Mobius Squadron: Shattered Skies

Chapter 5: R&R

Mobius 1

Mobius was able to sleep in for once. He had been told by the commander that he was not flying today and was free to spend the day how he wished. It was a relief. The commander was an old warbird who knew how draining constant sorties could be on pilots. The mess hall was packed when Mobius finally made an appearance. He spotted Sky Eye and made his way over. "Well look who's finally awake?" came the greeting from the AWACS operator. Sky Eye was one of the two people who he could really call friends on base. The other was his crew chief who was still in a pissed off mood over the damage the F-22 sustained. Mobius shuddered at the thought of having to deal with her, but that was for later. "Don't throw a hissy fit just because you're the only AWACS we have on base and you don't get a day off". Sky Eye adopted an expression of mocked shock. He was accompanying Viper Squadron on another air cover mission for evacuating troops. There were too many sorties of that type being flown, but at least they meant that ISAF HQ was being able to organise all their manpower into one fighting force. Sky Eye checked the time and turned to leave. "Briefings in 5, try to avoid the hangar for as long as possible as you're still a dead man walking." It was sound advice. Rebecca had been in the hangar all night long working on the Raptor and Mobius didn't want to disturb her. On the other hand it was about the only thing he could think of to take up some time. So after Sky Eye had left and he had actually had a proper breakfast, for once, he set off down to the hangars.

The base had settled itself down from the excitement of a sortie launch by the time Mobius made it to the hangars. It was deserted and there were no signs of activity. He saw why: his ever so fearsome crew chief had fallen asleep on the Raptors wing while working on some internal system. It took every ounce of self control for him not to laugh at the sight, but he did grab a photo for later. Slowly and carefully, he eased his way onto the wing. He picked up Rebecaa and carried her over to a chair in the corner. Mobius used her discarded jumper as a cover and manoeuvred the ISAF cap she had on so it covered her eyes, hopefully letting her get some sleep. With that dealt with, Mobius climbed back on the F-22 and looked to see what the part Rebecca had been working on was. It turned out to be the avionics. The series of wires all connected at the hub beneath the panel were what allowed Mobius to manoeuvre his plane. It looked to have taken a significant amount of damage from the near miss of the Sparrow, but any more stress and it would snap. Mobius picked up the discarded tools and got to work. It was going to be a long job and the sooner he started the sooner he would finish.

It had taken the entire day for Mobius to repair and verify each connection. During that time the sortie had landed and Sky Eye had sought him out in a panic after hearing he had gone to the hangars. When he saw Rebecca's sleeping form, he burst out laughing but then came and helped Mobius with the repairs. Now they were just finishing with varying the wire's integrity. Mobius was in the cockpit doing some manoeuvres with the joystick and Sky Eye was observing the wires and control surfaces. It took a couple of minutes for both to be satisfied and Mobius hopped out of the cockpit. Just as they were about to leave, they heard a yawn from the corner. Rebecaa had come around. The first sight she saw was Mobius and Sky Eye looking proudly over the Raptor. The second thing she noticed was the adjusted cap and jumper. Both men turned to look at her, as she got up and walked over. "So, who's idea was the jumper?" Sky Eye frantically pointed at Mobius. Sighing he explained "You fell asleep on the wing. I carried you down and set that up and then started repairing. Sky Eye came to help once he had landed." Rebecca started pacing around the F-22, checking all the work the two had done. It was actually a decent repair work for a pilot and AWACS with no experience as mechanics. "Well, at least you cleaned up your mess." Sky Eye checked the time and gestured out of the hangar, saying "Dinners being served in the mess if you two want to come?" Mobius started going along before turning and gesturing to Rebecca. Taking one last look at the Raptor, she turned and followed them out. It had definitely been an eventful rest but tomorrow was back to normal.