to refer it to in her mind.

"Aah, yes. Your radar. I saved the best for you." Mayana beamed a smile at Miranda, almost hopping on her legs.

"Top notch home grown Ustian manufactured. Believe or not, this baby come from our lands. 50 mile radius, Distance Measuring Equipment, Secondary surveillance radar, an altimeter, and Terrain-following radar."

Mayana's cheeks began to flush with excitement as she listed the various gizmo's of the radar. She was almost getting hyped by it, and couldn't really wait to install it. She wanted to install it right now.

"I can have it installed with half a day if I started right now. I would be in time for supper even!"

She smiled, widely. This was Mayana at her best, with a to-be-installed, state-of-the-art piece of home build equipment. Oooh, she hoped that Miranda gave her permission to start right away...

 

[Steiner]

"Oh I think if I weren't in a charitable mood the dinner and a movie would be my finger getting acquanted with your prostate." Kayla said with a wink.

She began with the large man's right arm. five shots in all in that arm. Five in the left was followed by her answer to his question about the shots. "Oh, you're going to get the rest of today and part of tomorrow off from anything more than filling out forms. Now do me the honor of turning around and baring that well developed tushy. The last two go there. And tomorrow, no jumping out of bed or anything. The last one I'm giving you will feel like a charley horse in the morning."

Dr. Martins gave the big man the last two shots. The second no doubt felt like she'd just loaded the man's ass with quick crete. Kayla turned and filled out the shot card and again wrote the information in the chart she'd been building. She wrote one last thing on a slip of paper. "This last paper is your permission to sleep in chit. Now try to not scare the rest of the unit okay? You're only the second I've gotten to. I already think I'm going to have to go on safari to get the rest in here."

Kayla turned and picked up her phone and dialed to her office gerbil. "Yes, dear. Do be a sweetheart and bring me my "special medicine" from my desk please. And two glasses."

Vanya winced as each needle went in. This was not his idea of how to spend a fun afternoon. He'd expected that today would admin, of course, but the thoroughness of the Ustian's - even with their country on the very edge of disaster, was surprising.

Now that she was done, he was stood there, shivering, holding a few pieces of paper. She'd been quick and efficient, he'd give her that. And actually, although her manner was unusual for a doctor, he found the informal but all all business style of it quite reassuring.

Not sure if her last line to him had been a dismissal he waited for her to come off the phone before jerking his head towards the folded up flight suit he'd discarded.

"So... Uh... Do I get dressed now?"

 

[Wyldfire]

Vanya winced as each needle went in. This was not his idea of how to spend a fun afternoon. He'd expected that today would admin, of course, but the thoroughness of the Ustian's - even with their country on the very edge of disaster, was surprising.

Now that she was done, he was stood there, shivering, holding a few pieces of paper. She'd been quick and efficient, he'd give her that. And actually, although her manner was unusual for a doctor, he found the informal but all all business style of it quite reassuring.

Not sure if her last line to him had been a dismissal he waited for her to come off the phone before jerking his head towards the folded up flight suit he'd discarded.

"So... Uh... Do I get dressed now?"

"Well, you could but you'd probably get cold," Kayla laughed, "Now if we could get a few more Belkans here we'd be set. You took that amazingly well. Most of the pilots whine and cry and try to hide from a few little needles."

There was a tap on the door and a muffled voice from the other side of the door. The doctor opened the door a crack then reached out of the door and pulled in a bottle of clear fluid and a pair of glasses. She turned and began to pour some of the fluid into one of the glasses. "Here you go. The last bit of pain for this visit. It might not be down home enough for you but at least it's vodka."

She poured herself a glass and said, "Make it myself. It's a pain but it's cheap." With that she sent the shot down the hatch.

 

[Steiner]

Vanya "Hydra" Kurtz

"I guess you'll soon have all the Belkans you can handle..." Kurtz grinned to show the humour in the statement, and took the glass gratefully.

Sniffing at the clear liquid, he drank it down as one is supposed to do with Vodka and exploded into a coughing fit.

"Dear God! Woman! This stuff would stretch a bear out on the ground! Truly it's the vilest barracks vodka I've ever drunk. You could run a plane on this stuff."

He paused.

"Can I have a second?"

 

[dragonrazor]

After a long briefing with the Commander of the base, Jack was directed towards the medical building. He sighed, then pulled out the papers he had for his medical records. He walked to the building he was directed to, and shook his head. If the doctor here was anything like the ones back home, he'd probably have fingers in places fingers shouldn't be by the end of the exam. He walked up to the door, and opened it, to find himself in a receptionist's office. He nodded to the receptionist, then took a seat.

 

[Katamari Roller]

Miranda listened in silence as Mayana listed the details about her radar. All in all, it was excellent. Good range, reliable in all situations, and then with some extras. There were a couple of airplanes in Valais that didn't have altitude warnings for when the aircraft was too close to kissing the ground, and hers would not be one of them.

And it was Ustian equipment. Extra points for being home-grown.

"Sounds fucking awesome, Mayana." Miranda put a hand on Mayana's shoulder, and squeezed, half approving, half friendly, smiling widely. "You can start whenever you wish, and I'll calibrate it later. And you'll have two thousand dollars extra for it."

The woman deserved those. She was an enthusiast, and often was doing favours for the pilots, working until late. Not that she didn't enjoy that, Miranda knew Mayana was crazy about mechanic engineering, but it was still admirable. And when this war ended, chances were mercenaries would not be needed anymore and Mayana would not be able to rely on such great extra money quantities as she got in this kind of war.

Besides, everyone had a reason to be working in this place. Some were genuine Ustian personnel, and others were hired from abroad. Miranda suddenly realized that she had never bothered to know Mayana better. Perhaps she would find a way to fix that soon?

"Look, I've gotta go see the new doctor soon, and Anderson is working out the new teams' organization, but maybe you would like to have dinner with me tonight? I think it is somewhat unfair to treat you guys like you are our peasants, and us the nobles, or something like that..."

 

[Wyldfire]

"I guess you'll soon have all the Belkans you can handle..." Kurtz grinned to show the humour in the statement, and took the glass gratefully.

Sniffing at the clear liquid, he drank it down as one is supposed to do with Vodka and exploded into a coughing fit.

"Dear God! Woman! This stuff would stretch a bear out on the ground! Truly it's the vilest barracks vodka I've ever drunk. You could run a plane on this stuff."

He paused.

"Can I have a second?"

Laughing Kayla poured the big man a second before she corked the bottle and handed it to him as well. "I'll let you keep this one. I've got two more bottles in my quarters."

She watched the man with the second glass. "You know you Belkans can be serious sweet talkers sometimes. Yours was the biggest compliment I've gotten on the home brewed hooch." Again she flashed the smile she rarely used at work.

"Now I'm afraid it's time for you to get back to business. I know I have at least one more victim, no wait, that's patient out in the reception area," The good doctor said as she pulled another cigarette out of the pack on her desk and lit it, "I'll probably see you at lunchtime Vanya. Try to take it easy until the shots have settled in. I don't want to see you as a patient again for a bit, okay?"