A/N – A nice long chapter here, enjoy!

Katina Squadrons

Chapter 6 – The Morning After

The next morning found quite a few pilots hung over and others with pounding head aches.

Keeve, who knew his limits, looked on in mild amusement, "Sir, it might have been better to wait till tomorrow for the tour, or at least later today. No one will remember anything."

Bill rubbed his head. He too was a victim of too much to drink. "Well, we all have the floor plans programmed into our data pads. It shouldn't be too much trouble to find your way around."

The tall bobcat scratched his neck. Bill was much shorter and smaller than him, so it figured that the gray hound was more susceptible to intoxication.

Bill could tell what Keeve was thinking and retorted, "I am not a lightweight. It's just been a while since I've had the opportunity to share drinks with fellow pilots... So I got carried away."

"Like most the others," Keeve said. 

Bill couldn't argue there.

The tour lasted two hours as the guides were very thorough. To the recovering pilots, the tour lasted twenty-two hours. The group ended in a simulator room on the second level. Red Squadron had brought four units with them, adding to the meager one that Bulldog unit used

After the guides left, Bill had everyone sit on the lounge chairs available for those waiting for simulators.

"I know you all just want to go back to bed, but I need to brief you on the importance of using these simulators every day. Nothing compares to live combat experience, but the next best thing is virtual combat. I tested these units before we left Space Command and they are very lifelike, except when you crash or are blown to bits, you always climb out. In reality, you won't. This is an order; you will complete the ten practice missions before these next two weeks are over. Record your scores and save them to your training folders. I will be checking. At a later date, we will complete missions as flights, I'll get back to you on your flight's day," he looked at the tired faces, "Uh, that's all. Dismissed."

Most stood slowly and shuffled from the room. One dark-haired lynx remained.

"Lt. Tainer, I presume," Bill said.

"Yes, sir," she stated evenly.

"Tell me why you received the Flying Diamond."

Her brow twitched before she spoke, "I was flying as a solo escort six months back when a full enemy squadron attacked."

She told the story as if she had told it a million times: lifeless and unfeeling. The lynx had held off twelve fighters, taking down three and damaging the rest. The ship had made it to Cornerian airspace but had been so damaged itself that it had to be scrapped.

"That's quite a performance for such a young, inexperienced pilot," Bill commented, "You should take more pride in your actions."

"I'm not a glory-seeker, Commander Grey," she said darkly.

"And every other pilot is? I know furs who would do anything for skills like yours; they're those who can't do anything military wise, who can only watch from the background as others protect them. It's not a sin to be a good pilot, and it's certainly not a sin to be proud of what you do."

Bill's head began to pound again. Mya sensed his distraction and said nothing.

"If you wish to begin simulator runs, you may do so. Just don't spend all your time here. I want you to get around and meet other furs."

"Yes, sir," she said quietly and walked to the nearest simulator.

James Harvey pulled his Arwing into a hard U-turn. The bogey on his tail followed shortly, maneuvering a much larger turn. The salamander barrel rolled as red lasers flashed by his jet. In the distance, he saw a missile approaching the large ship his flight was protecting.

"Take down that missile," he called into the com.

"Red 11 is heading to the missile," Greg said. He had no one on his tail currently, "Copy there, Red 12?"

Depoli double clicked in acknowledgement. The two attacked the missile as they closed in. Greg ran by the explosive, firing along its length, but Depoli slammed his brake on and pounded the metal casing.

"Red 12, you have three bogies approaching from behind, get off that brake," James said.

The snow tiger flipped his shields aft at 90%. The three began firing but the shields held.

"Look out Red 12, this is Red 11 coming in for another fly by," Greg said as he fired at the thrusters of the missile.

Only a few hits were needed and the rocket detonated. Depoli's happy cry ended abruptly as he realized the 10% shields were insufficient to block the explosion. His shoulders fell as the screens went black.

"That was a lose-lose situation," Greg sighed.

"Enough chatter, we'll discuss that later," James said, "We have another missile approaching. Stay clean Red 11, if you need assistance, just ask."

James had finally shaken the pursuer.

"Red 10, we'll come in hard and fast, you take left, copy," James said as the boosted his thrusters.

"I copy," Gyver Brinker said as he followed suit.

The two roared down towards the missile when Gyver realized he was being tagged.

"I got one on me," the bulldog switched a higher concentration of shields to the aft.

"Red 11 will take it," Greg chased after the smaller jet as it ran from Gyver.

"Thanks Eleven."

"This is Red 9, take your side and fire," James shouted as he rapidly pulled the trigger.

Their combined attack took out the missile in no time.

"Thank you," the defenseless cargo ship captain said.

The three other screens blanked and the side hatch opened on the simulators. Depoli stood with his arms cross, not looking happy at all.

Greg slapped his wingman's back, "Hey don't be so down about it. You helped pretty good on that first one."

"Yeah, then I was blasted to bits," the snow tiger growled.

"Well I can't deny that," Greg shrugged.

Bill approached the group.

"That was... decent for a first run as a flight," the canine said, "You took out both missiles before they did damage, so you accomplished the mission. FO Derr, what was your mistake?"

"I flipped my shields aft to 90%, which blocked the shots of those three bogies. But when the missile blew, I only had 10% to protect the front. Looking back on it, I really didn't have good choices, it was either stay and get blown by the enemy or the missile, or take off and try and loose three bogies."

Bill nodded, "Those were your choices after you stopped. What if you had continued through like FO Mitchell?"

Depoli paused, "Well, I might have made it, but then again, those three might have tagged me anyway."

He looked at the group, "The decisions you make during combat must be made quickly. You don't have time to reflect on what will happen if I do this compared to that. Always stay on top of things and keep an eye on your displays."

He handed each one a small chip, "These are the stats recorded from the mission. Be sure to review them. Dismissed."

Keeve came in after the four left the room.

"How'd they do," he asked.

Bill sighed, "Depoli had a quick think for the stop scenario. He was blasted, but the missile did it, not the bogies."

"Wow, he was the only one out of the three."

"At least they took out both missiles. Two flight didn't get even one!"

"Right, but only two survived the first five seconds," Keeve said softly.

Bill balled his fists, "Don't remind me of that!"

Two flight had started with five bogies and two had immediately latched onto Kim Motter's tail. The tree frog pulled into a loop but collided with Jenzalah Roberts, who just happened to be flying over him. The impact rendered both incapable of flight and the two tailing Kim blasted both.

"Do you have any suggestions, Keeve?"

"Crescent Squadron didn't have simulators, so we always practiced with live fire. Really, the simulators give a sense of immortality since you always climb out of it. Maybe Motter would have been more careful if it was in real life."

Bill nodded, "That's a good idea. Maybe we can get some mechanics to fashion some harmless laser dummies."

"A set of thrusters, weak lasers, a metal box. Yeah, that'll work."

He couldn't tell if the bobcat was being sarcastic. Keeve finally broke a smile.

"I bet you have a great poker bluff," the gray hound shook his head.

"Oh yeah, I've won lots of credits that way. What we did was dial the laser power down to almost nil and chase each other around like school children playing tag. It was a lot of fun and great target practice. The low laser only took away about half a shield point, so we lasted forever."

"Did you ever have a collision?"

Keeve paused, "I don't believe so. That's why I think Motter wouldn't have hit Roberts.

"Thanks Keeve, I'll keep that idea in mind."

"So, Commander, want to play poker tonight?"

Bill smacked the bobcat's arm as Keeve snickered.