ABS FIESTA REDUX

[CypherX]

"Coolant rings ruptured. Looks like it overheated. Some forgetin'-" Gus clenches his fist and stops as he begins to yell. "Some forgetin' idiot on the design team must have left a flaw that let it leak into the roosterpit. The only thing I heard out of Walt was something about his legs."

He glances over at the battered plane.

"Poor forgeter probably got his bottom half fried by plasma."

[Ad Bot]

[Operator¹]

: stuff, he did overheat the gun. I guess that happens when they're testing new equipment, like what happened with that AI-controlled Fulcrum.

[carolcat]

Cualli is standing by one of the planes she was repairing, looking a bit ill at the glimpse she caught of Walter's legs.

[Qwepir]

Cualli is standing by one of the planes she was repairing, looking a bit ill at the glimpse she caught of Walter's legs.

Arkhip walks up to Cualli with his helmet under his arm.
: You look like you're about to throw up.

[carolcat]

Arkhip walks up to Cualli with his helmet under his arm.
: You look like you're about to throw up.

Cualli nods slowly, pulling her attention away from Walter's craft and to Arkhip. "That pilot... his jumpsuit was just... fused to his legs. You could see down to the bone--" She stops herself, closing her eyes and pushing down the rising nausea.

"This is going to sound awful, but I hope it burned his nerves away so he at least isn't in as much pain."

[NoZoner]

The Wyvern touches down on the deck with a chirp and is brought straight to the lower deck for repairs. Once the aircraft is in place, Ash spools down the engines and returns the roosterpit to a cold and dark state. He pops the canopy and steps down the ladder, ready to end the day.

[Badger]

Walter continues to look at his legs, despite how gross looking he can't break the gaze or believe the state of his legs at the moment. he eventually clenches his eyes shut and rolls his head back to open them again and stare at the ceiling while he waits on what the medical staff has to tell him.

[CypherX]

"He felt it."

Gus approaches the pair, still scowling.

"And whoever designed that roosterpit is going to have hell to pay if I ever find them."

[carolcat]

"He felt it."

Gus approaches the pair, still scowling.

"And whoever designed that roosterpit is going to have hell to pay if I ever find them."

Cualli briefly looks sickened to hear that Walt felt it, but her expression hardens when she sees the look on Gus' face. "Well, if you're looking to blame it on someone here, you're looking in the wrong place."

[Qwepir]

"He felt it."

Gus approaches the pair, still scowling.

"And whoever designed that roosterpit is going to have hell to pay if I ever find them."

Cualli briefly looks sickened to hear that Walt felt it, but her expression hardens when she sees the look on Gus' face. "Well, if you're looking to blame it on someone here, you're looking in the wrong place."

: At least that plane's the only one of its kind so far. Better to find out about this sort of problem when it's in the prototype stage than when it's already entered production. I just hope Walter gets properly compensated for his injury.

[carolcat]

: At least that plane's the only one of its kind so far. Better to find out about this sort of problem when it's in the prototype stage than when it's already entered production. I just hope Walter gets properly compensated for his injury.

Cualli sighs, calming herself. "I hope so. It didn't look like he'll get to keep his legs, though."

[Mr. Hurricane]

Jaakko is one of the last to land and enters the hanger later that the rest. He recalls earlier, a few minutes after egress, how his hands shook for a few minutes after the battle. He resigns himself to the fact that nobody is to know.

He climbs out of his MiG and looks over the commotion, intent on asking Bell about the status of the bomb run if he isn't sidetracked by anything immediate.

[CypherX]

Cualli briefly looks sickened to hear that Walt felt it, but her expression hardens when she sees the look on Gus' face. "Well, if you're looking to blame it on someone here, you're looking in the wrong place."

Gus stops and shakes his head, still frowning but not angrily.

"I don't mean any of you. I have the utmost respect for our engineer crew. I mean- " Gus jerks his thumb backwards vaguely, "- whichever imbeciles back in their safe little design rooms overlooked an error that nearly got a squadmate killed, and probably took him off of flight duty for the rest of his life."

: At least that plane's the only one of its kind so far. Better to find out about this sort of problem when it's in the prototype stage than when it's already entered production. I just hope Walter gets properly compensated for his injury.

"I would have thought this would have been tested and fixed beforehand."

[Qwepir]

"I would have thought this would have been tested and fixed beforehand."

: They probably didn't want to risk ruining an irreplacable Shikra and a multi-million dollar gun in a lab test. "Got to keep things cost-efficient after all".

Virvel and Frisk walk by on their way out of the hangar deck, talking excitedly about the upcoming bombing.
: ...you sure there aren't any windows?
: Well, there are up in the roosterpit. Or the bridge, whatever it's called, but not anywhere else. Windows are just hull breaches waiting to happen.
: Well stuff, how are we supposed to watch then?
: Pshh, I dunno. Convince one of the loadmasters to lower the cargo ramp and stand on the end.
: Very funny.

[CypherX]

Gus shakes his head again.

"They ruined one of NAUC's highest scoring aces instead."

Gus looks back up at the Skepna bitterly, a knot firmly settled in his stomach. Fully half of Mjolnir lay dead or in the infirmary - Ellie and Walt there long term, both of them questionable for further operations at best. Svirask and Kronovostok had decimated the squadron, Gus reflects. Of their core members, only Jaakko, Tippy, Faw, himself and Ash remained air worthy.

His eyes settle on the pooling coolant fluid and he rubs the bridge of his nose, suddenly aware of how tired he is.