I was about to take a nap when I suddenly heard my name called over the intercom. I've been ordered to report to the commander's office. What for? I'm pretty sure I haven't done anything wrong in the past twenty four hours ... oh yeah.
I hurriedly made my way to his office, hoping for the best. Upon arriving, the first thing I see is the CO's stern expression. "Lieutenant Abel," he says grimly, "I just received word on your order." I almost physically brace myself for the words I expect to hear, but they never come. Instead, the CO gets up from his seat and picks up a seemingly misshapen black object. It takes a full second before I make a stunning realization -- it's the F-35's signature helmet!
"You are now a pilot of the F-35B Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter. The new fighter has been moved to your hangar and will be available to you on every deployment." He hands me the helmet. "I believe this is yours now." I gingerly accept it with both hands, and take a moment to appreciate everything about it. "Stop gaping. You look like a loving monkey with your mouth hanging open like that. There's still more I have to tell you." I snap out of my reverie and pay attention.
"Yes, sir?"
"Since you don't have any experience with the JSF, I'm temporarily relieving you of patrol duty. You have between now and the upcoming operation to familiarize yourself with the new fighter. Use your time wisely. To start you off, I've scheduled a roosterpit orientation session for tomorrow afternoon at 14:00."
"Understood. Honestly commander, I can't thank you enough."
"You said that the last time you were in my office. Anyways, don't thank me. You really have no idea how damned lucky you are. It was pretty much the last one in our inventory, and they agreed to hand it over to an ass clown like you..." He trails off and lets out a sigh. "Alright, that's everything. Now get out of my office."
I promptly leave with the helmet tucked under my arm, happy with how things turned out. Holy stuff, maybe old King Aurelius is smiling upon us after all.