4 February, 2025 | keystroke
Pesky how close those vampire mechs can get without a thermal signature. Almost close enough to kiss.
When Charlotte was taken on a routine training patrol she didn’t expect to come up against an untargetable enemy, let alone be shot down in the Swedish wilderness outside radio contact. Circumstance leaves her with nothing to do but talk with the weapon that pierced her out of the sky.
“Alright kid, you know the drill: Patrol around the thirty nautical mile perimeter of the lair at five angels. We will be scanning the area with thermals and keeping RADAR strangled. No reason to broadcast our position”.
Charlotte nodded. Emily and her had been doing these patrols a few nights a week now and were usually uneventful, few people had the balls to try and encroach on The Overlord.
The night shift was taking its toll on her sleep schedule though, she yawned as she climbed up the steps to the EW behemoth. Far from Aria’s usual frame, this mech was bulky, outfitted with a front-back co-pilot setup as well as an extensive electronic warfare suite. Its anti-grav plates allowed it to loiter at the cost of mobility, not that any amount of jets could make the massive frame be considered “agile”.
She settled into the pilot’s seat at the front, Emily climbing into the WSO and instructor position behind her before the harness came down and the cockpit closed, trapping them in darkness. Screens flickered to life as Charlotte began the start-up sequence, starting their engines from the ground power as she methodically switched on MFDs and the HUD.
Emily hummed her approval as her trainee completed the sequence, only used out of sims a couple dozen times before, without fucking anything up.
Soon the ground team disconnected the last cable and they were directed by the tower to catapult one. Charlotte sighed as she ran through the launch checklist, then grimaced as she set the throttle to afterburner. No matter how many times she did it, she didn’t think she’d ever be able to get used to the feeling of asphyxiation as the launch flattened her lungs.
The steady climb to five thousand feet had been boring, as had the following hour where they made two laps at a leisurely point six Mach. Charlotte’s fingers were getting tired from turning the heading AP knob while Emily was scanning the ground through thermal, occasionally pointing things out.
The slightest sliver of light was starting to peek over the horizon as Charlotte stared at it, daring it to move faster in her boredom.
A loud beep suddenly sounded through the cockpit, quickly followed by another. She was still registering it when Emily had already switched displays and started talking into the cockpit radio, her voice with a backbone that hadn’t been present during casual instruction.
“Nails, ten o’clock, bogey search radar.”
Charlotte hadn’t paid that much attention to the brevity codes in briefings. Honestly she thought that it was some kind of stupid hazing that LARPers did to feel special, but she remembered enough to know something was looking at them.
“Wha? Bad guys?”
“Bogey.” Emily corrected. “Unknown radar conta-” The beeps changed to an alarm and Emily’s eyes snapped back to the display.
“Spike! Break down!”
Now that was one Charlotte knew, snapping back a smart “wilco” and pulling into an inverted dive that sent the blood pounding in her ears. Aria chimed in for the first time all flight, having been requested to keep quiet so there would be “no distractions” in her tutoring.
“Flickering Mirage, you are cleared hot.”
Her HUD changed as Emily flicked a switch, a large reticule being overlaid on her vision.
“Copy Exalted Lyctor. Starting the music.”
The massive sensor array that contributed significantly to the frame’s bulk flared invisibly to life, filling the sky with noise and false radar returns.
The RWR lock alarm went back to its search tone after a couple of seconds, a few more moments of plummeting before falling silent altogether. Charlotte levelled out, the shadow of a mountain masking them from the enemy search radar.
“Hostile at bearing two-niner-zero, one-four nautical miles out, weeds, tracking slow hot. Prepare to pop and fire ARMs in four nautical miles.”
“Copy.” Charlotte responded. Despite firing afterburners directly towards an unknown enemy, the next twenty-seven seconds were painfully boring, waiting on a knife-edge. Finally they hit the mark and she pulled back on the stick, rising until they had vision over the mountain.
The RWR beeped to life, and a second later there was the soft thunk and hiss as two AGM-112s leapt off the rails like attack dogs, twin stars before their motors burnt out.
“Magnum times two. Turn down, heading three-four-zero.”
Charlotte adjusted course as instructed and Emily let out a sigh of tension, the first emotion shown from her all flight.
“Strangle music. That should force their radar off and give us some breathing room. We pull up and try to acquire our own lock on my mark.” A breath went by. “Mark!”
They rose again, this time to silence. It was an uneasy peace, the panic of being looked at replaced by a paranoia that their enemy could be anywhere.
There were clicks as Emily scanned through the radar, and a muttered curse. More clicks. “Returns on the millimetre wave; four nautical miles away and still closing.” She flicked the thumbstick a few times, Charlotte watching as the HUD cycled through armaments before arriving at the main cannon. “Nothing we have can lock it, so we need to eyeball this…”
The arm-mounted rotary cannon tracked to her eye movement, rumbling as 20mm tracers pierced the night. The monitors hummed as their target twisted and weaved around the gunfire.
“Three nautical miles. Hostile too close for comfort, cease engagement and turn cold.”
The mech banked left as Charlotte followed her instructions, turning tightly around when the radar suddenly flared to life again at the edge of its gimbal
“Shit! It’s gone fast, afterburners!”
The throttle slammed forwards into its housing, radar falling quiet as it turned cold only to be replaced by the shrill alarm of the MWS.
“It’s still closing, we’re gonna have to flip and pray, on my mark.”
Charlotte braced for the emergency manoeuvre.
“Mark!”
They flipped around, falling backwards as Emily desperately tried to acquire a lock. The hostile hit visual range right as she called out “Fox 3!”, the missile spiralling through the air before puncturing the red and black mech a second before it impaled them.
The jolt threw her to the side as she felt half their engines shut down, alarms blaring as they spun into a death spiral. The tinted cockpit pressed against them was all she could see until the world went black in a screech of steel.
Her neck hurt.
Scratch that, everything hurt.
She groaned and in response came the call of birdsong and quiet sounds of a forest.
Fuck she was alive though.
Charlotte opened her eyes to the softly dappled morning rays casting across the cockpit, canopy already blown off. The instruments were dark, no battery and APU trashed. Finally she looked around, only to be reminded of how incredibly much her neck hurt.
“Gah! Fuck!”
A groan answered her from behind her seat.
“Emily? Sitrep?”
More groans.
“Shit… Hang on, I’m coming.”
After cutting through the harness with her survival knife she worked herself free of the seat, every bruise making itself painfully known. She pushed herself over the back of her seat up to Emily, where she froze.
“Fuck! Emily!!”
Her instructor had blood running down her face and a clearly broken jaw. Charlotte pushed herself to her side, ignoring the aches as she started to cut through Emily’s harness.
“I’m gonna get you out of here, we’re gonna get out of here ok?”
She slung an arm over her shoulder to help lift her out, slowing as Emily gasped in pain from a broken leg trapped in the footwell. Minutes later she managed to extract her, sitting her on the edge of the cockpit before gently lowering her to the ground, trying not to hurt her more in the process.
Thankfully the cockpit was already low to the ground after the crash. Charlotte stopped to pull the emergency kits from next to the seats before jumping down, sparing a glance for the dark mech entwined with theirs.
The tinted cockpit was perforated and shattered, and through the holes she could see an empty seat. It looked basic compared to theirs, smooth detail-less material that hid an advancedness far beyond their own mechs retro-futuristic controls. There was a clean entry hole in the chest and Charlotte knew that if she looked at the back she would find it blown out from the delayed explosion.
Putting Emily’s arm over her shoulder she looked at the sky, now overcast and threatening rain. Her survival training told her that shelter was now the most important thing. She sighed and started heading downhill.
It was sheer luck that they stumbled upon the cave right as the first drops started falling. Not that they had travelled particularly far, they were barely managing a slow limp with Emily’s injuries and exhaustion.
Collapsing under the overhang Charlotte finally set to tending Emily’s wounds, utilising her rudimentary first-aid skills from her time at the agency. Emily screamed as she reset and splinted the leg.
The rest of the wounds were less traumatic. Scrapes and bruises to be bandaged over, her jaw held shut with a bandage until it could be given proper medical attention. When it was over Emily fell asleep thanks to an unhealthy dose of painkillers and Charlotte moved onto the next pressing matter.
The emergency radio came out of the kit and she turned it on. The green segmented display lit up, thank the gods. Quickly tuning into the operation frequency, she spoke into the handpiece.
“Mayday, mayday, this is Charlotte of the Flickering Mirage requesting immediate medical assistance and extraction, does anyone copy?”
Only static answered her. She repeated the message several more times to no response, finally growling in frustration she activated the emergency beacon mode that anyone within a few kilometers should pick up before stuffing it back into the pack.
She sat down, exhausted of things to do, and for the first time noticed the other person in the cave.
“GAh fuCK!!” She scrambled backwards, hands grasping at the emergency kit until her fingers closed around the steel grip of a handgun. She levelled with shaking hands, the adrenalin and injuries adding up.
They tilted their head, still mostly obscured by shadow.
“Nice piece, a CZ 75? Your boss has taste.”
“Who are you?” Charlotte spat.
A smirk. “You know who.”
“The pilot?”
“Got it in one. Now; why are you hiding here, in my cave?”
“Your cave? You could have ambushed us to get us out at any time.”
“I was enjoying her screams.” They said with a sadistic smile, taking a step forward. “Besides, while I’m loath to admit it, I can’t do shit against you while you’re both in the sunlight over there.”
“It’s overcast. We were here to shelter from the rain.”
They blinked at her. “…Clouds don’t stop UV radiation, you know that right? They taught you basic sun protection in school didn’t they? I walk over there and I’ll be burned as surely as it were a sunny day.”
“You could be lying, biding your time.”
“Don’t believe me then.” Grinning and stepping forward again, enough light reached them to make out their uniform. What had once been a tight form-fitting bodysuit over a feminine figure was now cut up, tears showing pale scratched skin underneath. The sleeves and legs were black, with torso and highlights dyed a vibrant red.
“Take one step closer and I shoot.” Charlotte’s voice wavered.
“Your safety’s on.”
“I’m not falling for that.”
They huffed and leaned forwards. “Suit yoursel-”
A deafening shot rang off the walls of the cave, leaving a ringing sound fading in her ears.
“…Ow…”
They looked decidedly unamused as they pulled the bullet out of their shoulder, wincing as their pointed nails dug into the bloodless wound.
“You shot me.” They said it like a statement, but couldn’t keep the incredulity out of their voice.
“I warned you.” Charlotte kept the pistol levelled. The vampire didn’t try their luck again.
After a long moment she finally dared to take her eyes off the vampire and look over at Emily. She had woken up from the shot and was groggily looking around, letting out a low, pained moan. Charlotte sidestepped over to her and tried to keep a waver out of her voice.
“Emily, there’s a vampire here and I think she might want to ki-” She was interrupted by an irritated clicking of the tongue.
“It. Not she.”
“I think it might want to kill us.” She finished.
Emily let out a noise that could vaguely be interpreted as “fuck”, clearly in no state to move. Charlotte resisted the urge to put her face in her hands.
“Shit. We can’t move you, so I guess we have to trust it can’t kill us for now. Rescue should be here before nightfall, they knew where we were and we have the emergency beacon.”
Emily nodded her approval, half listening through the pain but Charlotte would have been frozen with indecision without it.
She took a deep breath.
“So I guess we’re staying here with the asshole vampire mech pilot who wants to kill us.”
“I can hear you muttering.”
“Shut up.”
She could hear the smirk on its face.
“We might as well talk, Twitchy, not much else happening for a few hours.”
“Do you ever just shut. Up?”
“Not short of being beheaded, no.”
Groaning, she walked over to the cave wall and leant back against it, cradling the service weapon between her palms.
The silence stretched on for minutes and Emily fell quickly back into a drugged sleep. Eventually the other pilot got bored and sat back down against a wall further away from the light, occasionally flicking bullet fragments out of its shoulder.
Without a watch she couldn’t tell how much time had passed, only that she was getting incredibly bored despite the lethal thing sitting a few meters away from her.
She finally broke, groaning as she reached across the darkness with a question.
“…Why not just shoot us?”
“Hmm?”
“You can’t bite us because of the UV, but you have an emergency weapon you could just shoot us with, right?”
It let out a short bark of laughter.
“Oh sweetie, I am the emergency weapon.”
Baring its teeth, Charlotte paled a little at the sight.
“Oh… And emergency supplies?”
“There’s not a safe warm-blooded creature within a click of this place once nightfall comes. Did you know the average deer holds about five litres of blood?”
She paled more.
“Of course, animal blood tastes like dirt compared to sinking your fangs into a nice, juicy human…”
It leaned forward as it spoke.
“Wonder if there’s any remote farms around here, would love to pop in and grab a bite of a sweet, delicious virgin.”
Charlotte almost started to sweat, before jumping in shock as it suddenly burst out into uncontained laughter.
“Pfff, the look on your face! You really didn’t believe the crap about virgins did you? Why the fuck would having sex change the chemical composition of your blood??”
Its smirk only grew more infuriating as Charlotte calmed down, finally sparking a flame of rage in place of where panic had been since the crash.
“Why the fuck would I know?? I’m sitting here, in a cave, talking to a fucking vampire. I think whatever ‘common sense’ I’ve been operating on has been thrown out the window!”
Its giggles finally subsided and it looked at her with a more relaxed expression.
“Good, you’re not scared anymore. I could hear your heart beating like a little mouse this whole time, was getting annoying.”
“That’s what you call an ice-breaker??”
“It worked.”
Unable to rebuke it, Charlotte settled back into glaring at the pilot, the silence resuming.
This time the vampire was the one to break it, dropping its snark for a moment.
“Thanks though, for not making a big deal about the pronouns thing.”
“You’re… welcome?” She said, not expecting a polite conversation. “Besides, I’m the last kind of person who should go around intentionally misgendering someone.”
Its eyes widened fractionally. “Well shi- Maybe we have more in common than I thought Twitchy!”
“The only thing we have in common is being stuck in this stupid cave.”
“Aww, don’t be like that. There’s a reason we’re both here instead of out living normal lives.”
“If you’re trying to build some kind of solidarity with me, it’s a bit hard when I don’t even know who or what you are.”
“Name’s Sidearm.” It grinned. “You know, like what you tried to shoot me down with.” A pause. “It missed by the way.”
“Yeah, I could tell by the way you stabbed us afterwards.” She was unable to stop the bitterness creeping back into her voice. “How did you do that anyway? We couldn’t target you with shit.” The bitterness stayed in her laugh.
“Turns out you don’t need pesky systems like life support and G-limiters when you’re undead.” It spoke with a wry smile. “So why not flood the thing with liquid nitrogen to keep it off thermal, and just move slow enough that doppler can’t pick us up. Then when our prey comes within range we can accelerate like nothing else and strike.” It emphasised the last word by punching a fist into the other hand.
“Should you be telling me this?”
“Eh, probably not, but it’s not like your retro shit can do anything about it.”
She grumbled. “It has its merits…”
It snorted in response. “Like what?”
“…It looks cool.”
“And it’s modelled off jets from the 60s, as opposed to the latest neural-plug tech. Mechs fulfil a versatile role on the battlefield, able to transition between roles meant for jets, helis and mechanised infantry.
“When you force them into one role, like you were with that hunk of metal, you lose all the benefits that versatility provides and can easily be caught out by someone willing to fight dirty. I bet the only reason you were flying around in that thing is because you don’t have a long enough runway for a proper AWACS.”
Charlotte shrugged. “I just thought they were kinda cool, I didn’t pay attention to any of that other stuff.”
It made a vaguely disgusted noise from its throat.
“A mech is more than just cool. It is an extension of yourself honed to a knife-edge, a way you can fight so much more intimately than in a tank or a jet. The closest I can come to feeling alive.”
There was a pause in the conversation as Charlotte processed
“This really means a lot to you.”
“Yeah.”
“I’m sorry we blew it up.”
Its sigh sounded more like a hiss through its teeth.
“Just part of the job.”
“You don’t sound like you enjoy it, other than that you get to pilot a mech.”
A bark of laughter jumped from its mouth.
“You’re right, The Count is a real asshole. Gets really weird about the whole non-binary thing, and don’t think I don’t notice how he treats the women.”
“Ah. My boss isn’t really like that. Quite the opposite really, we get healthcare and any harassment in the workplace is met with the bottomless pit.”
“What is this, a recruitment pitch?”
“The Overlord-”
She was cut off by an undignified snort. “You mean vampire-wannabe Count Fagula?”
Charlotte made a strangled noise.
“She- She treats us right, is all. Treated me right anyway. Not that I’ve met her, but she’s the whole reason I’m allowed to be who I am. After I was captured they gave me a second chance, even though I’m still on probation. And turns out name changes and hormones are easy when you don’t give a shit about things like legality.”
“Captured? You defected? From who? You don’t strike me as a minion for any of the big players.”
“From the agency actually.” She couldn’t help but look down at the admission.
“Ex-spook? Fuck, Twitchy, I wouldn’t have pegged you for that. No wonder you’re so trigger-happy.”
“I did warn you.”
“Tomatoes tomatoes.”
“…I just hope she’s not mad at me for fucking up out here. The agency wasn’t kind about that sort of thing, and I can’t imagine how much that mech cost…”
“Hey, it’s not your fault I’m such a star ace. Besides, you’re just what, a trainee? You can hardly be blamed for fucking up now and then.”
“Being new just means I have more to prove! Especially as a defector! I need to show I can be reliable and trusted and-”
“Shhh, calm down, if she thought you were gonna defect you wouldn’t have been let anywhere near the fifty ton death machine. Besides, everyone knows The Overlord spies on her minions to keep them happy, meddle in their relationships and such.”
“Wait, you’re telling me that meeting that everyone else forgot to show up to except that cute girl was arranged?”
“Why? Did it work?” Its damned smirk was back.
“…No, we didn’t click.”
“Tsk. Darn, I’m sure the next time someone accidentally turns a corner to run into you carrying a pile of stationary will work.”
Charlotte snorted. “Fat chance.”
“C’mon, you’re kinda cute Twitchy.” She pointedly ignored that. “Besides, you must have made some friends.”
“I’ve made some friends, like her.” She looked over at Emily, still sleeping on the ground. “Though I guess she’s kind of my boss. Oh, and Aria. You would like her I think, she’s also kind of an overconfident asshole.”
“It’s only overconfidence if you’re bad at it.”
Charlotte rolled her eyes. “See?”
“I don’t see anything.” It said simply
“You sure you’re not a try-hard trying to show how special you are to your boss?”
Its eyes narrowed.
“Got nothing to prove to that asshole.”
“Then why are you out here anyway if you hate him so much?”
“Because I get-”
“‘Because I get to fly mechs’” Charlotte mimicked. “I know, but that can’t be the only reason.”
“Fine. Since apparently it’s honesty sharing hour; it’s because I owe him something. Something I can’t run away from.”
The silence stretched on.
“That sounds… Big.”
“Yeah.”
It stretched on longer.
“So… Uh. It/its pronouns. How does that work?” She tentatively offered.
“I’m not human, I’m a weapon. My name and pronouns are an extension of that. It’s why I gave up everything to become a vampire.”
“Was it easy?”
“Was your transition easy?”
She paused to think.
“In some ways, yes. I don’t think I would have died if I didn’t, but I think a part of me did every day I went along pretending to be him. In other ways… It was hard to let go.”
“Yeah, now imagine all that but with the feeling of your flesh dying and turning against you, struggling against claustrophobia in a metal coffin.”
The words settled between them for a minute.
“Do you regret it?”
“I’d never go back. Except maybe for some of the food.” It said with a smirk. The sudden shift in weight of the conversation startled a giggle out of Charlotte.
“Well then, what was your favourite food before?”
An hour passed of occasional conversation, and with a soft cramp Charlotte realised she hadn’t eaten anything since before they took off. Pulling an MRE out of the pack, she winced as she started on the rubbery pasta bolognese. After a few minutes of eating in silence, she looked over to see the vampire staring.
“You’re hungry?”
“I won’t starve.”
“That’s not what I asked.”
It rolled its eyes at her.
“Yes I’m hungry, I would have eaten hours ago had someone not shot me down.”
Charlotte felt a pang of guilt, despite the small fact that they were attacked first.
“You can have some of mine, there’s plenty in here and we have more MREs.”
“I can’t.”
“Why no- Oh.” She exclaimed softly as Sidearm flashed its teeth. “Right. I forgot, with all the talk about food earlier.”
“Yeah. It sucks, but I can live with it. We can last long enough without feeding, I might get a little grumpy but that’s for the wildlife to endure after the sun sets.”
Two forces argued in her mind for a few seconds before she spoke back.
“Could you, um, feed on me? I mean; have some of my blood without killing me?”
“On the first date? That’s a big ask Twitchy.” The shit-eating grin was already back, prompting a blush on her part.
“You- You know what I mean!”
“I won’t say no if you’re offering.”
“I’m not exactly sure what you need, but my neck-”
Before Sidearm could say anything she had already unzipped the jumpsuit halfway down her chest, peeling half of it to the side to expose a sweat-stained white tank top, her neck, and most of her collarbone. She looked away to show more of her neck, but as nothing happened she looked back and saw its grin grow even wider.
“Not that I don’t appreciate the offer, Twitchy, but your arm is fine.”
Her blush lit up her whole face as she hurriedly zipped the jumpsuit back up, rolling up the sleeve instead.
“Just hold it up out of the sunlight and try to relax.”
She followed the instruction, moving over to where the sunlight split them apart and put her arm over the divide. The vampire gently took her arm and she tried not to flinch, its fingers cold but still soft somehow.
“You might want to look away, I know you humans can get squeamish about this part.”
Despite its warning she couldn’t bring herself to look away, mesmerised as Sidearm leaned in and pierced her arm. It felt strange. Like something cool being pressed against her and she let out a gasp of surprise.
Thin lines of blood started to run down her arm as it fed. Dozens of seconds later and she was starting to feel the effects, her head lighter as she wobbled a bit on her feet. Sidearm’s grip kept her steady the whole time, firmly holding her.
Its muscles were like taunt steel cable, not tight but unmoving around her arm. She realised the strength behind that restraint. It could easily pull her over the threshold and devour her before she could even blink or cry for help.
As her mind started going down the rabbit hole of what that kind of strength could do to her, she was suddenly pulled out of it by Sidearm’s voice and fingers snapping. “Woah now, that’s enough.”
She blinked, she hadn’t even noticed it stopped feeding. “Your heart rate just went through the roof, don’t want you bleeding out.”
“R-right…” Charlotte went to bind the teeth marks with a bandage, only to find that the blood had already clotted. Only the rivulets running down her arm and Sidearm’s chin remained. She couldn’t help but stare.
“Now, you’re going to want to sit down and drink plenty of water to replace the fluid you lost. You can do that, you have water to drink, right?”
She nodded before walking over to the emergency pack, feeling a little disconnected. She sat down heavily, pulling out the water canteen and guzzling down a lot of it without a second thought.
“Good girl. Now there’s less risk of sustained blood loss, you’re going to sleep the rest of this off.”
She felt a wave of tiredness wash over her.
“What… What did you do?”
“Just a mild tranquiliser in my saliva, also makes you more suggestable.” It sighed. “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t risk you telling anyone I’m here. For what it’s worth, I enjoyed talking to you Twitchy.”
Fighting it as much as she could, she only managed to sluggishly struggle through three more words as her eyes fluttered closed.
“I wouldn’t have.”
She woke up in the medical bay, having her pupillary responses tested next to Emily.
“What… What happened?”
“You were brought in unconscious, unresponsive since they found you.”
“The cave!”
The doctor nodded. “That’s right. Your memory is intact at least.”
“Did they find anything?”
“Just you and pilot Emily, you were both in such a state that they practically threw you in the heli before running back here.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah, I bet you wish they’d found the asshole who shot you gals down, they’d really get what’s coming to ’em.”
“Y-Yeah…”
She fell back into the cot with a strange sense of relief. It was only hours later that she realised that she never told it her name.
RESCUE DEBRIEFING
ATTN: Overlord
MISSION: Routine Air Patrol, 0700 hours
0700: Pilots Emily and Charlotte in frame Flickering Mirage were dispatched on a routine air patrol on a 30nmi parameter.
0807: Frame Flickering Mirage was engaged by an unknown contact. Interceptors were scrambled however by the time they were in the air both combatants had already been shot down in what appears to be a mutual exchange of fire.
0856: A personnel recovery unit was dispatched via helicopter once interceptors cleared the area of further enemy air presence.
0927: Crash site was confirmed. The enemy frame was examined and found to be a mind-computer linked frame with minimal life support, typical of The Count. No bodies were retrieved at the crash site and the emergency kit was missing from the Flickering Mirage.
A search pattern was established radiating out from the site.
1003: Signal from emergency beacon was located.
1007: A cave was located, its geometry blocking the emergency beacon excepting certain directions. Rescue personnel quickly located pilots Emily and Charlotte inside the cave, both unconscious. Pilot Emily regained consciousness but was unable to communicate with her injuries. Pilot Charlotte remained unresponsive.
Once returned to base, a full medical examination was performed, attached.
One injury of note sustained by pilot Charlotte is the pair of clotted bite marks on her right arm. While these could be the result of an attack by the downed enemy pilot, the wounds lack the trauma to be sustained while fighting. It is unclear how the pilot could have gained them without collaborating with the enemy pilot.
Recommendations:
- Future air patrols be deployed with fighter escort to maintain air superiority.
- Pilot Charlotte be inducted into the homoerotic rivals program and given required training.
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