Three Strikes [✓]

Fractures

Chapter Sixty-Two: Fractures

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Selatapura, Usea.
October 31st, 2019.
1800hrs.

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"Trigger, can you hear me?" Count's voice brought Naomi out of her thoughts as she circled around the carrier, waiting to hear his voice again. They hadn't talked much on the way over, which was fine, since Naomi didn't really have the energy to say anything. She wouldn't even know what to say. So up until they reached the ship it was quiet, then Naomi tried to help Count land however she could, but given she was in the air that wasn't easy. Once he'd finally touched down safely on the deck, that left Naomi in the air alone. But she'd be down there with him soon enough.

"I hear you loud and clear," Naomi replied. It felt a bit weird to say something again after being quiet for so long, but that never stopped her before. "You made it down okay, right?"

"Somehow, yeah. I think I managed alright...been a while since I had to make a carrier landing," Count told her, taking a breath. He sounded a lot better than he had in the air, at least as far as she could tell, now that his nerves had settled down. "The plane's still in one piece, so that's a win."

Naomi swallowed, her mouth and throat dry. She was trying to keep from sputtering or slurring. "I wasn't asking about the plane, I was asking about you."

"Well, I'm talking to you and I'm not dead, so all things considered I think I'm fine," Count replied, sounding like he was smirking. Maybe he was trying to lighten the mood, she wasn't sure and she didn't have the energy to think about it too hard. Besides, with how low she was on fuel they both had better things to worry about. "Anyway, it's your turn now. I'll try and guide you down, but I'd trust your eyes a lot more than mine right now."

"Alright. I'm coming around now," Naomi said, pretty sure there wasn't any way that she could stall. She wanted to get out of the cockpit after being in the air all day, sweating like a dog and miserable, and give her body a break before she had to get back in the air. But she didn't want to be stuck on a ship. And she also wasn't sure she was ready to face Count or anyone or anything else she'd have to deal with once she landed. "Whatever you do, just please don't let me crash..."

Although carrier landings weren't completely foreign to them, not when the OADF and OMDF were regularly working alongside one another. Early on in their history, about as often as aerial warfare had been around, the navy had made accommodations for the air force. This carried through in every ship the navy commissioned and every plane the air force had in service. The pilots were trained accordingly. That being said, Naomi was out of practice, and she didn't like anything to do with ships. Being on one at all was bad enough, landing on one was something else.

She'd just have to suck it up. Unless she wanted to crash right into the ocean. She banked to circle back around, at least remembering what end of the ship she was supposed to land on. Actually, she knew for a fact she could remember what she was supposed to do, but actually doing it was a different story with how nervous it had always made her. Still, she slowed her speed and lowered her landing gear, and said as much to Count. "Dropping landing gear now. Let's get this over with."

"Relax, you'll be fine. After all the crazy shit you've pulled off, this oughta be a piece of cake for you," Count told her with a short laugh. As she made her approach, he did what he could to guide her down. He was surprisingly good at keeping calm and calming her down, being direct and to the point. He wasn't like any LSO she'd ever worked with, even though that list wasn't very long, but he managed to get her down alright. Naomi actually thought she was doing well, and he gave her minor directions all the way up to the end. "No wire for you to catch, because I'm one guy and I have no clue what to do. And no net. So...this is gonna be tricky."