Jungle Training: HOD [Tag: Mac]

[Elizabeth 'Firefly' Kirkwood]

Location: Hod
Dauntless Timestamp: 1500 Hours
Hod Time Stamp: 0600 Hours
Purpose: Jungle Training

Lizzie wandered into the simulation room and starting working with the buttons on the console. She was in here to do a training session with one of the younger pilots. This was what she did in her spare time. Pulling the cockpit down and around the other pilot she wanted to make sure he understood all of the rules as she went over them. As the flight rules spewed out of her mouth, the other pilot nodded in understanding. "Yes Ma'am" he acknowledged her about the time she showed him how to close the cockpit.

Then her's pulled forward and she slid everything into place quickly. They were going to train over the jungle. Much different from space but the same principle's applied. More or less she wanted this particular pilot to work on watching fire from all sides. Closing her own cockpit she looked at the controls for a few moments just as if she was doing her systems check, nothing was different. At least not in her mind, training was still training.

Finding a take of point wasn't impossible but it wasn't easy. Once she was off the ground she turned around and shot off the opposite direction to cover the other pilots wing. "Watch your clock, Lieutenant I got your tail"

[/b] she pointed out. "Yes Ma'am" came the reply she was waiting on. Now to figure out where the enemy fire was going to come from. Liz's guess was as good as anyone else's.
[/blockquote]

[Macbeth Stewart]

Macbeth checked the straps and HUD on the S.T.R. Suit making sure everything was in order for training. Mac had been deputized by his C.O. to add enhanced realism to the air-to-surface training of one of the Dauntless’ newer pilots. The Simulation Room could run a myriad of known scenarios and could adapt quickly, however it lacked the human ability to innovate. The scenario would play out in the jungle covered hills of Hod, which would provide excellent cover for Macbeth and his “men”.

The simulation whirled to life as the room gave way to a small gully gurgling where Mac and his “men” had been dropped. Dividing the group into four fire-and-manoeuvre teams, which were half the size of the standard fire-team but ensured greatly mobility overall and extended the operational front (fire-and-manoeuvre teams were not U.C.H.D. standard procedure as they were less effective in close combat situations, however this scenario did not necessitate such engagements). Each team as well as their standard issue weapons were equipped with a shoulder mounted surface-to-air missile launcher.

A map flashed up on his HUD and Mac located several key locations where he ordered his “men” to position themselves in order to target the fighters. Mac then ordered comm. silence and moved out with his team-mate carrying the missile launcher.

He had chosen a craggy overhang from which he would position himself, it should afford maximum cover if they were spotted before firing (once firing a missile Mac had ordered each team to reposition themselves immediately); in addition it was located at bend in a valley that Mac hoped would force inexperienced pilots to slow down, increasing the likelihood of a lock.

Of course this was all only theoretical, Mac had only ever logged simulated combat hours against air targets – his real combat experience had been entirely of the ground combat nature, where the U.C.H.D. had held air superiority.

His team reached the overhang in under a minute and the other teams shouldn’t be far behind in getting to their positions Mac thought; now all that was left was to wait.

[Elizabeth 'Firefly' Kirkwood]

Elizabeth did not like simulators the spatial feeling was only partially there. The flight cockpits were laid out identical and they spun but it was nothing like spinning on something that had wings. That is just what she did was spun as she caught herself upright. It was easier to make her turn she had just made that way. But sometimes the simulator would tip too far than you wanted it to, depending on body weight. It took some getting used to again. She trained pilots daily almost when they weren't on missions but the simulators would never be the real thing. Righting herself she followed the lead pilot. Liz found it easier to train when she was a wing man.

The other pilot kept them at a reasonable distance. One where they keep out of the way of ground to air with enough warning, but he was playing dangerously close to the "deck" that Liz had laid forth. Liz was a bit higher, but that was her experience speaking. The pilot in front of her started to veer a sharp left and Liz followed suit. He had apparently spotted something. "Target acquired Colonel" he spoke. Liz looked down at her radar and then around. She knew it was going to be no easy task to just get in and get out as his instructions had been. "Eyes peeling Lt."

[/b] she kept warning him of the same thing.

Liz was going to beat it into his head that he needed to watch his ground, if it was the last thing she did; right now that was his weakness and Liz was good at training people's weaknesses out of them. Her radar lit up with dots as they came around the corner. Liz knew what was coming but this simulation was designed to make the pilot think, so she kept her mouth shut. Though she was ready to maneuver if she had to. It didn't mean that she was just going to entirely follow his lead, but she did want him to think.
[/blockquote]

[Macbeth Stewart]

Mac heard the jungle flutter alive as birds squawked and trees bent under the force of the engines of low-flying aircraft. The mechanical sound was replicated with stunning realism by the simulator but it failed to replicate with the same…organic feeling the noise of the flora and fauna, or so Mac thought. Over the din he heard the sound of two surface-to-air missiles firing, two of his teams evidently had enough of a lock to fire; he heard two subsequent explosions but nothing that sounded like an aircraft. He could only hope they had done some damage at least to the planes.

Not long after that thought the earthy sound of another explosion wrung through the forest. This time two of his men’s suits flat lined, evidently one of the pilots had managed to take out one of his fire-and-manoeuvre teams. However three teams still read O.K. including his own. Macbeth ordered his man to ready the missile launcher, while he pulled out his binoculars and scanned for another spot nearby to move to. It only took him a moment to find the next spot; it was further up the hill but this time sited above a steep cliff.

Mac had chosen the valley because it gave his men maximum cover while limiting the manoeuvrability of the air-craft; it also prevented to an extent strafing runs forcing the pilots to use their missiles, of which they had an exceptionally limited amount. It was Macbeth’s intention to force the pilots not only to lower altitudes and slower speeds but also to make them more cautious about firing, all of which he hoped would give his teams the extra edge they needed.

Mac turned his binoculars back to where the explosions had come from and quickly saw two aircraft fly into view. He saw some smoke coming from one but it didn’t seem to be serious at all, one of his men’s missiles must have exploded near the aircraft and caused some shrapnel damage. He cursed under his breath. Still he still held the advantage, or so he thought, just though.

His team-mate had started to lock onto the lead aircraft, while he grabbed the ammo kit and readied to move to their next position. Mac knew that at the same time the other fire-and-manoeuvre teams must also be locking on. His team-mate fired and the noise echoed behind them as they ran from where they were at breakneck speed to the next position.

[Elizabeth 'Firefly' Kirkwood]

Thankfully the first shots had come at the computer planes with Liz had no control over in the simulator. One more of those annoying things was the computer inability to think. Then again she heard horror stories about A-I computers trying to kill people with neurotoxin. That was something she was glad that she didn't have to deal with.

Moments later Liz was barrel rolling and drifting left to avoid fire, she had a greater reaction time. She was waiting for the pilot to pull up but he seemed content at "deck" level. Lizzie was cursing under her breathe. The fire was enough that Liz whirled the aircraft around and started firing at everything on the ground making a very quick pass moving out of the way before anything would be able to get a missile lock. The woman didn't slow down. Her trainee on the other hand seemed to have been hit.

It was hard to see the movement in the brush but Lizzie was a seasoned pilot she knew the drill and just started firing at the towers intent on blowing up their weaponry before they could make it there. "Aim for the towers"

[/b] she stated, seeing that her trainee needed more of a boost than she was giving him. If it was anything Lizzie hated it was losing. Even her show of expertise showed that she had a head on shoulders and knew exactly what she was doing. [/blockquote][/blockquote][/justify]