Angels 20

Chapter 1

Night time. Usually one of the most peaceful times of the day. Me? I hate it. Not the peaceful part mind you, I just don't like the dark. You might ask, "Well why don't you like the dark?" My answer to you would be that flying in the dark makes it that much harder to land on the deck of an aircraft carrier. Oh, where are my manners? I am Lieutenant Giovani Santori, United States Navy. You can call me by my callsign, Night Wing; or Ni if you prefer. I am currently finishing up my final test for qualifying to be an F/A-8 Super Hornet aviator. The test being to land said Hornet onto the deck of an aircraft carrier at night.

"USS Seahawk, this is Tango Hotel 1-1. Am I cleared to land?" I asked into the headset of my helmet.

"Tango Hotel 1-1, this is Seahawk. You are clear for landing. Call the ball," replied the Seahawk's deck officer.

"Roger Seahawk, I got the ball." I made a slight banking turn to position myself for landing and lined myself up with the carrier.

"You've got this Ni," said my flight instructor in the back seat. "Just ease it in, and remember; this ain't no Tomcat." I smirked to myself at his words. I was originally an F-14 Tomcat Aviator but since they were going to be phased out soon and replaced with the Super Hornets I decided that I should probably learn to fly the new toys.

"You're listing left Tango Hotel, adjust course," said the deck officer, jolting me out of my thoughts.

"Copy that," I adjusted my approach and tapped the airbrakes. As I got closer I eased up on my throttle and dropped my tail hook to catch the guide wires on the deck of the carrier to make sure I didn't fall off the end of the boat.

"Contact in 500 feet… 300… 100… contact!" I felt the impact of the landing as the deck officer announced it. My plane slowed down almost instantly and came to a stop a comfortable 80 feet from the edge.

"Feet dry," I said as we were towed to the side elevator, relieved to have finished training.

"A perfect landing Ni, makes me wonder why you hate night ops so much," said my flight instructor as he unbuckled himself. I smirked as I started shutting down the aircraft.

"Just don't like the dark sir," I replied. He laughed and patted my helmet.

Meanwhile, up on the bridge of the Seahawk there were an extra set of eyes that were evaluating my performance. "He is a good flyer ma'am, I think he would be an excellent choice," said the captain of the Seahawk.

"Good flyer? Just good? Captain, he is an excellent aviator; and he is the perfect choice."

"My apologies Luna, I agree with you 100%," said the captain. Luna fixed a look of indifference upon the captain.

"Captain may I remind you that you are in the Navy?"

"I know that Luna, I'm on a boat," chuckled the captain.

"You will address me by my proper rank of admiral, CAPTAIN. Or I will have you down to ensign before I walk off the bridge." The captain immediately stopped smiling and stood at attention.

"Yes ma'am," he said as Luna turned away.

"Permission to leave the bridge captain?" she asked as she turned and batted her lashes innocently. The corners of the captain's mouth twitched in anger but none showed on his face.

"Granted…"

About an hour later I sat in the locker room changing out of my flight gear when suddenly someone tapped me on the shoulder. I turned around to see a couple other aviators standing behind me. "Hey guys, what's up?"

"Heard you passed your Hornet tests, congrats Ni," said one of my former squadron mates. I smiled and stuck my hand out to shake.

"Thanks Mic." Mic looked at my hand as if it disgusted him.

"How could you abandon your Tomcat like that Ni? You're one of, if not the best Tomcat flyer ever." I shook my head and sighed heavily.

"Mic, you know that the Tomcats are being phased out. I just want to keep flying is all."

"Well let's see how you can fly with a broken nose," spat Mic as he threw a right hook to my face. I ducked under and he hit the locker instead of me, causing him to yelp in pain. His buddies were quick to engage me by grabbing my shirt. I slipped out from my shirt and while they were reacting I slammed their heads against each other. I turned and was quickly punched in the face by Mic who was holding his right hand towards his stomach. As I recovered from the hit I saw that he was wincing and clenching and unclenching his left hand. Thank God for my dense bone structure. I went to slap his face but while he easily blocked me I reached out and grabbed his right hand. As soon as I gripped it he let out a howl and screwed his face up in pain. I immediately could tell that he had broken his knuckles against the locker so I simply gave a light squeeze and he fell to his knees while groaning in pain.

"Admiral on deck!" shouted a voice behind me and I immediately snapped to attention while Mic and his buddies were on the floor making incomprehensible noises of pain. I stood there looking directly ahead as I heard footsteps move from behind me to my left. I saw the admiral inspect the three groaning men on the floor and then look towards me with what I could only guess was a look of amusement, annoyance, and approval all at the same time. She smirked slightly as she looked me over. "Lieutenant, why are these men on the receiving end of your blows?" She asked, almost as if she knew the answer.

"Ma'am, they assaulted me ma'am," I replied honestly. She nodded her head and looked back down at Mic and his friends.

"Don't worry lieutenant I saw what happened, they will be facing captain's mast as soon as they leave here." She looked back up at me and smiled. "Get your gear stowed Night Wing, you are being assigned to my fleet." I stiffened at her words and let a slight smile play on my lips.

"Ma'am, which fleet specifically ma'am?" her eyes seemed to wander over my chiseled chest in a way that made me slightly uncomfortable.

"It's a brand new fleet lieutenant, one that I'm sure you will get to know and love." Her eyes rested on mine and she moved closer to me. "Be ready by 0700 tomorrow. An Osprey will be waiting for you on deck to take you to the naval base in Jacksonville. I'll brief you when we are airborne tomorrow."

"Ma'am, yes ma'am," I said as a smile broke across my face.

"Dismissed lieutenant."

"Aye ma'am."

The next day I walked across the deck towards the only Osprey aboard, how I didn't notice it before I will never know. Ospreys are a very rare breed of aircraft; part airplane, part helicopter, these things garner attention wherever they go. On the side I noticed there were three pink butterflies painted on the fuselage. I puzzled at this until I saw Admiral Luna wave towards me from the back hatch flanked by four marines.

"Good morning lieutenant, ready to go?" she hollered over the Osprey's engines starting up. I stopped in front of her and saluted.

"Ready and raring!" I replied shouting. She motioned me aboard after saluting back and all six of us got in. As soon as were in the bay of the Osprey one of the marines hit the hatch control button and the ramp closed. I immediately noticed that the interior must be somewhat soundproofed because the sound of the rotors had dropped significantly. Once we were strapped in a gentle voice came over a loudspeaker.

"All settled back there?"

"Yes we are Fluttershy, take us out of here," answered Luna.

"Copy that admiral," replied Fluttershy in a quiet tone. I felt the Osprey lift off the deck and change course to what I guessed was Florida. Luna took out a Combat Information Tablet, or CIT, and typed in a code. After she did, a table raised up from the floor between myself and her. She placed her hand on it and a scanner appeared under it. The table lit up suddenly after it finished scanning her and holographic images began to manifest in the air above the table. I sucked in a breath as all this was happening while Luna had a smile on her face. The motes of light began to take on shapes and text in the air before me. Some coalesced into the slightly familiar shapes of a submarine and a frigate, others shaped into a destroyer; data and specifications spelled out in text next to their respective ships. As my eyes scanned the data and images I noticed that they seemed different than any ship I had seen before. I opened my mouth to speak but Luna cut me off.

"Notice anything out of place Lieutenant?" she asked while zooming in on the submarine. The submarine in question was slightly longer than the average nuclear sub and had a wider frontal profile.

"It seems… bigger," I answered. She smiled and "picked up" the sub in her hand and rotated it.

"This is the first in what I hope will be a long line of Eclipse-class naval warships." She beamed with pride at the sub. "This nuclear submarine is 20% longer and 40% wider than any before its time. It can carry a payload of 20 ship-to-ship torpedoes, 10 long range cruise missiles for ground support, and four Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles tipped with nuclear warheads." I whistled and shook my head at the firepower. "And that's just the submarine," she smirked. She threw the sub over her head and it disappeared.

A destroyer manifested on the table and she spun it around playfully. "The Eclipse-class destroyer is 30% longer and has a five inch Magnetic Accelerator Cannon, or MAC as I like to call it, which has a firing rate of two rounds a second." She seemed to look lovingly at the MAC gun and then shook her head to clear it. "It carries 40 long range cruise missiles, 10 20mm anti-air/anti-missile Vulcan point defense mini-cannons, and two anti-air missile pods on top. Plus a standard issue helipad." I nodded, knowing full well how deadly destroyers are against air targets. Luna then flicked the destroyer and it dissipated into a thousand particles of light.

The next ship to appear was a battleship, but it was unlike any battleship I had ever seen in my life. "That thing looks like someone shoved a steroid injector so far up its ass that it…" I stopped when I noticed that Luna as well as the marines were looking at me like I had grown a second head. Luna failed at keeping a snicker in and all of them burst out laughing. I joined in after a second of my own awkwardness. "I'm so sorry admiral, I did not mean to say that out loud." Luna guffawed for a second and then wiped a tear away from her eye.

"It's alright lieutenant," she managed to say as she slowly calmed down. "I actually needed a good laugh." The marines kept laughing for a bit as placed the projected battleship on her lap and stroked it as if it was her pet cat. "This is my favorite out of the bunch," said Luna as she continued to stroke it. "30% larger in every way, 10 point defense vulcans, four five inch MAC turrets, two anti-air missile pods, four cruise missile and torpedo tubes; and the cherry on top? All four of the main batteries are dual-barreled 20 inch MAC cannons that can fire four rounds a second." She cradled the ship in her arms and I could have sworn she cooed at the damn thing. "It is my flagship for the fleet."

"Makes me almost wish I joined the navy," said one of the marines and the rest chuckled.

"ma'am? Not that this isn't impressive, but what about the carrier? I'm assuming I'll be serving on one correct?" I asked as she started rocking back and forth in an attempt at what I could only guess as trying to get the battleship to sleep. She nodded her head at me and continued to rock. "Will it be the USS Nimitz ma'am?" She spun her head towards me and locked eyes with mine.

"You really think I'll allow such a piece of junk in my fleet?" she asked incredulously.

"It was only put in service a few years ago Ma'am, it's the most advanced we've got," I said trying to reason with her. She held up a finger to silence me.

"Now now lieutenant, you apparently don't know me very well." She lifted the battleship up to her face and gave it a kiss. It disappeared and she placed her hand on the table and lifted an aircraft carrier out from it. I quickly noticed that this carrier was like no other carrier before it. "I'll let you take a look," said Luna as she gently pushed light model towards me. I tenderly "grasped" the carrier as it neared me and I twisted it around to get a full appreciation of it.

"It looks gigantic…" I muttered as I examined it.

"That's because its 40% bigger than any aircraft carrier before it," explained Luna in a matter-of-fact tone. "As you can see, it has two landing runways along with the standard dual catapult launchers." I gingerly turned it in my hands and took note of everything I saw. The two runways that Luna had mentioned ran parallel to each other on either side of the ship with the bridge tower sitting in the middle of the ship closer to the backside of the boat. I noticed that a section of the central tower extended slightly towards the empty space between the runways, and what looked like a massive hangar door at the end of it. I pointed at it questioningly and Luna seemed to know what I was asking. "That is the main aircraft elevator, I didn't like how on normal carriers the elevators were completely exposed to attack; so I fixed it." I nodded and kept looking around the hologram. "It's big enough to fit a C-130 cargo plane in it and when we are in a rush we can divert power to the platform to get it up or down in about a minute." I whistled, knowing that cycling aircraft on those things took forever. "As for weapons it is probably the lightest armed ship in my fleet. It only sports eight point-defense Vulcan cannons, and four five inch MAC guns on the port and starboard sides."

"That's understandable, carriers aren't even supposed to be able to fight," I said as I let go of the holo-image. It leveled itself and I lightly tapped it so it would spin. I felt the Osprey tilt to the side slightly as it turned.

"Slight course correction admiral, if that's alright with you…" said Fluttershy over the intercom. Luna pressed a spot on her CIT.

"No problem Fluttershy, I trust your judgment."

"Copy admiral," she answered in a voice that suggested that she was blushing. I smiled.

"She seems nice,"' I said towards Luna, I didn't notice that she was still pressing the "speak" button on her CIT as we spoke.

"I picked her to be my personal pilot. She flies me places, and does special jobs for me and only me. Wanna know why I picked her?"

"I'm guessing it had something to do with her personality?" I smiled as I spoke; finally noticing that Luna was keeping the line open.

"That was part of it yes but it had more to do with her skill with an Osprey, or any type of helicopter for that matter," Luna answered. "She has a gentleness with them that is very refreshing when I fly with her."

"Well I can definitely see that. It's as if she's part of it," I said honestly. "I do the same thing when I'm flying jets." Luna nodded.

"and you are one of the best pilots aviators I have ever seen, that makes Fluttershy the best chopper pilot I have ever had the privilege of having," said Luna as she winked at me. A small squeak was heard over the intercom and Luna giggled as she shut the line.

"I can tell I'm going to enjoy serving under you ma'am," I said while chuckling. She logged off the smart table and slid it over to the waiting marines so they could apparently play air hockey. About an hour later a question popped into my head that I should probably have asked earlier. "Admiral?" I asked. She looked up at me and quirked an eyebrow. "When exactly will this fleet be built?" She giggled and placed her CIT in her lap.

"Oh lieutenant, why don't you look out the window?" My eyes opened wide and I got up. As I got to the side gun port I knocked on the door leading to the cockpit.

"Yes?" came Fluttershy's voice through the door.

"Permission to open the port side gun port?"

"Granted." I opened the hatch and immediately the wind started blowing into the interior of the ship. I leaned my head out and squinted towards what looked to be a naval base. As we got closer I saw the outlines of various ships in port. The ones that stuck out to me though were the Eclipse-class battleship and carrier tied to the pier. How did I know they were Eclipse-class? Not only were they freaking huge next to the other ships but they also had dark blue war stripes painted across the sides of their hulls. Once we were about four minutes from the ships I started to make out the names written on the hulls.

"The USS Cloudsdale and the USS Solar Eclipse?" I said to myself.

"Yes, welcome to your new home for the next year Lieutenant Night Wing," said Luna appearing over my shoulder.

"Please Admiral, call me Ni." She smiled and patted my shoulder.

"Alright lieutenant Ni. Let's get onboard."

Author's note: well i hope you enjoyed that little intro. if anypony reads this that is actually from the military branches represented in the story and you notice I did something wrong in terms of procedure or rank please tell me and i will do my best to correct it. also if you are joining in from my previous story, A Stranger's Love, i welcome you back into my clutches. lol hope you enjoy the story, reviews are welcome and i do respond to all of them that if I can. OC's are welcome to be suggested but just to be clear i will use them where i see fit. if you have legitimate story suggestions i will also take those into consideration.

brohoof to all. /)