No Joy on Target Chapter 4: Ready? (Part 2)

Chapter 4: Ready? (Part 2)

Air Marshal Viper stood silent as the rest of the crew ran about their business on the bridge. He looked down onto the deck where yellow, green, red, jackets of all colours did the same. Being the Marshal onboard didn’t give him as much ‘action’ as he liked. Sometimes he wished he could just strut down and spin up one of the jets and take off. His duty demanded otherwise, he must stay with the ship at all times. He had formed a certain liking to his commanding role, but given the chance he’d exchange the paperwork of his desk for the silver linings of cloudy skies any day.

One particular jet to touch down during the night came in at a very steep angle, much steeper than the aircraft’s undercarriage could take, almost falling like a rock. The F/A-18 slammed into the deck, missing the arrestor wire by a few metres. The force of the impact shattered the plane’s suspension and the jet fell to its belly, grinding along the deck, illuminating everything around it with flying sparks.
A few crewmen managed to jump clear of the careening craft before it came to a stop near the end of the catapult run, steaming and snapping with electricity. One of the wings had sheared as it had made contact with another parked aircraft, obviously putting both planes out of commission.
The canopy blew and the frantic pilot scrambled out onto the sodden deck. Some deckhands quickly saw him away from the burning jet before it may explode. Luckily the fire was contained.

Viper, furious, asked for the pilot to be brought before him for a report.
The deckhands brought the freshly bandaged pilot to the bridge and Viper gave him a sincere look.
“Captain?” Viper began, trying to usher an explanation from the shivering pony.
The pilot looked up and pleaded that he lost control of the jet’s avionics as he was on final approach, he managed to keep the jet on course but couldn’t tell his angle of attack from the darkness as he approached the carrier, he pulled the plane too hard up, causing it to stall and fall onto the deck.

Viper let the pilot go, putting the event down as ‘malfunction leading to pilot error’. The next day the mechanics came to him saying that the data they received from recovered parts of the jet indicated a faulty chip in the jet’s computers. Viper wasn’t surprised considering how long they had been stationed out in enemy waters without supply. The craft, the ship and more importantly its crew were being stretched to the ends of their rope with this conflict. He worried for how long their luck would last, and what may happen should this war drag on any longer.