Major Orville Allen Hawke was irritated as he waited in the secure conference room. He had been ordered to wait there and meet with a man who would arrive. Major Hawke had been waiting for two hours with no end in sight. At nearly the three hour mark the door opened and a man in a black suit, black shirt, and black tie with a black briefcase with all the hardware plated in black chrome. Major Hawke immediately noted the all black motif, and realized there was an additional detail. The man wore an old school watch, black leather band, and the watch was a completely custom piece.
The man spoke "Major Hawke, May I call you Orville?" Major Hawke replied "Major, Major Hawke, Hawke, or Allen will do. So who do I owe for the pleasure of waiting for nearly three hours?" The man smiled, handed Hawke a page of paper, and said "My apologies Allen. I personally prefer to use first names. My name is Gabriel, code name Archangel. Once you sign the NDA I will continue." Hawke read the NDA, took his pen, signed the document, and handed it back to Gabriel and asked "So what is this about?"
Gabriel answered "I work for a private intelligence company that if you managed to trace it's ownership back through all the shell companies you would discover it is actually owned by all the federal intelligence agencies. Originally it was it's own federal agency called the F.I.R.M. which stood for Federal Intelligence and Research Management. They really wanted it to spell F.I.R.M. and just before your uncle St. John was rescued the process started to transition it to it's current form. In the early eighties your father worked for the F.I.R.M. as a test pilot on a project called Airwolf. Not long after he left their employment the original prototype was stolen by it's designer. Your father recovered it and promised to return it to the government in exchange for them finding and rescuing your Uncle. After the explosion that injured your father the government and your Aunt located where your father hid the original Airwolf prototype and used it to rescue your uncle. Your uncle, aunt, and two other men flew Airwolf for the government for a while until the project was terminated and the original prototype was decommissioned. Any questions so far?"
Hawke considered what he was told before speaking "You mentioned 'Original prototype' more than once. I assume you built improved versions and that was what led to the original prototype being decommissioned." Gabriel shook his head and said "Not entirely. A number of successor prototypes were developed, including one when your father still flew the original, however they were all stolen and destroyed by the original. Including the prototype we developed recently while attempting to relaunch the program. That aircraft is codenamed Direwolf. The development team killed all the test crews save for themselves and one person. That man, David Three Feathers, got into a gun fight with them as they stole Direwolf. He was injured but killed one of the three man crew. He's capable of flying Direwolf however he is not a combat pilot, nor is he trained for hand to hand combat and to be honest his skills with a handgun are his only personal offensive skills. There are four other people who could likely fly Direwolf in combat. Considering that the thief has multiple gunships, anyone who recovers Direwolf will likely have to fight their way out. Any questions?"
Hawke considered the statement he just heard and asked "You indicate that you want to recover Direwolf. Why not destroy it and simply build another? Who else is a candidate to recover it?" Gabriel said "Like with Airwolf and each subsequent prototype, Direwolf's plans are stored only in it's onboard computers. It would take approximately a year and a half to recreate the technology in a working prototype even working with the various suppliers. As for the other four candidates three are past their prime, and my boss said she got orders from higher up that the third candidate is off limits. She said that asking you was pushing things." Hawke looked directly into Gabriel's eyes and said "You didn't answer my question, it was who not why not." Gabriel said "The three past their prime are your mother, your uncle, and your aunt. The one that is off limits has no actual combat experience and is considered a security risk his name is Henry Murphy and I think you know of him." Hawke considered it and said "Your higher ups are right, Murphy would probably join up with the thieves. So what makes me, someone who has never flown anything related to this Direwolf of yours the ideal candidate over my uncle who is more than likely able to pull this off with his eyes closed. He may be past his prime but him and my dad taught me everything I know about air to air combat and they each forgot more than I learned." Gabriel simply replied "Because you are younger, have quicker reflexes and are the only person in the U.S. Army who has used a little bird to shoot down three Migs in a dog fight. Yes, I know all about that highly classified operation and if you had been available we would have had you assigned to the development team for Direwolf."
Hawke then asked "What about the original prototype?" Gabriel answered "We used it test and develop Direwolf's systems. If you are unable to recover Direwolf, then it will be available if you need it to destroy Direwolf. We prefer to recover Direwolf and the test crew that stole her but we would accept the destruction of the prototype and the death of design team if one or bother were the only option to prevent them from falling into hostile hands. Since you have made it clear to your commanding officer that you intended to leave the Army due to personal reasons we are willing to facilitate expediting the process. Additionally we are willing to pay ten million dollars."
Hawke considered it and said "I want the original prototype." Gabriel informed him "It's available for the mission as soon as you accept it." Hawke shook his head and said "No, I'm not interested in the money. I want the original prototype as payment." Gabriel sighed and said "I can agree to that, but in the event that Direwolf is destroyed we will need you to fly Airwolf on missions for us until we build and certify a replacement. We will pay you for each mission you fly." Hawke then said "In that case I will need full support including but not limited to intelligence, spare parts, repairs, armament, fuel, and upgrades." Gabriel then said "I can agree to that but in addition to that I will need you to accept the cash. The board of directors won't trust anyone who wants just a gunship as payment. The Chairman would accept it but the rest of the board wouldn't. Is that acceptable?" Hawke then said "I guess so, but I am going to need a ride to where ever you plan to brief me on the actual details." Gabriel smiled and said "In that case your chariot awaits, I'll brief you en route while Mr. Three Feathers teaches you about the more unique aspects of Airwolf."