Christbol wrote:
Rhastov wrote:
-snip
Silviu begrudgingly frequented the aviation bar with his friends for the next few days every evening, visiting with the hope to see Ranni make a return but progressively feeling more and more defeated with each passing night with her nowhere in sight. It is as if she just sunk into the ground. His friends of course mocked him about it practically every chance they had, and the more he’d sit in silence and listen to them the more he was convinced that maybe this is how it was meant to be; that life simply didn’t allow for guys like him to find women like her.
“How do you manage to fumble this bad, Silviu?” - asked one of his friends, chuckling.
“I don’t know. I just forgot the little note she wrote her number on at the bar.” - replies Silviu, visibly upset as if someone shot a puppy right in front of his eyes. Seeing Silviu sad was a bit of a rarity, but it did not stop any of his group from continuing to beat upon his misery like a dead horse.
“She was into you enough to talk for quite a while AND give you her number. And you just lost it all like an idiot. Maybe just stick to flying, at least I’m pretty sure you won’t lose a plane.”
“Don’t be so sure about that. Everything is possible now.” replies Silviu, trying to use irony as a coping mechanism.
“I guess the law of equal exchange still holds true in the universe. A woman who is all pros and no cons, interested in Silviu? I think it cashed every single point of luck out of him for the rest of the decade in that one conversation.” - Contemplates his friend Ion, chugging his drink.
“Girl like that is probably long gone by now. One in a billion chance she visits this dump again.” - adds Andrei. - “Sure she may be a pilot, but I’m pretty sure that if we didn’t have Silviu with us that we wouldn’t drink here either. With Christbolian money she’s probably drinking at one of the fancier bars now. You could take a look there Silviu but odds are she’s probably already forgotten about you.”
Meanwhile at the engine factory, everything was moving like clockwork to retrofit an alcohol cooling system onto the K-13s engines. Slowly, the Rhastovian engineers and workers tasked with this secretive project were picking up the quirks of the experimental aircraft. As hopeful as the Kingdom of Christbol was at a jet engine cooled by alcohol, there were still huge doubts between the engineers.
“Are you sure you can cool a jet engine with alcohol? They get incredibly hot. Alcohol has such a low boiling point and is flammable.” says Laroi, doubtful of the effectiveness of ethanol in place of water, air, or some other cooling agent.
“Yes, it’s perfectly fine. Trust me, I’m an engineer!” - replies one of the Rhastovian engineers, not even poking their head out from the K-13s fuselage as he tries to remove a nut, before a very loud crack and metallic bang can be heard from within the fuselage. Laroi twitches. The whole plane was, essentially, his last project before retirement. If they even so much as didn’t screw a screw in correctly he’d probably get out of the hotel during off hours to gun the engineers down in their own house. - “...Right.” - he responds.
“Relax, I just dropped a bolt. It’s fine, I promise.”
While the K-13 was being retrofitted, Ranni was exploring the city, not only out of pure curiosity, but also hoping to see Silviu again, walking by the same bar multiple times, but with no luck each time. She’d mostly pass around the times she had seen Silviu in the bar, which was around noon, however free time during the morning was an exception for Silviu and not the norm, who frequented the bar with his friends after work in the evening instead.
As night began to fall, the city was slowly being lit up, the warm light of street lights falling on the white fluffy snow, mixing with the bright neon lights of some of the businesses. Ranni’s walk back to the hotel, which had her almost zoned out thinking about Silviu and why he never called her, was interrupted by two MiG-29s flying overhead at low altitude, leaving a loud, deafening roar behind them.
After about a week and a lot of bickering between Rhastovian engineers and Laroi, the K-13 was finally outfitted with the alcohol cooling system and began tests in the factory hall. After addressing Sela’s concerns about the possibility that the artificial intelligence inside the plane might get artificially drunk and rectifying the potential problem by updating a couple variables pertaining to the communication between the AI and the plane’s cooling system, the K-13 was greenlit for a test flight with the new cooling unit.
“Are you sure this will work, Marian?” - asks Laroi, afraid to see the pride of his work potentially be destroyed.
“I have no idea!” - he replies, sarcastically.
“I hope it crashes.” - responds Sela, who had undergone two all-nighters fixing compatibility issues between the AI and the cooling system. The AI perceives the plane as an extension of its body, therefore in Sela’s own terms she had to ‘Give it a liver’. She looked as if her eyes were moments away from dropping out of her sockets, running mostly just on food situated around the facility and twelve cups of black coffee.
Turning on the engines, everyone was waiting for them to catch fire or somehow stop working as Marian was sitting in the cockpit observing the temperatures. Even though all of the airplane’s instruments could’ve been read from Sela’s laptop, Marian insisted that him sitting in the cockpit was essential to these tests. To everyone’s surprise, nothing seems to go wrong.
“The temperatures look good!” - Marian yells from inside the cockpit.
“We know, we have them on my laptop as well.” - Sela responds, the tiredness being heard from her voice.
More days pass, filled with indoor testing of the cooling system, which is successful. The decision was made to take the prototype to the 89th Airbase for further testing, mainly checking its flight performance. The 89th Airbase was a few kilometers away from Satoka, located in the middle of a field. The K-13 was to be moved during the night to prevent it from being leaked to the public in any way.
Conveniently, the 89th Airbase happens to be the airbase at which Silviu is stationed at. Inconveniently, Silviu is now off duty and too busy stuffing his face with ice cream at home depressed over not being able to see Ranni to actually see Ranni at the airbase. Additionally, his friends invite him to play some War Thunder to cheer him up.
The K-13’s flight performance is tested for yet another week, with the aircraft taking off and doing numerous flights and maneuvers around the area. Two MiG-29s accompany the experimental aircraft at all times in the air. On occasion, Ranni finds the escorts a nuisance, and periodically ditches them, with relative ease considering how overengineered the K-13 is, much to the dismay of the Rhastovian air force.
A request is sent by the Christbolian military for the K-13 to be tested in a dogfight against Rhastovian aircraft and its best fighter pilots.
The Rhastovian air force quickly draws a plan for the dogfights, what planes and pilots will be used, as well as equipment and rules of engagement. After a few hours of pondering, the decision is made: the K-13, flown by captain Rannelia Vaaljeska, will go against a MiG-29 Sniper-M, Rhastov’s newest MiG-29 version, flown by captain Sebastian Craciun and then against the S-35, flown by lieutenant Silviu Cristian Ionescu.
Silviu shows up at the airbase a day prior to the “show” with a grumpy look on his face, still mad at himself for losing Ranni’s number, trying to prepare mentally for the big day tomorrow. Unbeknownst to him, Ranni was also present at that airbase, not forgetful of him either but not as angry with herself as Silviu is. The next day Silviu was on the runway, talking to Sebastian before his flight. On the taxiway opposite from them was the K-13, however the MiG-29 was blocking the view. As the MiG was taking off, Ranni got in the cockpit of the K-13, with Silviu not even noticing it, as he was too busy staring at the afterburners of his comrade’s plane. Shortly afterwards, the K-13 arrived on the runway and took off after everyone on the ground saluted Ranni.
Silviu was counted as one of the best pilots in that airbase, but the man who went in the MiG in his stead was by no means an amateur either. The Rhastovian Air Force produces very good pilots, but what occurred moments later in the skies was nothing less than Ranni ripping the pride straight out of that man's body. There was no avoiding her; she stuck to the MiG-29 like that annoying hemorrhoid on the Rhastovian secret police chief’s ass. Despite the K-13’s delta wing design, the plane seemed to simply not lose any energy thanks to the on-board AI’s remarkable microcorrections, target acquisition and tracking, allowing for a pilot such as Ranni to commit to no wasted movement. It was constantly on the MiG’s six, eventually getting a killing shot, marked by a loud buzzing noise in the planes’ cockpits given by the special practice targetting pod fitted onto the planes. Onlookers were of mixed opinions from the sidelines down at the control tower: the Rhastovians mostly looked disappointed, the Christbolians on the other hand were smiling, particularly Laroi, from ear to ear, who wasted no time flaunting his ‘overwhelming genius’. Even the Christbolian head, Viktor Sarin, who had arrived by ship not mere hours ago to witness the whole event, was admittedly happy that millions upon millions of Christcoins didn’t simply go down the drain on nothing, and that his closest colleague has a retirement where he can look back on his last work and be proud.
The MiG-29 lands back on the runway, with Sebastian getting out of the plane with a disappointed look on his face. He turns to Silviu. - “You’re up next. Don't disappoint us, the pilot is a woman and by God is she insane. There was no way for me to get her off me. It looked as if she just glued that plane onto mine.” - he says.
“I’ll try my best.” - replies Silviu with a neutral look on his face as he is going to the plane.
Silviu gets in his S-35 and begins taxiing on the runway before making an unusual radio call.
- “Control tower, I want you to do me a favor. Play ‘dragostea din tei’ on the radio on my command.” - The ATC agrees to honor his wish. This wouldn’t be the first time Silviu has asked such a thing; he frequently requests Caramelldansen when he’s flying training exercises.
Silviu’s plane begins accelerating with a loud howl and lifts off the runway. At this moment he points his nose almost perfectly vertical and begins to climb rapidly, like a rocketship. After reaching his desired altitude he stabilizes the aircraft and turns on the radar, looking for the K-13. After a while, scanning around the horizon, he sees two little adjacent dots appear on his HUD, it was the K-13. He quickly locks it on radar and begins approaching it very rapidly.
The S-35 and the K-13 enter the merge, with Ranni being very aggressive, and Silviu being much more passive, trying to look for an opening. For the following few minutes Silviu simply tries to stay away from the K-13s nose, and tries to drain the K-13’s energy given its delta wing design. The issue is the K-13 doesn’t lose its energy and keeps turning, and turning, keeping up with the S-35. Silviu attempts a reversal, to get on the K-13’s six, which he succeeds in doing.
Silviu’s voice breaks the silence over the radio:
“Control tower. Play now.”
A few seconds later, the song ‘dragostea din tei’ begins playing over the radio, something both Silviu and Ranni can hear. Ranni treats this as a taunt, especially when she begins hearing Silviu sing it as his aircraft slowly catches up to her, never being able to get him off her six.
“Vrei sa pleci dar nu ma, nu ma iei, nu ma, nu ma iei” - he sings over the radio. Ranni was an excellent pilot, and the AI allowed for her to keep relative control on the defense for quite a while, however Silviu’s constant singing of the lyrics and a mixture of not being used to facing off a pilot of similar caliber as herself broke her otherwise complete hyperfixation on flying when in the sky. Moments later, she hears the loud tone of the targeting pod. She has been eliminated.
On the ground, the reactions are mixed, with the Rhastovians on one side cheering on Silviu and trying to act cocky in front of the Christbolian delegation, and on the other side the Christbolians, but especially Laroi, explaining how this is a mistake and shouldn’t have happened since the K-13 is superior. Viktor remains silent however, quickly seeing all the budget put into an interceptor fighter being shoved down a furnace with roaring flames eating up all those ludicrous amounts of money the Christbolian government has been investing into the new fighter project since the development of the AG-101 engine in the early 2000s.
The AI of the K-13 begins talking to Ranni:
“You are performing worse than usual, may. I suggest-” - it speaks before Ranni abruptly shuts it up by loudly shouting to mute the AI and demanding a rematch, slamming one of her fists into the dashboard in a fit of anger. Ranni is not particularly used to losing, and she would prefer it if she didn’t start now. Through the utter rage, Silviu does not recognize her voice on the radio, but he can tell that whoever this girl is, she must be completely and utterly pissed at him. He grins just a little bit. This was his first win against a Christbolian in a dogfight.
The commander of the air base refuses, saying “only one round for each opponent, otherwise it wouldn’t be fair” when in reality they are just afraid of losing again. This is met with protest from pretty much everyone on the Rhastovian side, now eager to see a rematch. The MiG pilot that flew previously even offered to bribe the commander with liquor, eggs, and cheese, brought from his grandma’s house, but the commander was still hesitant. Moments of awkward silence wash over the room while the air tower control system still blasts O-Zone both within the tower and within the planes. Laroi and Ksjall are both staring at eachother in disbelief, with Sela more calm in expression than both of them. To everyone’s surprise, the Christbolian project development head, Viktor himself, speaks up - “I’ll bet you 20 Marks that outdated Cold War mockup you call a fighter jet won’t pull off another miraculous move like that ever again.”, a bet accepted immediately by the commander to the thunderous demand of all the other Rhastovians present in the room.
“We don't need to land yet, I still have enough fuel for another round!” - says Ranni right before her fuel warning light turns on, indicating very low fuel and a signal for her to land.
“Ranni, I’ve noticed the AI is muted, perhaps it misheard something you said?” - inquires Sela. - “Shut up!” - Ranni responds before cutting comms with the air tower too.
“Is it really smart we let her fly that thing when she’s so… so… burdened by emotions?” - asks Laroi. - “The HRAF makes some of the best fighter pilots Markion can find, and Ranni is the best of the best. With that plane and her skills as a pilot Ranni could be drunk off her ass and beat five planes nevermind one. Come on Laroi, have some faith, both in her and our work. The previous encounter must’ve been a fluke, something put her off focus.” - explains Ksjall, maybe a little bit too optimistic considering the situation, but at least partially not wrong.
Ranni lands first and doesn’t even dare get out of the cockpit, waiting for the fuel truck and maintenance crew, smack talking to herself something about burying the enemy pilot so utterly all the roots of all the trees in Rhastov won’t reach deep enough to seek out his body.
Silviu on the other hand, ecstatic as one could be, does a low pass over the airfield and right over the K-13 as everyone cheers under him, adding lemon juice to the already salted wound. He eventually lands to refuel as well, getting out of the cockpit to grab something to eat. Silviu returns to his aircraft a few minutes later, running from the chow hall with a chocolate glazed donut in one hand and a bottle of water in the other, then climbs in the cockpit and begins devouring the donut like it insulted his mother.
Ranni takes off first, wasting no time to get back in the air to get her revenge. Silviu follows on the taxiway, before another radio call to the control tower, this time asking to play “That uhhh…. one boss song from Dark Souls three, but only the good part.”, to which the ATC agreed once again. He then takes off, the loud howl of the engines drowning any other noise in its vicinity, and begins another vertical climb before leveling the plane and turning on the radar to seek the K-13.
The two dots appear on the HUD again, and Silviu begins the approach. The K-13 does the same. Silviu tells the control tower to play the song right as he is about to merge.
Ranni pulls aggressively on the stick to turn the K-13 as much as possible as she enters the merge with the S-35. The S-35 appears right next to her, slowly distancing itself away, but staying on Ranni’s six.
“(I just need to get away from the nose and I’ll be fine, then I’ll make him-)” - she thinks to herself, then looks at the S-35, pulling its nose aggressively up towards the K-13 before the tone rings again. Ranni is eliminated, even faster than last time.
Silviu flies right past Ranni, wanting to land as fast as possible to celebrate his victory with a glass of liquor.
Her reaction to it this time was nowhere near as explosive as the first. What followed was simply utter disappointment in herself. She sighed in an admittance of defeat, but still with too much personal pride backed behind her loss to announce it on the radio. Without a further word, she disengages and heads to land on the runway.
Back in the control tower and inside Silviu’s plane, the situation couldn’t possibly be more opposite: the Rhastovians in the air control tower cheered to a deafening cry and the group huddled up and hugged eachother, bouncing up and down with even the director joining. All but Viktor on the Christbolian staff by contrast were staring at the ground beneath their feet, as if the whole world just came collapsing down on them. Viktor, amidst the Rhastovian squad cheering, simply handed the director those aforementioned 20 Marks, looking a little bit disappointed, though unlike his colleague Laroi at the plane and not the pilot.
Silviu lands, and is surrounded by a crowd of people before he even gets out of the cockpit, and runs towards the chow hall again, to get a glass of whiskey and celebrate. As he is coming out he sees a blonde woman next to the K-13 waving her hands around talking to Viktor and the other Christbolians.
“That’s the female pilot I told you about” - says Sebastian.
“Well yeah no shit, she’s the only woman on base right now… I’ll go talk to her.” - he replies.
“Just don’t rub it in her face, Silviu, she seems angry already and I’m pretty sure that old guy at the air tower wasn’t too happy either.”
“It’s fine Sebi, I won't.” -Silviu downs the glass of whiskey and walks up to Ranni.
Silviu makes his way across the chow hall and back onto the tarmac to the K-13. As he closes the distance, the image of the woman in his peripheral vision gets clearer until… - “Oh my God. Ranni!?” - he yells in shock, finally connecting the dots between his two brain cells. - (“That’s why she was in Rhastov! This was her ‘business trip’! She is the Christbolian pilot- and my dumb ass just put her out of the goddamn sky!”)
“Leave me alone you asshole! You cheated!” - she exclaims.
“Hey-hey, come on, don’t be so grumpy… We all lose every once in a while. I’ll buy you a cupcake, to make you feel better.”
“Why are you such a jerk!?”
“What do you mean? What did I do!?”
“Well first I give you my number and you ghost me, second you humiliate me like this in front of everyone and to fix it all you think a cupcake will make me feel better!?”
“You will NOT fucking believe why I didn’t call you. Trust me, you’ll laugh at this-”
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