Devils in the Sky

Chapter 1 - New Faces

After it's operations in Yemen, Lima Security's reputation sky rocketed and with an increase in reputation came an increase in "employees" during the year 1975! Initially starting out with just 3 pilots, that number increased to 10 and automatically an increase in people to maintain the planes the pilots flew! The 7 newbies were Reaper, Karoon, Tomahawk, Viper, Archangel, Puma and Wind! 

New faces except the last 3. Puma and Archangel served with Vladimir and thus were given a brother's welcome on arrival. Wind was also an old acquaintance of Lightning having served in the same squadron during 1971. He also was given a similar welcome, why it was always good to have buddies ready to accompany you to hell! Reaper was a mysterious guy, no one knew what country he came from or what was his real name, all he would say was that he served in the Air Force. Tomahawk was a welcomed addition, his experience in Vietnam would prove to be invaluable but he had a nasty habit of poking his nose into matters he shouldn't have. Viper well wasn't exactly a friendly face, it was clear he lost all emotion, clearly a sign of having been betrayed by someone or something very close, judging by the patch on his flight suit, he was ex USAF and a Nam veteran like Tomahawk. It was clear that everybody should maintain their distance from him. Karoon was a quiet person, he just didn't talk too much but anyone could make out that his eyes were screaming for vengeance, clearly something bad happened to him as well. Lightning was put in charge of leading the squadron with Vladimir as his trusted Second in Command, next in line was Storm. Indeed the trio had developed a very close relationship, a one only men who ever served in combat could understand after their operations in Yemen! Meanwhile around the base it was the usual screwing around. Tomahawk was being a cheeky bastard having a lot of fun and even made himself a girlfriend, one of the female staff on base! "Oh boy, looks like we got ourselves a wildcard here", thought Lightning.

 Vladimir came upto Lightning and with a cheeky smile said, "Hey Lightning, mind distracting Tomahawk while I go seize his prize?". Lighting smiled and said, "Sure thing!" with a wink. Lightning called out to Tomahawk and said, "Yo Tomahawk, get here quickly. I wanna have a chat with you about Vietnam". Tomahawk being high and mighty immediately agreed and decided to talk to Lightning about what all he did in Vietnam. Vladimir immediately seized this opportunity and went for the prize. After 30 minutes of talking, Tomahawk decided to head off but was shocked to find Vladimir going on with his girlfriend, he simply couldn't believe it. He was pissed off and immediately took out his magnum .44 revolver and said, "What the fuck do you think your doing with my girl punk?". No one expected Tomahawk to be this serious and luckily Lightning also managed to stumble upon the scene and knew he had to do something fast least Tomahawk fire off a bullet. He immediately ran to and borrowed a shotgun from one of the base security guards on the pretext of testing it out. He slowly crept up behind Tomahawk like a hunter hunting it's prey in the jungle. He positioned himself right behind Tomahawk and with one swing struck him between the legs with such a force that he couldn't even scream, it hurt him so bad that in fact the local medical staff had to come over and carry him on a stretcher. 

Vladimir immediately said, "True to your callsign as always". Lightning immediately winked and went back to return the shotgun. After a few hours, Tomahawk returned albeit this time maintaining his distance from Vladimir and Lightning. Reaper was busy practicing knives, throwing them with a good if not perfect accuracy while Wind was busy performing some football balancing tricks. Archangel and Puma were busy with their Mig-23M's as well. Karoon was nowhere to be seen so it was assumed he went to his room. Storm on the other hand seemed to be practicing boxing, punching with a good amount of force against the punching bag. Tomahawk decided to have a drink and sat next to Viper, a mistake he would later regret. Viper was holding a photo of his family and definitely seemed to show some signs of concern. Tomahawk also seemed to be gazing at the photo but before Tomahawk knew Viper grabbed him by his throat and plummeted him into the floor, his eyes were bloodshot ready to murder anyone who came in his way! Hearing the sudden sounds of struggle, Lightning and Vladimir both ran towards his directions and saw the horrible sight. Viper was tightening his grip around Tomahawk's throat and could kill him if he continued for longer. Lightning screamed, "HEY VIPER KNOCK IT OFF, STAND DOWN, THAT'S A GODDAMN ORDER!" but Viper wasn't keen on following it. That is when Vladimir climbed on top of Viper putting his hands over his eyes to blind him, the tactic worked and Viper let loose of Tomahawk's throat but he immediately grabbed hold of Vladmir's legs and threw him to the floor. Viper was really mad now and it definitely seemed almost impossible to stop him. 

The look in his eyes was nothing short of scary, he was ready to kill even his own allies now. Lighting immediately screamed, "Tomahawk, Vladimir RUN NOW!". They didn't need to be told twice, they both took to their feet and ran. Lightning thought, "Alright Viper, you want to fight, it's a fight you shall get!". Lightning immediately got hold of a tin can and threw it at Viper's head, the tactic worked and now his focus was on him. He observed Viper's movements trying to figure out a way to defeat him but without damaging him too seriously. Viper came charging at Lightning, he attempted to land a punch on him but he was smart enough to block it and kick him in the stomach. Viper fell back with a great force but he managed to recover and stand up. Lightning said, "Viper, don't make me do this, don't make me have to go hard on you". But Viper wasn't listening, he immediately came charging yet again but this time attempted to land a series of multiple punches. Lightning deflected most of them away but Viper managed to land a punch in his face and he was taken aback. Lightning however was no stranger to street fights having taken part in a number of brawls as a teenager against bullies in his school and as a result was used to being on the receiving end of beatings. Lightning however now figured out how to stop Viper. Viper mostly came in with charging attacks, the key was for him to use his agility and speed against his strength. 

The next charge immediately came but this time he dodged it just in time and immediately spun around and tripped Viper who lost in balance and fell down. By then Vladimir and Tomahawk got hold of a hunting rifle alongside 2 tranquilizing darts. They immediately came running to aid their friends. Vladimir threw the rifle loaded with the 2 darts to Lightning who took aim at Viper immediately and immediately fired but missed  due to Viper suddenly ducking. By then luckily Vladimir managed to not only throw a bottle at Viper's face but he climbed on him, blinded him by putting his hands over his eyes and kicked him with his right knee at the back of his head and immediately retreated. This was followed by Tomahawk smashing Viper's back with a baseball bat and running off immediately in a hit and run style tactic. Lightning aimed and finally got a hit was the last tranquilizer dart but it's effect seemed negligible to Viper who just pulled it out with ease. Viper came charging at Vladimir but before anyone knew it, Storm grabbed him with both hands and threw him. Lightning immediately threw the riffle to Storm and said, "GO KNOCK HIM OUT NOW!". Storm immediately took aim and with perfect accuracy nailed Viper in the head with the buttstock. Viper went down, there was no way he was gonna wake up for a while. It was at that moment Reaper walked in and exclaimed, "WOAH, what the hell?". He was clearly shocked that it took 4 of us to put Viper down. 

The local hospital staff came in and carried him off. Lightning went to report this incident to the chief of military operations . It was decided to keep Viper under special observation for 2 days, the last thing the pilots needed was a fellow squadron mate who was more of a threat to them than to the enemy. Vladimir went off to inspect his Mig-23M while Storm and Viper were busy enjoying some Vodka. After that chat of his, Lightning went to the local doctor. During his fight with Viper, he suffered some glass shrapnel which embedded in his head but he didn't notice until after the fight was over. After having the shrapnel painfully taken out and having his wounds stitched up, he went back to normal operations. He immediately went back to the hangar to inspect his F-4E Phantom II, like Vladimir, he too was very possessive about his plane. After a few hours, everyone forgot about the incident and everything returned to normal and it was then the chief of military operations called everyone to the briefing room. A few minutes after all the pilots gathered and sat down, the chief walked in to greet his boys and said, "Gentlemen, we have another client request, this time from the South African government to help them in their fight against the MPLA. Saddle up gentlemen, we are heading to Africa!". Karoon immediately smiled and said, "Sounds like a good place to die if you ask me". Tomahawk also nodded and said, "Finally, I get to kill me some communist scum again". Finally Lightning interrupted and said, "I recommend you don't get cocky, I hear there's a substantial presence of SAMs and the last thing we need is one of you wiseguys to be shot down, what's the plan chief? When do we leave?", The chief said, "Today's 12th September 1975, we leave on the 19th, saddle up boys, another good day to earn your pay cheque. Good hunting out there and try to make it back in one piece.".