Chapter 2 - The First Days
(November 6th, 2022)
Kazuto Kirigiya, or as he now went by, Kirito, had a plan. It wasn't a brilliant plan, but it was a plan nonetheless. The chaos that had engulfed the airfield was nothing short of horrendous, and he had no doubts that staying put was a bad idea, given their current circumstances. Why had Kayaba done this, he wondered, as he walked over to the flight line, and picked an aircraft.
In the beta, Kirito had flown a customised F-16C, that he'd had fine tuned to his style of flying by the closest thing to a master mechanic that a month long beta had produced. He'd upgraded the aircraft to the highest he could, allowing him to equip every weapon fit for the aircraft, and was not far off obtaining the next aircraft up - the F-2A.
That was then though, and now, he found himself a newbie like the rest of the players. The highest level aircraft he could see was an F-104J, painted in the Japanese colours, and by that, he meant the closest approximation that Strangereal had to Japanese colours… in other words, it had the Hinomarus, but that was about it.
A few aircraft down the line stood an F-5E, the Tiger II. The F-5 had been developed as a lightweight fighter for the US to supply to allied nations in the 1950s and 1960s IRL, and as a result, the aircraft was the polar opposite to aircraft then in development, being a small, light and agile fighter, with no radar of any kind in the single seat version, only the twin cannons on the nose. That had been the F-5A, which was soon developed into the F-5E, which had significant aerodynamic improvements, more powerful engines, a longer range, a wider variety of weapons, and an, admittedly poor, air-to-air radar. It wasn't much, but it was certainly better than the other options available…
Kirito jumped into the cockpit, and began flicking switches in a well rehearsed routine from his first days in the beta…
(Day One of the ACES Online beta…)
Kirito was a gamer through and through. It was the reason he'd chosen to sign up for the ACES Online beta, and more importantly, it was for that reason he didn't back down from a challenge, and would find a way to power through it when one came his way…
He certainly hadn't been expecting that challenge to be pre flight checks, in a VR environment though. Having launched ACES Online, and developed his avatar to fit him perfectly, he'd immediately chosen the highest level aircraft available at the Reserve level. That had been the F-5A, and now the gamer had found himself walking around an aircraft that looked similar to his F-5A, but not identical. For one thing, the aircraft was longer due to the addition of a second cockpit, which told him the aircraft was either an F-5B, the twin seat version of his F-5A, or a T-38 Talon, an aircraft developed from the same airframe, but for the purpose of an advanced fighter trainer.
A small red decal near the front, of three claw marks, with the characters ''T-38 Talon'' told him it was not an F-5B, and confirmed it to be the training aircraft. Whilst Kirito was busy performing what he hoped were pre-flight checks, a man was now stood by the ladder into the Talon's cockpit.
The man's features were all obscured by the helmet and visor he wore, and the only skin he could see on the man was that around his neck, which suggested he was Caucasian. The man spoke, ''You must be the new recruit. I am Major Zeal.'' his voice confirming another detail - he was American, or at least, his accent was. ''The aircraft in front of you is the T-38A Talon. It's a supersonic jet trainer, and a very agile aircraft. Get in the plane, and I'll walk you through the technical specs of the plane, and its limits, whilst we set it up for the flight.''
Kirito was a guy who'd spent most of his, admittedly short, life so far in front of a computer. Which made the aircraft in front of him a very different creature, as there were very little on the T-38 in regards to computers. Every part of the instrumentation was analogue, and relied on an intricate system of gyros and other mechanical methods, and as a result, Kirito certainly hadn't had an easy time getting the hang of the start up system.
In fact, after logging out for the night, he'd actually spent his time finding a simulator pilot explaining how to start a T-38 in another simulator.
The next day had came, and after returning from school, he'd read over his notes multiple times, and after logging in, set up the T-38 on the first try. Before too long, Kirito had managed to taxi the plane to the runway, and set up the aircraft for take off.
''Ready to go.'' Came the voice from the rear cockpit. With little hesitation, he pushed the two throttles to full power, and held the control stick tight. At 110 knots, the T-38 rose from the runway, and Kirito retracted the landing gear after a few seconds. The instructor seemed impressed, as the T-38 accelerated through 200 knots and passed 3000ft. ''Textbook, trainee.'' he said.
The rest of the flight had been relatively uneventful, at least until Kirito had nearly blacked out in a 9G turn, and sent them careening into the ground. The instructor's tone had been distinctively unimpressed come the beginning of the next flight, almost as if he remembered the 500 mile an hour impact into the forest below...
/-/
All of that had been a very different time. A time when he could mess about, and whilst he was always erred on the side of caution back in the beta, he could throw himself into danger and come out a lot worse for wear from it back then too.
He couldn't do that now. All it took was a single lapse in concentration during a dogfight, and bang. Best case scenario, he was able to eject and live to fight another day. Worst case scenario, he never saw what hit him…
Putting those thoughts out of his head for now, he pictured the route from the main hangar to the runway - straight along X-ray to Juliet 4, then a left turn onto Runway 21. From there, it was as simple as heading on a course to the first airfield he'd found in the beta, which was about fifteen minutes due north. All perfectly normal, he thought to himself…
Which is why his radio going off surprised him just a bit. ''Kii-bou, I know that's you in the F-5.'' The familiar voice of one of the few people he'd actually talked to in the beta spoke, the same nasally voice as she'd had during that period too. He couldn't see her aircraft anywhere, but he doubted she'd be far away. The UHF radios weren't that long ranged, and only really worked if both of you were less than thirty miles apart, so that narrowed it down a little.
''You already know where I'm heading, Argo. Fort Pleasant.'' He answered.
''If ya think that's a good idea…'' He didn't have to see Argo to tell she was less than pleased at that news. Her tone communicated that pretty well, even with the crackling on the frequency. ''Look, Kii-bou, don't take this the wrong way, but ya need somebody with ya. Fort Pleasant's gonna be abandoned, an' even if ya were the ace of aces back then... ya really plan to man a base by yerself?'' As much as it painted Kirito to admit it, he really hadn't thought that far ahead. He'd assumed that, just like in the beta, the base would be open to players as soon as someone landed there and therefore, he wouldn't need to man the base himself. With the thought in his head, what was to say that Kayaba hadn't meddled with the game? He certainly couldn't say that with any confidence...
''What are you asking, Argo?''
''I'm not asking anything, I'm sayin' that I'm comin' wit' ya.'' During the beta, Argo had demonstrated that she was just as tenacious as he was, but had often taken the more risky reconnaissance missions that came up, relying on speed and agility alone to get in and out of a target, in that RF-5 she'd flown. He didn't imagine that anyone would be willing to take those type of missions voluntarily anymore, with the risk to their own lives now a very real, and ever present threat...
Scanning around him as he lined up on the runway, he noticed another F-5 behind him on the taxiway, an earlier A model that had, in a sick joke on Kayaba's part, been given the name ''Freedom Fighter''. He had no doubts that was Argo's plane, and the next radio transmission confirmed that... ''I told ya, I'm comin' wit' ya.'' Kirito, deciding that arguing with Argo was an exercise in futility, didn't respond and began to do a take off check, as her F-5A pulled alongside him on the runway...
Flaps - set. Canopy - shut. Engines - looking good. Throttles - to full.
The lightweight F-5E rolled down the runway, its twin J85-21 engines propelling it to takeoff speed slightly faster than Argo's earlier A model, giving Kirito a very brief head start in the drag race that had been their takeoff. Within seconds, both aircraft were rolling down the runway at speed and shortly after, both F-5s lifted into the sky.
The flight to the base at Fort Pleasant wasn't a particularly long one, only being around a hundred miles away, meaning that at cruise speed, they'd reach it in less than fifteen minutes... not that the short time made the flight any less awkward. Despite Argo being one of the few people he actually had managed a full conversation with during the beta, he hadn't expected her to tag along with him as a babysitter. Besides, she knew he was a good pilot, even if his social skills were more than a little rusty, so it wasn't as if he couldn't look after himself. ''Kii-bou, we're coming up to Fort Pleasant. I'll let ya lead fer landing. After all, ya know the old saying?'' He pondered on the question for a few seconds, and then gave up.
''I don't think I do, Argo?''
''Ladies first...'' He wasn't even in the same airplane as Argo, and he could already feel that smug grin of hers radiating from the Freedom Fighter...
/-/
The landing at Fort Pleasant had been a relatively smooth affair, and both aircraft were now taxiing into the main hangar, a reinforced concrete structure that, if Kirito remembered correctly from the beta, was supposed to be able to take a direct hit from a heavy bomb, and still remain standing. Useful really, given he had no doubts what the first mission would be. He'd played enough Ace Combat games to know that the first mission was always a simple ''Base under Siege'' mission. The big question now, was when?
Once both F-5s had been stored safely inside the hangar, the two ex-beta testers had agreed that the best course of action was to find any resources that could be used to sustain their operations from the base. That the base had been abandoned in a rush, they had no doubts - fuel bowsers, albeit heavily dilapidated, were still full of jet fuel, ammunition was still chambered in the anti-aircraft guns, and tools had been left in the maintenance bays.
Inside the huge hangar, Kirito was starting to doubt just how structurally sound the building was - staining from water ingress was running down from the roof, whilst rust was beginning to form around a number of the main joints on the steel girders that held the hangar up, and a nasty smell, that of standing water that had evidently stood for a while, could be smelt over one side of the hangar...
The mess was a different story entirely. If they'd had plenty of tools in the hangar, then they'd made an unpleasant discovery... they had no food, other than what was left in the vending machines, and that could've been years out of date. Luckily for them, Kayaba hadn't been such a sadist as to program in expiration dates for the foods in ACES, which meant neither would die an unpleasant (and ever so slightly embarrassing...) death from food poisoning.
The next problem that they'd realised was the sleeping arrangements... somehow, in a base meant to handle at least a squadron's worth of people... there was only one room for sleeping.
The pair had decided to flip a coin to see who got the bed, and who was sleeping in the mess hall... and almost immediately afterwards, Kirito had decided that he hated his luck.
(Back at the base, nine days later...)
''Hi, can I-'' And another one walked past her. Back in school, a couple of friends had laughed that getting a guy to do what they asked was as simple as fluttering your eyelids and acting sweet and innocent... they were so far beyond wrong, it had found itself in a new category of incorrectness. During the beta, she'd made a new friend, who'd agreed to meet with her on launch day, but the guy was nowhere to be seen. As much as her feelings made her resent the bastard who'd left her on her own here, it wasn't as if they'd done it on purpose. Maybe they'd been busy, and just not had chance to sign in, thus sparing them from the fate of being trapped in this hellscape, unlike nearly ten thousand others. The first few nights, she'd spent completely isolated, sleeping in the mess room, just a part of the furniture to almost everyone else. Some people had offered her some reassurance, whilst a few sat with her for a bit... it hadn't done much to help, but it was something.
The eighth day of this hell had arrived, and there had been a distinct change in the tone around the base. During the evening, a few players had taken on what they believed to be the first mission of the game - a reconnaissance run over a nearby base, to investigate reports of Belkan bombers being moved into position.
Spurred on by this success, she'd spent all day asking her fellow players if they'd help her get better at this game. Most just ignored the black haired girl, and carried on with their lives. Of the ones who had actually spent more than two seconds in the vicinity of her... well, she'd honestly wished they didn't. Some were slimy, and she could feel them undressing her with their eyes, whilst the others believed themselves to be god's gift to women everywhere...
In other words, she'd found reasons not to get in an enclosed space with them.
After a bland and unsatisfying meal in the mess, she'd found herself a seat near the flight line, and watched as a fighter took off, its exhaust trailing diamonds as it disappeared from sight, into the early evening sky. She thought to herself just how much better things would be up there, just the wide open sky, and herself. Evidently more resilient than she believed, she got up and went looking again.
In a hardened hangar, just off the taxiway, she'd spotted a player getting out of an aircraft, still armed. She knew very little about planes, and had only really logged into ACES to understand her father's job a little better... She'd gotten a lot more than that, in the end.
''Umm, hi, I don't mean to bother you, but umm...'' She stuttered, as the pilot turned around and removed their helmet. He was taller than her, at around 5ft 6in, with a mop of light brown hair on his head, and gave a smile towards her.
''Oh, sorry, couldn't hear you.''
''I, umm... I want to get better! Can you, you know, help me?'' She blurted out, earning a slight chuckle off the pilot stood in front of her.
''Yeah, of course.'' He gave an innocent smile, as he walked over to her. ''Sorry, I didn't catch your name?'' He asked.
''Koharu, you?'' She gave a slight bow as she introduced herself to her new teacher.
''Coper.''
{Author's Comments}
Well, this can only end well, can't it?
Also, an apology for this chapter being a bit later than I planned, but this chapter just did not want to come together, even with all of the elements plotted out. Hopefully, this came out well, and chapter 3 will be out before the end of July this time (famous last words, I know...)
Anyway, if you've enjoyed this, and want to leave some feedback, drop me a review or PM, follow, favourite etc it too.
Signing off, Midland 2541