Jack looked through the glass of the briefing room ignoring everything being said as he stared at the planet below.That is until he would be interrupted “Jack Fletcher?”Jack snapped out of it as the voice repeated “I said Jack Fletcher,Second Lieutenant.Present?”before Jack responded “Present,Sir”.Jack looked at his Squadron Leader who sighed,”Are you bloody deaf?”.Jack swiftly responded “No,Sir” while the Squadron Leader glared at him then responded “Good, sit the hell back down,and listen to the damn briefing”.”Affirmative,Sir”Jack said before swiftly sitting back down on his chair as the Squadron Leader went to the front.

“I am Baron Alistair Hollis, Lieutenant Commander and the new Squadron leader for J Squadron”Alistair paused and flicked through a small folder before continuing.”As you know the Irish have gotten a bit rowdy and the IRA has control of New Belfast,the world we are currently orbiting”, Alistair paused then flicked through to another page.”Our lads on the ground are on the way to kindly “liberate” the planet from the IRA and we're to provide escort for Annihilator bombers alongside K and L squadron then proceed to drop supplies and provide reconnaissance along with strafing runs for our boys on the ground.Understood so far?”.Jack and the other pilots responded with a “Yes,Sir” as Alistair looked at them then continued “This is gonna be the first run for the new Gryphon series of fighters,so get used to it quick.It has twin high velocity 40mm Bofors autocannons under the nose and 4 Hood-Pattern laser blasters on the nose,should cut through any IRA ground forces and fortifications or what ramshackle craft the paddies can make.It has a bubble canopy with the HUD displayed on it with it acting as the main body and 2 thrusters on each side of the canopy with the wings being able to retract for fast insertion planetside, you'll see.The tail is about 1.5 meters long with it acting as a bomb bay for bombing or resupply missions, currently resupply,along with that something that was more of an aesthetic choice is the end of the tail is reminiscent of a spitfire tail end.Now get to the hangar, we'll meet up with the Annihilators aswell as L and K squadron.”.

Alistair left followed by Jack and the others to the hangar to see their new ride as Jack swiftly got on a Gryphon as everyone else did.

“Squadron,check your fighters”said Alistair as Jack responded first 

“J-2 check”

Followed by the other pilots.

“J-3 check”

“J-6 check”

“J-5 on last ammunition loading”

“J-8 loading supplies into bomb bay”

“J-7 check”

“J-4 check”

“Alright time for you to see what the retracted wings are for”said Alistair as the crew and equipment were moved away as clamps lifted the Gryphons by the tail as slowly the floor below opened showing the planet the ship was orbiting.

“Full power to thrusters?”asked Jack followed by Alistair,”You pick up quick J-2,for someone deaf.Yes you twats you activate thrusters and see a lever beside you?Don't grab that.Yet.”.Jack and the other pilots followed as instructed as the Gryphons had their thrusters to full before Alistair continued.”Hold on tight lads” as Jack was jolted forward as him and the others had their Gryphons with retracted wings released by the clamps then plummeted toward the planet.Slowly,they were almost planetside,”Grab the lever and pull it in 3…..2…..1….pull”said Alistair as the Gryphons entered the atmosphere with Alistair’s Gryphon extending it's wings as Jack pulled the lever and his Gryphon's wings extended followed by the rest of the squadron.

“Sir,how far are we?”asked Jack 

“Well J-2 since the IRA has jammed radars,it's a valid question,quite frankly,just look out of the cockpit-”Alistair wouldn't finish as a bomber formation came into view with 2 squadrons of escorts.”This is J-1,were above you”said Alistair as a response came in from comms “This is K-1 Bombers are dropping payload already,switch to your next objective,we can handle the escorting.”.Alistair sighed then ordered “Copy.Squadron descend.” as the squadron descended extremely close to the ground battle with IRA weapon teams and vehicles firing but barely missing the Gryphons.”Drop supplies”ordered Alistair as the Gryphons dropped their cargo which landed right on top of the British ground forces as Alistair barked another order “Squadron switch priorities to strafing-”.Alistair would be hit by a direct impact from a laser weapon turning his Gryphon to a pile of wreck and killing him alongside J-3 and J-4.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“This is J-2 assuming command” said Jack as another volley of lasers cut down J-8 and J-7.”Damn it where the hell did the Micks get these lasers from….”Jack muttered to himself before noticing a red beam and barely dodging a laser as J-5 and J-6 crashed down into the IRA forces below.”Shit…Second Lieutenant Jack Fletcher to Cruiser HMS Duke of Normandy,my entire squadron is wiped,IRA somehow has laser weaponry.”.

Jack continued maneuvering his Gryphon as a response came in “This is the Duke of Normandy,you have permission to freely engage targets and if you are going down preferably take the Lasers with you,out”.”Great…fucking great..”muttered Jack as multiple Ra-Pattern laser turrets came into view which continued shooting at him while his Gryphon barely avoided turning into a flaming wreck as he prepared to fire the 4 lasers on his craft’s nose and twin 40mm Bofors under the nose.

”Let the cannons sing”said Jack before firing and swiftly dispatching the turrets and ripping any unfortunate IRA personnel hit to shreds or red mist as Jack slowly turned for another pass.”This boy still has more fight in it”said Jack as he fired once more easily annihilating any IRA infantry into mangled corpses while easily 

taking down their armored vehicles.The comms crackled as a transmission came in “This is the 46th Armoured Regiment requesting air support,too many fortified AT guns.We have activated a beacon at our location.”. “Copy 46th,sit tight”responded Jack as he turned his Gryphon to the beacon and swiftly arrived into the battle in a few minutes.Jack slowed his Gryphon down while watching the 46th’s tanks in the cover of rocks alongside the infantry as Irish AT guns and MG’s continued pummeling the 46th Armoured.”46th regiment this is J-2 and what's left of J-Squadron.A single damn Gryphon but this boy has enough firepower to woo all the Queens even in death”said Jack into the Comms with a response coming in “46th regiment to J-2 marking targets for you,break em down.”.

“With pleasure”said Jack once more firing his 4 lasers and twin 40mm Bofors ripping through the fortifications and shredding any Irish inside as Jack turned once more.”Pass number 2” said Jack as he once more opened fire devastating the IRA defenses,”46th,bulk of the fortifications are annihilated,you can advance and wipe out the stragglers.”said Jack as the 46th responded “Got it” as they started moving forward while Jack prepared to head to orbit.

But he still wasn't finished for the day as his Comms crackled “Duke of Normandy to J-2 provide support to SAS operators,radar jammer is down and their location should be on your radar.Also VTOL authorization codes have been uploaded to your Gryphon”.Jack sighed then responded “Wilco,heading to objective”as the transmission ended and he increased his Gryphon’s speed and swiftly closed in on a large tunnel exit and had his Gryphon on VTOL then waited.

And waited,and waited for a entire god damned hour before 3 Stallion all terrain jeeps with SAS swiftly exited as he heard growling noises.Jack prepared his Gryphon as the growling seemed to get closer and closer as another Stallion jeep on fire exited before flipping over as multiple pale people with glowing crimson eyes appeared growling more as they ripped apart and consumed the SAS operatives on the last stallion.”This is Theta-1,J-2 open fire on the tunnel exit freely.And for your information,don't hesitate those are..let's just say those refusing death”said the SAS operator as Jack then responded with “Copy Theta”as he fired into the tunnel exit splattering blood and flesh all around.”Mind telling me how they became this?”asked Jack to the SAS operators as he continued firing waiting for a response.Which was a single word,“Classified”as Jack sighed then asked another question “I'll just assume these came from where you just came from.Any ideas how to not let more of these things out?”.

Jack continued firing as a operator responded with “Bombs,a lot of bombs” while Jack stopped firing with no more targets left “Well that was all of them” said Jack.With Theta-1 responding with a “No.There is more of them.” as the growling became more vicious and half man half wolf beasts emerged howling madly as Jack opened fire again as he asked.”Are those werewolves?”with a SAS operator responding “Well spotted mate I mean what else could a humanoid looking wolf be right?”.Jack sighed and responded “And i thought all SAS were stoic and professional” as another SAS operator spoke “Keyword;Thought.” as a dropship landed and picked up the SAS as he followed the dropship in ascending and gaining altitude as the tunnel exit and a mountain exploded in a shower of rocks and soil.

3 hours later..

“You got quite good luck there Fletcher” said the pilot beside Jack as Jack sighed,”It's instinct not luck”he said as the drunk pilot laughed “Mate,with that luck, you're getting the Ladies easily and that's a fact.”.Jack sighed again before responding “You're all just drunk…”.The pilot drank another cup before responding “You just got a high kill count entirely made up of rebel Irishmen,you saved the SAS’s arses and you managed to survive big fuckin lasers shooting at you and was the last of your squadron.Ladies prefer strong guys remember?”.Jack facepalmed then responded “But i'm not a noble like Captain Edmund who's a viscount or my recently flaming wrecked KIA squadron leader who was a Baron.”.The pilot pulled out another bottle and poured into his cup before responding “Edmund Percival is 40 and has no luck with ladies,with your luck you might even get a noblewoman.”.”If I was your superior you would be getting court martialed for mocking and referring to a commanding officer with only name..” said Jack as he stood up.“I'm gonna get my sweet fucking sleep…” followed by Jack leaving and heading toward his quarters then dropped face first on his bed contemplating if he was just lucky and survived before he quickly dozed off.