Written By Lisa Grey
Developed by Lisa Grey and James R. Axelrad
Edited by James R. Axelrad and Johnny G
Chapter 8
January 2009...
Ranma approached the center of the simulated show area where the Blues and her team were watching her demonstrate the VF-1's maneuvering abilities. Thus far what she had done, while graceful and showy, hadn't been anything outside of what a normal aircraft could do. She was flying slowly, as if to make a low speed pass.
"Okay, are you guys ready to be amazed?" she asked as she approached.
"Show us what you got, Dragon Lady," Kingsley said cheerfully.
When Ranma got close enough, she pitched the nose of Rose One straight up violently, standing it on its tail, balanced on a pillar of thrust. As her momentum carried her passed the spectators, she used the roll thrusters to roll Rose One around its longitudinal axis two and a half complete rotations. As the air resistance slowed her to almost a stop, she used the pitch thrusters to push the nose over as she brought the engines to full power. Rose One came out of the tail stand, inverted and leaped forward out of the show area.
Ranma was exultant. She had never done that maneuver before outside of the simulator. It had been something she had come up with on her own and she hoped it looked impressive. She had one other maneuver she wanted to try solo. If it worked equally as well, then she had some ideas for some routines to be performed by her soloists.
Meanwhile, on the ground, the Blues and Roses alike were just beginning to pick their jaws up off the ground.
"Did you just see that, Boss?" one of the Blues asked.
"I saw it," Kingsley confirmed. "I'm not sure I believe my eyes but I saw it. That was...incredible."
"Incredible? How about straight up impossible?" Morris said in awe. He turned to the other Roses. "You can all do stuff like that?"
"I...um..." Kruger stammered, "I've never seen a VF-1 do that before. Maybe, but Mom is the best out of all of us, so I don't honestly know."
"Boss, I think we're in trouble," another Blue commented. "Anything we do would be boring next to something like that."
"Okay, you guys ready for the next trick," Ranma's voice came over the speakers.
"Please, dazzle us some more," Kingsley said, the awe clearly evident in his voice.
Ranma approached the stands again, similar to before, traveling at an extremely low speed. Like before, but a little sooner, she pitched the nose straight up and balanced Rose One in mid air on its thrust and spinning it around its roll axis twice. This time she came to a complete stop just in front of the stands, hovering on a pillar of thrust about thirty feet off the ground. She hung there for a few heartbeats and then brought the engines to full throttle, adding the booster power. A column of blue flame shot down toward the ground and Rose One shot straight up like a Saturn 5 rocket.
"You've got to be kidding me," Morris said, stunned. "What sort of aircraft is capable of something like that?"
"Mom rocks!" Marissa Savage announced in awe. The rest of Rose cheered their agreement.
(oOO/Oo)
As Ranma climbed down out of her plane, she found herself swamped by an excited Rose team. Vicki Whitehall nearly knocked her over as she cannon balled in and glomped her.
"That was bloody awesome, Mum!" the excited honey blonde Brit exclaimed. "Please tell us you can teach us to do those things!"
"Yeah, Mom, that was the coolest thing I've ever seen!" Cassie enthused as she joined the hug as well.
Soon all of them had glomped on in a big group hug and were gushing excitedly about the maneuvers Ranma had performed. Ranma couldn't help but laugh happily at the joy washing over her. The Blues stood back and watched the scene with amusement.
"Hey, Boss, how about we do that to you after the next show?" one of them suggested.
"What's that?" Kingsley asked with a grin. "You say you want to clean the head for the next six months?" The Blues laughed.
"Where's the love?" another Blue asked jokingly.
"Over there, apparently," Morris grinned and pointed to the group of women still bouncing around excitedly.
"So how did it look?" Ranma asked Kingsley after finally being released by her team.
"It was pure ballet," Kingsley answered. "Very impressive. You ladies are definitely going to draw the crowds."
"Impressive, hell," Morris said. "That was unbelievable, indescribable, freakin' shocking, and just plain cool as hell. If all your people can do that, we might as well cash it in. You'll make us look dull as watching paint peel."
"Nah, what you guys do is pretty impressive too," Ranma said. "There's room for everyone. Besides, you guys are like a tradition. People will still want to see you as much or more than us."
(oOO/Oo)
"So Mom, do you think we will be able to do things like that?" Ursula asked as the Rose team gathered in Ranma's hotel room. Ranma looked around at the expectant faces and smiled.
"I don't see why not," she replied. "You all have a high enough neural link percentage to fly the VF-1 hands free. That's all it really takes, besides a good sense of balance. I haven't noticed that any of you are clumsy, so I think you should be able to do it."
"Fantastic," Marissa smiled. "We're gonna be the bomb!" She high-fived Cassie.
"So what's the plan for tomorrow?" Tia asked.
"I want you to start training in those maneuvers I showed you today," Ranma said. "You'll be doing them at altitude at first to give you time to recover if you stumble. Remember, it's nearly impossible to put a Valkyrie in an unrecoverable situation, so if you do have a bobble just stay calm and you'll be alright. Beyond that, we need to start coming up with moves for the routine. I have some ideas, but don't be afraid to make your own suggestions."
"Tell us what you're thinking," Ursula suggested.
"Okay, the first one I have in mind is based on the last maneuver I did with the booster climb," Ranma explained. "It would be for our soloists. I was thinking we could have two planes approach from either end of the crowd. When they get near the middle, they would do the tail stand and pirouette maneuver until they cross each other. The pirouette rotation would stop with the tops of the aircraft facing each other as they stand stationary. Then they would begin the booster climb and corkscrew around each other at the same time. If we added a smoke effect then it would look pretty neat as the smoke trails coiled around each other."
"Cool," Vicki said. "And the smoke should be dark pink from one aircraft while it would be white form the other." Everyone agreed.
"How about this?" Tia suggested. "We have two aircraft make a high speed close pass over the field while two more of us come in at a slow speed at right angles to the high speed planes. The high speed planes will cross with their wings vertical right before the slow speed planes reach the point which they will do the tail stand and pirouette pass followed by the inverted egress like Mom did the first time. It would sort of look like the high speed planes picked the slower ones up and twirled them."
"I like it," Ranma agreed.
The Roses discussed a few more maneuvers they could try and decided that the first two would be their two signature maneuvers. They would discuss it with the Blues and see if they could come up with other ideas for formation maneuvers. They only had a little over a month to come up with and practice their routine since they were expected to perform their first show during the SDF-1 Launch Day ceremonies in mid-February.
Eventually, the girls drifted back to their own rooms for the night until only Ursula was left in Ranma's room.
"How are you doing, Mom?" Ursula asked. "You seem a lot more relaxed since we left Macross Island."
"I am," Ranma answered. "It's nice to just have to worry about flying and you guys without having to deal with all that other baggage back there."
"You want to talk about it?" Ursula offered. Ranma looked at her speculatively before she nodded.
"Have you ever had people you think are your friends, but they like to pressure you into things you're not comfortable with and seem to think it's great fun to make you squirm?" Ranma asked.
"Uh huh," Ursula agreed. "Usually it's all in fun but it can go to far. I assume you are referring to Commander Hayes?"
"And Lt. Commander Grant," Ranma answered. "You see, I had a kind of peculiar childhood. I'm not going to tell you the entire truth about it because it would likely end my career if it got out, but I'll tell you enough. My pop was obsessed with martial arts and wasn't a very honorable or honest man. He had one driving need beyond filling his belly, and that was making me the best martial artist in the world. Unfortunately, he was also a raging misogynist and raised me as a boy."
"My god, that's horrible," Ursula gasped.
"For the first sixteen years of my life I was with him," Ranma continued, "suffering through insane training techniques that threatened not just my life but my sanity, all the while listening to him harp on how women were weak and worthless and could never be real martial artists. He kept me away from people for the most part traveling all over Japan. I never had much of a chance to make friends and I was rarely in school since according to Pop that was a distraction from the art. One of the times he was forced to put me in school was when I was thirteen. It was in an all boys school and that's when the SDF-1 crashed on Earth."
"An all boys school? How did you stand it?" Ursula asked.
"Well remember I thought I was a boy at the time," Ranma answered. "Anyway, the hubbub surrounding the SDF-1 crashing opened my eyes to the fact that there were other things in life than martial arts. I started to think it was something I wanted to be a part of and my teachers told me the only way that would happen is if I got an education. So I made arrangements to continue my schooling via correspondence after my pop would eventually decide to pull me out of school again. I ended up with my high school diploma just before I turned sixteen."
"Wow, you must be pretty smart to have done that on your own," Ursula said, her respect for Ranma climbing. Ranma shrugged.
"It was when I was sixteen it happened," Ranma continued. "Pop dragged me to China after he pulled me out of that all boys school. We had been traveling around the Chinese countryside for nearly two years when a series of events occurred that I won't tell you about. Suffice it to say, that's when I discovered I was a girl and I thought my life was over. Mind you, I really didn't buy into all that crap about women that Pop was always spewing, but the sense of betrayal and the thought that I must be some kind of freak nearly sent me over the edge. The only thing I knew was I had to get away from my father before he ended up getting me killed. When the opportunity presented itself I jumped on it, traveling back to Japan by myself and getting enrolled in the RDF academy in the States."
"Go on," Ursula said, clearly riveted by the tale.
"Well, I had decided that there wasn't much I could do about my gender," Ranma said. "After sixteen years living as a boy I wasn't exactly thrilled to discover I was a girl, but I could either let it beat me, or I could deal with it and pursue my dreams. I chose my dreams. Anyway, I knew nothing about being a girl and wasn't very comfortable doing girl things. I accepted the necessities, but was content to be a major tomboy. I met Lisa, Commander Hayes, in the Academy. She was my roommate and when she found out about my history she helped me a lot, teaching me things about being a woman so I wouldn't stand out too much. That was important to me then. I wasn't comfortable around people and I certainly wasn't comfortable with being in the female role."
"I can imagine," Ursula agreed.
"Well, I graduated the Academy early since I opted for a heavy course load and had no desire for a social life," Ranma went on. "I began my career flying F/A 18E's and pretty much kept to myself. I wasn't into guys. The thought of dating a guy still creeps me out. I didn't feel right about dating another woman because to this day I don't think of myself as a real woman. It's not how I grew up and while I've accepted it as what I am, I still resent it deep down. I'd feel like I was deceiving a woman if I dated her."
"Honey, I've seen you in the shower," Ursula grinned. "Trust me, you wouldn't be deceiving anyone about being a woman."
"Yeah, well, it doesn't matter what the reality is, it's what my mind is telling me deep down," Ranma said. "So anyhow, I never really wanted a social life. It was enough for me to have my career and my art. But then I met Claudia Grant. She apparently thought it was a terrible thing that I was so isolated, whether it was my choice or not, so she made it her mission to get me a social life. She hassled and cajoled me until I agreed to go party with her. And she was right. I had fun and met people that I had helped in the past. It put faces on the work I was doing and it made me feel good to see people I had saved and to feel their gratitude. I decided that even if I wasn't looking to date anyone, I could still have friends and go out to unwind from time to time."
"Good for you," Ursula smiled.
"That brings us up to when I transferred Macross Island and Veritechs," Ranma said. "That's when things started to go wrong. Both Claudia and Lisa were there and they were the two people I had considered my best friends. They were also the only two people that I would let talk me into just about anything. I mean, they are level headed and responsible people and they are my friends so they wouldn't do anything to hurt me, I thought. So when they started pressuring my about doing more things to embrace my femininity, I wasn't comfortable with it, but I went along. They had helped me before so maybe it wasn't a bad thing. The trouble was, they seemed to take great joy in my discomfort while I was getting more and more confused about who I am."
"It sounds like they meant well," Ursula observed.
"I'm sure they did," Ranma agreed. "It didn't change the stress and confusion though. Add to this, Lisa began to flirt with me more and more. This also confused me because I know she likes guys. I figured it was a way for her to deal with the loss of the man she loved who was killed at Mars Base Sara. I went along with her because in part it felt good to feel desired even if it was only an illusion, but mostly because I was willing, as her friend, to let her use me to deal with her grief and loneliness."
"Ouch," Ursula grimaced.
"Were you at the Thanksgiving Party?" Ranma asked.
"I was," Ursula replied. "You looked gorgeous and your singing was sensational."
"Um...thanks," Ranma blushed a little before continuing the story. "That was another incident where they tormented me. Lisa and Claudia practically forced me into that dress. I mean I looked good and all, but I was very uncomfortable putting myself on display like that. I didn't feel like it was me and the part of me that was raised a boy was mortified. Then Claudia had to drag me up on center stage and make me the star attraction. I just wanted to scream."
"I couldn't tell," Ursula commented. "You handled it well. You looked very comfortable and confident."
"Thanks, I've become good at suppressing my discomfort over the years," Ranma told her. "It was also at the party where Lisa started to get serious about us, beginning to act like she wanted to take the relationship beyond the flirting. I was terrified for two reasons. The first reason was that I found that I had begun to develop more than friendship feelings for her and the second was that I was still certain that once she dealt with loosing Karl she would want a man again. I was also afraid that if I had a relationship with her and then lost her, it would upset the life I built. I've never had a relationship like that so I hadn't missed it. Up until now my career has been enough, but what if after having someone, my career wasn't enough anymore? I was very confused, and then people were telling me that it was only a matter of time before Lisa made a move to get physical with me." Ranma shrugged.
"That's the way I saw it at the party," Ursula said. "It was clear to everyone that she had a major thing for you. Let me guess, then she was seen with that guy?"
"I have to correct a little misinformation I allowed to slide before," Ranma said blushing. "I knew about her date with the guy and I condoned it. It was stressful for me but I wanted her to be happy. If she still wanted me afterward that was fine too."
"Oh, okay, so that's not what broke you guys up?" Ursula asked surprised.
"No," Ranma answered. "It wasn't."
"What happened?" Ursula asked.
"Pink airplanes," Ranma said with a wry grin.
"Pink airplanes? You mean ours?" Ursula asked in confusion. "Everybody loved the paint scheme. How did that cause a problem?"
"I hate pink," Ranma said. "It's a girly color and one I avoid like the plague. You have to understand something, my gender is a major cause of stress for me. The one refuge I had from it was my aircraft. When I was flying, my gender meant nothing. I was free of it. I was just a warrior, neither male nor female. Lisa and Claudia were the ones that came up with the livery. They knew before hand I was to be the squadron CO and they thought it would be cute to thrust my gender in my face again. They didn't know about the other stuff with my airplane being my refuge from my gender stresses, but when I saw what they had done, knowing they were giggling about it the whole time they were plotting it, it was too much."
"Oh man," Ursula said. "And we were gushing about it right in front of you."
"Yup, when I saw how much you all loved it, I wouldn't have felt right about demanding it be changed, but I was going to find out why these people that were supposed to be my friends were constantly tormenting me. So I confronted them. I maybe wasn't the most rational person at the time and things didn't go well. I lost control and everything came pouring out. All the confusion, resentment, and hurt, it was all there and I lashed out with it. I haven't spoken to either of them since. I know I overreacted and hurt them, but I needed some space, some distance, to re-center myself and get everything back in balance."
"If it helps, I can understand why you reacted that way," Ursula said in sympathy. "You were being pushed in too many different directions at once and then you lost your one stable place. Still, I don't think they meant to hurt you. You're pretty good at not letting your inner turmoil show from what I've seen. They probably didn't realize how much what they were doing was affecting you."
"Yeah," Ranma nodded. "Since we left Macross, I've started to get my balance back and I can see they were trying to help mostly. The pink airplane thing was definitely a prank though. Even though they didn't realize how badly I'd take it."
"Are you sure about that?" Ursula asked. "I mean because it's very tasteful and very fitting for an all female team. Maybe they just didn't think about it."
"I'm sure," Ranma sighed. "They knew I hated pink. They could have used red, or yellow, or a lot of other colors that would have fit in with the rose theme, but they chose pink to yank my chain."
"Well, we could talk to the girls," Ursula suggested. "I'm sure they would be just as happy with red or something."
"No, it wouldn't be fair to you guys," Ranma negated. "You all loved it and besides if I changed it now it would be like letting them off the hook. No, they're stuck with it now. I want them to think about what they did every time they see one of us."
"Isn't that kind of vindictive?" Ursula asked. Ranma smirked and raised an eyebrow. Ursula grinned. "I guess you're right, they deserve it, but I think you should forgive them. They do sound like they were your friends. Maybe then the livery will just be a reminder that if they push too much they will lose your friendship."
"That was my thought," Ranma smiled. "Thanks for listening. Sheesh, and I thought the CO was supposed to be the unit therapist."
"Heh," Ursula said, giving Ranma a hug, "we should all be there for each other, you know?"
"Good point," Ranma said, hugging her back. "Well, we have to be up early tomorrow, so what say we get some rest?"
"Alright," Ursula grinned. "See you in the morning, Mom."
(oOO/Oo)
The next five weeks were fast paced and hectic as the Blue's helped the Roses put together a routine and practice it by the deadline. Every member of the team worked hard as they brought their formations tighter and their passes closer. They critiqued each other on their performance frankly and drove themselves to higher and higher levels of precision. Rose knew they were nearly there when the Blues began to nod their approval.
The last weekend before they were to leave, the Blues invited the Roses to a barbeque at Kingsley's house.
"Which one of you eats the most?" Natalia asked when the invitation was extended. The blues pointed to Berry Richards, the Marine pilot of Blue 4. He proudly patted his belly. "Take what he eats and triple it for Mom."
Everybody gawked at her.
"I'm sorry?" Kingsley asked in confusion.
"Well, you see, Mom really likes to eat," Marissa smirked. "I've never seen anyone put away as much food at a sitting as she does. It's a good thing we are going home soon became they've begun to refuse her service at the all-you-can-eat places in town."
"Yesterday, we stopped at BK's on the way back to the hotel," Tia chimed in. I watched her put away four whoppers and two large orders of fries. She polished it off with a large chocolate shake."
"And two hours later, she wanted to go out for ice cream," Vicki added.
"Yeah, right," Berry snorted, obviously not buying it. "Ain't no way that petite little thing can put away that much food." Ranma, who had been standing quietly blushing as her pilots described her, what sounded like, gluttonous tendencies, smirked.
"Is that a challenge, Mister Richards?" Ranma asked.
"Yeah, I think maybe it is, Ma'am," the large black man grinned toothily. "I know a great burger place in town. If you can out eat me than I'm buying."
"How about this, we all go there and have dinner," Ranma said. "If I can out eat you then you buy for everyone. If I can't then everyone's dinner is on me."
"You're on," Berry said confidently. "Did ya hear that boys? The Dragon Lady's buyin' us dinner."
"Care to make any side bets on that, gentlemen?" Ursula asked sweetly.
"I got 20 says she's pukin' in the john before Berry slows down," Will Carlisle, pilot of Blue 6, piped up.
"I got 25 on Berry," Harold Frank, Blue 7, announced.
(oOO/Oo)
An hour later 8 Blues and 8 Roses poured into Buck's Burger Barn. The staff pulled four tables together for them and Ranma and Berry took their positions near the center, their respective teams flanking them.
"Hey Maria," Berry greeted the waitress as she walked up.
He began to explain what was happening and Maria goggled at the sight of the tiny redhead who claimed to be able to eat more than Berry. It was arranged that the burgers were to be brought out two for each at a time so they didn't get cold before they were eaten. They would keep coming until one of the competitors conceded or was disqualified by having to go to the bathroom. Touching the other's food, trying to make them sick, or interference from the teammates was grounds for disqualification as well.
As soon as the others had been served, Ranma and Berry each had a burger before them and one off to the side ready to go. They stared each other down like old west gun fighters. On an unspoken signal, they reached for their plate and picked up there weapon. Never breaking eye contact, Ranma took her first bite.
"Mmmmm," Ranma moaned closing her eyes in pure bliss. "These ARE good. I could eat a hundred of them. Glad you're paying."
"I got nothin' to worry about, little girl," Berry grinned after swallowing his own mouthful. "Hope the RDF pays well."
Ranma smirked and the battle was joined. Soon the second burger was in front of them and the third took its place at ready, followed by the fourth, then the fifth. As they moved the fifth burger in front of them Berry was beginning to look worried.
"What the matter, Captain?" Ranma teased. "You're not getting full already are you?" His eyes narrowed.
"I will NOT be defeated," He growled. "I won't allow it!" He tucked into number five with renewed vigor.
By number eight Berry was clearly loosing momentum while Ranma looked like she had just sat down. With number nine half eaten, the dark skinned man was looking positively green. "No mas," Berry said, starting at the half eaten burger and pushing back from the table.
"Giving up, already?" Ranma chirped, finishing the last bites of ten, with eleven on deck. "You gonna eat that?" she asked pointed to his untouched tenth burger.
Berry's eyes got big as saucers and he dumbly shook his head. Ranma grinned brightly and snatched the plate, tearing into it before it could get any cooler. The Roses and the Blues that had been wise enough not to bet laughed heartily while Berry and his supporters groaned.
Berry groaned again when he saw the bill, but Ranma took pity on him and left a fifty percent tip, sparing the man at least that. She couldn’t and didn't spare him the ribbing he took as everyone thanked him for dinner.
"How?" Berry asked in misery, not understanding how Ranma seemed to fit what must have been half her body mass into her stomach and not explode.
"Saotome School Secret Technique," Ranma grinned mischievously. "Seefood Diet. You see food, you eat it, until it's gone, 'cause you may not know when the next meal is coming."
Everyone laughed. They were gratified to see a noticeable bulge in Ranma's waistline as she stood and waddled to the door. It would have been just too weird if her waist had been just as tiny as when she came in.
"Gosh Mom," Cassie said as they got in the car, "Looks like we're gonna have a baby sister soon." She patted Ranma's distended stomach. Ranma looked at her darkly.
"Don't even imagine something like that," Ranma growled. Everyone blanched.
"Sorry, Mom," Cassie said.
"If anything it's going to be a little brother," Ranma smiled brightly, with a contrived dreamy look. "Your brother will be so manly!"
Ranma looked around at the looks on their faces and dissolved into laughter.
(oOO/Oo)
February 2009...
Ranma sat on the edge of the deck behind Brett Kingsley's rural home looking out across the seemingly endless expanse of desert. A beer appeared before her, dripping moisture, evidence of its recent removal from the ice chest. Ranma looked up at Brett and smiled her thanks, taking the beer. Brett sat down beside her.
"You think we're ready?" Ranma asked.
"You guys were born ready," Brett chuckled. "I don't know want I expected before you guys got here, but you're not it. I guess when they told me that we were to help train an all female demonstration squadron I was thinking of a bunch of bubbly cheerleaders with pretty airplanes and if I was lucky they'd be adequate pilots. I was half right. Turns out I got a bunch of shit-hot professionals that could do incredible things with pretty airplanes. It just so happened that they were all pretty enough to be cheerleaders."
"We're not all that," Ranma said modestly. "The VF-1's make us look good. We're all young with relatively low flight hours compared to you guys."
"Some of you, maybe," Brett said. "I heard some stories about you, Ranma. Word is that you're the real deal. I have to agree. I've seen how your leadership has brought your people together and made them perform beyond themselves. I think your CAG made a good choice with getting you in command of a squadron, even if it is a secondary unit."
"I had good role models," Ranma returned. "Roy Fokker is a great officer to serve with. He leads from the front and doesn't put up with the political bullshit whenever possible. You're no slouch either. I've watched you inspire your men to greater heights as well. I just hope if it ever drops in the pot, the Roses will validate Roy's decisions by putting us together."
"You've flown combat," Brett said. "How do you think they'll do?"
"I'm not sure," Ranma admitted. "They're skilled, but inexperienced. Most of them have very little combat training beyond what they had in the initial VF-1 training. They certainly have the potential, but you know as well as I do that the crucible of combat is the only way to forge them into a true fighting unit."
"I think you'll be fine," Brett grinned. "I don't think I've ever seen a group of people with more focus and mental discipline." Ranma snorted.
"That's by design, you know," she pointed out. "It's one of the parameters they used to select us." Brett shrugged.
"Whatever works," he replied. "You've got a good group and they've got a good CO. I'm sure time will illustrate that better than anything."
They sat silently for a few more minutes before Ranma broke it.
"You know, if you make it out to Macross for the Launch Day show," Ranma suggested, "I'm sure the girls and I can take you up for a little joy ride in a VF-1D. I know you've got a show season to prepare for and we've been keeping you from that, but I'd like to extend my personal invitation to the Blues to come out and take a look."
"Why, Lieutenant, if I didn't know any better, I'd think you were trying to seduce me into joining the RDF," Brett laughed.
"Wouldn't dream of it," Ranma grinned. "Why would you want to join the RDF and fly sexy cutting edge aircraft capable of things you can only imagine for better pay when you can stay here and fly those old obsolete crates you guys fly?" Brett snorted. "Anyway, that's my job, ain't it? Get some of you recalcitrants into our ranks?"
"And very tempting you make it sound too," Brett laughed.
(oOO/Oo)
Dictionary of Acronyms and other Jargon
(As requested by Lerris)
2IC--Second In Command
AMRAAM--Advanced Medium Range Air to Air Missile
APU--Auxiliary Power Unit
ATC--Air Traffic Control
AWACS--Airborne Warning And Control System
BDU--Battle Dress Uniform (fatigues)
BOQ--Bachelor Officer's Quarters
CAG--Commander, Air Group
CAP--Combat Air Patrol
CAS--Close Air Support
CBU--Cluster Bomb Unit
CO--Commanding Officer
ETA--Estimated Time of Arrival
GBU--Guided Bomb Unit
HARM--High speed Anti-Radiation Missile
JSDF-- Japanese Self Defense Force
LAV--Light Armored Vehicle
SAM--Surface to Air Missile
SDF--Super Dimensional Fortress
UNEDF--United Nations of Earth Defense Force
UNEDC--Untied Nations of Earth Defense Command
RDF--Robotech Defense Force
XO--Executive Officer (second in command)
Angels in reference to altitude is a navy thing, and is a way of saying flight level, which basically means adding three zeros on the number for the altitude reference. (JRA)
Port--left
Starboard--right