UCAC Ch. 01

"Tinnu, Gyr, Saker...I'd advise you to keep a safe distance from those boats. They have some pretty deadly artillery on them..." I said.

"Affirmative, will heed." Gyr said.

"Did you get shot at?" Tinnu asked laughing.

"Hell yeah, I got shot it!" I responded, "I wouldn't be doing my job if a bullet wasn't chasing me!"

"I think you signed up for the wrong division. You seem to thrive off close quarters action as though you're a Forest Winger! You need to realize you put yourself in more danger than is called for..." Subbu said.

"Just...Shut up..." I sighed.

Gyr and Saker sat in two high firs on each side of the valley. They watched as Tinnu pursued the boats upriver. One of the decoy boats swiveled it's machine gun rearward, aiming at Tinnu.

"LOOK OUT!" Saker shouted. The gunman opened fire on Tinnu. Someone how the boy managed to evade the stream of bullets, quadrupling his forty mile an hour pace as he weaved through the sky. He probably was just as agile as Subbu but you seldom saw Tinnu flying this way. He spread his wings and tails as he ascended to an altitude in which the bullets couldn't reach.

"That's it..." Saker said, taking off from his perch.

Now Saker was like me on steroids... He was fast, one of the highest flat speeds of any of us, agile, having a long broad tail to perform the most daring of maneuvers and not afraid to get his huge talons dirty. He was just as notorious as I was for the low and fast strike. The difference was that Saker had a six foot, four inch frame with two hundred twenty pounds of muscle to back himself up, compared to my five foot eight inches and one hundred seventy five pounds.

He had twenty two feet of cybernetic wings and knew how to put them to good use. He steeply powered down through the valley, accelerating to nearly three hundred miles an hour within a matter of seconds. As he neared the rear boat, he tucked those long wings to the side, reducing his visible profile.

With those mighty set of talons, he grabbed the front of the boat. He spread those powerful wings, using the momentum from the shallow dive to yank the boat into the air. It jettisoned the pilot, gunman and third hand into the frigate water. The darting Mers yanked the insurgents below the surface. Saker released the boat from his grasp, the boat capsizing due to it's punctured hull. He ascended up to Tinnu, easily powering up to the correct altitude.

"You ok bro?" He asked.

"Yeah, I got a warning blip well before the gun sights set on me. I pretty much saw the bullets coming." Tinnu laughed.

"Well, now there are only two speed inflatables left." Saker responded.

"Yeah, and I suggest we all focus attentions on the decoy boat." Gyr said over the air, listening to Saker and Tinnu's conversation.

Now, Subbu was very uppity but he had nothing on the obnoxious excuse for a human being which was Gyr. Don't let his name fool you. There was nothing regel about this douchebag. He often silently judged others, moping around, wishing he was Lead Wing. His superiority complex could put mine to shame.

He stood about six foot six, weighing in at about two hundred fifty pounds. He was the largest of the Long Wingers, having twenty four feet of wings. He definitely was the most powerful as well, having the best climb rate and being the second fastest of us all. He had been clocked at three hundred twenty miles an hour on the flat alone and god knows how fast he could dive. In a vertical setting, he was the best performer but he wasn't very agile. Compared to Saker who was virtually as agile as both Tinnu and Subbu, Gyr simply could not stay in those hard turns.

Not to mention, his pretentiousness often left him at a disadvantage considering he generally underestimated his opponent. It was why he could never be a leader. He only cared about himself and everyone else simply was inferior. The way he treated us all outside of uniform made it quite evident how he truly feels about us. It's all high strung twoddle in the most snide of ways.

He took off, quickly accelerating to his top speed. It pretty much was only for show, there being no need for him reach those three hundred mile an hour speeds. He swooped over the second boat, the gust of wind in his wake slamming the crewmen on the second boat hard. Gyr road his momentum to a safe altitude before diving in for another pass.

His large wings produced the most terrifying boom as he spread them, pulling from his dive. Saker joined him in the high sped mobbing, followed by Tinnu. Subbu and I were last to join the fray, all of us producing strong winds that kept the riders at bay. The gunner couldn't even reach the machine gun, having to grab onto the the side of the boat or risk being carried off by the flurry of gusts.

Our job was basically done. It left one last boat, the boat with the catalyst which was not our target. It was the Target for Lead Wing and Lanner.

"Lanner," Lead Wing said, "Take em out..."

"Lethal force?" Lanner asked.

"Yes..." Lead Wing said.

Lanner was the newest of us and was a pretty cool kid. He stood about six foot two inches high and weighed in at about two hundred. He had about twenty feet of wings and had a nearly identical build as Saker. All and all though, Lanner had the most to prove and none of us went easy on the kid.

He inverted, powering down swiftly before entering a screechingly fast stoop. However he was holding back, reaching just over five hundred miles an hour when, from his altitude, he could go much faster! Maybe he was still growing into those wings of his. We all watched, wondering was he going to do something interesting or take out the boat riders as mundanely as possible.

Lanner suddenly banked to the right, still inverted with his wings deeply crooked. He didn't break in speed, this obviously being something he had planned. He tucked those mighty wings into his side as he dove towards the ground again, this time not bothering to throttle himself. His speed steadily increased, pushing the envelope of super sonic speeds. He spread those wings, keeping them crooked as he perpendicularly intercepted the boat.

He careened into one of the men, knocking him into the water. Lanner ascended, spreading his wings and tail as wide as possible as his speed dissipated. Within the narrowest space, he inverted, entering a broad winged dive as he came down on the second person the boat. He brought those talons forward, grabbing the man from his gunner perch. He dropped the man onto the rocky riverbanks, leaving only the boat pilot who still was speeding up the valley.

It was now Lead Wings turn. Lead Wing had a super sized build which mirrored mine, based upon that of a peregrine falcon. Just like the now extinct peregrine falcon, Lead Wing was the fastest of us. With a flat speed of three hundred sixty nine miles an hour and a dive that could carry him past mach one, he was definitely the most awesome to watch. He was fairly agile, but his agility or speed was not what made him special. It was his conning. He was ridiculously intelligent and the greatest leader we could have. His tactical knowledge was superhuman and his combat readiness was unlike anyone of us.

He and Lanner were virtually the same size, only having different physiques. Lead Wing had a shorter tail actuator, broader based wings and more pointed primaries. Lanner, Saker and Gyr essentially were relatively narrow winged with tapered primaries, having long broad tails which served them well for better agility...on paper. Gyr had a hard time in turns considering his size but he was very capable.

Lead Wing tucked his wings to his side, entering a vapor inducing dive. He landed on the boat within seconds, the impact causing the boat to rock heavily. He grabbed the pilot with his talons, suspending the man high into the air. He began to strangle the man, gripping down with those talons. Within twenty seconds, the boat pilot was unconscious. Lead Wing then tossed him into the water, leaving him to drown.

He walked over to the boat throttle, pulling the yolk back to rest. The inflatable speeder eventually came to a halt. Lead Wing pulled back bak the tarps in the middle of the boat, seeing a metallic casing. He disconnected his arms from the wings, the wings draping over his shoulders like a cape of shingles. He kneeled down, opening the case.

Inside was a small lithium helicase rod, a very powerful catalyst for the rare earth metal uranium. If the two get into contact, it would result in a release of enough gamma radiation to be lethal to all those who are near. One milligram of lithium helicase on one gram of uranium can destroy a military base or a fleet of our ships. As for what the insurgents were doing with this, we had no idea but we had a tipster in the Caucasus...well I did anyways. He was...interesting, an easterner who simply knew everything...I don't know how but he contacted me a few days ago with this tip. I thought another team could have handle the mission considering it was on the water but no, we had to do it. After our recon wingers followed the tip, learning the lead was authentic. It wasn't even an hour before we got off the boat from Italy when we received the briefing for this mission. It was completely my fault so I didn't bother to complain about how exhausted I was.

Lead Wing closed the case, reconnecting his arms to his wings.

"Time to fly boys..." He said. Gyr and Saker both dove down, using the wind in their wake to flip the decoy vessel. The three men on the boat were sent into the freezing water. They were yanked beneath the river surface by the Mers.

"We're done here?" Lanner asked.

"We're done here." Lead Wing responded.

"So," I began, "Can I go?"
"Go where?" Subbu asked.

"Nah, Merlin, we got to head back to HQ and file these reports..." Lead Wing sighed, taking off from the boat, "And I got a bone to pick with the Coordinator..."

"What's that?" I asked, zipping over towards him.

"It's in full confidence. Sorry, Merlin." Lead Wing sighed.

"Tinnu, download my visual feeds... I'll write my report later." I said.

"What trouble are you about to get yourself into, Merlin?" Subbu asked. I ascended up, banking over towards him, wanting my next few statements to be personal.

"Subbu, I don't know why the fuck you care so much about what I do but I can assure it will not be to your detriment. Don't question me any further..." I said plainly.

"Stay safe, Merlin." Lead Wing said.

"So you're just going to let him go?" Subbu asked, surprised.

"We have very narrow guidelines here in the Air Core and I can assure you that Merlin has proven to be one of the hardest working, most resilient wingers in the entire fleet. You could learn a lot from him!" Lead Wing said.

"I won't be long!" I said, ascending into the head wind.

I flew northwest towards the boreal forests of central Finland. The wind was biting me through my suit but I didn't care. I had to push through it. Eventually, I reached the towering trees, landing on a branch. This was perfect! I was about half a mile out, bearing witness to a spectacle I truly loved.

The Forest Wingers were doing a routine hunting expedition, hunting Irish Elk. It was one of the most breathtaking things one could ever see. The Forest Wingers were very anatomically different from us Long Wingers. They had short broad wings with extremely long and broad tails. It gave the the ability to fly at high speed through the dense forest without worrying about clipping their wings.

Their hunt was just beginning. One incredibly small Forest Winger, codenamed Levant, made his way through the the canopy of the trees. He leapt from branch to branch, stealthily. Another Forest Winger, one my sized named Sparrow, sat in another tree. Lastly, there was a huge forest winger, even bigger than Gyr. He most likely was about six foot six inches tall and I believe he was based off a goshawk. He obviously had to be fresh out of basics...

"We'll lead them to you alright. You take out the one we isolate." Levant said.

"Alright, sir." The giant cyborg said.

It was now on. Both Levant and Sparrow took off, flying mere feet above the forest floor, weaving nimbly through the undergrowth. They differed in physique quite a bit. Levant had broad wings that came to a taper much like that of the majority of the Long Wingers. Sparrow on the other hand had very broad wings phalangeal primaries. Sparrow also had a much, much longer tail than Levant.

However, they both obviously were equally as good at maneuvering which was confusing. For us long wingers, it could make or break whether or not we were agile flyers or not. I'm guessing that due to the short wings of the of the Forest Hawkers and their tendency to glide in an anhedral, they were less stable flyers. That meant they could roll very fast as well as yaw very fast.

It gave me an idea. I often glided in an dihedral but I wondered if I brought my wings down into an anhedral, would it boost my agility. I couldn't wait to try it! Not to mention, I seemed to be much more agile at very, very high speeds rather than low speeds. That could have been due to the fact that at high speeds, we long wingers crook our wings.

Now Levant and Sparrow flew at breathtaking speeds through the forest. Both looked like silver ghosts as they glided and maneuvered on refrained wing beats. I could see a grazing herd of Irish Elk, oblivious to the fact that they were being stalked. They were in a clearing on the valley floor.

"Selecting target!" Levant said.

"I see it." The giant said, still perched.

I lost sight of Levant but I could see Sparrow erupt from the clearing. As soon as he became visible, the Irish Elks took off in surprisingly fast sprints. You'd think animals with an antler span of twelve feet would have a hard time getting to a high speed but no, these creatures were fast! The chase was on.

Sparrow was holding back. He was obviously a very fast winger but he was maxing himself out at fifty or so miles an hour, flanking the Elks. He led the Elks up the valley, trying to keep them from scattering into the forest. Many of the Elks turned to the southern stretch of the valley, the portion I was situated in.

Suddenly, Levant appeared, causing the herd to scatter in all directions. The largest Elk continued north followed by his immediate herum. Levant and Sparrow swooped down on the herd, causing the females to scatter, leaving the giant Elk alone.

"Now!" Levant demanded.

Suddenly the giant winger took flight, powering through the air on relatively narrow but short wings. The primaries had a very loose taper and boy was quite the flyer! He accelerated to a top speed of about two hundred fifty miles an hour in a fury of wing beats and wouldn't relent. His stamina was unreal, covering the distance to the Elk Stag in about forty seconds.

The Elk, realizing it was being pursued from three angles began to make very sharp turns. Still, the giant winger powered along, calculating trajectory as it geared to strike the massive cervid. He tucked in his wings, stretching his long legs out with talons open. Just as he was about to grapple with the Elk, the giant deer leapt up causing the winger to crash on the ground. The spill was nasty, the winger tumbling and tumbling, not coming to a halt.

For a split second, I thought the winger was hurt until he used the momentum from the fall to spring himself up into the air. He continued to power along, pumping diligently through the air. A long winger simply couldn't take a fall like that. We're too fragile! It's why I wished I was a short winger like these boys.

"I got it!" Levant said, pursuing the stag as the creature banked and weaved through the grassland. It was trying to make it back to the forest but knew that traveling a straight path would mean that it would be captured.

Levant broke his pursuit, ascending before turning with the wind. He catapulted swiftly, doubling his speed as he seized the stag by its nape, between the antlers. The mighty creature went down, it's brain being severed from it's spinal stem by Levant's talons.

"WHOOOO!" He screeched out, exhausted.

Sparrow and the giant forest winger made their way over to Levant, landing before him.

"I tried to get him but he leapt out the way." The giant said, feeling like he failed.

"Ghost, that would have happened to any of us. I didn't expect this thing to leap out the way!" Levant laughed.

So his alias was Ghost. It was appropriate, forest wingers having the tendency to suddenly appear out of nowhere.

"This was your first training exercise. You did well Ghost...better than most." Sparrow added.

"This was a first for us all..." Levant laughed.

"Yeah that cloaker is awesome! I was wondering if you were gonna use it" Sparrow said.

That explains why I lost sight of him. He had some type of equipment that made him invisible. The things I would give to be a Forest Winger! It seemed they got the coolest tech!

"So this is where you ran off too..." I heard someone say from behind. Startled, I turned to see none other than Subbu sitting on branch just behind me, "I should have known..."

"Why are you here?" I asked, truly flustered.

"I'm just making sure you're not getting into any trouble." He responded.

"RARGH!!" I snarled as I took off, flying towards headquaters.

"WAIT!" Subbu said, following me closely.

My patience with him was wearing thin... It was one thing to ridicule me over everything I did but it was another thing to follow me around as though he was some type of guardian of mine. We had the same rank yet he acted like a superior. It was truly making me angry.

"LOOK!" I said, spreading my wings and tail, suddenly breaking. I inverted grabbing Subbu by his talons. We spiralled out of the sky crashing down on the forest floor. I had him pinned under my mass, "I'm so fucking tired of you... Everything I do, everything I say you got to counter it. You act like you're so moral and righteous when you're not and I'm here to tell you I'm definitely not moral... You trying to add rules to something with no rules is frustrating, not to me, but to everyone! No one likes you and you need to fuck off..."

"Let him go, Merlin..." A familiar voice said.

It was Levant, he obviously hearing what I had said over the air. It was why I was silent in the beginning but of course Subbu had to ruin it. I stepped back, freeing Subbu from my grasp. The boy wasted no time in fleeing into the air.

"It's not what it looks like..." I pled.

"You say that every time..." Levant said, sounding completely unenthused. He turned back, heading down the valley to the kill.

"Great hunt!" I said, truly impressed. He said nothing, taking off on stiff wing beats. It was crushing.

Things would never be the same between Levant and I. It saddened me to say but I was not really a good guy. I slept around a lot and I had a very dark past. Levant waited on me for so long but now, I think he's moved on. I couldn't say I had though. No person understood me the way Levant did and I'd do anything to win him back.He was my one true love and I may have fucked that up.

I took off, heading back to HQ. The sun was beginning to set and the temperature was dropping from cold to freezing. I had to get back to HQ fast because this suit was not meant to be flown in too severe a cold. I reached the hangar, flying in swiftly. I landed on the platform, the augmenting arms, disconnecting my suit.

One actuator took off my helmet, while another took off my chest plate. I stepped out of my launcher boots, instantly becoming considerably shorter. More arms came, taking my wings, black, plate and tail actuator off. I ran down the platform barefoot.

"In a rush, Denver?" A technician asked.