Chapter 27: Dual Wilder Again

James slowly twirled a spoon through a bowl containing his lunch, only partially paying attention to the food as he instead listened to Bandog and the Animalian discuss the morning's events and plans for what to do next. Next to him, Nick was also only partially engaged with his own lunch, instead tapping away at his phone. Out of curiosity, and with not much else better to do, he peaked over his fellow officer's shoulder, smirking as soon as he saw that Nick was texting away with Judy. "You were only gone for a single night. Already experiencing separation anxiety?"

"Nope. I'm leaking some classified information I discovered last night under my bed," Nick answered quickly despite a mouthful of food, shoving his phone away from Jame's eyesight. "Carrots wanted to check in and find out if we're going back today or not. So if someone's feeling lonely, it's her, not me."

"Uh uh, sure she is," James answered, smirk increasing. "Would be nice to go back and grab a drink in the city, though," he admitted. The morning motel breakfast was… Physically, it was food, but that was really the limit to it. And while Buga-Burga tastes good and is easy to grab, it qualified even less as proper nutrition. "Is she jealous of our little vacation out here?"

"Sure seams like it," Nick agreed, still preoccupied with his tapping. "Perhaps it won't be smart to tell her that an airfield in the middle of a desert doesn't make for a good getaway, but it sure beats writing out parking tickets."

James did a double take. "Bogo's got her meter maiding? Oof!" At the same time, he started to hope that Fangmeyer wasn't on parking duty as well. He really didn't want to come back from a 'vacation', only to deal with a bored and annoyed tiger of a partner. Come to think about it, perhaps Nick had the right idea with contacting Judy despite the short gap. With that, James figured that he might as well give Dahlia a call in the evening at least, just to catch up.

With a grunt, Nick turned the screen off and put the phone back into his pocket. "Nah, she's still doing something with Spy Bunny. But she did let it slip that she would be wearing the orange vest if it wasn't the case. That, and I might have complained to her about yesterday's excitement. You know how she gets when she senses a chance to show off and compete against everyone else bigger than her. Word of warning, but I detect the possibility that we'll need to do it all over again so that she can compare her own results against us…"

Conveniently, it was at this moment that Jame's phone started vibrating in his own pocket. Confused at the unexpected call, he pulled it out, ready to kill the connection to the spam call when he saw the caller ID telling him that his cousin was on the other end. "Kyle? Hey, what's up? Where you at?" James answered casually, almost wincing as several sets of eyes in the room glanced in his direction and his lack of professionalism.

"Jimmy! We're heading back to the simulators! I was thinking that you can get permission for us to load back into them."

"What about lunch?" James asked, confused. Okay, that explained why the pilots never came back here yet.

"I've got a back of jerky with me, and Count and Trigger both say that they're not hungry. That, and you should have seen Trigger when the docs saw him. They were ready to bite his head off for what he did to his neck, and all he wanted to know was how soon he can get back inside the sim. Well, they finally released him, and so we're heading back there, but I'll need clearance to load them in. So if you can just ask for it, it can be dome remotely. I think."

"...Right." Lowering his phone, James glanced at the officers before relaying the information.

The Animalian officer looked rather amused by the request. "Even if they went back in, we don't have any situations loaded into the simulator," he clarified. "Those only get loaded in from the ground station. Without it, all Count and Trigger will be able to do is basic flying and maneuvers. Actually, wait..." He paused, looking throughout for am moment. "Sergeant Wolfritz, make sure all of the recording software is running. I want everything they do tracked."

"Yes sir! Thank you sir!"

The officer allowed James to end the call with a nod. "Well, that's that," he concluded, "means we don't have to waste time here, so we can go back as soon as you're done, officers. Then we'll go ahead and load up the mission into the simulators and see how the two pilots handle a real situation."

With that in mind, James went back to his lunch, quickly finishing it off. Next to him, Nick was also finishing off his own lunch, but not without pausing every now and then to send a message on his phone.

Their break was interrupted when a private came into the room, handing a couple of papers to the officer and leaving with barely a word. The officer, based on his pleased reaction, was expecting it, however.

James stared at the papers as they were slid over to under his nose. Reading the words on it, he saw the lines that were waiting for his and Nick's signatures. "Another NDA?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. "Didn't we sign enough already?"

"Well, yes, but this is a different one," the officer answered slowly. "Since we're about to have the pilots fly the mission within the sim, I'll need an explicit signature from the two of you that whatever you see or hear in there will not leave the room. And yes, it's even more restrictive than the previous NDAs we had you sign."

James patted his pockets for a pen before one was slid his way. "I wasn't aware that there was a way for to make them even more restrictive," he said. Signing along the first line, he passed on both pen and paper to Nick.

Nick took a few moments to scan through the text before adding his own signature. "The previous ones he signed promised to have our tails if we leak anything out," he told James, "this one's adding our heads to the list of parts they'll take from us." James grunted in agreement.

The officer cleared his throat. "Listen, officers, since we're on the subject, this mission that we're going to load in, it's not like a regular training mission. The reason for the extra paperwork is because what was used to create that mission. As… awful as it might sound, but this war provided us with an opportunity to create training missions for pilots that is really unrivaled anywhere else. In some ways, when combined with that centrifuge based full motion simulator, it's even better training that going up and flying a real jet. You see, the difference is the amount of data that is being brought back from the modern battlefield just doesn't compare to before. Real time tracking of locations of aircraft, both friendly and hostile. Tracking movements of ground troops. Radio communication recordings, weather and environmental data… All of it can be taken, compiled, and used to completely recreate a combat mission is it really happened. Ironically enough, some of the tech used is basically the same stuff as what's used in making video games, but anyways, what it means is that you might overhear classified information, even which you aren't actually cleared to hear. But furthermore, this mission we're going to test Count and Trigger on, as I was just explaining, it really happened. It was chosen specifically because it took a rather sudden and significant turn for the worse, so it's really good at testing pilot's abilities to adapt on the fly. But because of that, some stuff in there that you will hear, uh…"

"You're going to hear pilots die," Bandog grunted. "Our pilots. Who gave their lives for a war that still has yet to end. Cops or not, if you don't think you can handle it, you'll be more than welcome to leave the room."

James glanced down at what remained of his lunch, appetite suddenly gone. "Sounds serious. If it will make you more comfortable, Officer Wilde and I can wait somewhere else."

"That won't be needed," was the answer from Bandog, "although I will feel better if you keep out, I'll admit. I don't know, might be better to let you Animalians actually see what we had to go through. What we are going through." If his tone was already stern, it grew even more serious. "But signature on a piece of paper or no, if any of this leaks out, it will be your necks on the line. Could always use a pair of dogs who can help out with clearing out minefields for us, just saying. No pressure."

Nick gave a slight grin and a little wave. "You got it, boss!" His remark earned him an angry huff from Bandog, with James nudging him slightly to keep the humor in check. "Hey, if we're done threatening one another, who's up for seeing what the pilots are up to?"

Lunch mutually agreed to be over, the four of them returned to the simulation control room, where Kyle was already inside, lazily leaning backwards into his seat and slowly snacking out of a small bag of chips.

"Sergeant Wolfritz, feet off the table!" the officer scolded, taking a look at the telemetry and computer monitors. "How's their flying?"

"Count's in the centrifuge right now. Trigger's in the static cockpit. Otherwise, they took off from here, and are headed somewhere north. They're flying through the mountain ranges right now," Kyle explained after sitting upright and making room for the others to see better. "Fast and low."

The Animalian grunted as he saw exactly what Count and Trigger were up to, the monitor showing how they were following the floor of a valley, mountains high above them on either side. "We don't allow our pilots to fly that low, Wolfritz. At the ground clearance they're at, it's only a matter of time before they crash into the ground. Bandog, do you Ocelotians allow your pilots to fly that low?"

"Normally we don't allow our pilots to fly that low," Bandog echoed, "but these aren't normal times, are they? War isn't soft and cuddly, so neither should the training be. Otherwise, why are we going to load in that particular mission?"

"And if they were in an actual jet? How many trainees did you lose when they flew into the ground?" the officer scoffed. "We have elevation minimums for a reason, Bandog, you should know that."

Bandog snorted in irritation. "Count and Trigger aren't trainees. Yes, they might have been sitting on their asses for the past couple of months, no thanks to your picky politicians, but they are both skilled pilots with plenty of combat experience. You say they're too low? I'm saying they know exactly what they're doing."

Nick leaned closer to James. "Maybe now isn't a good time to mention the rumor I heard about flying through a tunnel," he whispered. Unfortunately for Nick, he underestimated just how loud he was as his comment earned him a glare from the Animalian.

"What was that, officer?" With a huff, he turned his attention to Bandog. "I'm sorry, but I must have misheard. Did one of your pilots fly… underground?"

"Through an underground hanger and takeoff runway," Bandog dismissed. "It was plenty large enough to fly through, and was filled with mission critical targets. No, it is not behavior we encourage, but the results spoke for themselves."

The officer's eyes narrowed. "Results? How many areas in the world are even large enough to fit a fighter through? That's- we don't even think of creating a training program for something that stupid! Which one of your pilots did that? What were they thinking?"

"He wasn't thinking, that's what," Bandog answered with a smirk, staring at Trigger's screen. "But in our unit, you either get used to such antics." His gaze hardened suddenly. Grabbing the bottom of his shirt, he lifted the side, revealing a large section of fur growing back in. "Found myself next to a gas line that burst, thanks to an Urusian bomber's gift basket," he grumbled, "Our airbase is close enough to the front line that the Urusians like to send raids at us every now and then. They did get more bold when they started to notice that 'Three Strikes' wasn't showing up anymore to shoot them down. I have to repeat myself, so let me make something very clear: We're in a war. What you consider to be so dangerous as to warrant the grounding of a pilot, we first take a look at the results before deciding if discipline actually needs to be administered or not. Being able to think outside the box and accomplishing something despite requiring something very… stupid? That's what separates pilots from drones." He jerked his head at the monitors. "Can't handle pilots flying below tree height? Buy some drones instead. Computers don't question your orders. But they don't do anything else either." He motioned at Trigger and Count. "Complain about what they're doing all you want, but these are two pilots I can trust to send into the most heavily defended areas and expect them to survive."

Letting out a grunt, the officer reached for the microphone instead. "Count, Trigger, fun time's over. Wherever you two are, find the closest runway, land, and prepare for the next mission. Trigger, swap out with Count in the centrifuge."

"Roger!"

Count had a different reaction. "What happened? Lost an argument? Whatever, you heard him, Trigger!"

Nick again leaned towards Wolford. "Ouch, I must be getting rusty," he whispered, "he beat me to the punch!" This comment earned him a playful punch to the shoulder, but just like with Judy, this one was surprisingly more painful than it should have been. Figures that James' larger size would work against Nick like this. "Knock it off, only Carrots can do that!" At least the only other person to notice their antics was Kyle, who bit back a chuckle.

It didn't take long for the pilots to find a runway and land, but not without diving to the ground in a way that made the Animalian even more uncomfortable. He was visibly agitated as the simulators powered down, gritting his teeth as he stared at the monitors. "Wolfritz, go and help out the pilots swap out positions while we start getting the mission ready."

Again, Nick and James found themselves biding their time without much to do as they were unable to directly help out anyone else. It was during this wait that James recalled a phrase that he was explained to by Kyle one time they were hanging out when he had visited Zootopia previously. Actually, it was one that applied very well to the cop occupation as well. "Hey, Nick, I have a very important task for you," he said with a smirk, making sure that he wasn't distracting Bandog and the Animalian by talking.

Nick knew this wasn't actually a serious request. "Yeah, what's that?"

"Hurry up and wait!" Now it was his joke that earned him a light punch, but James couldn't blame the fox. What goes around comes around, after all. James grinned at Nick as he rubbed the aching area, silently admitting that Nick was stronger than he looked.

"We're just about ready here!" Kyle's voice came from a speaker near the wall. A few short minutes later, he reappeared himself back into the room, taking up a spot next to Nick and James. "Well, now we'll see what this whole fuss is about."

With the setup just about done, Bandog and the Animalian were all business. "Trigger, Count, we're about to load in the mission. What's your status?"

Count answered almost immediately. "All good here. Let's light this candle!"

The Animalian stared at the screens when he didn't receive any reply from the second pilot. "Trigger, do you copy? What's your status?"

"Good to go."

"I'll appreciate getting more of a response." He nodded at Bandog next to him. "Bandog, you've got the AWACS station. Proceed when ready."

Sliding into his seat, Bandog put on a headset over his ears, adjusting the attached microphone close to his muzzle. "All right you two, this is going to be more than just the basic maneuvers we had you do until now. You'll be loaded directly into the air, within the scattered cloud layer." He quickly turned around to take a look at the others in the room. "You'll be doing a simple air superiority mission today. Seize and maintain control of the AO, and we'll score your performance on how well you accomplish this task." Braking away from the 'briefing', he added, "you shouldn't see anything you haven't run into already in your real missions, so I want this done fast and clean. Show the Animalians how real pilots fly."

Once again, it was Count who answered, while Trigger remained silent. "No problem! Start it up and we'll knock it down!"

"You'll be taking two spots in one of the squadrons in this mission recreation," Bandog said, ignoring Count. "While I'll address you by your TAC names, you'll still need to keep an ear out for your call signs. Trigger, you're Mage 2. Count, Mage 3. Listen for the other AWACS, call sign 'Sky Keeper'. He's just lines recorded from the mission and edited for the simulator, so he'll be using your call signs, but will be the one give you important mission objectives. Understood? Verify your call signs and read back."

"Mage 3 copies," Count answered.

Bandog sighed in frustration as Trigger again remained silent. "Trigger-" his low tone was an obvious warning that he was starting to lose his patience, even despite the fact that the mission had yet to even start.

"What the hell, Bandog? Mage 2 was my old call sign, frombefore I transferred to 444." Trigger's voice hinted at a mixture of anger and… fear? "I was told that this wasn't anything I flew before!"

"I was personally reassured that neither of you were involved with this mission," Bandog answered swiftly. "I know this was your old squadron, but this mission was chosen specifically to test the two of you. So whatever happened before your transfer, it has nothing to do with what you'll be doing now. Unless you have any other comments, the loading's about to finish, so get ready. When the mission starts, there'll already be action between friendlies and bandits, so make the correct identifications and engage. Mage squadron often flew alongside Golem and Gargoyle squadrons, so expect their presence. And… There's a friendly skeleton squadron too. Interesting name. Anyways, get to it, pilots."

A heavy sigh came from Trigger. "Mage 2… Wilco."

On a third and fourth screen, showing what Count and Trigger were looking at, a countdown timer reached zero and faded to black before fading into the mission. As soon as the screens revealed the cloudy skies, a new voice started speaking right away, formally and calmly. That must by the 'Sky Keeper' AWACS Bandog just mentioned.

"Mage squadron, this is the situation…"

As the AWACS proceeded to explain the situation to Count and Trigger, Nick frowned when he noticed something right away. Perhaps it was because he was used to paying attention to others and was good at reading expressions, or because it was because his eyes weren't glued to telemetry screens like Bandog and the Animalian were, but he was able to tell that something was not right. Despite only being able to look at small screens, and with the pilots wearing bulky helmets, he could see enough in their eyes to tell what was happening with them.

Count was eager to get in the action and show off his skill, proving that he had what it took to be allowed to fly again after being stuck on the ground for so long.

"Mage 1 to Golem 1, thank your lucky stars" Another recorded voice answered Sky Keeper, with Count's eyes narrowing in concentration. Soon, even more started to communicate, showing off exactly how the usage of real recordings made the simulated mission different.

"Golem 2, engaging bandits!" The female voice was an odd change of pace compared to everyone else.

"...Kate?"

"Hey, she sounds a bit like Carrots!" Nick looked in the direction of the screen showing Trigger as the pilot's voice barely came through, hardly even picked up by his microphone. Out of the corners of his eyes, Nick saw that no one else in the room was paying attention – Bandog and the Animalian officer were discussing something with Count, with Wolford looking over their shoulders. Kyle was on his phone and rather distracted from either pilot, quickly exchanging a message with someone else on the other end of the line, and rather intently, too, if the intense expression on his muzzle was anything to go by. Pulling out his own phone, Nick quickly got to the char conversation with Judy and sent her a quick question.

Do you know of any significance of a Kate to Strikes?

Expecting her reply to come in much later, he tucked the phone back in his pocket. Reaching out, Nick poked Wolford over the shoulder, motioning at Trigger's screen. "He's not looking so good."

If anything, an understatement. Trigger's eyes were wide and unfocused, with whatever control he had of his flying slowing down to the barest of inputs. Whatever focus on the mission he showed just moments ago was completely gone.

Reacting to the voice behind him, Bandog finally noticed the oddity and tried to grab the frozen pilot's attention. "Trigger, come in." He let out a low groan as he failed to get a reply. Cupping off his microphone, he quickly turned around. "This guy's a veteran combat pilot, and never froze up before, even when things got really bad." Turning back to his station, he tried again. "Trigger? Snap out of it. This is Bandog. Respond, damn it. What's wrong with you?"

"...Bandog?" Trigger blinked in confusion as he repeated the name. It almost sounded as if the name was foreign to him.

Nick and James glanced at each other. This was exactly the type of behavior they were repeatedly warned about to look out for as cops. There's no way these military types weren't aware about looking out for this type of trouble.

Count took the opportunity to try and be helpful in his own way. "Trigger, I'm all for getting a better score than you, but at least try to make it a challenge! It won't be fair for me if you're going to be out of it before we even begin! Get your head in the game!"

James looked at Nick with an uneasy feeling. "Remember our trip to the coast?" Nick gave him a slow nod, eyes focused on the screens. "Do you think this is related?"

"Maybe. I don't know."

"Trigger, you need to get your mind back on the mission," Bandog scolded. "Whatever's going inside, snap out of it!"

Trigger instead hesitated, then shook his head, breath hitching. "Bandog Requesting permission to abort mission." Bandog groaned and rubbed his forehead.

"Trigger, don't be stupid, this is only a simulated flight! Nothing to worry about!" Count was also starting to lose his patience, especially since Bandog paused the simulation to figure out what was the issue with the pilot. "Bugging out was something others used to do. You- you've gone up against enemy fighters with a disabled FCS and you never even so much as blinked! Just fly this thing and get it over with! Bandog's right: What's wrong with you?"

Trigger looked close to breaking. "Count..? I can't. I…" He closed his eyes, taking in a shuttering breath and struggling to explain himself. "I don't know who told you what, Bandog, but… I flew in this mission! The real one, I was there! Operation Dual Wielder, if I remember it was called. I- I know what's going to happen! The Urusians are going to bring in one of the Arsenal Birds, and the mission will be forced into a delaying action for the others to escape from the drones, and…" He collapsed back into his seat. "Skeleton squadron's going to be completely wiped! And- I don't know if I can do it again," he concluded in a defeated tone. "Bandog, you know I always did what I was ordered to. I-I've flown in suicide missions, and you know that I never hesitated before! So please, I'm asking you, just this once… Please don't make me do this again."

"...Wait, did you say that the Arsenal Birds will be here? Nice! Anything else I need to know, Trigger?"

The Animalian was flipping through his mission notes. "Yeah, he knows what's going to happen here. There's no way someone could have told him what's going to happen in this mission. I guess… He must have actually been there the first time."

Pausing the mission, Bandog looked like he was ready to bash his head against the desk. "Colonel McKinsey was the one who reassured me that this mission wasn't flown by either one of them," he informed the rest of the room. "That bastard, he's doing this on purpose!" He frowned in the direction of James and Nick. "No offense, officers, but I am getting the feeling that he wants Count and Trigger to fail. Would rather see them spend the rest of the war stuck in your jail than fly for a squadron that isn't his." Punching his desk, he unmuted his microphone. "No can do Trigger, I need you to proceed with the mission. McKinsey's orders."

"Bandog-"

"Trigger, don't. Unless you want to hide in a corner like a coward, you'll need to suck it up, get over whatever it is that holding you back, and do your job!" He let out a huff of air, the puff overpowering the microphone and causing the speakers to crackle and pop. "If you've flown in the real mission, then you know what's going to happen. Use the power of hindsight, and guide Count through to the end. Nothing to worry about."

"That's not-"

"I don't care, Trigger!" Bandog was audibly losing whatever remained of his patience by this point. "This is your only chance to show that you can still do your damn job and you're blowing it!" He forced himself to take a few deep breaths before speaking again. "Trigger, the Urusians are still afraid of you, even after you've been gone all this time. And I know that you know what I'm taling about. So how about you show the Animalians exactly what they're afraid of?"

Trigger glared at his camera, the fear suddenly replaced with a fierce anger. "So I need to listen to my friends die all over again?"

"If that's what it takes, yes." Bandog confirmed coldly. "Welcome back to the war. People die here, in case you forgot."

James was getting a bad feeling that Bandog was being unnecessarily mean, but he also struggled to think of a way to get Trigger out of his mental stupor in any reasonable time. Plus, as rough and careless as Bandog was being, it seemed to work as Trigger let out a growl of frustration.

"Fine! Fine, if that's how you-... Count, I don't care what either Sky Keeper or Bandog tell you, you do as I say!"

"Uhh… Sure, you got it!"

"Count, I'm serious… Just listen to me."

"I got it, Trigger! Don't worry!"

"Okay. Those bandits you see on radar? Conserve your munitions on them, they're not critical."

Over the course of several minutes, Count and Trigger flew from one dogfight to the next, taking care of whatever hostile aircraft they came across, but not before their flying attracted the unwanted scorn of the Animalian. "Count, Trigger, this mission wasn't designed for you two to rely so much on your allies. Your allies are coded to be less capable than the bandits. You'll need to pull your weight more."

"Well that's dumb!" Count argued. "How are we supposed to train to rely on our squadron when you then code them in to be useless?"

"The mission was coded to test your skills as a pilot," the officer answered swiftly. "which means that you'll need to get more involved. Trigger, I can see you have a lock on the last bandit. Take the shot." His eyes narrowed as Trigger simply maintained target lock and followed the target around without doing much more. "Trigger..."

"I'll need the missiles for later," the pilot argued quietly, pulling out of the chase as one of the AI allies finally did take the missile shot in his place and taking out the last of the bandits.

"Our radar shows no signs of bandits." the artificial AWACS confirmed. "You're in the clear."

In the room, Bandog tapped at a radar screen. "Since Trigger already spoiled the surprise, that's the Arsenal Bird Liberty. Here it comes." Even as the speakers played back the voices from the pilots celebrating a very easy job well done, a large wing shaped radar contact made its way closer to the clusters of dots that were the individual fighters. Mere moments later, the celebrations instantly ended as missiles were launched at literally everyone. Count, strapped down in the stationary cockpit simulator, had a grin on his muzzle as he avoided the missiles, excited at the challenge. Trigger strained against the actual G-forces he had to deal from his evasive maneuvers, eyes narrow in raw fury. It only took moments, but there was a tense feeling in the room as Count and Trigger evaded the fire. Finally, the last missile warning fell silent, but the respite was short lived.

"Count, Trigger, take care of the UAVs." Bandog was right on top of getting the updates through. "That Arsenal Bird's going to be your main target."

"Righto!"

With the addition of the drones, all hell broke loose. Radio messages constantly broke over one another as different pilots all had something to say about the situation. Some were content with commenting on the flight behavior of the drones, while others cried out in alarm as they were targeted by drones and missiles.

"All aircraft, no change in game plan. Destroy the arsenal bird." Sky Keeper's mission update came quickly, calm and collected despite the rapidly deteriorating situation.

"Golem Squadron, take out Big Baby Huey" Some of the digital pilots were still focused on the mission despite the increasing chaos.

"Skeleton 1! Check six commander!" Others still were only able to fight for their lives, let alone try to complete any objectives.

"They got me!" A desperate cry was cut short into radio static as the formation took its first casualty. From the two real pilots, their reaction was different as Count let out a low curse and redoubled his efforts to take out more drones, while Trigger glared at the HUD in front of him, unleashing a burst of cannon fire at his target.

More of the pilots voiced complaints about their mission as mere seconds later, another fighter was taken out by a drone. Inside the room, Bandog stared at his monitors with an intense expression, while the Animalian next to him looked almost shocked at how quickly everything started to go wrong.

"Golem 2! Missile! Evade!"

The callout was echoed by Trigger, who also let out his own frantic warning. "Brownie! Break!" His flying froze for a moment as the next radio message played out.

"This is Golem 3! Golem 2 is hit!"

His microphone picking up a quiet whimper escaping the pilot, Trigger slammed the throttle forward to get back in the fight.

"Brownie, status report!" In the wider sense of the conflict, even as Sky Keeper worked with Golem squadron to stay updated on everyone's situation, the drones were slowly taking control of the skies as more fighters were shot down.

"Skeleton 2 lost!"

Cursing again, Count decided to try a different approach. "Trigger, we can't just keep downing drones! We need to take out that Arsenal Bird!"

"No, Count! Get the drones!" Trigger sounded desperate as he voided Count's opinion.

Bandog frowned at a signal on one of his monitors. "That Arsenal Bird's about to deploy its APS. Count, Trigger, stay clear!"

"What's the APS?" James dared to ask Kyle, only speaking as quietly as he dared.

"It's uh, energy shielding," Kyle whispered back, eyes glued on the pilots. "Fries all electronics within range. Takes out missiles. And planes too." Just as he mentioned this, the APS was deployed, taking several fighters within its radius. If the situation was bad before, it was even worse now.

"Skeleton squadron is down. We've had too many losses." Contrary to his previous professionalism, Sky Keeper wasn't able to hide his disappointment at the news. "All squadrons, command has ordered a complete withdrawal..." Sky Keeper continued to give further updates, even as he was interrupted several times by pilots giving him very angry remarks for the too-late change in mission. "Golem and Mage squadrons, give our allies time to escape!"

"Nothing we haven't done before, Trigger!" Count piped up. "Hell, this time the weather's much nicer! Let's take out those drones and go home!"

"Wilco, but Golem 2's hit. Gotta send her back."

"Continuing the mission, still got my wings!" Brownie's voice argued back. "Trigger doesn't need to fill in for me. I'm back an-" Even as she was interrupted by her squadron leader forcing her to evacuate, no one in the room payed attention to what the recorded lines were saying.

In fact, it was Count who voiced what everyone else were thinking. "Damn, Trigger. They forgot to edit out your name out of that one. You really were there, weren't you?"

Trigger had closed his eyes, leaning hard into his seat even as a drone got on his tail, missile warning angrily buzzing into the sim cockpit. Barely reacting to it, he launched off some flares, letting them bait the missile away, but not reacting in any way otherwise.

"...Copy that. Returning home." Brownie sounded extremely disappointed at the orders she was given, but had no choice but to follow them.

"Gargoyle 1, escort Golem 2 out of the airspace."

Trigger opened his eyes back, now sporting a determined gaze. "Count, I'm going with Brownie," he called out coldly. "You got the drones." Breaking away from the fight, he followed the two planes heading away, ignoring the angry retort his move earned him from Count.

Bandog had other ideas for the pilot. "Negative, Trigger, help Count out with taking out the drones. Golem 2 already has an escort, and is heading out of the AO. The rest of Golem and Gargoyle still need your help."

"Hey, Trigger, that girl in that picture of yours, that's her, is she?"

Trigger let out a shuddered breath. "Yeah..."

"Trigger, she's just a recording, remember?" Letting out an annoyed groan, he had to break off from another missile warning, using the maneuver to target a different drone instead. Either way, Trigger didn't answer in any case.

Bandog suddenly leaned over his radar screen, looking at a contact that just popped up on it. "Count, UAVs are intercepting Gargoyle squadron.

Some strange, deep, voice randomly spoke a single line in a foreign language, almost unheard due to all the other chatter going on at the same time. It would have been easy to miss if it wasn't for the fact that everyone, as in everyone, stiffened up. Jame and Nick glanced around the room nervously as not only did both pilots react to the noise, but so did Bandog, as did the Animalian, and even Kyle.

In fact, it was Kyle who broke the moment, but not in a good way. "Holy shit, that's Mister X!"

"Who?" James asked, dreading to find out the answer. If even Kyle knew who it was, and was reacting this way, there was no way that this new pilot was good news.

"Urusia's top ace, if not the world's," the Animalian answered swiftly. "Should have been retired years ago, don't ask how he's still capable of flying, but we know he's active now."

Count, however, scoffed at the explanation. "Trigger and I already ran into him twice! Besides, this one's just a computer simulation of him! Right, Trigger?"

"I'm going to kill him." Not only was the pilot's quiet statement extremely unnerving, the expression in his eyes, the only part of his face visible from the helmet and mask, was still enough to make the fur on the back of Jame's neck crawl. Trigger was out for blood.

"Retreating aircraft, prepare for combat, it's a bogey! Gargoyle 1, Golem 2, engage now! Attack!" Sky Keeper was right on top of the situation as before, but his tone betrayed a concerned urgency at the unexpected arrival.

"One bandit!" Gargyle 1 warned, "Su-30!"

"Gargoyle 1 caution! Missile!" Brownie warned in turn, but it was too late. Gargoyle 1 barely had time to comment on the speed of Mister X before his transmission sputtered into static.

"Sky Keeper, Gargoyle 1 lost," a disappointed Brownie transmitted.

Bandog cupped his microphone, quickly spinning to look at the Animalian next to him. "Something's not right, I'm not seeing him on my radar. Su-30s are state of the art, but they're not stealth!" Unblocking the microphone, he parroted the bad news to the pilots. "Trigger, you're on your own with this one, I can't see him on my screens."

"I can't get a lock on him!" Trigger complained, "He's not on radar. Not reacting at all to me!"

"Trigger, watch your engines!" The Animalian warned, peering at the instrumentation over Bandog's shoulder. "You're going to burn them out at this rate! And watch your fuel levels!"

Sky Keeper wasn't of any help either, busy with trying to get Brownie to update him on the situation unraveling, even as her radio transmissions only described her inability to escape this bandit.

Golem 1's voice broke through to order an alternative. "Golem 2! Stop dogfighting and run!"

Flipping through the clipboard, the Animalian found a possible cause for the discrepancy in radar contacts. "The only targetable entities listed for this mission are the early Urusian aircraft and drones. Mister X isn't on the list… I don't think he's a physical entity in the sim, just a recorded event."

Not helping matters further were the increasingly desperate radio calls coming from Golem 2. "I don't get it, why isn't he opening fire? I'm scared!" Even worse, the last expression of fear echoed in the radios only a second later, further emphasizing the dire situation.

"Hand on, Brownie! I'm coming!" Trigger called out despite the tight turn he was in, eyes desperately scanning for his target.

James felt Nick slide closer to him, whether subconsciously or not, the older officer didn't particularly care. He placed a paw on Nick's shoulder, giving a reassuring squeeze as he was also unable to do anything more than watch with a helpless feeling.

"Golem and Mage squadrons! Help us!" Independently of Brownie's fight, a Gargoyle squadron pilot reminded everyone that still others needed help as well.

"Trigger, I need you to take him out and get back here!" Count shouted from his fight with the drones. "I'm low on missiles, and there's still a lot of drones!"

"I can't target him!" Trigger shouted right back, voice desperate. "He's right there and I can't get a lock!"

The frustrated sigh from Count echoed through the speakers. "Trigger, even if you kill him… It won't bring her back."

"If I shoot him down it-… Sequence break the scripting of this mission!" Trigger argued back, tone telling all that this was not an argument he had time to deal with.

"Trigger-" Count tried to reason again.

"-I'm not letting her die again!"

"Brownie, what's your status?" Golem 1 inquired again, oblivious to the shouting going on between the two pilots. "Status report!"

"He's a predator! The weak get eaten."

"Golem 2, get a hold of yourself! Brownie, get away from the enemy!"

"Mage 2 support!" Brownie's desperation morphed rapidly into fear as Mister X achieved and maintained a lock on her. "Somebody! Trigger! Suppo-!" Static cut off her final cry for help.

"...Kate!"

The pain in Trigger's voice was such as though he was the one who just got shot down, his shout completely overpowering another transmission from Mr. X. Letting out a furious mix of a yell and growl, he held down the trigger of his autocannon, spraying rounds in every direction in front of him, vaguely at Mister X's direction as far as anyone could tell, and not letting go until the cockpit buzzed at him repeatedly that he ran the guns dry. Smashing a fist against the canopy next to his head, he collapsed back into his seat, only the restraining straps keeping him upright.

"Shit…" Bandog's single curse, echoed moments later by Golem 1, broke the otherwise unnatural silence that had filled the room. Returning back to his own job, he had non of the energy he had before, sounding almost bored as he brought his attention back to the remaining pilot. "Count, just a couple of UAVs left."

Further radio communications between Sky Keeper and the remaining pilots confirmed that Mr. X bugged out immediately after taking out Brownie, leaving Trigger behind and unable to do anything more after his cannon rounds failed to make contact.

"I'm out of ammunition, Bandog," Count pointed out. "I also need assistance here. ...Trigger? Think you can help?"

"Y-yeah," Trigger whimpered out, not even bothering to try and hide the mental state he was in. There was no reason to, not with a camera facing him the entire time. "I- I'm inbound." Quickly turning around, he flew towards the last of the drones, targeting the closest and sending a missile at it. Without even bothering to check if it will hit, he used his built up speed and momentum to fly to the remaining drones, targeting and launching his missiles at each one. Some of the missiles made contact, others were dodged by the agile drones.

"Hey, Trigger," Count said slowly, genuinely sounding grateful. "Thanks. And uh… I'm sorry."

Trigger ignored him, slowly sending the last of his missiles out at the last drone or two that dodged his first volley. These ones hit.

"All UAVs have been splashed!" the relieved voice of Sky Keeper announced the end of the mission.

"Trigger, Count, RTB. Fly out of the AO heading 090, and the sim will load in the landing sequence when you're both outside the combat zone. Homestretch you two."

"Are you sure you want them to land?" The Animalian officer asked. "I mean, look at him. We can just kill the sim now and pull them out." He hesitated when Bandog shot him a nasty glare.

"Something which is not an option in a real plane," he snarled. "Mission's over when the plane is on the ground and powered off, and not a moment earlier."

With the combat over, some of the remaining pilots took the time to voice their opinions. "I said what I had to say," the tired voice of Golem 1 said.

"Shut up, Knocker," Trigger snarled.

"About what?"

"Not a girl who'd retreat. Just not in her DNA."

With another snarl, Trigger pulled off his helmet and shoved it away, but in the confined space of the cockpit, it settled in his lap as he pulled the collar of his flight suit to try and wipe his eyes.

"Put your helmet back on, Trigger," Bandog ordered fruitlessly. "You still need it."

Trigger just started at it, not hearing neither Bandog's command nor the continued communications between the other pilots. Flying silently after Count, the cockpit dimmed momentarily as the scenery faded into black and back into focus as it loaded in the airbase runway. With a choked sob, he grabbed the helmet and slid it back over his head, not bothering to adjust it as it settled on at an angle.

"Count, form up on Trigger's wing and follow him in as a formation." Bandog said. "Trigger? Ten mile final for runway one six, cleared to land."

"R-roger. One six cleared to land."

Amazingly, the landing was completely uneventful, even if Trigger's touchdown was on the rougher side. But all things considered, a textbook landing from both pilots. A few more directions from Bandog, and they taxied over to one of the hangars where they shut off their 'aircraft', simulator cockpits dimming a final time.

"Mission complete," Bandog said with a sigh, pulling his headphones off his head and leaning back, stretching his neck. Grabbing the microphone for a last time, he gave one final order before shutting it down. "Meet you two in the debriefing room in ten minutes." Setting the device down, he proceeded to shut down his own station.

"Sargent Wolfritz?" The Animalian officer took charge of the situation. "Take the officers with you, grab the pilots, and like Bandog said, we'll meet you all in the debriefing room."

"Yes sir." Gently pushing James towards the door, Kyle lead the three of them out the room and down the corridors again. Walking briskly, they didn't run through this time around.

James watched his partner the entire time, trying to think of what to say to Nick. "Listen, Nick, uh, you alright yourself? I did catch your comment about you know… Kate-Brownie also reminded me of Judy a lot. I noticed how tense you got when you know… when she was shot down."

Nick shrugged and flashed a grin. "Relax, I'm all right!" he reassured James. "Carrots' still around!" To prove his point, he pulled out his phone, where he noticed unanswered texts waiting for him from the very bunny he was talking about. "See?" Absentmindedly, he tapped them open, frowning as soon as he saw the words within.

Kate? She's that girl from his picture. Why? She's alive after all? That's great news! Send a pic!

Wincing at the miscommunication, Nick typed back a quick reply that no, that's not the case and he'll tell her later. Sending the message away, he showed the exchange to James. "As I was saying, I'm not the one needing help at the moment." They were passing by the heavy double doors leading to the centrifuge, where Count was already inside and attempting to help Trigger out. "But he does," Nick concluded.

Count was breathing heavily, either from the mission or from running over, as he tapped on the door leading to the centrifuge cockpit assembly. "Come on Trigger, you can't hide in there forever," he said gently, "no one's even mad at you or anything, we understand. But you still need to get out." Trigger's answer was muffled through the walls of the cockpit, not that there was much energy in his words to begin with. Glancing behind him at the newly arrived officers, Count shook his head and tapped against the door again. "At least open up the door, can you do that?"

A few moments of silence later, and the door lock clicked, the entire panel lifting out of its frame as Count shuffled back away from it. Inside, still completely strapped into the seat, Trigger had removed his helmet again, fur spiked and mangled in all sorts of different directions. Staring at the pilot for a second, Count leaned in and started to undo the harnesses. Releasing the final buckle, he reached underneath Trigger's arms and hauled him up and out of the seat, the pilot only offering meager resistance.

Dragged out of the centrifuge, Trigger separated himself away from Count, noticing the others waiting for them. He stood silently in his spot, fists tightly clenched and shaking slightly, helmet creaking in his tight grip. The tips of his mouth curled and uncurled as he snarled in anger, glaring at the officers through his bloodshot and moisture covered eyes.

"Trigger-" James gulped nervously, feeling extremely uneasy. It was never easy dealing with people in such intense emotional states, and no matter how many times he had to do it as a cop, it never got easier. He looked over at Nick for assistance, but the other officer also wasn't attempting to do anything more.

"We're all being asked to get over to debrief," Kyle said suddenly, "do you need a moment, or can we go?"

Trigger's fist unclenched, his snarl fading. "I-yeah… Sorry…"

Nick gave a slight grin, patting the pilot in the arm. "Don't worry about it, Strikes." Letting his arm drop, he gave a comment that crossed his mind. "You're actually taking it rather well. No one's judging you here."

With Kyle taking the lead, they all left the centrifuge room, following the corridors down into a large room where Bandog and the Animalian officer were waiting patiently. Settling down around a flat table, the debrief proceeded quickly, with James and Nick asked to provide any comments that someone else might have missed.

All in all, the debrief was a rather dull affair. Bandog and the Animalian officer did most of the talking, with their main focus on Count's flying. After all, they both agreed very quickly on that with Trigger having already experienced the mission first hand, any checking of how they would react to unexpected situations was pointless. Far more effort was focused on the way the pilots had behaved themselves. Or more specifically, the rather significant lack of professionalism and adherence to established fighter pilot protocol.

"-and when you finally got back to take out the last of the drones, I simply can't let it go that you failed to call out any of your shots," Bandog scolded Trigger, disappointment strong in his voice. "Procedure isn't created simply to make flying more complicated, you know that. You can easily send a missile at an ally by mistake, and your call out could be the only warning they have that they need to act fast to avoid it. These are the kinds of mistakes rookies in flight training make, not combat pilots with more experience than most pilots on the planet."

Trigger grunted, nodding his head ever so slightly, but otherwise staring ahead at the table in front of him. Bandog clenched his fists tightly, only to let out a slow breath and dropping the matter. For the entire debrief, Trigger would only offer the shortest of answers, usually at only a word or two if he can get away with it. The entire time, he had not even touched the warm cut of decaf that was made for him and resting on the table. Even Count was distracted, often casing nervous glances in Trigger's direction and a couple of times losing his train of thought when it was his turn to talk.

A little over an hour in, the Animalian decided to call it. "We can all agree that whatever we hoped to get out of this mission, we didn't get anything close today," he concluded, repeating the general sentiment of the entire debrief. "While I am glad to have seen you two handle a new airframe without any issues, the rest of your flying left much to be desired. Count, Trigger, I would appreciate seeing written reports for the mission as though it were a real flight by the end of today as usual, but I'm not going to force the deadline. Get some rest, calm yourselves down, and get to it when you feel ready. Uh…" He turned his attention to Kyle. "Wolfritz? I think it's going to be best if you drive them back to their room now. They pulled a lot of G's today, especially Trigger, and he's going to crash hard the moment the adrenaline wears off. Bandog and I'll keep you updated, but consider yourselves dismissed until tomorrow. Officers? Thank you for your help."

Kyle again lead the group back outside, taking a moment to blink at the bright sun as his eyes adjusted to the outdoor lighting. Finding the parked vehicle they drove in on, he had everyone load in and hopped into the driver's seat last, driving them all back, trying to ignore the unnerving quiet as no one felt like talking.

Opening the door to the motel room, Nick allowed everyone to get inside. Trigger headed straight for the bed, crawling underneath the blankets, not even bothering to get out of his flight suit, flight boots and all. Resting his head on one of the pillows, he stared blankly ahead and completely ignored the others as they milled about the room.

Nick had taken out his phone at this time, sitting down into one of the armchairs and went straight for his conversation with Judy. He was in the process of figuring out exactly how to explain the situation to her when he felt a gentle prodding against his shoulder. He looked up at a nervous Wolford.

"Kyle wants to take us downtown. Let us grab some better food than what we can find within walking distance of here," he explained. "Well, that, and to try and walk some of today's stress off. Count's coming with us, but well, Trigger," he pointed at the pilot, who had his eyes closed but didn't appear to actually be asleep yet. "I really don't want to leave him alone."

Nick nodded. "Don't worry, I'll stay and watch over him."

"Well, I was hoping you can also try to also get him to well, it's not good for him to dwell on it," James muttered. "Remember how you made that really stupid joke? By the ocean? Remember how it somehow worked?"

Nick raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"Well, maybe you can try something like that now?"

"I don't think it will work this time," Nick answered, "but if you really want me to give it a try…"

James let out a slight grin. "That would be appreciated. Thanks, Nick."

With a shrug, Nick put his phone away and got up, sitting down on the edge of Trigger's bed, all to aware that Count and Kyle were also watching him keenly. "Yo, Strikes, 'Cus here's gonna take Wolfy and Gimpy out to town..." Mentally wincing at his relapsing to the style of talking he used to do while living on Zootopia's streets, he nevertheless forced himself to continue. He placed a paw on Trigger's shoulder, but the pilot didn't react. "Wanna tag along? Might be fun." As he expected, Trigger didn't react other than opening his eyes a little. When glanced at, James made a rolling motion with a finger for Nick to get on with it. "Well, as an alternative, I was thinking, since we're in a desert and all..." He hesitated for a moment, letting the suspension build up if this was going to work. "So option two, Strikes, is how do you feel about going outside and see if you can catch a roadrunner?"

Kyle's jaw dropped. Count let out a low whistle.

James winced, impressed at Nick's boldness. "Damn, Wilde, if Bogo heard you just now, you'd be out of a job," he whispered, starting at the pilot Nick's suggestion was aimed at.

Trigger lifted his head up slowly, glaring at Nick, who answered the expression with a nervous suggestive shrug. Rolling over to face away from the fox, he paused only to wipe his eyes with the top of his shirt before dropping his head back down against the pillow, much to the other's disappointment.

Nick shook his head sadly. "All right, we'll leave you alone then," he told the pilot, giving him a reassuring press on the shoulder much like he had felt James do to him. "I can stay here with him," he then told the others, "do try and find something nice for dinner." He motioned lazily at the laptop sitting on the table where he was just at. "Might as well some of the paperwork out of the way too," he added quietly.

"You sure?" James asked, "I don't want to force you to stay."

"Don't worry about me," Nick confirmed his decision, "worry about this guy," he motioned at Trigger's still form. "Try to find something tasty, but easy to take in. For a lack of any better ideas, find some comfort food if you can."

"Oh, I can definitely help out with that," Count said. "So when are we leaving then?"

The answer to that was not long, and soon enough, Nick found himself alone in the room with Trigger. "Sorry about that jab I made, was hoping it was going to be enough to get a reaction out of you," he said quietly, not too concerned if the pilot had heard him or not. When he again failed to get any sort of reaction, he pulled out his phone and sat down into the armchair by the table, also sliding over the laptop closer to him. Powering it on, he frowned upon opening up the paperwork that needed to be filled out. Unable to decide between the phone or the paperwork, another idea flashed across his mind. Sending a quick text over to Judy, he felt relief when she answered back right away. A quick exchange of messages later, and his new plan was ready. He got up out of the seat, calling her at the same time.

She picked up barely one ring in.

Stepping outside, Nick needed a few minutes to further explain the situation to her. Unable to divulge too many specific details, needing to be vague on key points left a bitter feeling in his mouth as he struggled to explain the situation. But eventually, Judy was able to understand enough to get the idea.

"So what do you need of me then?" she asked, concern in her voice.

"Talk to him," Nick answered, "not even about anything important. Just, you know? Talk." Stepping back inside the room, he made his way over to the bed. "Strikes? I got Carrots on the phone…" He poked at Trigger's shoulder, knowing that this was going to be a tough battle. He eventually settled on dropping the phone on the pillow right next to the pilot's head. "She's still on the line if you want to talk," he informed, leaving Trigger alone and settling down with the laptop and the paperwork on it. Facing away from the bed, the corners of his muzzle lifted into a grin as he heard Trigger shuffle and answer the call.

"J-Judy? Hey… Uh..."

Nick's smirk widened. No one can resist bunnies.

Leaving the two of them alone, he let himself focus on his work, forcing himself to ignore the conversation for the sake of their privacy. It was while he was still typing away, many minutes later, that he jolted at an unexpected knocking at the door. Setting the laptop away, he peered through the peephole, not recognizing the dark furred feline in military uniform waiting outside. Cautiously opening the door a little, he stepped through, closing the door behind him, meeting the black furred couger. "May I help you-?" He scanned the uniform, but wasn't able to gleam much information from it. "Sorry, I'm not too familiar with military ranks. You are..?"

"Major Easly, pilot in the USAF," the new arrival introduced himself, holding out a paw to shake. "You're officer Wilde?"

"That would be me," Nick confirmed, "sounds like you've done your homework. Animalian? Right, so may I help you..?"

The pilot motioned at the door leading to Bandog's room. "Yes, sorry, I arrived here to meet with Bandog to discuss something, but I thought of stopping by to check on the two Ocelotian pilots first. Are they available? Ideally, you think I can talk to Three Strikes for a bit?"

Nick wasn't sure if this was actually the case or not, but he wasn't getting any feelings that this pilot was trying to pull a fast one on him. "One of them's gone for for now, but let me check on the other." He stopped right as he was turning around due to hearing the pilot clear his throat. "Um, yes?"

"Is it Three Strikes who's in there?"

"It is," Nick answered.

Major Easly nodded. "Good. Yes, I would like to talk to him, if he won't mind."

Stepping back inside, Nick stopped next to Trigger, still on the phone. "Strikes? There's a Animalian pilot outside wanting to talk to you. A major."

Trigger's head snapped towards the door, a flash of fear crossing his muzzle. Quickly wiping his eyes with his shirt again, he bid Judy a shaky farewell before clambering off the bed. Following Nick out of the room, he stopped at the door, staring at the new pilot, not saying a word.

"You're Three Strikes? 'Trigger'?" Easly asked, frowning at his bloodshot eyes and the large damp spot on the top of his uniform. "Heard you had a rough day today…"

Trigger sniffed and wiped his snout on the back of his arm, still not saying anything.

"You don't recognize me?" Easly sounded genuinely confused. "I know we never met in person, but I know we've crossed paths before." He gave a warm smile. "You saved my life, as well as the rest of two of my squadrons'," he informed, grinning at Nick's surprised reaction. "You might remember my TAC name. Wisecat. Name ring a bell?"

Trigger stiffened. "Yeah, I remember," he grunted. "What do you want?"

"To talk," Wisecat said. "We never got the chance before." He pointed at the wet spot on Trigger's uniform. "I won't mind waiting if you want to take a moment to make yourself a little more presentable." Without a word, Trigger turned and disappeared back inside the room, leaving Nick alone with Wisecat. "I went over the simulation results," the pilot told the officer. "Trigger would have shot down Mr. X if the sim would have allowed him to, know who I'm talking about?. Do you know why he worked so hard to try and save that pilot Brownie?"

"He never told us much, but I think they were dating from before the war," Nick answered slowly. "He still carries a picture of the two of them in training. And yes, I was informed of Mr. X."

"Really? Damn." Wisecat looked very disgruntled by the news. "You know, I was serious when I said that he saved my life. I was leading two squadrons when we got bounced by Urusian drones. Then guess who showed up after that? Mr. X would have had had all of us for lunch if Trigger and his squad didn't show up. Count was there too, but he had to turn around early due to equipment failure. You know, it's hard to forget the feeling when you get saved by a pilot flying a museum relic with three white lines crossing the tail." Wisecat let out a slight chuckle. "I did try to thank him personally after we landed at 444's airbase, but we were forced to leave as soon as our planes were refueled."

"But you're Animalian," Nick pointed out. "What were you doing in combat? We're not at war."

"No, we're not," Wisecat agreed. "Which is why we weren't armed, and it wasn't a combat mission we were flying. But try telling that to the Urusians, especially their drones. But seriously, you should have seen Trigger chase Mr. X. Never seen flying like that before. But after seeing the results of today, I think I know a way of at least partially returning the favor."

A pair of fighters took off from the runway, the loud roar of their engines drowning out the entire area. Wisecat pointed at the two specks climbing into the air for Nick to watch. "These planes are a generation newer than what he was flying, and they're not that new to begin with," he told Nick when the noise finally died down. "If Trigger earned his reputation in such an outdated design, can you imagine what he's capable of in a modern fighter?"

They both turned their heads when the pilot in question came back out. The top of his flight suit was wrapped around his waste, and the undershirt was completely replaced with one of the spare shirts James had brought over way back. Nick grinned when he recognized the 'That's how I roll' sketch on the front.

"Trigger, you are rather… out of uniform," Wisecat commented, humor in his voice. Again, Trigger didn't say anything and only stared back in silence. "But no matter. Officer Wilde, if you won't mind giving us a moment?"

Nick nodded. "Sure, no problem." Leaving the two pilots to themselves, it was his turn to head back inside the room. Picking up his discarded phone, he thought of calling Judy again, but changed his mind and returned to the laptop. He was almost done with the paperwork and wouldn't mind completing it before James and Count will come back with dinner.

Typing away, he lost track of time and how long it took for Trigger to come back in. Shouldn't have been too long, but at least a fair bit of time had passed. Nick was startled slightly at the dazed look Trigger was sporting. "Everything all right there, Strikes?"

Trigger blinked, watching Nick for a little bit. "...He wants us to fly tomorrow," he answered quietly, climbing back on the bed and hugging his knees. "Count and I… He wants to take us up in Eagles tomorrow."