Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada

0907 hours

The camera opens on a massive roar as a trio of jets fly over the Top Gun graduates. 2 F/A-18 Super Hornet Block III's and a single F4U Corsair flank the runway as the graduating pilots sit, awaiting their diplomas and their memorabilia for passing Top Gun. Among these graduates is a young Filipino man in his early 20's, he had raven black hair, brown eyes, a light tan, and was a little on the skinnier side all things considered, he also wore a pair of glasses, graded at 75/100, like all the graduates on the tarmac that day, the Filipino was in Dress Whites, smiling eagerly. The graduates didn't have to wait long in the blistering heat however as a Navy Admiral and a Top Gun instructor walked onto the stage in front of the F4U to begin his speech.

Top Gun Instructor: "Well," he began, clearing his throat, "this is the day you've all been looking forward to, the last day you'll ever have to grace these miserable halls as mere students. C'mon, admit it, you've wanted these classes to end for quite the while now."

A small chuckle goes through the crowd at this.

Top Gun Instructor: "But enough of the formalities, let's get this show moving so we can get out of this blasted heat!" he yelled, bringing up the first diploma, "First up, in our list of greats this school year, Mr Alexander Deforrest Orr, better known by his callsign Phenix!"

Alex: "Never call me Alexander!" he yelled in the crowd.

Top Gun Graduate 7: "Should've given him another callsign!" he yelled.

Top Gun Graduate 5: "Yeah! Alexander would've worked!" he laughed.

As Alex walked up on stage he flipped the group of graduates who even suggested such a thing off before shaking the Instructor's Hand and receiving his diploma before going to the Navy Fleet Admiral to receive his posting. A few hours went by as graduates walked on stage and off stage getting diplomas and walking back to their seats, telling their colleagues where they were posted. 

Top Gun Instructor: "Ok, next up...oh!" he said, clearing his throat, "Mr Francis Andre B Yan, better known as the Silver Bullet!"

Top Gun Graduate 4: "Let's go Andy!" he cheered, shoving Andy forward in celebration.

Andy: "Calm down Keith, jeez." he chuckled, shoving him back in retaliation before stepping onto the stage.

Once up on stage he was given his diploma and shook the hand of his instructor before walking over to the Admiral who had a Young Woman alongside him now that he was staring head to head with him. The young woman was in her early 20's, same as Andy, but looked more American, she had red eyes, brown hair, and a white complexion, she was roughly 5 inches shorter height-wise than Andy and looked ever so slightly younger. Both the new ensign and the Fleet Admiral quickly saluted each other before the Admiral began.

Fleet Admiral Johnson: "Ensign Yan, I am Fleet Admiral Johnson, the man in charge of the Third Fleet. But before I discuss your assignment, this is Ensign Robin Kuo, callsign President." he said, introducing the pair to each other.

Andy: "Um...nice to meet you." he said, politely.

Prez: "You too Bullet, heard great things bout ya." she grinned.

Andy: "Oh? How good is my reputation?" he asked.

Prez: "Well, you got yourself quite the itch for speed hotshot. I heard you pushed an F-86 to Mach 2.98." she commented, "Pretty reckless stuff."

Andy: "It was a dare, and I was chewed out for hours about wrecking the plane," he shrugged, sheepishly, "but it landed me my callsign."

Prez: "Well, I'd love to see how good you are in actual combat partner." she chuckled.

Andy: "Um...partner?" he questioned.

Fleet Admiral Johnson: "Ensign Kuo here is going to be your WSO aboard the USS Enterprise CVN-80." he announced, proudly, "You shall be part of the 124th Naval Air Squadron, aka Strider Squadron."

Andy: "I see...and Enterprise sir? Oh that is an amazing honor, thank you! I won't let you down." he saluted, excitedly.

Fleet Admiral Johnson: "Heh, if your reputation here is anything to go by, I know you won't." he chuckled, "Now, I suggest you get acquainted with each other, you'll meet your squad in due time."

Andy: "Copy that sir." he said, turning to Prez, "C'mon Prez, let's see what we got."

Prez: "Right behind ya Bullet." she giggled, following Andy off the stage.

As they walk off the stage, the Instructor turned to the Fleet Admiral. 

Top Gun Instructor: "You sure that was a wise move Fleet Admiral?" he asked, concerned, "Andy works best when he's on his own in a stealthy plane." 

Fleet Admiral Johnson: "Trust me, if I wasn't sure I would've waited a little while longer before pairing him with Prez." he reassured, looking over to their retreating forms, "I have a feeling those 2'll go miles." 

Top Gun Instructor: "Right....well, let's get these guys off the lot and into jets, we're gonna need all the help we can get if Beijing decides they wanna try out what Moscow's doing." he said, turning back to the job at hand.

Fleet Admiral Johnson: "Let em try, we'll whip their asses all the way to the Middle East if we have to." he said, cockily. 

The instructor rolled his eyes in mild amusement before continuing the ceremony. 

In the crowd of student pilots, Andy retook his seat, now with Prez sitting alongside him. 

Top Gun Graduate 4: "Whoa, who's this cutie Andy?" he asked. 

Prez: "Whoa there lady killer, that's a little too forward for someone you just met." she chuckled.  

Andy: "She's my new WSO." he replied, "Callsign Prez. And I'd suggest not angering her like you angered the other girls in our class." 

Top Gun Graduate 4: "How was I supposed to know that someone switched the signs for the restrooms?" he demanded. 

Andy: "Maybe if you listened to Jaymee earlier that same day then you'd remember that he warned about that exact thing." he deadpanned. 

Top Gun Graduate 2: "I did in fact do that." he put in. 

Prez: "Oh, so you're the poor bastard that Dragon, Scrap Queen, Huxian, and Comic warned me about." she cackled. 

Top Gun Graduate 4: "Damn it man! You ruined my chances with a girl!" he complained. 

Top Gun Graduate 3: "Maybe if you stopped trying to steal girls from us then you may get yourself some tail." he chuckled. 

Top Gun Graduate 4: "Shove it Seth! No one asked!" he yelled. 

Andy: "Well, where are you guys gonna be posted again?" he asked, changing the topic. 

Top Gun Graduate 2: "I'm gonna be on Gerald Ford in the Mediterranean." he replied. 

Top Gun Graduate 3: "I'll be buzzing the Russians over in the North Atlantic with the Eisenhower." he replied. 

Top Gun Graduate 4: "Hehey the funny number!" he laughed.

Andy: "What about you Keith? Where you headed?" he asked. 

Top Gun Graduate 4: "I'm being assigned to the Doris Miller." he replied, "It'll be a while before she's commissioned so I'll hang around here for a while. But enough about us, what about you Andy? Where are you heading off to?" 

Andy: "Me and Prez are being assigned to Strider Squadron aboard the Enterprise." he bragged. 

Top Gun Graduate 4: "The Enterprise?!" he yelled, shocked. 

Top Gun Graduate 2: "You lucky little bastard!" he laughed. 

Prez: "It's not luck, it's skill." she said. 

Andy: "Well, I wish you 3 luck in your respective endeavors, hope we meet again some day." he said, tipping his cap. 

Top Gun Graduate 3: "May the skies ahead of you look as blue as your helmet Andy." he said. 

Top Gun Graduate 4: "Goodbye my friend, when we reunite years later, I shall be a completely different man." he promised. 

Top Gun Graduate 2: "Whoop some Chinese ass for us." he added. 

With those last parting words, the ceremony ended around the trio who threw their caps into the air in celebration. 

A few hours later, Andy and Prez were in the air in their new jet. It was a standard F/A-18-F Super Hornet, they had been given permission to customize its paint job to their heart's content but they planned to leave that until after they arrived on the Enterprise and met up with their squadron. When they were about to first step into the cockpit together, Prez had laughed at Andy's helmet because of the design it sported...specifically that of a certain little blue tank engine. 

Andy: "How we doing back there Prez?" he asked. 

Prez: "Meh, same as a few minutes earlier." she replied, "Honestly, I'm just a little fucking bored now." 

Andy: "Well, let's change that up, what're your interests?" he asked. 

Prez: "Meh, same as most people in the military." she replied, "Blowing shit up, toppling dictators, killing things, etc." 

Andy: "Oh c'mon, there's gotta be something else that interests you, any hobbies?" he asked. 

Prez: "I do have a past time flying." she replied, "But when I tried to fly in the military....let's just say it wasn't pretty." 

Andy: "It can't have been that bad." he chuckled. 

Prez: "Oh, no....it was worse." she whimpered, self deprecatingly. 

Andy chuckled at this, rolling his eyes at his WSO. 

Prez: "Don't laugh at me dumbass!" she pouted. 

Andy: "I'm trying not to." he said. 

Prez: "Alright mister, what're your past times?" she asked, still pouting. 

Andy: "I like to watch Thomas the Tank Engine and I like to create plastic model kits." he replied, "I also make custom models out of Hornby and Bachmann models." 

Prez: "Well, that explains the helmet." she remarked, "Though, is that really all you do? Stay inside all day?" 

Andy: "It's how I was raised, I wasn't the most rebellious kid in the batch and I wasn't allowed out on my own much so I just became more and more of an introvert." he explained with a shrug, "Probably explains why I kept chickening out while I was trying to get a girl in High School." 

Prez: "Aw.~ Well, you're in luck my introverted friend, cause as a rebellious little extrovert, I will help you in getting some pussy on that cock of yours!" she proclaimed, not caring of who was listening over the radio, "Trust me my friend! Sooner or later, I'll walk in on you fucking a hot girl and I'll be cheering you on!" 

Spirit Airlines Flight 239: "Um...Spirit 239 to Bullet and Prez...um...should...any of us on this channel be concerned about that?" he asked. 

Andy: "Negative Spirit 239, this is a private convo." he said, muting the comms, "....How long have those been on?" 

Prez: "I think they've been on since we left Top Gun." she replied, beginning to snicker, "I have no idea why you left it on though." 

Andy: "Ugh...I thought I turned it off when we made that last transmission to ATC." he groaned, embarrassed. 

Prez burst out laughing again as Andy sulked. Another few minutes passed uneventfully, the F/A-18-F flying over the Pacific to a rendezvous set up for them and Strider Squadron, but the squadron of elites is oddly nowhere to be found. 

Andy: "Um...Prez? Any sign of em?" he asked. 

Prez: "Nothing on RADAR." she replied, looking around and scanning her RADAR, "We must be a lil early." 

Andy: "Did they perhaps move on without us?" he asked, banking their aircraft to the left and looking down. 

Prez: "No, we're a lil early." she stated, checking her watch and the aircraft's clock, "Something must be off." 

Andy: "Hm....check the radio frequencies, their AWACS must be somewhere around here." he said, still looking around, "They should be chatting at the very least." 

Prez: "Alright, I'll see what I can hear..." she trailed off. 

Over the radio Andy heard the sound of Prez switching through channels, all meeting to various forms of static. 

Prez: "Huh...there's nothing on Radio." she reported. 

Andy: "Hm...." he hummed, "is the RADAR a little buggy?" 

Prez: "Um...a little, apparently there aren't any flights in the area and it's only registering us in this airspace." she replied, "Why you ask?" 

Andy: "Hm..." he hummed again, this time switching to a civilian frequency, "Bullet to LAX Traffic Control, do you read?" 

Andy received nothing but static from the hail, he checked other civi radio channels and received nothing but static, immediately after that, he switched into combat mode. 

Andy: "Prez, get the weapons ready." he ordered, flipping some switches, "I'm giving you control of the AIM-120's and ECS." 

Prez: "Wait wha-?!" she started. 

Prez was suddenly cut off when Andy gunned the throttle and began roaring forward, looking for targets. 

Prez: "Bullet, what the heck man?!" she demanded, having been forced into her seat by the G-Forces, "What are you doing?!" 

Andy: "I think we have an enemy jammer active, I have no idea where they are, but I have a gut feeling that the Chinese are making their move." he explained, climbing a little. 

Prez: "What makes you say any of that?" she asked. 

Andy: "If there wasn't a jammer then I wouldn't be struggling so hard to hear civi radio calls." he replied. 

Prez: "Oh God..." she trailed off. 

Andy: "Prez, don't panic, I need you to stay calm and help finding these bastards and the Enterprise." he instructed. 

Prez: "Ok, ok," she said, calming her nerves for the battle, "I'll try breaking through the jamming so you can try to raise the others." 

Andy continued climbing through the sky, gaining speed as he did so before a parting of the clouds revealed a small, black shape charging right at them. 

Andy: "Bandit! 10 low!" he called out. 

Prez: "Positive ID...J-20." she reported, "Shit! Smoke in the air! Smoke in the air!" 

Andy: "Ok, Silver Bullet, engaging!" he yelled, suddenly forcing his plane into a steep dive. 

Prez: "WHOA!" she yelped, "BULLET!!"

Andy ignored Prez's yelling as he gunned the throttles and continued diving, going faster and faster, before suddenly pulling up and puling a High-G turn to dodge the missile before pointing his head at the target and locking on with the STDMs. 

Andy: "Silver Bullet, Fox-2!" he yelled. 

One of the Super Hornet's Heat-Seekers fell out of its hardpoints before its afterburner ignited, launching it towards the J-20 which attempted to launch countermeasures, the AIM-9 proceeded to ignore said countermeasures and slam head first into the J-20's nose, killing the pilot instantly. 

Andy: "Silver Bullet, splash 1." he reported. 

Prez: "Confirmed! Jesus that was quick!" she said, surprised. 

Andy continued diving through the clouds which parted to reveal the Enterprise's CSG doing battle with a bunch of J-15's, J-16's, and J-20's alongside a few Q-5's which attempted to roar through the fighter screen with their payloads of Cruise Missiles with squadrons of F/A-18s's and F-35's trying desperately to defend their carrier, flaming wrecks of fighters frequently fell from the sky as Andy tapped into the short range comms channel. 

Cyclops 1: "-Cyclops 3 and 4, break off from that J-20 and go assist Cyclops 2!" he ordered. 

Strider 1: "Strider 3! Missile inbound!" she called out. 

Strider 3: "Shit! Strider 3 defending!" he yelled, pulling evasive maneuvers and dumping chaff and flares. 

Cyclops 4: "Negative Cyclops 1, I've got a J-18 on my ass!" she reported. 

Strider 2: "Don't let the attackers get close to Enterprise!" he yelled. 

Strider 4: "The fuck you think we're doing Strider 2?!" she demanded. 

Red 2: "Stay close Red 5, where are ya going?" he demanded. 

Red 5: "They're all over me! I'm trying to lose them!" he yelled. 

An F-35 roared under Andy and Prez, being chased by 3 opposing aircraft. 

Red 5: "Shit! This is Red 5! I need help!" he yelled, still trying to desperately evade. 

AWACs Long Caster: "Red 5! They have you dead to rights! Eject!" he yelled. 

Before Red 5 could do that however Andy decided to step in. 

Andy: "Prez, lock onto those fighters with AIM-120's!" he ordered. 

Prez: "What do you think I'm doing jackass?!" she demanded, "Just keep us on their tail!" 

Andy nodded before wordlessly engaging, roaring into the saddle and keeping up with the Chinese Jet's as his WSO tried to get a lock. 

Prez: "Solid tone!" she yelled, unmuting their radio when she realized they were still muted, "Prez, FOX-1!" 

The 3 MLAAs roared off their mounting points and towards their targets, immediately destroying the three targets and saving Red 5's ass. 

Prez: "Splash 2, 3, and 4!" she yelled

Strider 2: "What the-!?" he started. 

AWACs Long Caster: "Unidentified Aircraft on this frequency, identify yourself." he ordered.

Andy: "AWACs, this is Silver Bullet, I was transferring to Strider Squadron with my WSO today! Gimme a sitrep!" he yelled. 

AWACs Long Caster: "You must be Strider 5, um...ok, sitrep, we've got a dozen squadrons of Chinese fighters trying to break through our screen to hit the Enterprise!" he replied, "She hasn't taken any damage yet, thank god, but they're getting close to landing hits." 

Andy: "Alright, just mark us as friendlies and we'll start fighting." he said. 

AWACs Long Caster: "Alright...all aircraft be advised, Strider 5 has arrived on the battlefield!" he called. 

Strider 1: "Copy Long Caster." she said, "Hey kids, what're your callsigns?" 

Andy: "I'm Silver Bullet, I'm piloting." he replied. 

Prez: "TAC Name's President, I'm his backseat driver." she added, audibly smirking. 

Strider 2: "Oh, so you're the kid who wrecked my favorite jet back at Top Gun!" he accused. 

Strider 4: "Yeah yeah Nickelback." she jabbed. 

Strider 2: "How many times do I have to tell you?! I'm not Chad Kroeger!" he yelled, exasperatedly. 

Strider 4: "Yeah yeah, keep saying that Count." she said, rolling her eyes. 

Andy: "Strider 5, Bullet and Prez, engaging!" he yelled, rolling his eyes from the conversation. 

Strider 2 grumbled incoherently at this as Andy wheeled around and locked on a target which looked to be jousting him, gunning his throttles Prez yelped as she was thrown back into her seat and then screamed in even more terror as Andy merged with the Chinese Fighter, getting on its 6 in a swift move and opening fire with his gun. The J-16 took a few hits to its hull but was still flying properly, as made apparent when it jinked left, trying to get Andy off its tail, but the Filipino pilot didn't let it go, matching its movements one to one  despite being at a disadvantage in terms of speed and maneuverability. 

Prez: "Goddamnit Bullet! You could've warned me!" she yelled, punching his arm. 

Andy: "Ow!" he yelped, launching another burst of tracer. 

The burst tore into the J-16's tail and engines, causing the engines to erupt in flames and the jet itself to begin tumbling out of the air. 

Andy: "Strider 5, Splash 5!' he reported. 

Cyclops 3: "Damn! Aces in a day!" he yelled, surprised. 

Andy: "Negative Cyclops 3, the kills are split between us, and I am a kill behind." he said, gunning the throttle once again. 

Prez: "BULLET! NOT AGAIN!!" she screamed. 

The fighter picked up speed, its pilot having locked himself on a target, before it suddenly inverted and pulled into a dive at a steep angle. The F/A-18 chased after a J-20 which was experiencing tunnel vision as it focused in on Red 5 again, the Chinese Fighter had no idea the American was right above it until it was too late. 20 mm rounds rained down from the heavens, tearing into the jet from nose to tail, there was no escape for the pilot as the piece of metal that used to be a 5th Generation Fighter tumbled out of the sky and into the sea below. 

Andy: "Strider 5, Splash 6!" he called, "This makes us even Prez." 

Prez: "Yeah yeah Bullet..." she groaned, "ugh, I'm gonna be sick if you maneuver like that aga-AIN!!" 

Andy proceeds to spot another target and charge after it. Said target was one of the ground attack aircraft carrying a cruise missile, its pilot was probably feeling really good about himself, because he had been able to slip past the Enterprise's air defense grid of fighters...that was until an F/A-18 descended from the heavens before diving under him and shooting the cruise missile enough times to set it off and take him down. 

Andy: "Strider 5! Splash 7!" he called. 

Count: "Long Caster! This guy's gotta be making this shit up!" he yelled in protest. 

AWACs Long Caster: "Negative Count, Bullet's shot down 6 aircraft, 3 with missiles and 3 with guns." he reported, "Where'd the 7th come from?" 

Prez: "It's in our gun cam footage, apparently one of the bastards tried to make a run for it through the clouds and we shot it down." she replied. 

AWACs Long Caster: "Copy that, I'll just take your word for it, I guess." he shrugged, "Fixing tally to 7." 

As Long Caster said this, a J-16 suddenly overshot Andy and Prez, a short 'BRRT!' indicating that it had fired and a slight shudder in their flight indicating that their F/A-18 had been hit. 

Andy: "Shit! Been hit!" he cussed, "Prez, you good?" 

Prez: "I'm alright! Didn't hit the cockpit." she replied. 

Andy: "Alright, how bad is it?" he asked. 

Prez: "Our dorsal end is leaking fluids, can't see our tails." she reported. 

Andy: "What form of fluids?" he asked. 

Prez: "It's from the hydraulics." she replied, checking her gauges, "The self-healing lines are sealing themselves, I think we should be good to chase that motherfucker!" 

Andy: "Copy that Prez." he grinned, kicking the jet into high gear once again. 

Andy and Prez roared up and into the air after the Chinese Fighter that had strafed them, not knowing what it had also hit as the pair of them began competing on who was going to take the kill. 

Andy: "Got tone!" he called. 

Prez: "Me too! FOX-1!" she yelled. 

Andy: "FOX-2!" he yelled shortly after. 

Both of their missiles fell for a short distance before igniting and racing towards their intended target at supersonic, the AIM-9 however was slightly slower than the AIM-120 which roared past the heat-seeker and slammed into the J-16, giving Prez the kill. 

Prez: "YES! Strider 5, Splash 8! That ties us up Bullet~." she stated, happily. 

Andy: "Damn!" he laughed, not in the slightest bit mad, "Good kill Prez." 

AWACs Long Caster: "Agreed, nice kill you 2." he said, "Next one to get a kill here becomes an ace in a day, let's see who gets it!" 

Strider 2: "C'mon greenhorns, let's see what your first kill counts gonna be!" he said, "The boys back in Spare below decks have placed their bets in and I don't wanna lose my ice cream!"

Andy: "Why? What's the bet?" he asked, scanning the air for targets. 

Strider 1: "For some reason he bet 9 kills." she replied, "The highest kill bid was like....35 somehow." 

Strider 3: "There's one left Bullet, go get him!" he yelled, "This'll definitely be something I'll tell my kid one day." 

Andy: "Wilco!" he called. 

Andy wheeled his fighter over and turned to see a single fighter bomber attempting to flee. 

Andy: "He's mine." he smirked.

Prez: "Hell no! He's mine!" she yelled. 

Andy: "First one to get him then." he challenged. 

Prez: "You're on Bullet!" she yelled, getting to work on her station. 

Andy grinned gunning the throttles and roaring forward, attempting to get the STDMs to lock before Prez got a MLAA to lock on, not noticing that Strider 1 formed up on their aft left quarter and began staring in confusion. 

Andy: "C'mon baby gimme tone gimme tone gimme tone...." he trailed off, before finally hearing the satisfying lock-on tone, "Solid tone! FOX-2" 

Prez: "Damn it! C'mon baby!" she yelled, before hearing the same tone herself, "HAHA! GOT TONE! FOX-1!"

The AIM-9 had a head start against the AIM-120 as they both roared towards their target, the J-20 immediately chaffed up and turned away prompting Andy to give chase, Trigger off his wing. 

Andy: "Slippery bastard! Out of missiles! Switching to guns!" he called. 

Strider 1: "I'm on your wing." she said. 

Prez: "GO GET HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIM! KILL HIIM!" she yelled, "PUT THE NOSE ON HIM AND KILL HIM! C'MON HE'S OUT IN FRONT! SHOOT HIM! SHOOT HIM!!" 

Strider 2: "Jesus Christ..." he trailed off. 

Closing an eye and concentrating forward, Andy fired a burst from the F/A-18's gun, the rounds hit home and the Chinese fighter burst into flames, prompting Prez to begin cackling maniacally. Andy's eyes were looking over his shoulder after the kill to stare in concern at his WSO before slowly they returned forward. 

AWACs Long Caster: "Confirmed Enemy Kill." he reported, "That was the last enemy, RTS you guys." 

Andy: "Copy Long Caster." he nodded. 

Strider 2: "Time to rake in the money!" he said. 

Strider 4: "No one commenting on how Strider 5's WSO was near the end?" she questioned. 

Cyclops 1: "I'm sure, it's just the rush of the battle going through her veins." he shrugged. 

Red 5: "Whew, thanks Strider 5, you saved my tail out there." he thanked. 

Prez: "You got it Red 5, just don't make us do that shit again." she warned. 

Red 5 WSO: "Hey! Don't threaten my pilot! Only I can do that!" she pouted. 

Strider 1: "Hey, Strider 5, how's your handling right now?" she asked. 

Andy: "Um..." he trailed off, giving a few experimental maneuvers, "It's fine right now, why?" 

Strider 1: "I think I'll leave it for the ground." she said, "I'll just say, Avril's not gonna be happy." 

AWACs Long Caster: "Alright, most damaged aircraft first, that means you Strider 5." he said.

Andy: "Um...copy that...?" he said, confused. 

Andy looked back at Prez to ask for what Long Caster meant but Prez simply shrugged, all the instruments were reading just fine. In any case, Andy got onto the glideslope. 

Enterprise Flight Boss: "Strider 5, you copy?" he hailed. 

Andy: "I copy flight boss." he replied. 

Enterprise Flight Boss: "Alright, confirm you have the ball." he instructed. 

Andy looked out to the side of the Enterprise's flight deck and spotted the OLS light up and spotted the ball which indicated how high or low he was. 

Andy: "I have the ball in sight." he confirmed, "Beginning visual landing." 

The F/A-18's landing gear came down followed swiftly by the hook in between its engines, it descended lower and lower with Andy keeping an eye on the OLS to make sure he wasn't going to overshoot or undershoot, keeping the yellow light in between the lines of red lights either side of it. A few seconds later, the F/A-18 landed without any issue on the third wire but as it was towed off the landing strip and both Andy and Prez were getting out they both had to duck as a pair of wrenches was thrown at them. 

Avril: "HEY! MORONS!" she roared, pushing past a few flight deck personnel, "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO HER!?" 

Andy: "What do you mean 'what did we do to her?'?!" he yelled, peeking out of his cockpit confused and scared, "Why'd you throw wrenches at us!?" 

Avril: "'What do you mean 'what did you do to her?'' they ask, 'Why'd you throw wrenches at us!?' they ask." she rambled, absolutely pissed, "LOOK AT YOUR TAIL!" 

Andy and Prez, upon finding it safe to do so, peek out of their cockpit and look back expecting to see 2 relatively stubby tail fins....only to see 1 stubby tail fin and a quarter of the other. Turns out when the J-16 from earlier strafed their F/A-18, it had done more than rupture a few hydraulic lines which quickly sealed themselves and made them lose a bit of hydraulic power, it had in fact shot the left tail fin off and somehow, in a similar story to how an F-15 collided with another jet and flew around without its left wing for a few hours and landed uneventfully, Andy didn't notice his F/A-18 was missing its left tailfin and he continued fighting for a few minutes. 

Andy: "Holy shit! We've been fighting without a tail fin?!" he exclaimed, surprised. 

Avril: "Yeah you dumbass!" she yelled, throwing a screwdriver at them, "You better know how to fucking help because I swear to god you are dead if you don't!" 

Prez: "Um, y-yes ma'am!" she saluted nervously, their plane being towed onto the elevator. 

As Andy and Prez's F/A-18 was taken below decks for repairs, another F/A-18 came in for landing, sporting 3 claw marks on both tailfins, it landed with ease on the second wire before taxiing over next to the pair's F/A-18, letting the tugs do the rest of the maneuvering, the pilot of said plane stepping out and walking over to the group. She was roughly a foot taller than Andy, she had brown eyes, black hair, and a white skin tone, she looked to be in her early 30's or late 20's. 

Trigger: "Hey, you 2 must be Bullet and Prez." she said, "Name's Naomi Foulke, or Trigger depending on where we talk, I'm your squad leader." 

Andy: "Um, nice to meet you ma'am!" she saluted, "I'm Bullet...or Ensign Francis Yan on the ground, though I'd rather be called Andy." 

Prez: "A-and I'm Prez." she stuttered into a salute, "O-on the ground I'm Ensign Robin Kuo." 

Trigger: "Alright then you 2, I look forward to flying with ya." she smiled, "Especially you Andy." 

Andy: "Um...me ma'am?" he questioned. 

Trigger: "I see a lot of myself in ya." she replied, "I can tell you've got a lot of glory ahead of ya." 

Andy nodded tentatively as Trigger began walking towards the island. 

Trigger: "Now, let's head inside. Have some celebratory Ice Cream." she said, beckoning them in, "Avril's a little scary when you first meet her, but she means well, she didn't mean a word of wat she just threatened you with." 

Andy: "Alright then ma'am, lead the way." he said, following Trigger. 

Prez: "Sounds good to me ma'am." she said, teasingly elbowing Andy and wagging her eyebrows as Trigger left.

Andy: "Nope, not into older women." he replied, deadpanning. 

Prez: "Oh come on!" she yelled, "She's hot though!" 

Andy: "I only hit 20 years old last week Prez." he said, beginning to walk inside the island, "I'm not dating someone who's probably 27!"

Prez: "I'm gonna hit 20 next week and I'd smash her if I were a guy!" she retorted, following Andy into the island. 

Andy: "Says the person who was cackling maniacally earlier!" he yelled. 

Prez: "Eat my ass Andy!" she shouted. 

Andy: "No thanks!" he yelled. 

The flight crews on deck and Striders 2-4 chuckled at this interaction. 

Count: "Who's gonna tell em that Trigger's single and 25?" he asked. 

Huxian: "Ah, let em find out." she shrugged, "I'm pretty sure those 2'll fall for each other long before Andy and Trig come out." 

Jaeger: "You guys gonna make bets with High Roller?" he asked. 

Wiseman: "Make bets with Roller bout what?" he asked, having just landed. 

Count: "We're gonna bet whether Strider 5 falls for Trig or for his WSO." he replied. 

Wiseman: "Ah, the cliche teen stuff eh?" he chuckled, "I see, I'll tell my squad to place in their bets when they land, you guys get the ball rolling for us." 

Huxian: "Yes sir, c'mon boys." she said, leading the way. 

In the belly of the ship, Andy and Prez arrived in the mess hall where some of the crew were serving ice cream and on one of the tables a group of pilots were playing cards. 

Trigger: "Hey boys." she greeted, having grabbed her serving of ice cream. 

Bandog: "Ah, Trigger, how'd the battle go?" he asked. 

Trigger: "Since Big E's still floating I think we did good, anyways, what's going on down here?" she asked. 

High Roller: "Just playing some blackjack." he replied, "Losers have to give their ice cream to the victors." 

Full Band: "It was initially betting money and sortie times but those were deemed to expensive so Ice Cream." he explained. 

Trigger: "Well, I'm keeping my ice cream thank you." she harrumphed, dramatically. 

Tabloid: "Alright Trig." he chuckled, "Your loss."

Andy: "Boss! Any recommendations on flavor?" he asked, in line next to Prez. 

Trigger: "I'd suggest Cookies and Cream! Don't even bother with the strawberry!" she replied.

Andy: "Thanks ma'am." he said, giving a thumbs up before turning to a now pouting Prez, "See? Even Trigger agrees." 

Prez: "Piss off Bullet." she pouted.

As the pilot and his WSO walked off, High Roller immediately read the room. 

High Roller: "Alright people, place your bets, how long will it take for those 2 to get together?" he asked, as soon as the pair were out of earshot. 

Trigger: "Heh, the guys upstairs are way ahead of ya." she chuckled, "I think a few of them are also betting if the kid falls for me rather than Prez." 

Tabloid: "I mean, who wouldn't wanna bang the illustrious Three Strikes?" he asked, rhetorically. 

Trigger: "Meh, I'm not interested in love." she shrugged. 

Full Band: "Really? Not even in any of us Trig?" he asked, pointing to the group around the table. 

Champ: "You wound us!" he piped up, sarcastically. 

Trigger scoffed, rolling her eyes at the group with a fond chuckle. 

Trigger: "Alright boys, deal me into the bets, who wants to begin the guessing?" she asked, competitively. 

Meanwhile, away from the gambling table, Andy and Prez were sitting at Strider Squadron's table, happily eating away at their Ice Cream when the sounds of yelling were heard from across the mess hall. 

Andy: "I wonder what that is." he muttered, attempting to get up. 

Prez: "Eat." she said, grabbing the Filipino's sleeve and forcing Andy to stay. 

Andy: "Right, Ice Cream melts." he agreed, sitting back down, "So, what do you think we should do to the F/A-18 when it's fixed?" 

Prez: "Hm...paint is an obvious must." she replied, "We need to immortalize the incident where we lost our tail." 

Andy: "True, true." he agreed, taking a spoonful, "What about the engines? You wanna upgrade em?" 

Prez: "Why?" she asked, having swallowed her spoonful. 

Andy: "When we were chasing the Chinese Fighters earlier, I had to push the engines way further than they were comfortable with. Most likely we'll have to push em even harder against other fighters they may throw at us, so I'm eliminating the need for that early." he explained, swallowing his spoonful. 

Prez: "Hm, smart." she hummed, "Well, let's see what Avril's got in the hangar, I'm sure this stuff should be doable to some extent." 

Andy: "Righto." he nodded, "Now let's finish our ice cream before we make it a drink." 

Prez nodded and bit into her next spoonful. 

A few hours later, the both of them descended into the hangar bay to find Avril and her mechanics hard at work refueling, rearming, and repairing all the planes, including theirs which was now receiving its new tail fin, scavenged off of an F-15.

Avril: "Oh good! You 2 are here!" she said, covered in industrial fluids. 

Andy: "Oh! U-um, afternoon ma'am." he saluted, awkwardly. 

Avril: "Jeez, ease up a bit, will ya? Anyway, I just came to say that your new tail's ready, if you need pain it's in the cabinets over there next to Spare 1's F-14," she said, pointing at a completely black one sitting in the corner, "if you need any spare parts, we have a hodgepodge of parts from all different airframes, if ya need help fitting new engines or whatever, call me, if ya need fuel or somewhere to test your new engine, head aft, and if you need any other miscellaneous bits and bobs, just ask one of the others. Alright boys! Let's move onto Trigger's plane! I can smell its burning engines from here!" 

The mechanics finished up with the pair's Super Hornet and moved onto Trigger's in short order. 

Prez: "....I like her." she said. 

Andy: "Same here." he chuckled, "And no, not in that sense yet." 

Prez: "Damn it! How'd you know?!" she demanded. 

Andy: "I'm getting good at reading people." he replied, "And you've giving me and her shipper eyes for the past few minutes." 

Prez harrumphed and pouted at this before going to help Andy with the paint and the upgrades. The first thing either of them did was converge on the tail fin with a can of red paint, a can of chrome paint, a small can of blue paint, and chrome letter and number stickers; they then proceeded to paint the once entirely grey tail fin a deep, rich red and leave it to dry for a few minutes. 

While they did, they browsed through the pile of spares for various aircraft and found the engines of an F-15 among the wreckage, seeing the opportunity, the both of them managed to muscle the 2 engines onto a kart and bring it back to their F/A-18 before taking its entire rear section apart and, with a lot of help from Avril who walked in on them making the engine swap, managed to squeeze the slightly bigger engines into their new housings. 

After wrangling with the F-15 Engines, Prez and Andy turned to their new tail fin which was now dry, and turned out to be a matte coat of paint which Andy quite liked. The pair grabbed the smaller cans of paint and began painting their patches on, Andy being a chrome bullet zooming at full speed downwards (referencing how he got his TAC Name) and Prez's being a Seal or Sea Lion posed proudly on top of a board. Once that was done, they left the paint to dry and called it a day. 

A/N: Ok, it kinda sputtered out near the end, but I am satisfied with this thing. I'm just posting this to kick it off because the idea just couldn't stop bothering me, no transdimensional shit yet, that's for next time, and yes I am reusing Strider Squadron, this time with Long Caster, Bandog, Spare, and Cyclops along for the ride, in this universe Spare is just a Spare squadron of more fighter pilots to escort Long Caster/Bandog in the air so there's no need for the Sin Lines and all that. Yes, I also included Red Squadron of Star Wars but they're minor characters, their role on Enterprise is to be the backbone, Strider, Cyclops, and Spare are the aces of the group, the trump cards if you will, Red is the biggest squadron and their job is to reinforce the aces' numbers. Also, yes, I am trying to branch out by touching Project: Wingman and dragging Prez into this, I'm planning her to be the sole love interest. dieHero, floor's yours, you can have Hornet, Yorktown or whichever Carrier you're assigned to form up with Enterprise for a mission or something and then during the mission while you and I are teamed up to shoot down something an anomaly of some kind opens in front of us and we're sucked into the world of Azur Lane or something, and just for context, this is one of the universes where I never touched Wattpad and met you.