Mercenaries and planes

Unknown
RPG published by Steve
No. of Players	2+
First Publication	2010 (We hope)
Essential Books	N/A as of yet

This totally unknown homebrew gave me faith in /tg/ "Holy Shit! Planes and Mercs! - Product promotional tagline.

The Squadron:

Baron

• IAI F-4/2000 Phantom II
  • Min Speed: 5
  • Max Speed: 25
  • Power Class: High Power
  • Accel 1 and 2: +3 / +2
  • Decel: -4
  • Maneuver Class: Medium
  • Gun: 7d6
  • Gun Ammo: 7
  • Bomb Computer Rating: +4
  • Damage Points: 8
  • Chaff: 8
  • Flares: 8
  • ECM: -
  • Radar: 3+L
  • Size: +0
  • Spot: +1
  • Load points: 32
  • Year Introduced: 1989
• Typical Loadout: 4xPython, 4 AIM-7

Biscuit

• F-4 Phantom

(no details posted)

Hugs

• Su-27 Flanker-B
  • Minspd: 5
  • Maxspd: 27
  • Power: HP
  • Accel: +4 /+3
  • Decel: -4
  • Maneuver: H
  • Gun: 6d6
  • Ammo: 5
  • Bomb Computer +2
  • Damage: 8
  • Chaff: 8
  • Flare: 8
  • ECM: -1
  • Rdr: 3+L
  • Size: +1
  • Spot: +1
  • Load: 31
  • Built: 1984
• General Loads: 6xAA-10 4xAA-11

Sandman

• F-111D Aardvark
  • Minspd: 4
  • Maxspd: 25
  • Power: MP
  • Accel: +2 /+2
  • Decel: -4
  • Maneuver: M
  • Gun: 7d6
  • Ammo: 20
  • Bomb Computer +6
  • Damage: 9
  • Chaff: 8
  • Flare: 8
  • ECM: -1
  • Rdr: 6
  • Size: +2
  • Spot: +1
  • Load: 39
  • Built: 1971
• General Loads: None

Scotch

• Mirage F1E
  • Minspd: 5
  • Maxspd: 23
  • Power: MP
  • Accel: +2 /+2
  • Decel: -4
  • Maneuver: H
  • Gun: 6d6
  • Ammo: 7
  • Bomb Computer +2
  • Damage: 6
  • Chaff: 8
  • Flare: 8
  • ECM: -
  • Rdr: 5
  • Size: 0
  • Spot: 0
  • Load: 18
  • Built: 1974
• General Loads: 2xMagic

A word on game mechanics

There are two 'phases' in a turn. The phases were broken down into 4 stages.

• 1 Planning
• 2 Movement
• 3 Firing
• 4 Speed

The first part you change your engine power, declare maneuvers, roll for initiative. You also do spotting, either radar or visual. Movement is pretty simple.

Firing involves achieving missile locks, or bombing solutions. if you fire a missile, it goes 'in flight', and the next phase they hit potentially.

The speed section is all about dealing with stalls and stall recovery if you stalled out. You can end up stalling if you pull a maneuver that reduces speed below minimum. Overspeed is also dealt with here.

Mission 1 "Horse Therapy"

Briefing

• BlackFlag Internal Document

#100298

• Mission Briefing

“Horse Therapy”

• Deployment

Kisangani

• Pancake

Kisangani

• Alternate

None (We are still negotiating with the provisional government)

• AAR

None

• AWACS

None

• CSAR

MI-24 Hind + Jaeger Flight. Eight Million Sortie Fee if utilized

• Contract Employer

Ministre de Sécurité Externale, France

• Objective

Destruction of suspected Sudan terrorist training camp and airfield located at the old Marida airfield, just inside the Sudanese border. Primary targets are the airfield runway, fuel dump in the southeast, and the command bunker to the north northwest.

• Background

These guys have been a thorn in the side of France's efforts to pacify the region. Due to UN regulations as well as their own civil government issues, the French have not had the ability to simply remove this training camp. That's where we come in. Taking out the command bunker will most likely remove some key leadership positions, and with the airstrip gone, will force the OPFOR to move on the ground, where the French security force has a presence and a good chance of catching and stopping them.

• Intel (HUMINT free)

OPFOR likely disorganized, undertrained. Equipment status rated at no better then barely serviceable. Most equipment unmanned unless alert given. OPFOR operates off grid, and does not benefit from outside intel, support, elint.

• Air Assets

Two MiG-17s, One MiG-21, Two Bell Huey Gunships.

• Surface Assets

SA-2 system, 4xZSU-23 at objective.

• Intel (Remote Imaging free)

Attached you will find the latest keyhole pass. We've marked off targets and defences. We could not find the fourth ZSU-23, and suspect that the OPFOR has begun camo-netting the emplacements, or simply placed it inside for maintenance.

• Threat Assessment

Very Low. The biggest threats will be from the MiG-21 and the SA-2 system, neutralize them first, and the rest of this mission should be a cakewalk.

• ROE

No limits in Sudanese Airspace. Return fire only in DRC airspace.

Recap

We decided that a dawn time on target would be best. The strike guy had been reading up and figured that if they had any shifts at all, that would be prior to a fresh shift taking over, and at the end of night shift, so lowest possible awareness. We then decided how to handle the strike package. We figured that the Flanker would hang back until the SA-2 was down.

I was given the mission of taking out the SA-2, while a simultaneous strike from the F-111 would take place at high speed over the runway using runway cratering bombs. Then the Mirage and the other F-4 would sweep in, taking out the ZSUs and the fuel dump, while the F-111 climbed and circled back to the bunker. Following that, we agreed we'd stick around for 5 to ten minutes maximum, looking for targets of opportunity, while the Flanker gave us overwatch, then head back to base. That was the plan anyway.

Steve handed us out aircraft data sheets, sort of like the one's in that MAS but different, there were some other things he add on them. We got to draw our weapons loadout (which was way cooler then it sounds) and Steve walked us through the basic mechanics, which, to his credit, weren't overly complicated, but I still ended up asking tons of questions druing the game.

I need to set the scene here, we're sitting around a table, and Steve whips out these massive poster size papers, and lays them down in his living room, moving the tables out of the way. He's got the Google earth map printed out on four of them, and on the other he has a larger scale map, which is labeled “BVR Strategic Map”, and gives us our plane markers, which we place on the strategic map, roughly 100 miles out. We'd been coming in nose cold he told us, and said that it was now entirely up to us what happened. He then flipped on some mix cd on which he had audioslave and some other songs, but overlayed with 'radio chatter' from I'm guessing combat aircraft. I didn't think it would be cool at first, but having that in the background just took things up a notch.

I decided to go to mid altitude for my run (10000 to 28000ft) The Aardvark dove for the deck, and prepared to make a high speed run. The Flanker began to loiter, and the Mirage slipped back, still closing, but not as quick as me or the Aardvark. I closed to eighty miles, my RWR started to go off, and I made my detection roll, so I thought I was good. But then Steve put the source marker on the BVR map, and it wasn't where the SA-2 was. And in the next turn, at fifty miles out, Steve told me that not only had the source narrowed the search pattern to a track, but the source was moving.

Before the mission, we had all agreed on radio silence, and Steve said that the Aardvark could also 'see' the radar source. Which meant it must be airborne. I turned away, and jammed on my afterburners, to go faster towards the airbase. The Flanker, having also spotted the emission source, turned towards it, as well as the Mirage and F4, following behind. Then all hell broke loose, the SA-2 radar lit up, and I was told* that it progressed from search to track to fire control within about ten seconds. Which meant (again, asking steve what it all meant) that most likely an SA-2 was in the air heading towards me. Steve said my backseater would be telling me all this anyways.

I figured waiting would be stupid, so I dumped two AGM-78s immediately, since I was inside firing range. The bad thing, was that Steve passed me a big book of missiles, and I saw this, which I hadn't considered. The SA-2 flies at mach 3.5+, whereas my AGMs do maybe Mach 2. So there was no time for the radar to go down. I dove, and at Steve's reccomendation, started ejecting chaff.

The Flanker decided enough was enough, and turned on his radar, which meant that everyone could now see him. However, when his radar went on, the airborne radar source turned towards him, away from me. The bad news was that two new targets went on the board, one just off the runway, the other apparently 'climbing and turning' off the runway. The plan was going to shit. Luckily at this point, the Aardvark was just cresting the final small ridge, and flew a straight line down the runway, pumping off Durandals “left and right like fucking rice at a goddamn wedding' to quote the strike player. As he made his run, Steve told him that he could see dead ahead coming off the runway, a heat source, and on the runway, a moving shape, but that was it.

The Aardvark peeled out low, to the left, away from the climbing aircraft. I leveled out just above the ground (barely made my roll), and travelled on the worst intercept line. The SA-2 must have lost lock, because my backseater called out that he had two missile trails pass above us, a little ways back. At this point we broke radio silence, and the Aardvark called off secondaries from the radar site, so I pulled back up to sniff around again.

The other F-4 and Mirage now were turning to line up with the field and were coming in very fast, the mirage trying to find the ZSUs. The flanker achieved a lock and let loose two Alamos at it's target, and a few tense moments later, saw a small flash on the horizon. The target track became erratic, and then broke up, and considering that a kill, the Flanker began a quick zoom climb to try to gain altitude. The Durandals absolutely shitkicked the runway, and also produced a large fireball, but I'll get to that.

Without warning, well, other than the radar detector screaming, two new targets popped up just as the Aardvark and I were coming in on the base, and the F-4 and Mirage were about 30 seconds out. A flurry of tracers reached out, and one of them found the F-111 briefly. I asked Steve if the remaining Harms had a lock, and he said there were two sources, so I rattled off the last two at one of them, rewarded by one hit and secondaries. The Aardvark headed outbound to assess damage, it didn't sound good, power was down in one engine, and he was losing oil pressure fast.

Then the Mirage and the Phantom came to play. The Mirage roared in, Brimstones roaring out towards the remaining ZSU like the fingers of an angry god. And they hit like a haymaker to the testicles, setting off the internal ammo and fuel, propelling the remains of the turret into the air.

The F-4 went nose hot approaching the airfield, and immediately picked up two targets, one headed towards him, the other still climbing off the departure end of the runway. There was no chance at a shot on the closing aircraft, the F-4 passed well underneath, but he did switch to AIM-9s, and Jan shouted FOX THREE and sent them both at the heat source. Again, one of them missed, but not the first one, which flew true, and scored a proximity kill, the aircraft was losing pieces of airframe and spewing tons of smoke, beginning a shallow descent. The backseater also called out with a shout that there was a destroyed MiG-17 on fire inside a five meter crater on the runway. The Mirage continued racing outbound, close to the ground.

The Flanker, having completed their climb, leveled out, and quickly called out to me that the enemy target was turning in my direction. I applied full military burner, but it was too late. Steve, acting as my backseater started shouting FLARE FLARE FLARE, and I complied. It partially saved me, along with a hard jink. However the heatseekers chasing me still detonated close to me, and my panel lit up (Steve started writing out warnings on it), slight engine problem, and my AIM-9s were reporting faults across the board, so essentially I now had no air-to-air. My backseater was shouting at me now, telling me the MiG-21 was settling in on my tail, and probably getting ready for a cannon shot.

I'll never know, because out of fucking nowhere, two missiles dropped at 70 degree angles down onto the MiG, the last of the Flanker's payload. The fishbed didn't have a chance, it was blown into a thousand small pieces by the heavy Alamo missiles. I figured it would be best to evaluate my situation, and the Aardvark called in saying he was down to one engine, and was climbing about 20 miles away, preparing for a higher altitude bomb run.

We figured we had done it, but then two more ZSUs opened up on the Mirage. They must have seen the HARM strike, because we didn't see any radars. It showed, since they both had trouble tracking the hard maneuvering Mirage as it bore down on the airfield, launching the last Brimstones. It was almost anti-climactic, as the ATGMs slaughtered the mobile anti air guns.

However, Steve, being a dick, threw another curve ball, and told us that another SA-2 style search radar was operational, and looking for targets. It was off to the east of the base, the F-4 was already on a run at the fuel dump and couldn't correct in time, so he abandoned his run and turned slightly, and began dumping rockets at the SA-2 launch area. Unfortunately he couldn't count fireballs, but he certainly tore into the launch area, and probably bought the mirage the time it needed to make the turn, and come over the area, pickling off 1000 pounders and also sending a volley of missiles at the new radar

We later found out it was a mobile radar, parked next to the local village. The radar truck did not survive, and the Flanker pilot, who was well within the kill zone for the SA-2 breathed a sigh of relief. After that, we did a few more strafing runs, although I didn't bother, with my semi-buggered engine. As we turned to depart, the F-111 sent a final “Fuck You” with two GBU-15s on TV guidance at the bunker complex.

We all made it home, although the Aardvark suffered multiple hydraulic failures on the return flight, and was forced to dump all remaining ordnance, and belly landed (no crash though, airframe recoverable).

Summary

• Mission Success.
• - Air Kills -
  • Hugs: 1 MiG-21
  • Biscuit: 1 MiG-17

• - Air Incidentals -
  • Hugs: 1 J-7 (Sudanese Air Force)

• - Ground Kills -
  • Sandman: Runway, MiG-17, Command Bunker
  • Biscuit: 4 SA-2 missiles, 1 Barracks
  • Scotch: Three ZSU-23, Fuel Dump, 1 Mobile Radar
  • Baron: SA-2 Radar site, ZSU-23

• - Ground Incidentals -
  • Scotch: 3 Houses, local food market, 2 Trucks, 1 Car, 6 bicycles

• - Damage Taken -
  • Baron: Minor Engine, Minor airframe
  • Sandman: Major Engine, minor airframe
  • Scotch: Negligible control surface.

Mission 3 “Aluminium Crow”

Briefing

• BlackFlag Internal Document

#100323

• Mission Briefing

“Aluminium Crow”

• Deployment

Kitona

• Pancake

Kitona

• Alternate

Luanda (Angola)

• AAR

None

• AWACS

Unavailable (Currently supporting Jaeger Flight)

• CSAR

None

• Contract Employer

Liberian Government

• Objective

Redeploy to Kitona Airfield. Intercept Moroccan Falcon 50 and escort it to Kitona.

• Background

We're not entirely clear on this one. We received advance payment from an account we backtracked to the Liberian government. They're trying to cover this one up, our intelligence section is working to find out more, but as of now we only have the mission parameters. A member of the Moroccan government is onboard the Falcon 50. We've acquired their flight plan, and figure they will pass close to the DRC coast at roughly 0300 local. However flightplan database investigations also noted that a formation of six Mirage F1s will be flying a ferry mission to Namibia and will be in the operational area. If we receive any further intel, we will datalink it to you immediately. This mission is a short notice tasking, and you will be compensated accordingly.

• HUMINT

Formation of Mirage F1s will be in the target area, Flightplan says they are armed.

• ELINT

Radio intercepts and triangulation have identified that an Osprey-55 patrol boat is cruising within roughly 250 miles of the flightplan's proposed track.

• SATINT

None

• Air Assets

Falcon 50, 6xDassault Mirage F1

• Surface Assets

Osprey-55 Gunboat

• Threat Assessment

Medium. Based on flightplan distance, the Mirage's will most likely be equipped with drop tanks, limiting their payload and air to air effectiveness. The Moroccan Armed Forces are adequately trained, but are by no means top tier. While the Osprey patrol boat poses no direct threat, it does present a relay station should the Falcon 50 broadcast an emergency transmission.

• ROE

Visual Contact unless fired upon.

Recap

So we ferried ourselves out to the Kitona airfield. We weren't sure what our basing facility would be like, so we loaded up with a variety of weapons. We arrived in Kitona uneventfully, although a bad roll for the Mirage pilot meant his GPS/NAV conked out mid flight, and he had to follow one of us to Kitona. On landing we found out that Kitona had halfway decent facilities. We talked about the mission in a ready shack near the flightline, as well as called the mercenary company for some more intel. We bought flight plan information, and the Flanker pilot did a bit of work figuring out time and distance. Based on where the Falcon was going to be.

The Vark pilot told us he was going to get the ground crew to take off the buddy tanks, and we agreed. Internally, the Vark pilot had a single AGM-84, as well as his M61 Cannon with a retarded amount of ammunition. Externally, the Vark was clean. The Flanker pilot loaded up with six Alamo missiles and six Archers. I chose to mount 4 AIM-7 Sparrow and 4 AIM-9. The other phantom had spent a bit more cash to acquire 2 AMRAAMs and 2 Sparrows, as well as the same AIM-9 loadout as me. The Mirage had four Magics, and 2 MICAs. Other than those, we were all 'clean' no drop tanks, no air to ground. We had asked Steve about C3, but he told us that an upgrade like that, while purchasable, would take time to install on the aircraft, since this was a short notice tasking we couldn't have it up and running yet. I also decided to take a skill/feat in 'Burner Bastard' allowing me to gain an extra unit of move in an accel phase if I wanted. With all that settled, we discussed our plan one more time, and headed for our planes.

The fighters departed first, rumbling into the night. We told Steve that we were circling the airfield, and joining up on the Flanker in formation. We then departed south, climbing to altitude. Twenty or so minutes later, the Vaark tore off the pavement, headed out over the Ocean, and settled in to a hard mode cruise 200ft over the surface, quickly punching through the sound barrier, on his way to one and a half mach. Meanwhile, we had turned north again, and were heading towards our calculated intercept point, all of our noses were cold, although the Flanker had his IR tracking system running. The Flanker was the lead aircraft ahead by twenty miles or so. The rest of us were formed up, trying to be as radio silent as possible.

Fourty miles out from his target, the Aardvark enabled the search radar in his aircraft, supplementing the terrain following one. Within 20 seconds he had a radar match on the patrol boat, and his FLIR confirmed it. Since he was moving at 20 miles a minute, it didn't take him long to cross the patrol boat, clearing it by 150ft, at close to mach 2, with full burners. Radio traffic on the Guard frequency spiked soon after, and we heard that the boat was in chaos, windows blown out from the shock of the Vaark passing by it. But that wasn't enough, so the Vaark made a turn (took a while at his speed) and came back for another pass. Although this time, he opened up with his cannon, in a supersonic strafing pass.

The gun pass had the desired effect. We got distress traffic about 15 seconds later, some half crazed person shouting in french that they were under attack by unknown aircraft. Steve said just below the crackle of the radio we could hear the aftershocks of the F-111s engines in the transmission. Our radar warning receivers started to go nuts, and we were all getting slammed by search radar. The Flanker however, had drifted further away from us, and was not getting hit by the tracking radar, but we radio'd him and told him where they were relative to us, and he changed course slightly, and soon called back to us that he had several IR targets on reheat angling down towards the patrol boat, heading for the deck.

The Aardvark pilot meanwhile, was making a beeline for Angola, at full military power, hugging the sea surface, and trusting in his speed advantage and being lost in the radar clutter to make a good escape. The Flanker pilot decided now was the time to let loose our secret weapon, and rattled all six AlamoETs off his rails, one every five seconds. The afterburning mirages were excellent targets, and since he was a good strata or two above them, the Alamos also had a kinematic advantage. But the biggest advantage is he was behind them, launching BVR heatseekers, so he (hoped) remained undetected.

They didn't notice for about 25 seconds, then they started dumping flares, lighting up the sky for miles. Didn't do much good, our Flanker pilot scored two immediate kills, one Alamo took out a Mirage instantly, another two slammed into the next unfortunate F1, and the final Alamo severely damaged a third Mirage, who's engine flamed out. The remaining two AA-10s lost track and fell into the ocean. The Mirages stopped their rapid descent, and began arcing back around to face this new threat to their rear. The Flanker, for his part, was turning hard away from them, and hitting full military burner, his threat reciever going wild, but no locks detected (Apparently the russians, for all their vaccum tubes, built one of the easiest to read and most accurate RWRs available today.) The remaining three Mirages were clearly now chasing the Flanker.

I'm guessing at this point you are wondering why the Mirages were not coming at us, despite all the radar hits we took. It was all part of a brilliant plan, the final piece of which we decided to now implement. Myself and Biscuit broke out from underneath the wing of the South African Airways A340-600 we had been flying with, and our burners fired up to max, probably scaring the daylights out of the cockpit crew who suddenly had two Phantoms shoot out from underneath their plane. When we were clear, Biscuit flipped on his search radar, and spotted the four Mirages, three climbing up towards the Flanker but now going away from us and the patrol boat. The fourth was moving much slower and was much lower. We figured this was the damaged one.

With the sniff complete, Biscuit shut down his radar, and we launched all our Sparrows, which were not the SA/RH variant, but the passive anti-radiation kind. However, one of mine faulted out and simply fell off the rail, the other three ignited fine. Biscuits Sparrows both fired well, and rocketed out into the cold night sky. Along the way another one of my sparrows shorted out (goddamn american piece of vietnam era shit), but four missiles still found their way to the targets. I scored a kill, with both of mine slamming into a Mirage, one scoring an impact hit on the radome (according to Stece). One of biscuits also decided to impact my Mirage, and just added to the utter destruction. The other one missed wide when they switched off their radars when the first missile hit.

It must have been clear to them that they were not getting the Flanker anytime soon, so both Mirages vectored back in towards us, but by the time they'd turned, we were in Sidewinder range. And then I paid for all the good luck. I'd cheaped out on AIM-9s, buying the lesser model. Which, I realized as I read the datasheet I'd had in front of me for the past two sessions, could not lock on from the front. And then I started getting hit by the radar again, and my IR detector started yelling at me.

Biscuit had no such problem, and rattled off two more missiles into the Mirage's heading our way. This forced them to evade, and they didn't get a shot off. Biscuit didn't score a hit though. I was popping flares like a son of a bitch, and went to full military, using the speed advantage to rocket out of range. Biscuit formed up. When the Mirage's began their final turn, our own Mirage lit off his search radar, as did the Flanker who was now coming back at them. The Mirages realized this was a lost cause (not knowing that the Mirage (Scotch) south of them was out of range, and the Flanker was bluffing, since he had no BVR left on his wings). They decided the safer choice was to bug out, turning away from both our planes and heading outbound on a North Eastern course. The flanker pilot then tracked the wounded Mirage, as Biscuit and I headed towards the incoming Falcon, which was turning towards land, but they weren't going to outpace us.

We pulled in behind them, and since we didn't try to communicate over the radio, we did it the old fashioned way. Biscuit fired a warning shot of cannon shells across their nose, then pulled ahead on burners. I pulled beside the Falcon, and flipped on my formation lights. They got the picture, and I told them to follow the Phantom in front with hand signals, they rocked their wings, and then followed Biscuit as I slipped away to join up with Scotch. Scotch and Hugs had done the same thing, cannon shot across the front of the wounded and smoking Mirage, and then pulled alongside. However, they waited there, until I formed up on the other side, before pulling ahead, as I slipped behind, so that if he took a cheap shot at Scotch, I'd ram a sidewinder up his ass.

Hugz peeled off and climbed, turning, keeping his Radar on to look out for threats for us. There weren't any, surprisingly, and we took the Mirage and Falcon back to Kitona. We arrived there, and circled the field with our gear down. The Flacon and Mirage took the hint, and landed, followed shortly after by us.

As we taxied in, we saw a black Cadillac on the tarmac, and two military Gaz trucks. There were a lot of ragtag looking assholes beside the trucks, and as the Falcon shut down, they stormed the plane. We weren't sure, but we saw them drag two people off the Falcon and shove them roughly into the Caddy. The car peeled off with the trucks in trail as we were shutting down. Scotch investigated the Falcon, and found both pilots and the purser shot dead inside.

The Mirage pilot got down, and Hugz went to see him, as he put it “Grinning like a motherfucker” with a flask of whiskey. The mirage pilot was a bit surprised in addition to being confused and pissed off. We called up the Merc outfit and told them we had a mirage. Turns out, we get bonus cash now for bringing back a damaged plane! Although, I have no clue what/who the Liberians took or why. Steve ended it there, saying we got a call from the Vark pilot who was down and safe in Angola, and that the Mirage pilot would be offered a merc job.

We spent more on intel this time, the Flanker pilot came up with the idea to pull the Mirages around the sky, and we planned the airliner overflights in the area to mask our advance. Steve loved the initiative and had about six civilian airliners in the air during the game.

Summary

• Mission Success.

• - Air kills -
  • Hugs: 2.5 Mirage F1
  • Baron: 1 Mirage F1
  • Biscuit: .5 Mirage F1

• - Air Incidentals -
  • None

• - Surface -
  • Sandman: Damaged (Combat ineffective) Osprey 55

• - Surface Incidentals -
  • none

Spinoff Writefaggotry

Mission 3

Osprey encounter by Skyhawk

It was a thankfully peaceful night in this particular stretch of the South Atlantic and Ensign Kamal Benayache of the Royal Moroccan Navy was glad of it. Any dog watch was a pain in the rear at the best of times but at least quiet ones didn’t leave you feeling like camel dung the next morning.

Kamal had dealt with rough nights on watch before. The Atlantic was not a forgiving place and many a night had found him concluding his watch in the middle of a raging South Atlantic storm. The placid seas outside the bridge windows tonight were a blessing and he offered up yet another prayer of thanks as he got up from his seat to stretch his legs. Not that there was much room to stretch in on the cramped bridge of the RMNS PV-7.

The Osprey 55 class patrol boat was one of the smaller warships in the Royal Moroccan Navy but the four vessels in the class were coveted posts for young officers looking to gain command experience. Not only were they at sea a good deal of the time but they were also known for allowing ensigns more opportunities to stretch their fledgling command authority in duties that weren’t just training exercises. There was a lot to do on a fifty-five meter vessel with a crew of only thirty-six after all.

Finishing his stretch Kamal circled the bridge. The man at the wheel was obviously tired but he’d straitened himself up when Kamal had gotten up to stretch and was even now looking much more awake than he had moments before. The ensign nodded to him and stepped up close to give the radar screen a brief scan. Nothing...’Just as it should be,’ he thought contentedly. But even the powerful surface search radar wouldn’t pick up everything. Small rafts, bits of garbage, and even modern zodiacs wouldn’t show up as more than a flutter on the radar screen...and just one missed contact could ruin Kamal’s night. That was why, even with modern technology, the Mk-1 Human Eyeball would never fall out of use.

Kamal left the radar screen and stepped out onto the tiny starboard side wing platform where one of the pair of duty lookouts were posted. It was a cramped space, meant only for one, but often occupied by many more on certain occasions. The seaman on duty didn’t seem to mind the intrusion in any case as his attention was elsewhere. The huge pair of night-binoculars he held looked like they’d been glued to his face. Kamal wasn’t sure how the man did it but whenever he came out here the binoculars were there...attached to his face like some strange limpet that never came off.

“No sightings?” Kamal asked, even though he knew the answer.

“No sightings, sir,” came the man’s reply; The same reply he’d given dozens of times and would probably continue to give even after Kamal was long gone from the PV-7.

Kamal nodded and opened his mouth to reply when the world turned itself on its ear.

External links

Archive

• http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/8515581
• http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/8526381
• http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/8538520
• http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/8562185
• http://suptg.thisisnotatrueending.com/archive/8598508
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