I return to base. The damage tally on my plane: one engine completely shot, hydraulic lines to my rudder are shot, left wing has more holes than a sieve, and I'm missing a nosecone. Most of the action I got came from close air support. There happened to be a FAC operator in the group of soldiers we were defending and I decided to remain dedicated to them. As a result, most of my kills were soft armor.
I walk into the hospital room where Jacov is being treated. I heard he got it pretty bad, and the expression on his face told the whole story. I felt empathetic towards him. Hell, anyone would be pretty sad after losing an F-35B.
"You alright? You took a pretty heavy loss back there..."