Grown Bird

BOOM. I merge with the Royal Sakura at blazing speeds, crossing each other within a fraction of a second. I yank the stick back, throwing my nose towards the pinkish-tinted aircraft. Sakura janks high, throwing me underneath her as we circle each other higher and higher into the sky. Reaching the peak of our vertex, our noses hung motionless. The two stalled planes stood on their tails, seemingly frozen in time. Fet up with their circus trick, our noses sink back to the dunes below. We force our noses to the horizon, before once again throwing them back towards each other. We invert our direction, now scissoring down to the waving sands below, missing each other with feet to spare.

We drop our throttles, trying to force one or the other out in front of the other. Sakura begins to slide out behind me, forcing me on the defensive. Having lost our struggle for the chaser, I raise my throttle, evading the lethal nose. I draw the Royal Sakura in close, tempting my prey. She takes the bait, closing in for the kill she fails to realize my plan. I pull up hard, throwing my nose above the horizon in a split second. Surprised at the sudden move, Sakura janks out of the way, shooting past underneath me. A risky move for me to pull, she had to get at least a snapshot from that maneuver. But until she hits 2 more... I'm still in this fight!

I throw Spirits nose down, giving chase to the now defensive aggressor. Sakura's blazing speed demands attention as the supersonic jet blast away from my grasp. She pulls up meer feet from the crusty sand below. Throwing up a fine, sand reddled smoke screen trailing behind her. I give chase, following her path through the dunes. She loops back in towards me, seeing me barely keeping up. We cross paths once again. Jousting our noses at each other every crossing pass we make in our flat horizontal scissor. Each time we cross, the two jets' vicious dance of death slows in pace before ending in a slow crawl. We force our Aerocords towards the other with every ounce of controllable maneuverability we can muster them to produce. Too afraid to let the other one even a centimeter behind us.

Damn it, she's good. If I'm going to win this I'll need to take a gamble. I scout my distance from the sands below. I haven't shown Clover this trick yet! Judging enough space for my risky wager, I throw the stick back. Spirit's nose shoots up at Sakura, allowing the sight to cross her fuselage before sinking down. A high AoA horizontal maneuver like that is risky in every aspect... a single MPH is too slow and you'll lose complete control, falling to the ground in a flat spin. Or, pull for even a millisecond too long, and you'll also lose control, ending in the same result. And on top of all that, if your bandit reacts fast enough, you'll be left near defenseless. You cash in all of your speed and test the limits of your skill. Leaving you in a one-shot opportunity to end the fight for either party.

That's one snapshot! two to go. Spirit's nose rolls toward the ground, threatening me to exit the maneuver or face the consequences. I concede, allowing the plane to go as it wants without losing control. I force Spirit back over, looking for my slippery prey in the vast blue sky. Sakura's nowhere to be seen along the horizon. I shift my gaze above me, seeing the vulturous threat hanging in the sun. Sakura dives down on top of me, forcing me on guard immediately. She had to get one tag in there... I jank hard, evading the threatening presents behind me. I watch Sakura's speed closely, hoping she'd inch too close to me.

Falling out of that dive, Sakura MUST have a higher speed than Spirit. Especially after I pulled that draining maneuver. If she gets too close, I can reverse this fight in my favor instantly! My eyes glue to the aggressive F15 behind me, scanning for any inconsistencies in her offensive. As she draws in closer, I notice slats extending from her fuselage. She's using her airbrakes!? Her speed flakes off at an incredible rate as she sits firmly behind me. Already running low on speed from the previous maneuver, my evasions run weak. Barely staying out of her nose it's simply a waiting game now.

Clover: "That's the third snapshot!.."

I let out a tension-filled sigh as I level out Spirit. Clover falls into formation beside me. the Royal Sakura dances around beside me as Clover celebrates her victory. Swallowing my pride, I set up a landing approach at the training grounds. Touching down as the sand marks our wheels pathing. As Clover steps down from Sakura I toss her a drink fetched from the shack. We settle on the bench outside. Observing our wonderful partners as their engines crackle down from extensive use.

Jax: "You've gotten quite good, Clover. Keep flying like that and your callsign will HAVE to be upgraded to Royal Sakura."

I look over to the masked girl sitting beside me. Clover's mask returns to its concealed position, revealing Clover's shortened haircut. She looks up at me, a warm smile brightening her face before sipping her water.

Jax: "you've finally decided to shorten those bangs huh? It must have been quite annoying having them sway around during dogfights..."

Clover: "Yeah!.. They were really annoying to deal with when I was fighting!.. So I finally had enough and trimmed them down!.."

Clover blows up at her silver forehead leveled bangs. I look up to the Royal Sakura. Sakura's own decal proudly lays on her left rudder. The decal shows a white sakura tree in full bloom as cherry blossoms dance towards the hollow ground. Above the tree, a number of reddish-golden sky lanterns brightly float around the tree.

Jax: "I can't believe how good you've gotten within such a short amount of time. It's only been two or so months since you've joined..."

Clover: "Yea... But I still have areas to improve in!.. I might of won that duel... But who knows if ill be able to win the next!.."

Jax: "I'm not so sure either anymore... All I know is that if it was a normal one-on-one fight. I would have won with that maneuver at the end."

I puff out my chest, as I tease Clover.

Clover: "What!?... There's no way!.. I got my shots on you first!.."

Jax: "I don't know what you're talking about!.. You OBVIOUSLY missed those shots c'mon."

Clover: "I did not!.."

She begins to playfully punch my arm with her small fists as I begin to chuckle. She looks away, pouting as she sips down her water bottle.

Jax: "Are you ready to head back to base for today? We've done plenty of training already."

Clover: "Sure!.."

With that we take to the skies once more, landing on base a few minutes later. As per routine, we come in together. Softly touching the floor as our wheels squeak on the sandy pavement.

Boss: "You know Diana. It's already been about two months... And I ain't seen any of the slanders you've been preaching about."

I lean up against the wall as I hear the squealing of tires bounce against the runway. Diana looks out of the hanger, starin' the two down with daggers for eyes. It's been two months since the little missy joined the base. The staff loves her dearly, but they love her and Jax's romantic comedy skits even more. Caught a few myself from time to time. Gotta say, it's some pretty entertainin' stuff, I'd admit it. The only one who still has doubts about the missy, is Diana, our kid pilot. She goes day in and day out, preachin' that its nothin' more than an act to get Clover on our good side. But I ain't seen anything suggestin' that from the little missy. Two months ago I tried to tap into Diana's little head, to no avail. I couldn't get her logic outta it, but I at least convinced her to quit her little "pranks" she liked pullin'.

Boss: "What did the little missy even do to set you off Diana? You weren't like this before she has shown up."

Diana: "Shut it... You wouldn't understand... You've been brainwashed by her too... So you'll never be able to understand me..."

Boss: "Kid, you gotta get your stuff straight. You can't just keep doublin' down forever. If you keep up that self-proposed lied, you'll end up diggin' an early grave. You've already ended up an outcast, how much more are ya tryna lose?"

Diana stood there in silence, refusin' to look me in the eye as I click my tongue in frustration. I begin to walk off, stoppin' for a second to give her my last piece of advice.

Boss: "You can't do this forever Diana. Everyone has their breakin' point. Don't you go over that breakin' point just to hold up that fractured pride of yours. it ain't gonna work..."

I walk off, leaving the spoiled princess to grit her teeth as the two jets taxi off into their hangers.