Page 76 of Ranger's Rise

He nods. “Me too. We’ll need to watch the ratio with ground crews. Driver shouldn’t have questioned you, but he’s right. With the chopper, one Team for cover would have been enough. If they were in the city it would have played different, but in an open area with no civilians in harm’s way, the chopper could have easily cleared this.”

I nod. “We’ll talk about it and get it figured out. With trainees running, we’ll run at a lower cost, but it will still be too high if we have so much into ground Teams.”

“That would be decided by location and the threat?” Cort asks.

“Yeah, Boss. The chopper can’t move freely through a city like on an open highway. Buildings, towers, electric lines and wind backdrafts mean ground Teams would need to be doing the job. The chopper would provide cover. In open areas, the chopper should be working and ground Team is cover.”

He nods taking that in. “I want a couple of scenarios so I get this right. Can you do that tonight?”

“Written?” We have the simulator Web built.

“No, tell me or find a way to show me.”

I smile. “The simulator. Web even has some Ops for it.”

He nods. “Good. We’ll use that. Hold on.” He turns. “Jordan, get cleanup to clear the debris to the side. The HPD has a truck coming for it, but they need to release the highway.” He watches then turns back to us.“We need a Lead Control running Ops that understands everything. I should have had Officers running the Aerial Control Training before we sent a chopper out. I’ll fix that. For now, you and Brinks are with us until we get it right. Brinks, can you run Aerial?”

Brinks looks surprised. “Yeah, Boss, every position. I’m training them.”

I laugh. Cort smiles. “Lead Control for Aerial Ops.”

He’s embarrassed. “Oh. Yeah. I just need the stats on the guns and new choppers’ control panels.”

Now Cort looks lost. I try to clear that quick. He wants answers and hates not having information. “I’ll explain why in the simulator, but these choppers are older and have new pilot-controlled guns.”

He nods. “I saw that in your procedures but didn’t understand the significance. I’ll need all of that.”

“Me too. The chopper did more than I thought it could, but I don’t like learning that while running Ops,” VP says stepping closer.

I didn’t think about that. With me understanding what I do, I missed them in the position of seconds. “I’ll explain it better and work in the simulator to make sure you get it all. My position has always been Aerial Ops, but I never saw how it impacts the ground Leads, they were in the other Clubs and all military.”

Cort nods. “I saw where military makes a difference. I don’t have that experience, but I need to understand it. Major, Jordan and Maverick will talk to us at two. I need you both here for that. They’ll have questions and I’m not comfortable answering them.”

I nod. “I need to move a training flight to later, but I’ll be here.”

Brinks rogers him. Cort looks relieved. Shit. I need to do this better. He goes back to his screens and I watch the chopper’s feed thinking about what he needs.

The chopper sets down and I thank the Flight Crew and Lead, giving them a good job with the no injuries or casualties. Once that’s done, I thank Anton letting him know he did fucking awesome on his first Aerial Op. We bump fists and he moves to the center station.

I get Shultz to move Flight training for the As to four and go to Web’s station.

“Good fucking job, Brother. That was impressive. I got it for the simulator. It’s good to have your words and reactions in there.” He’s just like the As, his hands never stop on the keyboard.

“Thanks. I need to get the Officers up to speed on the way that all works. Can the simulator give every position the Flight Crews hold?”

He stops typing and turns to me. “Yeah. Just tell it the position you’re in for.”

“Just tell it. It talks?”

He laughs, then looks around. “Akai, can you show Ranger how to change the simulator’s positions?”

“Roger, Boss. When?”

Web looks at me. I need to see Freedom and my little buddies, but I need to know this too. “Now?”

Akai is on the side of me. “Roger, Boss. Web?”

“I’ll cover you. Thanks, Akai.”