a sigh. It was only seven months since he had last flown, but accepting the promotion and the job which came with it had meant turning his back on the cockpit, possibly forever. He felt like a coward for sending dozens of his own branch, his own people on such a task. But he also felt envious, like he was missing out on something special, something historic. "Yeah," he replied, half to himself, "yeah, I wish I was in on this one. Your boys and girls all set?" Ryan nodded as he clambered up the side of the aircraft and lowered himself clumsily into his cockpit, accepting his seat harnesses from the maintainer who perched on the root of his wing to assist him. The noise above them doubled as the second Fireflash powered up, ready for launch. "Golds One and Two, Flyco, ship steady on course two eight zero mark one five, cleared to launch." "Flyco, Golds, cleared to launch," Lacroix's repetition of the clearance crackled through Denisov's earpiece. Any conversation in the hangar was made impossible as the two powerful fighters throttled up to full power before hurtling along the flight deck above. The tumultuous noise from the two fighters became silent in a heartbeat as the two passed through Indomitable's defensive shields, out into space where the absence of any atmosphere prevented any noise from reaching the carrier. The next fighter was lifted to the flight deck. "Flyco, Oracle Five Six," a surly voice crackled, "we've got