Teppokan DropPort, Rhegan Mountains
Noisiel, Alarion Province, Lyran Commonwealth
4th January 3122
While the Triple Zeros DropShip, Nathan James, was still parked at the Teppokan DropPort it was not a quiet place. The health service of Noisiel had learned that the Triple Zeros were available and the units four Simca Ambulances and their two Soar Helicopters had been busy bringing patients to the ship for treatment giving the hospitals on the world some respite.
One of the longest patients on board was Elliotte Want who was entering his fourth day in the hospital care unit. While he was no longer considered to be in a life-threatening position the doctors did think he needed more treatment before being allowed to return home. As he rested Michelle LeTournaeu approached the bed “Mr Want, how are you doing today?” She asked smiling she had visited him every day since his arrival.
“Michelle it’s Elliotte please” he said smiling, it was nice to have a friendly face “the company is a bit boring though.” She said indicating to Wheezer who lay beside him and appeared to be sleeping.
“I heard that Old Man” Wheezer replied opening his eyes glancing over “I’m just trying to sleep before your next war story.”
“I thought you liked my stories about the Clan Invasion?” He said faking the surprise in his voice.
“I do…” Wheezer began to answer the old pilot.
“Dancing around the fire laid down by the Clan WarShips was not something to be trifled with…” He began but trailed off to a smile seeing Wheezer’s frown, he’d told the other man so many stories so far Wheezer had no idea which ones were true.
“And how are you doing Wheezer?” She asked the younger man who was flat on his back.
“Well, it’s not as bad when I broke my back…” After being struck by the Hammersley’s boat his pelvis had been broken resulting in him being currently immobilized in bed.
“Oh, this story again…” Want replied chuckling seeing Wheezer’s expression.
“I see you’re both lovin’ life then.” Michelle joked joining in, she was glad to see the two of them were getting on at least. “Well, I’ll leave you gentlemen to it.”
“Oh, don’t go Ms LaTournaeu” Want pleaded “young Wheezer here has been telling me that your unit is looking for a new home?”
“Well,” Michelle said glancing at Wheezer “yes Elliotte at least for the next few months our unit is on a ‘prove it’ contract with the Governor, so far it is going well but we cannot continue to operate out of the DropPort.”
“Well,” Elliotte repeated “my airfield is not perfect but Thanohar is located between Teppokhan and Mahoken” he said naming the three continents. “The runways could do with a little cleaning and the hangers a little maintenance.”
“A little…” Wheezer whispered his eyes were closed again.
“Okay quite a bit, but if your people were interested in a little work and a little investment then we could come to a very reasonable agreement.” He suggested “there’s one little issue, you’ll have to clear it with my other tenants the Gray Boys. They are reasonable boys; they’ve actually wanted me to get other tenants for a while…”
“So, if I were to travel to your airfield you would be happy if I spoke to them?”
“Of course, as long as you do me one favour and visit my pups and make sure they are looking after them.” He requested from her.
“I can do that.” Michelle agreed with him, even checking out the base, some facilities which were relatively cheap to access would be nice. She turned and stepped away but stopped and turned back “Mr… Elliotte, we also have a ship that will need a place to dock…”
“I’ve got something that could work for that too…” he said smiling devilishly, Michelle chose to leave it there for now and trust he wasn’t yanking her chain, since it was damaged in combat the Hammersley had been repaired and was back at sea but they really needed their own facilities. In a recent meeting with the Governor and the Head of the Health Board the indication was that their contract was going to be extended by a minimum of another six months, already DropPort fees were hurting the unit as were the Port’s management who wanted less traffic from the unit through the Port’s airspace and roadways.
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While Michelle was considering a home for the unit and the Nathan James was busy the rest of the Triple Zeros were busy across Noisiel including having two teams at the Conventional Racing League: Race of Noisiel which had travelled from Solaris VII to Noisiel. With pilots testing themselves in the Teppokhan Mountains. At the base camp for the Racing event Vince Marchello, Jay “Chopper” Chopra and Crystal Highway were enjoying a day off and taking in the sights. With the Racing League travelling along went entertainment, such as singers, a carnival of games and plane sellers. For the most part these were local producers with single propeller fighter aircraft used in the Noisiel Races but there was one that had caught pilot Chopper’s eye a twin-engine beast which was named the N1945 Beaufighter. The aircraft had two propeller driven engines, half way along the plan’s hull there were two open bomb bay doors while the nose of the craft was made of glass giving an observation dome.
The N1945 Beaufighter was another reproduction of an ancient Terran fighter design which pre-dated human spaceflight. Almost eight-and-a-half tons it had a crew of two and plenty of capacity to carry the gear the medical teams would need. “You like it?” Vince asked glancing over at the Indian descended man who looked at the big plan.
“Oh yeah” he admitted, “she’s beautiful, we wouldn’t need the bomb bay.” He said pointing out the open doors mid-way along the hull. He said glancing down at a plackard which had stats for the aircraft. “She has more than enough capacity for everything we would need equipment wise and enough for a few passengers.” He said, glancing at Vince “so far all we’ve seen have been too small or old rust buckets that would need a lot of work. This is a brand-new aircraft.”
“The Wooden Wonder” Crystal said glancing over at them questioning “it doesn’t look like it’s made out of wood.”
“It’s the name of the plane it was based off of on Terra” one of the selling staff explained “this is not a new design but it is a re-imaging of an ancient design made out of new materials including the engines.” He said continuing “they look like older Internal Combustion Engine Models but that is purely cosmetic in fact due to Noisiel Environmental Laws these are hybrid fuel-cell-electric engines. Due to the use of a fuel-cell the aircraft can travel further than the original design and it can carry more cargo.” He explained “if you have one fusion engine these aircraft can be recharged over one hundred times before needing a servicing, which we can include in our selling price.”
“How about a test run?” Vince asked “we have some specific needs, so ensuring the pilot and his passenger are going to be comfortable with her is real important to us.”
“I think we have a cargo variant here at the show…” the staff member said smiling broadly extending his arm “Ricardo Riera” he introduced himself. He was older than all three of them, modern medicine had slowed people’s physical aging but he looked like he was in his sixties to seventies.
“Vince Marchello of the Triple Zeros” Vince replied shaking the man’s hand, Vince could recognise someone who understood the business side of a transaction as well as well as the practical side. “However, I’m not the one you need to convince. This is Jay Chopra, he’s the pilot.”
“Chopper” he said shaking Riera’s hand, he could recognise another pilot when he saw one.
“Vixen” the man replied sharing his own callsign.
“So, Chopper, how would you like a test-flight?” He asked looking from the pilot to the plane.
“I’d love to” he admitted rubbing his hands together “you guys want to come?” He asked glancing at Vince and Crystal. “We need to make sure it works for our purposes.”
“No, naw” Vince said nervously raising one hand to his forehead “it’s not really for me…”
“We need a patient” Crystal said looking at Vince who only scowled in response “male, early fifties, little over-weight…” she said describing Vince but doing so with a smirk on her face, finally he raised his arms in surrender agreeing to join them.
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Soon after they were airborne on board a N1945-C (Cargo) Beufighter. The differences between the C-model and the standard were the nose cone was solid, there were no bomb-bay doors and there was an access door on the rear right hand side of the fuselage for access and egress. In the cockpit Chopper was sat in the left co-pilot seat while Vixen sat in the piloting seat controlling the aircraft behind them in the cabin Crystal and a more than a little nervous Vince sat quietly as Vixen spoke.
“This plane is identical to the model we have at the Fair in flight performance the differences are all internal.” He explained both hands on the controls “as you can see the controls are as modern as any other modern conventional aircraft.”
“It’s very comfortable.” Chopper admitted, despite the trappings of it being an ancient design the Noisiel Aircraft had ensured that it was an attractive aircraft to any modern flyer. He looked longingly at the controls; it had been a long couple of months.
“Want?” He asked glancing over to Chopper and then to the controls.
“Oh yeah!” Chopper exclaimed reaching forward “I have control.” He said taking the reins of the aircraft he felt it jump forward slightly and felt the plane react to his foot-pedal movements. “Responsive” he said glancing over towards Vixen with a smile then back at Crystal and Vince. “You guys alright back there?”
“Yeah, it’s perfect for our needs Chop” Crystal said
“Peachy” Vince muttered, for someone who had travelled from one star system to another he hated flying, especially in something this small.
“Hold on, time to test her out” Chopper said glancing at Vixen this time smiling wider as he toggled the rudder and flaps turning the aircraft to the left and then the right. Chopper heard Vince shout something but he ignored him instead he spotted a canyon and dived the aircraft down into it. Chopper kept the aircraft more than fifty metres from the ground, low enough for him to feel the thrill but high enough so it was not overly dangerous.
“Someone knows how to fly” Vixen remarked his hands mirroring Choppers but he had no control over the aircraft. Chopper continued to smile as he banked the aircraft sharply from left to right through the canyon. “And enjoys it” he said smiling himself knowing that they had a sale with this pilot “It’s able to do more than this...” he suggested without hesitation Chopper pulled back on the stick and brought the aircraft into a climb.
“Sorry Vince!” He called back bringing the aircraft into a steeper climb.
“Chopper NO!” Crystal shouted but he could hear her laughing as he brought the aircraft into the inverted position and then completed the manoeuvre by finishing the loop.
“Oh, I love this plane” Chopper finally laughed as he brought the aircraft level glancing over his shoulder seeing a smiling Crystal but Vince was a different story.
“Oh mate, I’m going to kill you” Vince said looking at Chopper who laughed and banked the wings again left to right this time more gently than before. Despite Vince’s dislike for the pilot’s joyride, it was clear the Beaufighter was perfect for their needs and the Triple Zeros put in an order for six aircraft with Noisiel Aircraft, now they just needed an airfield to operate from.
“Wow, what the hell?” Chopper exclaimed suddenly seeing flashing of light in the distance. “We need to divert…” he said banking the aircraft to the right turning the plane. In the distance Chopper was sure he was seeing missiles being fired from the air down towards a ground target. “Are there any firing ranges in this region?” He demanded of Vixen
“Negative, no-one is allowed to fire weapons during the Racing Competition” he said, while there were other areas on Noisiel where weapons were being used it was the rule was quite clear, no-one fired weapons near the race so none of the pilots were unduly distracted. Following the purple and red terrain Chopper brought the Beufighter over an area of Noisiel’s surface which was just a sea of fire. “Oh my god, who did this?” Vixen whispered looking down at what had been a munitions bunker and fuel dump.
“I don’t care we need emergency services out here ASAP, we need Rescue Teams” Chopper said glancing over at Vince who nodded his agreement “this is Noisiel Aircraft Flight Three, mayday, mayday, mayday!” Chopper communicated clearly over all channels “we are six kilometres north of Race Course Rock Peaks we have an out-of-control fire from what looks like an ammunition and fuel dump. Possibly due to unauthorised weapons discharges! Send fire services and rescue services.”