[Sanjuro]

When the Scramble bell sounded Wolfe was asleep in the “Q” shed… 20 hours into his spell of QRA. There had been no call outs for the shrunken Lightning force for some weeks, and aside from one spell of cockpit readiness the afternoon before, the alert period had been a chance to finish some paperwork for his secondary duty as Housing Officer. This was the last paperwork he would ever do for that duty- some weeks later he wondered if it had ever been processed.
The corridor is the usual apparent chaos- ground crew rushing everywhere, but all in a pattern practiced many times. Wolfe joins the rush along the corridor- as the space widens into the HAS itself the mob seems to vanish as each member disperses to his post. The hangar door is already opening as Wolfe checks the ladder is attached and climbs to the cockpit.
Into the seat- he starts powering up the aircraft even as the fitter behind him secures his harness. Bonedome on- check intercom, radio and O2 coupling- double check all the ejector seat pins are in place- nod to the fitter, who slides down the ladder and pulls it away. Radio traffic comes through: “Spartan section, immediate launch, Runway 02 in use, wind 090/12, QFE 1011, clear immediate takeoff.”
Something unusual is happening- an immediate launch and takeoff clearance before he even starts the engines. To his left the flight lead is already taxying, so as soon as the first engine is running Wolfe waves off the ground crew and releases the brakes. Second engine running… all gyros uncaged and erect… O2 flowing… into the pre takeoff memory drills… the runway already… what is this, a Mineval? Lead already rolling… line up a little right of the centreline, smoothly up to full military power, the familiar push back into his seat, left hand on the thrust levers moving them both left to engage reheat.. through 170 knots, rotate, gear up, check the climb rate and accelerate.
“Spartan section go to button 8.” Wolfe turned the UHF channel selector to channel 8, heard Lead’s call “Spartan check in.”
“Two.”
Area controller’s voice… perhaps slightly less calm than usual? “Spartan section, heading 040 degrees, climb Flight Level 360, expedite. Confirm weapons hot.”
Weapons hot? He has never heard this before, except on the range… Master Arm confirmed On.
The radio sounds: “Lead.” Wolfe responds “Two.”
One minute into the flight and Spartan section is climbing through 30000 feet, accelerating through 450 knots IAS. Fuel flow is good, O2 flow ok, no warning lights… remember this aeroplane is as old as he is. Lead looks ok, the radio again… “Spartan Lead, heading 030 degrees. Spartan Two heading 060 degrees, contact button 9.”
What is going on? Splitting the flight on an intercept? He retunes the UHF, checks in on the new channel. “Spartan Two, this is Telescope, confirm load?” Today’s code for his weapons is Paraquat- two Redtop missiles and guns.
“Paraquat.”
“Spartan Two, traffic is range 250 miles in your twelve o’clock, believed to be Backfire at FL340. Engage and destroy.”
“Spartan Two confirm?”
“Spartan Two I say again, engage and destroy. Target now range 240 miles..”
From the rate the range is reducing, the target has to be supersonic. Head on- that is why they needed to confirm he has Redtop missiles. If he has to intercept head on at this speed, he will be right on the limits of supersonic intercept range- theoretically 155 miles radius, this looks slightly outside- worry about a tanker after the fight.
“Spartan Two, range now 100 miles, target in your twelve o’clock, Backfire. Target must not reach weapons release point- estimated 100 miles from the coast.”
“Roger.”
With a closing speed of nearly two thousand miles per hour, the window for Redtop launch will be miniscule… radar on, one strong return. Slave the missile seeker head to the radar blip. Range 25…20…15…10… now. The missile launches cleanly at about 8 miles. Just as Wolfe looks away from the radar, he sees the blip separate.
“Telescope, Spartan Two. Multiple bandits.”
“Spartan Two, Telescope, Roger. Engage.” By now he is already turning and climbing… initial jink left, then roll right, try to get visual contact on the second target. An explosion in his 3 o’clock, don’t look at it, the second Backfire a few miles south now, diving away. Pull… try and get the nose pointing at the target… don’t stall, if you flick at this height you’re perfectly safe but you’ll never catch him. Unload the wings- he’s below you. Six miles by the radar… too far for a tail shot. Nose down with full reheat… never gone this fast before… Mach 2.2, catching him nicely, 3 miles should be ok… oh hell, at this speed he is as fast as the missile, thrust levers back into military power, fire the missile, inside two miles… this time he has a good view as the Redtop explodes and the fragments cut the Backfire in half.
No chutes. He has just killed four men, more likely eight. An hour ago he was asleep. Twelve hours ago he was arranging new windows for some base housing.
Fuel state.
“Telescope, Spartan Two. Fox 2 on second bandit, I am now below bingo fuel. Do you have a tanker?”
“Spartan Two, Telescope. Tanker is range 40 miles, turning southwest, make your heading 220 degrees. Remain this frequency.”
The tanker is a Victor- it has followed him out to sea at Mach 0.9, in the knowledge he is unlikely to have enough fuel to make land. Today he takes 9500 pounds- close to his full fuel capacity of 10300.
“Spartan Two, Telescope. New traffic for you, unknown contact, make your heading 010 degrees. Descend FL 200.”
“Spartan Two wilco.”
“Spartan Two, be advised, Spartan Lead was on this bogey. No contact with Spartan Lead.”
“Roger.”
This time the chase is slower- he keeps the engines out of reheat as Telescope steers him into visual range. This bandit is a Bear-E; a Tu-95 maritime patrol aircraft. The hunt is not easy- his own 30mm cannon against the radar-guided 23mm cannon in the tail of the Bear. Did Lead forget about those guns? By flying closer than peacetime gunnery practice would ever allow, he eventually shoots off one wing.
No chutes again. How many does a Bear-E carry? The last time he saw a Bear-E, he had flown a peacetime intercept somewhere north of Shetland. He had waved at the crew, and they had held a copy of Playboy against their canopy.
He lands back at Binbrook. It is a surprise that it is still only 0730. The mission has taken only a little over an hour. There is another pair of Lightnings in the hardened shelters for QRA. Visually, it is just another day in the life of a NATO airfield in the Cold War. But today is not a Mineval.
In the meantime, he parks the aircraft and goes looking for breakfast.