(AN: WARNING: This chapter contains extreme language and intense angst.) December 2008... "You wanted to see me, Sir?" Ranma asked timidly from the door of Roy's office. "Yeah I did, Lieutenant," Roy said. "Come in and have a seat." "Yes, Sir," Ranma said nervously. She had been waiting for two and a half weeks now for the ax to fall on her for working Roy over when she lost her temper. She came in and sat on the edge of the chair in front of Roy's desk. "Sir, about before in the dojo..." "Don't worry about it, Lieutenant," Roy interrupted her and gave her a reassuring smile. "Claudia explained about...er...my poor sense of timing. I shouldn't have been pushing you then." "It's okay, Sir, I know you were trying to help," Ranma said. "I thought about what you said later. I don't know what to do. I don't want to hurt Lisa by rejecting her, but I don't want to let her make a mistake that will hurt her later when she realizes I'm not what she wants." Roy sighed, sitting back in his chair and rubbing his face in his hands. "What do YOU want, Ranma," Roy said, leaning forward again and meeting Ranma's eyes intently. "I can't even think about what I want, Roy," Ranma said, understanding that they were now talking as friends. "I'm terrified that if I think about what I want, I'll find that what I have is not enough, and then all the sacrifices I've made to get here would be for nothing." "Judas Priest," Roy said in exasperation. "I'll tell you one thing, you are a matched set, you and Lisa. You've both sealed yourselves off because you're afraid. She's afraid to betray Karl's memory. She's afraid if she falls for someone else they'll die too. You're afraid to find out you've been missing out on something profoundly human. You're afraid that nobody could be in a relationship you because of what you are. You both need to be hit with a clue stick...repeatedly. "Listen Ranma, I've been around the block a few times. I won't pretend to understand your life, but I do know one thing...women. I made a study of them when I was younger. I got really good at reading them, when they were interested, when they were ready to get intimate, when they were falling in love, when they wanted a commitment...those last two were critical for me because I had to choose before hand if I wanted to back off or stick around. "Watching from the outside, it's even more obvious, and I can tell you two things: Lisa wants you in a major way. Some of that is because she's lonely and needs the contact, but most of it is because she's genuinely attached to you and not just your body. She's attracted to your personality, your sense of honor, you inner strength, everything. The other thing I can tell you is she is falling for you in a major way, but she's not ready to deal with that. Right now the only thing holding her back is Karl Riber. Once she lets go of him, you better be ready to deal with that change because she's going to want a long term exclusive relationship with you." "So what should I do?" Ranma asked. "Damn if I know," Roy said. "It's a complicated situation and only you can answer that question, but to find the answers you are going to have to face what you want and soon. If you backed off now, before things get any more serious, it would be less painful than later, but that would only work if you weren't interested in her. I know you are, it's pretty obvious or you'd have been avoiding Lisa like the plague, but like her you are holding yourself back. I understand why you're keeping your distance. You can't miss something you never had." "Exactly," Ranma said. "But the thing is," Roy explained, "Lisa has had it. She misses it. And she means to have it again. And from what I can see, she means to have it with you. Unless you make it clear very soon that you don't want it." "Why does this have to be so...difficult," Ranma sighed. "That's life, Kiddo," Roy smiled. "If it makes you feel any better, I've never seen Lisa so alive and vibrant as she has been since you came." "I just want her to be happy," Ranma said sincerely. "Then my advice would be to just do what you are doing," Roy said. "Let her take the lead. Just be prepared for when she takes things to the next level. Make sure she knows she knows what she's doing and then go with it. If she has any regrets afterwards, she will have to deal with it. Now, how about we get back to business?" "Oh, yeah, what did you need with me, Sir?" Ranma asked. "Well, first off, you're out of uniform, Miss Saotome," Roy said looking serious. Ranma looked down but couldn't find anything amiss. "Sir?" "You're wearing the improper rank insignia, Lieutenant," Roy informed her and passed over a paper and a box. "You're no longer a JG. Congratulations." "Wow," Ranma said. "Cool! That'll just yank Doodoo Brown's chain, won't it?" "Not as much as this will," Roy grinned and passed her a stack of files. "What's this, Sir," Ranma said taking them. "That's your new squadron, Miss Saotome," Roy was grinning hugely. "As in the one you're in charge of." "You're kidding," Ranma said. "I don't have the rank or time in service to be the CO of a squadron." "I'm not kidding," Roy denied. "It's not your average squadron." He began to explain the purpose of the squadron Ranma was being given as Ranma leafed through the personnel files she was holding. "Um...Sir...what gives?" Ranma asked as she finished browsing the files. "These are all female pilots." "I'm aware of that, Miss Saotome," Roy smirked. "Why?" Ranma asked, her eyes narrowing dangerously. She sensed something was up that she wasn't going to like. "It wasn't on purpose or anything," Roy waved her off. "Lang and I went and searched the pilot database for the 7 pilots, male or female, closest to your ability and those were the names that came up." "I see," Ranma said. Roy was hiding something and Ranma suspected it was something that was embarrassing for her personally. "And this squadron's designation is?" "Now understand, I had nothing to do with this," Roy back pedaled. "This was your idea and Lisa and Claudia were the ones that pursued it. All I did was help with the mission and make up." Ah ha! Ranma knew she wasn't going to like this. "You didn't answer the question, Sir," Ranma said darkly. "Rose," Roy practically squeaked. "The squadron is called Rose. You know how they have been using colors as squadron designators after Skull and Wolf." "I see," Ranma said. That wasn't too bad. Sure there would probably be some girly comments, having an all female squadron called Rose, but at least the planes would be red. Roy opened one eye. He had been preparing for the explosion. "You do?" Roy asked. "Yeah, it's girly but kinda not as bad as I was expecting," Ranma said. "At least it wasn't pink. Pink airplanes would have really irritated me." Roy sweat dropped. "Er...yeah...um, lets go meet your pilots, huh?" Roy suggested. 'Then I'll give them the hanger number and go hide in the nearest bomb shelter,' he thought. Roy led Ranma to the briefing room and explained to the other women about what they would be doing and why. He then introduced Ranma to them. "Ladies, I'd like to introduce you to your CO, Lieutenant Ranma Saotome," Roy said. "She's the best pilot in Skull and I'm sorry to be losing her, but I wanted to give her a chance to maximize her potential. She's a shit-hot pilot with more brass than an ammo factory and flew combat in F/A 18E's for 16 months before coming here. She has 6 air-to-air kills, two Distinguished Flying Crosses, and a Navy Cross. She's also a tactical genius. She has my utmost respect and every confidence. I expect Rose Squadron to do great things. Now I have some things to do so you get to know each other and when you're ready your Veritechs are in hanger 2. Go check them out." Roy beat a hasty retreat. Ranma spent a few minutes getting to know the seven women in the room. Most had some sort of combat experience but they were all younger than Ranma. "Ma'am, I have to ask," Lieutenant JG Marissa 'Storm' Savage began, "isn't this whole idea a bit sexist?" "I know Commander Fokker, Lieutenant," Ranma said. "He made me a flight leader in his squadron over guys that had more rank and combat experience than I did because he felt I was better than them. He told me that they searched the pilot database for the top pilots based on your neural link potential and your ability to withstand high g-loading. Your names were at the top of the list. I trust Roy when he said they weren't just looking for women. I seriously doubt they are looking to shuffle us off out of the way. "Don't think I plan for us to be just an eye candy unit that performs pretty routines at an airshow. I plan for this to be an elite combat unit that the others will strive to try to match and I'm certain that's what the CAG has in mind too." "Roger that, Ma'am," the other women chorused. "Alright, Ladies, how about we go see what sort of planes we've been inflicted with?" Ranma suggested. Everyone agreed so they headed over to the hanger. (oO\O/Oo) Ranma lead her team to the hanger and opened the door. She walked in and as her eyes adjusted from the bright sunlight she froze stock still with her eyebrow twitching. Her team filed in around her and got a look at the Veritechs gleaming with their fresh paint. "Their gorgeous," Ensign Victoria 'Diamond' Whitehall observed. The others quickly agreed enthusiastically. "What do you think, Lieutenant Saotome? Aren't they wonderful?" Ensign Erin 'Banshee' McKenna asked. Ranma looked at the planes. The main color was white. The noses, wings, and vertical stabs were mainly white. The minor trim color was black. It was the major trim color that was causing Ranma's eyebrow to twitch. The stripes on the forward fuselage and the wings, the RDF insignia, were all a dark pink. But that wasn't the worst. About a third of the way down the engine nacelles, the white faded to a solid dark pink color. The tips of the verticals also sported the same dark pink. The final thing that was making Ranma's eyebrow twitch was the graphic on the outboard sides of the vertical stabs. It was a large dark pink rose in full bloom with a green leafy stem curling toward the lower leading edge. "They...they're pink," Ranma hissed. "I know. Isn't it wonderful," Ensign Whitehall gushed, oblivious to her new CO's simmering temper. Ranma looked at the other women. They all looked thrilled. "Yeah, just great," Ranma sighed. (oO\O/Oo) Claudia and Lisa were in the Officer's Lounge onboard the SDF-1 when Ranma came stalking in practically vibrating with some indefinable mixture of emotion. She sighted them and marched up to their table, slamming her hand down on it and making a loud report. "Why?" she hissed, looming over them in spite of her small stature. Lisa looked around at the others present in the room. It was maybe the embarrassment at the scene Ranma was causing that made her make the mistake, but she really felt she had no other option and once it was done there was no way to take it back. "Why, what, Lieutenant?" Lisa said in her emotionless military tone. "And is that anyway to greet a superior officer?" Ranma's eyes widened and she stood up ramrod straight and becoming still. Claudia swore a cold blue light flashed in her eyes before she spoke. "I'm sorry, Commander, Lt Commander," Ranma said in a cold crisp tone while issuing a precise salute. "It was a case of mistaken identity. I mistook you for my friends. My mistake, I apologize. It won't happen again." With that she spun on her heel and left. Lisa and Claudia looked at each other for a few heartbeats and then took off after the fiery redhead. "Ranma, wait," Lisa called out to Ranma's retreating back and was ignored. She tried again with the same result. "Lieutenant Saotome, stop right there!" she ordered. This time Ranma complied, but didn't turn around. Lisa and Claudia caught up to her and Lisa grabbed her arm, spinning her around. She looked at Ranma's face and nearly gasped at the cold dead look she received. Looking around, she opened the hatch to an empty storeroom. "Inside, now," she commanded. Ranma stepped in, followed by Claudia. Lisa stepped through and swung the hatch shut with a clang. She turned and both she and Claudia stood looking at Ranma, who was standing at attention staring through them. "Okay, Lieutenant, you are obviously upset. Tell me what the problem is." "Ma'am, the Lieutenant has nothing to say, Ma'am!" Ranma barked out as if she were back in BT. Lisa flinched. "Ranma," Claudia tried, "What's wrong?" Ranma's eyes narrowed as she leveled a glare at Claudia. "You know damn well what's wrong," Ranma snarled. "You didn't like the planes," Claudia surmised. "Goddam right, I didn't," Ranma swore. "All this time, all these years, my aircraft has been the one place where I was free of my gender. When I was flying, it didn't matter what I was or am. There was no male or female, just an airplane and a pilot. Now you have gone and forced my gender into the last refuge of my sorry existence, tainted it with a gender identity. Goddam right I'm upset about it!" "So you think this is all about you, then?" Lisa asked. Ranma just looked at her. "There are other people besides you, Ranma. We came up with the Rose Squadron theme to be eye catching and get the RDF out into the public eye. Since it ended up being an all female squadron, we thought the theme would be memorable and appropriate. It wasn't some elaborate plot to irritate you. Stop being so selfish." "How dare you," Ranma said, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "How fucking dare you!" she practically shrieked. "You think I'm fucking selfish? Well fuck you and the horse you rode in on. I'm fucking selfish, am I? Let me tell you something, I have no family, no friends, no fucking life. The only thing that gets me out of bed every morning is the thought that I might use my skills to protect somebody, to make the world a little safer. That's the only reason I have to keep on living. I've lost everything else. And you two, you both think it's highly amusing to force new humiliations on me. You both think it's fucking funny to watch me squirm as you piece by fucking piece destroy a little more of my identity. And you call yourselves my friends as you fucking torment me. Oh yes, it must be great fun to watch the little freak squirm as you tease and humiliate her!" Lisa and Claudia were reeling from the force of the tirade and the pain Ranma was so obviously in. By this time Ranma's eyes were streaming tears, and she was barely keeping herself from bursting into sobs from the frustration and betrayal she felt. "GODDAM YOU!" Ranma shrieked at them. "Look at what you've fucking done to me! You've turned me into some weepy little girl that can't control herself! I don't even fucking know who I am anymore!" She put her face in her hands as a sob escaped her. First Lisa and then Claudia stepped forward to embrace their sobbing friend. As the reached out for her, Ranma flinched away. "DON'T FUCKING TOUCH ME!" she shrieked at them, pulling her face out of her hands. "Don't you touch me! Just leave me the fuck alone! I'm tired of your fucking games. I'm tired of you offering me comfort so you can just turn around and torment me more!" Ranma glared at both of them and then left the room. As the hatch clanged shut loudly, Lisa looked at Claudia and burst into tears. "My god, how could we hurt her so badly and not realize it?" Lisa wept into her hands. "What kind of monster am I that I could hurt someone I care so much about like that?" Claudia, tears now streaming from her own eyes, gathered Lisa into her arms and let her friend cry onto her shoulder. She gently stroked Lisa's hair and held her. "We pushed her too far, too fast," Claudia whispered in a soothing tone. "I think this was there all along, her being confused about who she is. Our pushing just made it more confusing for her and broke her control. She'll be alright, honey." "How can you say that?" Lisa sobbed. "Didn't you see her? We destroyed a beautiful person and laughed while we did it. I-I've...lost her. Sh-she hates me now, thinks I betrayed her." "Don't worry, honey, Ranma is the most forgiving person I know," Claudia said soothingly. "She's upset right now. When she calms down, she'll forgive us." (oO\O/Oo) January 2009... Ranma's anticipated forgiveness wasn't forthcoming, however. She had closed herself off from anything that didn't have to do with her duty. She refused to return any of Claudia or Lisa's calls and refused to speak to them outside of a professional capacity. She worked with Roy learning how to run a squadron, but refused to talk about anything not related to that. Her flying had become cold and precise, lacking her normal flare and vitality. Not that she was flying badly, and really it wasn't noticeable to anyone except Roy, but the joy and exuberance seemed to have gone out of her. When not on duty, she only emerged from her quarters to train. She didn't use the dojo anymore because she knew people would expect her to assist them or spar with them. She didn't want to deal with it, so she trained on a secluded portion of the beach. When in her quarters, she would watch videos of various flight demonstration teams and take notes. After Christmas, it had been arranged for her and Rose Squadron to go train with the American's Blue Angels. They would be taught the finer points of tight formation flying and they would be assisted in working up their routine. Ranma was looking forward to the time away from Macross and hoped to get some semblance of balance back in her life. Ranma taxied Rose One, as her Veritech had been dubbed, out on to the runway. Erin McKenna in Rose Six taxied into position beside her. "Rose Lead, Macross Control, ready for take off," Ranma said. "Rose Six, Macross Control, ready for take off," Ensign McKenna announced. "Macross Control, Rose Lead and Six, you are cleared for take off," Lisa's voice came over the comm. Ranma advanced her throttles and the Veritech began to accelerate smoothly down the runway. Rose Six accelerated along side her, matching her speed and acceleration. Reaching the requisite speed, she eased the nose up and the Veritech lifted smoothly off the ground. She eased the nose up a little more and began her climb out, Rose Six matching her perfectly. The pair climbed to 5000ft and began to orbit waiting for the rest of Rose to form up before they headed toward El Centro, California in the United States. "Rose Lead, Macross Control, Rose Squadron formed up and coming to heading oh-seven-zero and climbing to angels six-zero," Ranma informed them. "ETA to egress Macross airspace two minutes." "Macross Control, Rose Lead, Roger," Lisa said. "Ranma, please be careful and come back safe." Ranma didn't respond, but the sadness in Lisa's voice made her heart twist in her chest. Ranma remained silent except to announce heading and altitude changes while the rest of Rose chatted among themselves. Several hours into the flight, Storm decided that the Dragon Lady had been silent long enough. "Are we there yet, Mom?" she whined at Ranma over the squadron frequency. "I have to go to the WC, Mum," Diamond whined, catching on and joining in. "Mom, Siren keeps trying to touch my wing tip," Tia 'Huntress' Xao added. "Am not, Mom," Cassie 'Siren' Constantine protested. "Mom, I'm hungry, can we stop and eat?" Banshee interjected. Ranma began to grin in spite of herself. "Mom, I'm bored," Natalia 'Ice' Demitri announced. "You girls pipe down," Ursula 'Baby Bear' Kruger, the squadron XO, said. "Don't make Mom pull this flight over and tan your little hineys." That one pushed Ranma over the edge. She snorted with mirth at her squadron's antics. "You ladies are regular comedians, ain'tcha?" Ranma responded with amusement. "Well, Mom, we can't have you brooding up there all by yourself, now can we?" Storm giggled. "What's with this Mom thing?" Ranma groused good naturedly. "Well I hear the Blues call their CO 'Boss', so I figured we could come up with our own way to address our CO," Storm replied. "Greaat," Ranma complained. "Now I feel like a den mother." "I think that's the Cub Scouts, Mom," Banshee laughed. "What is it for the girl scouts?" Ranma returned. "No idea," Banshee said and nobody else seemed to know either. "I guess I owe you guys an apology," Ranma said. "I guess I have been pretty uptight and distant lately." "It's okay, Mom," Baby Bear replied. "We know there's been some trouble between you and Commander Hayes. You seemed pretty...well...close at the Thanksgiving party and then she was seen with that guy. Now you're not speaking to her, didn’t even respond when she said to be careful and come back safe. None of our business, but I don't blame you at all. If my Significant Other was screwing around on me, I wouldn't speak to them either. And that's if they were lucky." The other Rose members all chimed in in agreement. Ranma thought about correcting them, but decided that it was as good an excuse as any since she wasn't about to tell them the real reason she was pissed. "Thanks guys," Ranma said, honored by their show of support and feeling better the further they got from Macross Island. Hopefully she'd be able to get some perspective before they had to return or else it wasn't going to be a very pleasant homecoming. (oO\O/Oo) Ranma completed her roll-out with Banshee right beside her, like they had taken off in Macross. When they reached the turn off on to the taxiway, both planes did it in unison and were now nose to tail as they proceeded to the ramp where they would park. Their ground crew, who had left a couple days ahead of them, guided them into position and Ranma began her post-flight shutdown checklist. When all eight Rose aircraft were parked, Alpha Flight in front, Bravo Flight behind Alpha, and finished there post-flight, they shut down and dismounted, forming up in front of Rose One. The Blues and their crew were formed up across the ramp, about 100ft away. The two teams stood for a few moments looking each other over. Ranma knew that Rose Squadron was a sight to behold. Their tight flight suits that matched the aircraft colors left no doubt they were a group of extremely well formed females. Ranma hoped that their attractive appearance didn't lead the Blues to believe they were just an eye-candy unit and therefore not take them seriously. Rose ranged in height from 5'2 to 5'6 and all were similarly proportioned to Ranma except in the breast department. Storm and Siren actually had Ranma beat there, while Huntress and Diamond had very modest endowments. The rest were somewhere between. Their hair color ranged from Ranma's own fiery red, to Baby Bear's white blonde, to Huntress's almost blue-black. The others were various shades of brunette and blonde. Having given the Blues a chance to check them out, Ranma strode forward with Baby Bear at her side. The CO of the blues and his XO also stepped forward. Ranma came to a stop before the pair and issued a sharp salute. "I'm Lieutenant Ranma Saotome, CO of the RDF Rose Squadron," she informed. "This is my XO, Lieutenant Ursula Kruger." The CO of the Blues returned the salute smartly. "I'm Commander Brett Kingsley, CO of the Blues. This is my XO, Lieutenant Commander Freddy Morris. Welcome to El Centro, Lieutenant Saotome." He stuck out his hand. "Thank you, Sir, it's good to be here," Ranma said shaking his hand. "Impressive looking aircraft you have there, Lieutenant," Kingsley commented after handshakes were exchanged. "You have no idea, Sir," Ranma said with an enigmatic grin. "I bet," Kingsley laughed. "I've been briefed on their classified status, but I would very much like to see whatever you can show me of them." "It'd be my pleasure, Sir," Ranma replied and smirked. "You may find yourself wanting to join the RDF afterward though." "I may at that," Kingsley chuckled. "We have some refreshments set up inside if you're people would like. Would you care to meet with me in my office while we arrange for transportation to the hotel?" "Certainly, Commander," Ranma said. "As long as there's a bathroom between here and there. It's been a long flight." "Of course, Lieutenant," Kingsley grinned. "I perfectly understand those. Morris will show you're people to the refreshments and facilities." "Lieutenant Kruger, if you would inform the rest of the team," Ranma said. "Yes, Mom," Kruger grinned. Ranma rolled her eyes while Kingsley arched an eyebrow. "They heard your team called you 'Boss'," Ranma explained, "so they figured their CO needed a pseudonym too. They decided on 'Mom'. You have no idea what that was like. All I heard half way here was 'Are we there yet, Mom' or 'Mom, I have to go potty' or 'Mom, she's trying to touch me'." By this time, Kingsley and his XO were practically rolling on the ground laughing. "That's too funny," Kingsley finally gasped out. "Well, Mom, shall we get you to that bathroom?" "Okay, Boss, lead the way," Ranma grinned. (oO\O/Oo) "Please have a seat, Lieutenant," Kingsley said as they entered his office. "By the way, I don't see the need for formality here so you can call me Brett." "Roger that," Ranma said. "You can call me Ranma." "Okay, Ranma," Kingsley acknowledged. "To start with I need to know a little about what you are trying to achieve and what you're aircraft are capable of. Nothing classified, but enough that we can help you design a routine." "Well, basically, we want to get the word out about the RDF to get more people interested in joining," Ranma explained. "We want to put together a routine that will demonstrate the flight capabilities of the VF-1's and how they are superior to conventional aircraft like you're F/A 18's and the Thunderbird's F-16's. The VF-1 is faster than an F-15, in both top speed and time to get there. In the hands of the right pilot, and rest assured my people were chosen because they ARE the right pilots, the VF-1 is more nimble and maneuverable than the F-16 or your F/A 18's. In fact, in the hands of my pilots, we can make the VF-1 do things that are aerodynamically impossible." "How so?" Kingsley asked. "If you can tell me." "Well, you know that the RDF will eventually be a spaced based force, right?" Ranma asked. "Yeah, I had heard...you mean those aircraft are capable of operating in vacuum?" Kingsley asked in surprise. Ranma grinned and nodded. "We've had two weeks worth of orbital training with the VF-1 in vacuum," Ranma confirmed. "The VF-1 has pitch, roll, and yaw thrusters for maneuvering out of atmosphere. For the average RDF pilot, that just means that the automated controls make the aircraft respond as if it were in atmosphere. For those of us that are able to more fully utilize the aircraft's classified control systems, we can use the thrusters IN atmosphere to perform maneuvers that control surfaces alone aren't enough to make happen. If you thought the Su-37's Cobra maneuver was impressive, the VF-1 in the hands of any of the Rose pilots makes it look like clumsy child's play." "Can you show me some of these?" Kingsley asked, more than a trace of excitement in his voice. "Sure, tomorrow if you like I can put on a little show that will let you see what we have to work with," Ranma grinned. "Now from what you say, everyone can't do these things. What does that mean exactly?" Kingsley asked. "I can't really tell you much," Ranma said apologetically. "I can say this, however, it has to do with the pilot's natural abilities and mental discipline. And it's not dependant on one's skill flying conventional aircraft either. My pilots and myself were not chosen for Rose Squadron because we have a great deal of flying experience or because we are female and nice to look at. In fact, when pilots were chosen for the positions, gender wasn't a factor that was looked at. They were searching for the factors that would allow pilots to maximize the potential of the VF-1. It just happened that the top people that the search of our pilot database returned were all female. Since the squadron hadn't been named yet, they decided to roll with the all female theme, thus our name and livery." "Well, I have to say, it was a stroke of PR genius," Kingsley said. "If you think about it, it couldn't have worked out better. You are all young attractive women, presumably skilled pilots. Women will see you and see the RDF as an organization that's not afraid to let women represent them in a predominately male field. This will make them want to join. Men will, no offense, see a group of extremely attractive women and want to join for the chance to serve with you. We're stupid like that." Ranma smirked. "Yeah, I figured as much," Ranma said. "And once they're in, it's too late when they start getting their fragile little egos crushed by us girls out flying them." "Exactly," Kingsley said with his own grin. "Well, tomorrow, then we'll see what we have to work with and then start working on a routine for Rose." (oO\O/Oo) Special thanks to JohnnyG for assisting in weeding out some remaining errors. 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
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