ABS FIESTA REDUX

[Deoxys And One Noob]

As he watches the Vigilant gracefully(?) fall into the city, a part of his mind is now thankful he didn't destroy all the levitation plates, not knowing what could have happened if it also fell into the city. He resolves this time to just attack the VLS as ordered, and not be an idiot and destroy an Imperial destroyer on his own.

[Ad Bot]

[CypherX]

Gus watches with relief as Imperial forces elect not to pursue Jaakko and Ellie. The monitors in front of him display Djuriskas as intact, and remind him both Graf and Yui are down. He waits as the rest of the squadron's queries are addressed before speaking up.

"AWACs, what's the status of Gaffe and Hawkeye?"

He strains to make out detail from the jumble of contacts left in the combat area.

[Qwepir]

"AWACS, I have an aircraft that needs direction to the nearest airfield. Mjolnir 1-4 has a compromised roosterpit and is injured," Jaakko relays in hurried tone.

: The nearest friendly airfield is your carrier battlegroup. I assume you don't need the directions?

As he watches the Vigilant gracefully(?) fall into the city, a part of his mind is now thankful he didn't destroy all the levitation plates, not knowing what could have happened if it also fell into the city. He resolves this time to just attack the VLS as ordered, and not be an idiot and destroy an Imperial destroyer on his own.

One of the AWACS crew starts squawking in your ear.
: [All GTO forces, make your way to the Zaporozhye Motor Company corporate headquarters and rendezvous with Sergeant Yamamoto's unit for extraction.]

The message is repeated for any downed Aesthian pilots in their own language.

Gus watches with relief as Imperial forces elect not to pursue Jaakko and Ellie. The monitors in front of him display Djuriskas as intact, and remind him both Graf and Yui are down. He waits as the rest of the squadron's queries are addressed before speaking up.
"AWACs, what's the status of Gaffe and Hawkeye?"
He strains to make out detail from the jumble of contacts left in the combat area.

: Gaffe is on the move, but we aren't getting any response from Hawkeye

[CypherX]

"Understood. Do you still have GPS on Yu- Hawkeye's seat?"

Pictures of the destroyers falling from the air and slamming into skyscrapers come to mind.

[Qwepir]

"Understood. Do you still have GPS on Yu- Hawkeye's seat?"

: Negative. We know her last location, but the beacon has gone out. Could be damaged, or she shut it off to avoid capture.

Everyone (whose planes survived the mission anyway) returns to the carrier and begins the landing procedure. A medical team takes Ellie to the sickbay as soon as she disembarks from her plane, while the Wyvern's crew shake their heads at the damage incurred. After the deck is cleared, Eremit sets down. Then Walter, then Frisk, Snowman, Virvel, and so on. The process almost seems to take longer than your sortie did. Then, without warning as Pansar comes in for a landing, one of the escorting cruisers launches a SAM towards the direction you came from.
: Did you guys see that? What the hell's going on?
: Djuriskas 1-3, adjust pitch -5 degrees and reduce throttle to avoid collision.
: Oops, stuff.

[CypherX]

"They coming back?"

Gus scours the screens for contacts.

[Qwepir]

"They coming back?"
Gus scours the screens for contacts.

: I'd hope not, we're in no condition to fight. Tordenskjold, what is the Grym firing on?
: Drone. The Goths must have tasked one to follow you back here.

[Mr. Hurricane]

Jaakko is quiet for a few moments. The mission's losses had been getting to him.

"Any concern that it was following us to find the fleet? Or did the Imperials suspect that something was different because we got a Condot' off of a carrier?" He asks.

[carolcat]

Relieved to see Arkhip's craft land safely on the carrier, Cualli seeks him out at her first opportunity.

[Qwepir]

Jaakko is quiet for a few moments. The mission's losses had been getting to him.

"Any concern that it was following us to find the fleet? Or did the Imperials suspect that something was different because we got a Condot' off of a carrier?" He asks.

: I can say with almost one hundred percent certainty that they were trying to find the fleet. I'm putting the ship on alert, you three had better get down here so we can fix up what we can on your aircraft before any attack starts.

Relieved to see Arkhip's craft land safely on the carrier, Cualli seeks him out at her first opportunity.

Eremit is leaning against the wall nearest the aircraft elevator/airlock in the hangar bay, looking exhausted. Frisk, and Virvel are nearby, celebrating how the sortie went and comparing kills. The airlock opens and Pansar steps out to join them, raising the volume of celebration by a significant amount.

[carolcat]

"Hey," Cualli says to Arkhip, looking him over. "You okay?" She looks partiahlly concerned and partially wary of asking him.

[Badger]

Walter walks over to Frisk and Virvel and crosses his arms, then lets off a drawn out sigh

"Well?"

[Qwepir]

"Hey," Cualli says to Arkhip, looking him over. "You okay?" She looks partiahlly concerned and partially wary of asking him.

Eremit glances up at Cualli and starts to respond through labored breathing.
: Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine. We're all still here.

Walter walks over to Frisk and Virvel and crosses his arms, then lets off a drawn out sigh
"Well?"

: Well, what?

[carolcat]

The look of concern remains on Cualli's face as she listens to Arkhip. "Do you need to... sit down somewhere? I can get Elu to bring you a water or... something," she offers carefully.

[Badger]

"You know what I'm talking about. You wouldn't have asked how many kills I was at again otherwise."

Walter attempts to play a neutral face