What does it take to be a fighter pilot in the age of cybers? Well, you don\u2019t need to know how to fly for one thing. It\u2019s nice to know of course, but the cyber flies your fighter. Reflexes? Instincts? Strategy? Yes, they are all needed to win. But never underestimate the influence of the cybernetic intelligence. Pilot and cyber are a team, and we rely on each other to survive. A good partnership is greater than the sum of our parts. We make each other better, and that is the secret to our success.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Hellcat cut through New Earth\u2019s bright blue sky, engine exhaust painting white contrails of water vapor through it. Maneuvering thrusters flared, flaps lifted, and she banked to the side, lines of ice crystals shimmering off the tips of her wings. They pulled away from the Space Force pilot that had shown him maneuvers he didn\u2019t know Hellcats could do. He looked at the name again. Kathleen Reynolds. Well, she had moves the book said were impossible. He didn\u2019t know how she\u2019d figured them out, but she was most assuredly up to no good when she did. Jack wanted her on his team real bad.<\/p>\n
The Hellcat really was<\/em> a good fighter, even if she wasn\u2019t an Avenger. He really liked the missile racks. That would have made them better hyperspace fighters since they wouldn\u2019t suffer the backlash of grav cannons, but they didn\u2019t have the power to get there on their own. And the Avengers hadn\u2019t been designed to fight<\/em> in hyperspace, just to travel through<\/em> it on their way to hit the enemy. It made sense. With all the space taken up by the capacitors, they didn\u2019t have the magazine space for dedicated missile packs like the Hellcat had, and capacitors that could push a ship into hyper could power grav cannons without working up a sweat.<\/p>\n Jack frowned in thought. \u201cBetty?\u201d<\/p>\n Betty cocked her head at his tone, smiling over the yellow sundress she loved so much. \u201cYeah, Jack?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve got an idea.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI thought<\/em> I smelled something burning.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHar, har,\u201d Jack said with a shake of his head. \u201cSeriously, what do you think of these missile racks?\u201d<\/p>\n Betty shrugged. \u201cWell, they\u2019re certainly effective, though I miss the focused fire of a grav cannon.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack nodded. \u201cTrue. What if we could have both?\u201d<\/p>\n Betty blinked and cocked her head to the side again. \u201cOh,\u201d she whispered. \u201cThat\u2019s\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know\u2026something to think about,\u201d Jack finished for her. \u201cHellcats don\u2019t have enough power to twist gravity for movement, deflection, and<\/em> weapons fire.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhile Avengers have more power than we can use in combat, but the capacitors take up all the room missile racks would need.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot anymore,\u201d Jack said with a smile. The Peloran tech was so<\/em> much smaller than Terran tech that they\u2019d been able to fit a power generator into the spot that used to be a laser turret. It could power the hyperdrive without drawing on their capacitors. \u201cWe could strip out all those capacitors and replace them with missiles. Imagine what a missile<\/em> swarm would do to an enemy? We could even place a launcher in the nose<\/em> for some serious missile action.\u201d<\/p>\n Betty shook her head. \u201cNo, I\u2019d rather use the extra power the Peloran generators give us. Besides, you don\u2019t want missile exhaust flying over your cockpit do you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot especially,\u201d Jack noted with a frown. \u201cWhat do you<\/em> have in mind?\u201d<\/p>\n Betty smiled. \u201cA third gravitic cannon of course. And while we\u2019re at it, we could move the other<\/em> two out to the ends<\/em> of the wings so if they overload they won\u2019t blow us to kingdom come.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd what if that<\/em> one blows up?\u201d Jack asked with a wave of his hand towards the nose. \u201cI rather like my feet where they are.\u201d<\/p>\n Betty crossed her arms and bestowed on him a raised eyebrow. \u201cJack. How many times have you seen an Avenger lose a nose and keep fighting?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh,\u201d Jack answered in a subdued tone. \u201cTrue.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cBesides, we\u2019ll put it on the tip of the nose so there\u2019s lots of room for you to see the pretty colors of an overloading gravitic cannon.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThanks,\u201d Jack muttered. \u201cI always have<\/em> loved light shows.\u201d<\/p>\n Betty gave him a sweet smile. \u201cI know.\u201d She shifted her head in thought and Jack held off on a response. \u201cWell, what do you know? The next candidate is in the air.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack placed both hands back on the throttle and stick and swung them to the side. The Hellcat banked and sliced through the air, following his commands like they were second nature. They turned to face Leif Erikson Spacebase and a Hellcat came into view in the distance. Jack glanced down to the screens to confirm that, yes, it was<\/em> Devilcat Ten.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is Cowboy Five to Devilcat Ten,\u201d Captain Jack said in a jaunty tone. \u201cYou may try to kill me now.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cRoger,\u201d the Devilcat pilot answered and his engine pods shot flame as he accelerated into battle, white contrails streaming after it. Maneuvering thrusters began to flare and the Hellcat started gyrating through the best random maneuvers her cyber could perform. They made the fighter hard to hit and sprayed streams of ice crystals off her wingtips.<\/p>\n Betty responded in kind and their Hellcat bucked through the atmosphere like an angry bronco. Jack swallowed, forced his eyes to focus on the enemy Hellcat through the maneuvers, and watched for the attack. He saw it coming and shifted the Hellcat to port at the last instant. Training lasers and missiles streaked by, missing him by meters, as their lasers chattered away in point defense mode, destroying anything that got too close.<\/p>\n \u201cToo slow,\u201d Jack transmitted in an easygoing tone, but held his attention on the Hellcat. \u201cDon\u2019t take so much time planning your killshot next time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll try.\u201d The opposing Hellcat turned and slashed back in, disappearing behind another wall of missiles.<\/p>\n Jack pulled their Hellcat up and over the missile swarm and they flashed past the fighter before the Devilcat could fire again. \u201cToo predictable. Shake it up next time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m doing my best,\u201d the Devilcat said in a frustrated tone and dove in, more aggressively than Jack expected. The attack would have been suicidal in real combat as it left the fighter too easy to shoot down, but in this simulation it had the chance of getting points. Missiles streaked in from the Hellcat\u2019s wings and Jack dropped their fighter towards the deck, but the missiles had the arc on him and several managed to hit near enough to the deflection grid that it flickered. The screens showed the Devilcat with several dozen points and a possible kill from the attack.<\/p>\n Jack frowned in annoyance. \u201cI would have gotten a confirmed kill on you in real life if you\u2019d tried that.\u201d<\/p>\n The Devilcat laughed. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t<\/em> have tried that in real life,\u201d he finished and fired again.<\/p>\n This time Jack saw it coming and arced around the missile\u2019s flight path.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re relying on your cyber to fight for you too much. You need to fight like a partner.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m trying<\/em>. But I can\u2019t think<\/em> that fast!\u201d the pilot blurted out and came around for another pass.<\/p>\n Jack and Betty avoided the attack again and Jack sighed. \u201cYou\u2019re right, you can\u2019t. None<\/em> of us can.\u201d He dodged another salvo of boiling missiles. \u201cIt takes time to verbalize our thoughts, to put them to words, to consider what we are going to do next. Voice commands are far too slow for combat.\u201d He tried to drop under a missile barrage, but nearly half of them hit, giving the Devilcat over a hundred points and a probable kill on the sim ranking. \u201cSee what I mean? There I was talking and I might be dead if that was real combat.\u201d He nodded and Betty fired, her missiles hitting the Hellcat\u2019s deflection grid head with a series of direct hits that generated over a hundred points and a probable kill.<\/p>\n Then he felt the urge to move and dropped them down to hug the deck just before a dozen flaming missiles flew over them by several meters. Jack grunted. \u201cNever stop moving. Keep the enemy guessing where you are going. Don\u2019t think about it. Don\u2019t plan it. Just listen to your feelings.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat makes a real good fortune cookie but how does that help me kill you?\u201d the Devilcat asked as he fired another missile salvo.<\/p>\n Jack dodged it to the left. To port. Whatever. A handful of missiles managed a deflection hit, and a few points. The computers tagged it as a possible kill. Jack didn\u2019t think it would have been fatal. His Avenger\u2019s armor would have shrugged it off. He wasn\u2019t so sure about this Hellcat, though. He pulled back on the stick and their Hellcat shot straight up into the sky. \u201cI\u2019m hard to kill. It\u2019s the whole point of the pilot and cyber partnership. The cyber moves us faster than our brains can think about, while we add randomness and instinct to the mix. We are the descendants of hunters who defeated the most dangerous animals on our planet, and their instincts flow through us if we listen to them. We can sense danger. We know when someone\u2019s looking at us. The hair rising on the back of our neck is our subconscious telling us that we are in danger. Listen to it.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack felt that warning, deployed countermeasures, and pulled their Hellcat north. Betty\u2019s wingtip lasers opened up a split second later, chewing into the missile swarm as it screamed past them. Jack sighed. Devilcat Ten was not Ageless. He did not have the reflexes that went along with that particular reaction to the Peloran Treatments. In one-on-one combat like this, the lack of those reflexes made the winner a foregone conclusion. He sucked in a deep breath, let it out, and nodded. \u201cOkay,\u201d he said to Betty. \u201cLet\u2019s take the gloves off and show him how it\u2019s really<\/em> done.\u201d He flexed his fingers on the controls, and prepared himself to fire back.<\/p>\n Betty shook her head. \u201cJack, we don\u2019t need to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack cocked his head at her. \u201cYes, we do. He\u2019s not good enough to be a Cowboy.\u201d<\/p>\n Betty aimed a displeased frown at him. \u201cAnd you have elected yourself sole arbiter of that decision?\u201d<\/p>\n Jack scowled back. \u201cI\u2019m supposed to make the cut here! He doesn\u2019t have the skills,\u201d he said as several missiles impacted their Hellcat. The Devilcat\u2019s points went up by another hundred or so points. And a probable kill.<\/p>\n Betty crossed her arms and glared at him. \u201cOkay. Fine. But we don\u2019t have to humiliate<\/em> him.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack shook his head in disagreement. \u201cThat\u2019s not my goal, Betty. But we have<\/em> to show he\u2019s not in his league here!\u201d<\/p>\n Betty shook her head. \u201cNo. We<\/em> don\u2019t. You<\/em> do.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack shook his head and held on tight as more missiles impacted their wildly gyrating Hellcat. \u201cI\u2019m doing my job<\/em>, Betty.\u201d The Devilcat received another couple hundred points and a very<\/em> probable kill. One more missile would have confirmed it, no question.<\/p>\n She aimed a sad smile at him. \u201cNo, Jack. You\u2019ve done your job already.\u201d She shook her head. \u201cNow you just want to show everyone what a real<\/em> pilot is. You<\/em> want to show off<\/em>. That\u2019s your pride<\/em> talking, Jack. You don\u2019t<\/em> have to let that control you, though.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack looked away from her and rubbed his chin, not wanting to admit she was right. But she was. He swallowed and pulled in a deep breath. \u201cI see your point.\u201d<\/p>\n Betty smiled and ran her hands down her yellow sundress, straightening it with the air of a proud mother. \u201cThank you.\u201d She pulled the fighter around in time to avoid an entire missile salvo and her smile turned angry. \u201cOh, that<\/em> was just insulting<\/em>!\u201d she shouted and shook a fist at the other fighter. \u201cWe countered that gambit five centuries<\/em> ago!\u201d<\/p>\n Jack cleared his throat, smiled, and raised a finger. \u201cWhat was that about letting our pride talk?\u201d<\/p>\n Betty glared at him for a moment, before shaking her head.<\/p>\n He winced as two missiles shredded the deflection grid and chewed his lip. \u201cIs one salvo enough to pass him?\u201d<\/p>\n Betty cocked her head to the side and gave him a feral smile. \u201cWith both of us working together? Absolutely.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack nodded and placed his hands back on the throttle and stick. \u201cLet\u2019s get behind him. Fire on my mark.\u201d<\/p>\n Betty nodded. \u201cThat works for me.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack pulled the Hellcat around in a swift motion that the Devilcat didn\u2019t expect. They dropped on his tail in a moment and Jack smirked. He focused on the fighter, held the throttle and stick with light fingers, and waited for it to move. It moved all the time of course, but Betty followed it with the reflexes that only a cyber could match. It was the true randomness that Jack looked for, and he carefully guided them through the Hellcat\u2019s contrail. It fired a constant stream of lasers from its wing tips, but his deflection grid dealt with them.<\/p>\n He just had to wait for just the right circumstances to stamp that Devilcat with a solid kill. He followed the man through turns and loops. The Devilcat dove into a mountain valley, scattering ice crystals across the sky as its wingflaps extended. Jack and Betty followed, bucking through the contrails, and high, mountain peaks towered over them. He flicked back and forth, holding the fighter in their sights, and Devilcat Ten could not break away from Jack\u2019s superior reflexes. He had his target in sight and it could not escape him. He just needed a solid shot. He would have been firing like mad and looking for a lucky hit in real life, but this was a sim and Jack wanted to make a statement. He would kill Devilcat Ten dead with one shot. No question. He really did want to prove himself the better hunter. His eyes narrowed, his gut clenched, and he knew he had the killing shot.<\/p>\n Captain Jack pulled the trigger.<\/p>\n The Hellcat shuddered as the missile pods on the end of the wings erupted. The missiles ripple-fired out in a solid stream of flame from the launch rockets that accelerated them away from the fighter. The rockets flared out, the gravitic drives that made up the bulk of each missile came to life, and the missiles flew towards their target.<\/p>\n The Devilcat\u2019s lasers opened up in point defense mode, and missile after missile exploded. But each successive missile died closer to the fighter. The wave of missiles closed in on the fighter and onboard sensors detected the gravitic shear of the deflection grid surrounding their target. Tiny artificial minds recognized the threat, switched their drives to overload, and the drives burned themselves out in a split second, ripping at the deflection grid with the power of miniature black holes. The Devilcat\u2019s grid failed and the last of the missiles flew up and ripped the fighter apart. Kill sealed, stamped, and delivered like a boss.<\/p>\n Jack looked up from the screen that showed the computers\u2019 analysis of the attack and locked his gaze on the Devilcat fighter in front of him. The still living missiles banked away and made their way towards home base on their own. Their mission was done for the day. Jack nodded and pulled their Hellcat away from the Devilcat fighter.<\/p>\n \u201cTry out\u2019s over, kid. Head back to base now,\u201d he ordered.<\/p>\n \u201cSo what\u2019s the verdict?\u201d Devilcat Ten asked him.<\/p>\n Jack frowned at the communication display. \u201cYou lost.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAnd you\u2019re Ageless,\u201d the Devilcat said and slowed his fighter to match Jack\u2019s speed. \u201cI was happy enough to be hitting you. I even got some kills.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack sighed and glanced at Betty with a rueful look. He thought about saying they were only probable kills, but Betty raised one eyebrow at him. She was right. He shouldn\u2019t take that away. \u201cHow did you think<\/em> you were doing?\u201d<\/p>\n The Devilcat cleared his throat. \u201cWell, at first you were really keeping me from getting hits. But then I started pounding you, and I thought I had it in the bag. That I\u2019d found your weakness and could exploit it.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack frowned again. \u201cHow do you fare against the other fighter squadrons on New Earth? I assume you fly against them in sims?\u201d<\/p>\n The Devilcat snorted. \u201cWe do pretty good. We study them and take advantage of their weaknesses.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack blinked and aimed a questioning gaze at Betty. She waved her hand towards one of the screens and he read it. The Devilcats had a fifty percent win rating against the other squadrons on New Earth, well above the Do Not Qualify rating. And considering they were a reserve squadron recruiting from the relatively small number of Americans that lived on New Earth, that wasn\u2019t too bad at all.<\/p>\n \u201cImpressive,\u201d Jack said<\/p>\n \u201cThank you.\u201d The Devilcat sounded pleased. \u201cI like plans that take advantage of my enemies\u2019 weakness. Always much more reliable than flying in and hoping to get lucky.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack pursed his lips in thought, and smiled as his next question came to mind. \u201cSo what do you think happened in this test?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know your weaknesses,\u201d the Devilcat said with what seemed like a verbal shrug. \u201cAnd you\u2019re Ageless, you lucky bastard,\u201d he said with more jest than real heat.<\/p>\n Jack looked at Betty and she shrugged. He shrugged back in agreement. \u201cYeah, I suppose I am.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDid you get distracted during the fight?\u201d the Devilcat asked, a truly inquisitive tone to his voice. \u201cI ask because you seemed easy to hit for a while.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack turned a smile towards Betty. \u201cYeah, we were arguing about a few things.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat were you arguing about?\u201d<\/p>\n Jack shifted in his seat and sent a questioning look Betty\u2019s way. She nodded. \u201cOh, how to tell you that you weren\u2019t going to be a Cowboy,\u201d Jack said, not sugarcoating things.<\/p>\n \u201cI see. And what does she think?\u201d<\/p>\n Jack chuckled and looked away from Betty. \u201cThat I was letting my pride get in the way of my better judgment.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCybers are<\/em> good at rounding out our rougher edges, aren\u2019t they?\u201d<\/p>\n Jack smiled. \u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTell me, have you ever regretted listening to her?\u201d<\/p>\n Jack looked at Betty and chewed his lip as she awaited his answer with wide-eyed interest. He sighed. \u201cNo, I suppose I haven\u2019t. Don\u2019t get me wrong, I\u2019ve missed<\/em> not doing things because she\u2019s talked me out of it\u2026\u201d He trailed off and studied her form for nearly a second. \u201cBut I can\u2019t say I regret<\/em> any of the times I listened to her.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what I thought,\u201d Devilcat Ten said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know,\u201d Jack began in a casual tone. \u201cIt occurs to me you know the people in your squadron. Could you give me a list of your best pilots?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, I suppose I could,\u201d the Devilcat said with a guarded tone. \u201cBut don\u2019t you already have access to that information?\u201d<\/p>\n Jack smiled. The man was suspicious of the change in the subject. Good. \u201cI just have the statistics in the computer. But you know the people<\/em>. Could you suggest the ones you would actually<\/em> want to serve with, if you were a Cowboy?\u201d<\/p>\n Silence answered him for several seconds before the Devilcat spoke again. \u201cI believe I could, if you told me what qualifications you were looking for.\u201d<\/p>\n Jack\u2019s smile grew in pleasure and he nodded at Betty. The guy really did<\/em> have a quick mind. \u201cWell, first of all, we\u2019re looking for somebody who wants to go home after this is done. People with something to live<\/em> for. We don\u2019t need any Big Damn Heroes out there.\u201d He met Betty\u2019s gaze and sighed. \u201cWe don\u2019t want people who have a score to settle.\u201d<\/p>\n Betty\u2019s smile softened at his admission.<\/p>\n \u201cI think I know what you\u2019re looking for, after all,\u201d The Devilcat pilot said, his tone sounding pleased. \u201cI\u2019ll have a report to you by this afternoon.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThank you,\u201d Jack answered automatically, his mind already considering what to do next. If Devilcat Ten gave him good intel here, he just might be able to find a position for the man after all. Not as a pilot. Not unless the man could get a lot better. But he just might have another position or two available. \u201cYou are dismissed to return to base,\u201d he added in a more formal tone.<\/p>\n \u201cRoger,\u201d Devilcat Ten answered and banked back towards Leif Erikson Spacebase.<\/p>\n Jack followed the Hellcat\u2019s progress until it dwindled to a dot in the sky before shaking his head. Then he looked down at the display to see the man\u2019s name and rank blinking for him. Lieutenant Louis Mattioli. \u201cWell. That was not what I expected.\u201d<\/p>\n Betty just smiled.<\/p>\n Jack sighed and shook his head. \u201cBut these guys are never going to keep up with us. Or the Peloran.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t be so sure,\u201d Betty said with a knowing smile. \u201cCharles has plans.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey better be some amazing plans,\u201d Jack returned.<\/p>\n She just held her smile.<\/p>\n Jack shrugged as the sensors detected another Hellcat burning towards his position. He checked the screens to verify that it was Devilcat Eleven and nodded.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is Cowboy Five to Devilcat Eleven,\u201d Captain Jack transmitted in his best jaunty tone. \u201cYou may try to kill me now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What does it take to be a fighter pilot in the age of cybers? Well, you don\u2019t need to know how to fly for one thing. It\u2019s nice to know of course, but the cyber flies your fighter. Reflexes? Instincts?[…]↓ Read the rest of this entry…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2304-forge-of-war-earc","uentry","postonpage-1","odd","post-author-medron-pryde"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5555"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5555\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5556,"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5555\/revisions\/5556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jackofharts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}