James was nervous about the approach, but apparently Lt. Colonel Wilson
wasn't. In fact he added to the suspense and tension when he broke radio
silence to James. "So Ironman, are you ready to run? I see a couple of friends
coming in from the north." James had seen the pair on his passive systems
too. James figured they were part of the squadron they would soon be joining.
He hadn't planned on saying anything unless they altered course, because they
should have passed out of sight of them. Wilson spoke again when James didn't
respond. "Ironman, cat got your tongue?" James shook his head and
replied while watching his screen. "Sam the Man, I thought we were
supposed to remain radio silent?" He actually heard laughter as a first
response, followed by some shocking words. "Sorry, but I need some
excitement. I figure on seeing how they react to hearing something that they
apparently can't see." James didn't bother replying, because the answer
was already showing up on his screens.
The radios had come alive and the planes were changing course rapidly.
The problem was they didn't seem to know exactly where to go. James continued
to watch and wait. Finally he spotted them. They were below him and too far
back. James smiled as he understood what was going on now. His wingman was
baiting them. That was why he and James
had come in so fast and straight. He wanted to use the radio to draw attention.
He wanted to see if they could find them if they were looking. A small text
popped up on the screen. That was another change from the older fighters. The
F/A-48 had a line of sight, low power communication system that allowed them to
send encrypted texts between the new jets. The text was short and simple.
"Follow me."
James followed as they whipped up and around before dropping quickly
into a new position. They were about to pass directly behind the two jets they
had been watching. In effect they were about to pounce on them like a cat on
mice. James wasn't sure this was a good idea, but he had made a promise to
himself before he started this mission. He would follow his wingman no matter
what. Suddenly the two planes spotted them coming in behind them. The reaction
was immediate and expected. They split off and ran. James had expected Sam to
break radio silence and tell them who they were, but instead he sent a new
text. "Let's roll, head for base and stay on my wing." They changed
course and accelerated even more. James continued to watch as the pair of jets
they had jumped came around and gave chase. It was no contest though. They were
steadily falling further behind, but they weren't a concern to James. The six
new blips that were charging towards them were. Three minutes tops and they
would be on each other. James was beginning to worry.
Suddenly over an open radio Lt. Colonel Wilson spoke. "Break off
Gamblers you have friendly aircraft joining up. This is 'Sam the Man' and
'Ironman' coming in hot. Stand aside and escort us in. Looking for Colonel
Heart, are you in the air?" A moment of silence was broken by a female
voice coming over the radio. "Sam, you are still a pain in the behind. I
figured it was you, but I never thought even you would be stupid enough to risk
jumping any of us." James listened as his wingman replied. "No danger
at all. I knew anybody flying for you would be too good to shoot first without
cause. I just wanted to see what we could do. No insult intended, just needed
to know what works and what don't. Doubts and questions kill up here."
Another brief silence was followed by a simple. "Amen." Then she
spoke to all of them. "You two 'friendly ghosts' form up on my wings, one
on each side and we will escort you in." Then she radioed ahead.
"Control, we have more 'friendly ghosts' coming in. I repeat we have more 'friendly
ghosts' coming in. Look sharp and try to pick them up for escort. I would hate
to have them get lost." That last message was sarcastic, but clear. She
wanted the other 'friendly ghosts' spotted before they arrived if at all
possible.
They were already on the ground before the first of the other ghosts
arrived. Only one set was spotted before reaching the point where they were to
radio in. That was because they came in low and slow enough to be seen from the
ground. The sightings were called in by civilians who had seen them. The base
as a whole was excited with the arrival of the new flight of F/A-48's, but only
a few people on the base knew exactly how they had arrived. The next three days
were spent getting to know the base and allowing their ground crews to arrive.
They were now officially attached to Squadron 77, fondly known as the
'Gamblers'. It would probably be several years before the entire squadron
became F/A-48's. Until then they would be a combined squadron; flying together
when and where they could. The current deployment mission was control of
Turkish air space primary and ground support secondary. Since the older F-35's
weren't able to stay up for as long or keep up with the new F/A-48's a new plan
had been developed. Normally they kept four planes airborne during the day and
two at night. Now there would be four up at all times. Each pair of F/A-48's
was being paired up with four of the older F-35's. Since the F-35 had less than
half the flight time available before refueling of the F/A-48's, they would
only put two F-35's up at a time with two F/A-48's. The result would be four
planes in the air constantly. In addition to that, the two F-35's that were up
next would be standing at the ready along with two F/A-48's to go up if needed.
That would drastically change the way situations were being handled now.
The F-35's had been top dog in the air for a long time, but that had
suddenly changed. The new F/A-48's could easily outperform them now and do it
almost unseen. The F/A-48's were true stealth jets. The coating that covered
them made them all but invisible to radar and they also made them hard to see
if they were moving fast. It was something to do with light reflection and
refraction, but it literally did make them seem almost like ghosts. There were
no clear images of them when they were airborne, everything was blurred and
seemed almost transparent. They also left less of a heat signature. Unless you
were looking right at the engine exhausts they had very low heat emissions. The
current plan was to keep space between the two pairs of planes in the air. The
F-35's would make it a point to be visible, but the F/A-48's would try to
remain hidden as much as possible. Things hadn't been terrible in Turkey, but
they weren't great either. Most of the trouble was actually happening in Syria,
but the problems in Turkey were steadily increasing too.
The first couple of days the patrol flights seemed to be relatively
quiet, almost too quiet. The word was out that something was up. It was hard to
hide a jet taking off, no matter how stealthy it was. Add that to the fact that
the fighters seemed to be taking off in different groupings as well as on
different schedules and it was obvious that something had changed. The Turkish
military was aware that the new fighters had arrived after a few days, but that
was the extent of their knowledge. Nobody except the pilots and the ground
crews were allowed anywhere close to them. The F/A-48's were kept secured from
sight when not in the air. That was enough to make people talk and speculate as
to what was being hidden. The first full week had been peaceful and calm, but
the second week started with a bang.
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