Join the new world

In this article I am introducing the second installment in what will become my semi-regular roleplay journals that cover my recent elife. These are inspired by my very first article, which would be number 1 in the series.

I hope you don’t mind me quoting you as my CO, Ian.

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The row of helicopters silent helicopters stood smartly at attention on the run way. Strike time was at 13:00 hours. I checked my timer: 0😇2:04, it read.

“All Alpha Squadron personnel prepare for takeoff,” the voice of my commanding officer Ian Arbuckle crackled over the radio, interrupting the brief silence. I slowly eased down the pedals and heard the dull chopping sound of the rotors gaining speed.

Slowly, I began to vertically ascend. I checked my altimeter. 10m, 12, 17, 30, 35, It read. I released the pressure on the pedal, and I leveled off parallel to the ground.

00:03:00, 00:02:00, 00:01:00… the numbers raced by in front of my eyes-a neon green against a still black background-all I could do was wait and try to remain calm. The constant swishing of the blades was almost meditative - at least they would be if I knew they wouldn't be carrying me into battle in less than a minute.

“Alpha Squadron, activate forward thrusters and 10…” There were several choruses of affirmative from my fellow trainee pilots and the sound of shifting gears. 00:00:09, 00:00:08, the digits marched down towards 0. The numbers seemed to speed up as the time on the clock lessened…

“Adjust flight altitude and good luck!” I pushed the clutch forward and felt my seat tilt forward at about a 20 degree angle. With a soft buzz, my timer flashed 00:00:00 and I pulled back on the cyclic, sending the shooting forwards. I managed to stay in a straight line, but a few helicopters down, Alpha #2 swerved sharply to the right into Alpha #3, sending them both to the earth in a flaming heap.

The squadron flew over the dusty bowl, the gunners shooting at the moving enemy below. My gunner unleashed a salvo at a Russian tank. It was a direct hit, and the tank burst into flames below us.

Excited at our success, I nearly missed the flaring red orange missile from the Serbian silo shooting up directly towards my path. Instinctively, I pulled hard at the wheel, banking right and up as hard as I could, but my efforts were too late and in vain.

The missile flew past the cockpit toward the rear of the helicopter-for a moment I thought I could nearly see the serial number. There was a brief jolting shock wave sending me flying forward against my seatbelt and a huge explosion and my world dimmed turned black.

…

And after a few seconds the lights turned back on again. The words, “You Were Killed, Pilot.” against a black background stretched out across the cockpit’s window.

I exhaled, cursed, and reached for a towel to wipe the sweat of my brow. Leaning back, I reached for my water bottle and popped open the cockpit door

Of course, with our skill displayed we weren’t even allowed to touch a real helicopter yet. Rather, we were using advanced flight simulation software to train and hone our flying skills. All the real controls of a helicopter lay before us in our detached cockpit feeding into the system,

Each individual was also issued a set of goggles, headphones, and microphones that were connected to the system and displayed the simulated battlefield from our own vehicles.

Today we were learning how to coordinate with other members of our squadron while flying in a close formation in combat. Evidently we had much to work on, but we definitely were improving with every day of practice.

Every day after work for a few hours we would meat for training sessions. I actually worked almost exclusively at home, coordinating travel plans for the Mercian Travel Company, who was based in the NE of Ireland, then in the evenings head out to the base.

I had found a benefactor, Apples123 was his name, who had generously given me his old home to me entirely free of cost. It wasn’t really much, small and quaint, but it definitely helped to have a place you called your own which you didn’t always have to worry about being able to pay the rent. That fact, combined with my increase in pay had definitely made my life a lot easier and more relaxing.

My home-run newspaper had also gained some momentum, with a small and fairly select readership, but I was at least glad that anybody cared about what I wrote.

After practice we headed to the local pub – O’Neill’s – a dim, smoky, and overall slightly shady place, but it was the closest to the base and they had decent drinks.

After about an hour, I said farewell to my comrades and headed home to bed. I needed the rest.

Who knows what a new day would bring to Ireland?
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