[color=6ecff6][b]Ximena Huang[/b][/color]

It all made sense to Ximena. Libya had been many things in the past few decades, but overly friendly with its neighbors? Not as far as she could tell. Non-essential civilian flights would have been cut down, if only to save on fuel and spare parts. She could fly without worrying about taking out some family of four waiting for their flight to the Caymans, and if there was collateral, well...

Shit happened. This wasn't some nice pitched battle where two evenly matched armies met to politely slaughter each other like gentlemen, this was a modern war fought in the modern battlespace: Everywhere. People tended to live in Everywhere, as expansive as it was, and unfortunately it wasn't always possible to send them a two week notice to clear out. Ximena didn't have the time or inclination to worry about every potential casualty; as long as she was good at what she did they would be kept to a minimum. 

Mykhalio, well, he seemed to be preoccupied with the risk. Perhaps he wasn't as good a dogfighter as he thought.

[color=6ecff6]"Hey kid, the papers you signed might have been different than mine, but last I checked, our job was to blow things up as ordered and kill on command.[/color] she noted wryly. [color=6ecff6]"If you've invented a bomb that can differentiate between Evil Enemy Troops and Poor Innocent Civilians you should probably go patent that. Leave the combat for-"[/color]

[b][color=00a651]Fuka Nakano[/color][/b]

[color=00a651]"Huang, shut the fuck up. That's an order."[/color]

Fuka gave the command with all the anger of someone setting a flight schedule, simply stating what was required and expecting her subordinate to stick to it. Like a good dog, Jefe piped down. She was a type Fuka had seen many times before-smug enough to run her mouth, smart enough to shut it in self-preservation. She was a walking argument for corporal punishment, but failing that someone would just have to keep an eye on her lest she have too much fun with the high-strung baby of the group.

Oh what a joy it was to share a squadron with Jefe and Brightspark, what a [i]joy [/i]indeed. A high-functioning alcoholic egomaniac who wished she were still flying for the ChiComs and an inflexible, overeager runt who was a hair away from shooting people he didn't like in the head. Those two, in combination with Kitten's traumatic past and Valkyrie's guilt over her previous career, made Peacenik feel like the second-in-command of a flying psych ward. 

This was on her, to some extent. You didn't walk into a merc outfit expecting everyone to be perfectly squared away; in doing so she had demonstrated that she herself was mad-a hell of a Catch-22. 

[color=00a651]"We're taking off because it's our job, and once we're off we're fighting with everything we got because the enemy will be doing the same. Politics, ethics, morals, karma, all of that comes in distant second to the two rules: watch each other's backs, and don't die. If anyone has comments and concerns unrelated to those rules you can save them and then start a debate club back at base."[/color]

With the air cleared Fuka boarded her Black Bunny silently, slipping on her helmet and mask before tapping the cockpit controls. The glass came down as the engines warmed, the professional pilot stretching her fake fingers before grabbing the stick. She was airborne in minutes, pulling up alongside Scott as ordered. 

[color=00a651]"Alright, Cobalt 5, 8, 10-you're riding with me. Here's how we break down the approach. Brightspark, we're on Wild Weasel duty. We focus on their facilities on the ground, kill any radar and then hit their runways, fuel trucks, hangars, anything they can use to get planes into the sky. Calico, Sparrow, you're in the air superiority fighters so you do what comes naturally. Anything that sniffs at me or Spark, make it rethink its actions. Remember, air defenses are last on our hitlist. Focus on shredding the priority targets and then getting away clean."[/color]

She didn't enjoy flying with a bunch of missiles under her free to find a lock, but that's what flares were for.

[color=00a651]"If I go down, Calico becomes flight lead. Do what she says unless Heartbreak says otherwise." [/color]

[@Letter Bee] [@Finetales] [@Damo021]