I pretty much stayed silent throughout the entire time we cleaned the mess hall up. By the time we finished, the sun had already set, and we ran out to the hangars and went into our respective fighters to get ready for the night shift.
"We got night runs, Kristoffer," Nathan stated over the radio.
"I'm on it." After getting clearance from the tower, I start up the EF2000 and prepare to roll out. Outside the hangar, the world seemed much more distant now that everything was blanketed in a veil of darkness. The only things I could clearly make out on the landscape were the city lights off in the distance. It felt quite lonely, actually. You couldn't even see the stars because the light pollution was so strong.
I turn my attention back to the roosterpit, which is bathed in a dim red light. I call the tower again and request permission to take off on the active runway. I sigh as I steer my aircraft out onto the taxiways.
"Did he really have to bar us from the next sortie?," I mutter on the radio.
