"Chuui of the Spider Clan," she clarified.

"And yes, Matsu-san is an impressive sharpshooter. I look forward to the chance to talk with her more, as we only chatted a bit at the meet-and-greet yesterday." Where their conversation suddenly exploded in size of participants.

Yul's lips quirked, but then he shrugged. "I suppose doubling up on Unicorn pilots might be a bit impolitic, to a Spider. I wouldn't have minded meeting Matsu-san again myself, though."

He flashed Ishiyo a quick smile. "No, don't worry, we know what you mean. I mean, there's a reason why there's bars, and then there's pilots' bars. We all talk about the same sorts of things." Smirking, he raised his bubble tea. "Now, usually they serve something a bit harder than this, but we're making do."

He nodded to Ishiyo. "Try some of the cheesecake. It's good. Sweet, but very rich and filling." Maybe that could be her new nickname; Yul didn't quite voice the thought.

Ishiyo eyed the dessert for a moment before carefully cutting a small piece off and trying it. She looks deep in thought a for a moment, "...it tastes weird. Not bad. But weird." Much like the tea really.

"I assume the second pilot will provide copiloting on the way out...and a backup if something happens." The Crane winced at that...the implication that there would be injuries. "So...any good stories from you-eh touh's of duty?"

"Hmmm... let's see..." Yul said, sitting back in his seat. He squinted as he considered, trying to think of what might interest the fancy pilot.

"My first kill wasn't that exciting. To talk about, I mean; it was pretty exciting at the time. Snap-shot during a big dogfight." Yul angled his hands, turning them so one passed in front of the other, and then fell away as he waved his fingers. "I wasn't even sure I'd gotten it until after."

He stretched, putting his hands behind his head. "No, my best was a missile kill from outside lock range. My guns had jammed, but the sun was behind me, and there was enough debris in the area that I figured he wouldn't pick it up. I launched it, and then flew at him, straight and steady, so he wouldn't turn. It hit him just when he started to fire." Yul grinned. "That was a nervous second or two, but his aim wasn't as good as mine."

Hyeon-ju nodded to Ishiyo, confirming the thought behind having two pilots.

"That was an impressive shot," she grudgingly agreed and acknowledged her squad-mate's skill. "And your ass got lucky too that me and Beetle were right by to watch your six, since that's when you almost got picked off by a spook that was in your blindspot."

Ishiyo gets that eager cadet look as Yul talks about his long shot, "Amazing! Playing the opponent's expectations against him." An approving nod followed by her turning to Hyeon-ju.

"What about you Utaku-san? Do you have any kills that make for a good story?" Her eyes shone with expectation, after speaking to the Akodo earlier this was turning out to one of the best non-flying days ever.

"Hmmm..." she thought for a moment, which story to pick.

"This was last year for me; out on patrol because there were reports of some hostiles sighted in the area previously. We had an hour or two left of our shift out there, getting antsy and tired from being on high-alert, but as our radars ping with the hostiles showing up, it's high gear action."

She patted Yul on the shoulder as she spoke. "Since Cricket had my right wing, I could focus ahead, taking out one of them with a shot to their engines." Hyeon-ju could praise him when he did good, especially things like keeping the formation.

"As the aerial battles goes on, I see there's three tailing after Ladybug, trying to get a lock on him with their missiles. I know I am skilled enough for what needs to be done. I break off, align my ship to Ladybug's, and we do a weaving pattern." Her hands shift, each hand representing a ship as they swap positions with eachother in what must've looked like an aerial ballet. "It makes it harder for them to get a lock on him as I move in their line, and he moves into my line before they can lock on me, but we can't keep this on for long as they'll probably swap tactics soon themselves."

"So, Ladybug breaks off, and I got them chasing me now. I stay the course, dodging their fire while I can. I do a sweeping roll, and find a brief cover behind the fighter I set adrift earlier by shooting its engine. Though, it's at that time that the others have locked their missiles on them, as they were too busy with Ladybug and then me, to notice that Cricket and the others had prepared for them to snared in."

And that's why tactics and drilling forms was important!

-----

OOC: Me the player knows nothing about this kind of stuff, but tried to just steal some ideas from Macross. xD

"I gotta admit, it was a classic maneuver." Yul said, smiling wryly. "Gave them something to look at while the rest of us got into position. It was some good flying."

He gave her a look. "And it's also how I knew that when I stuck my neck out with that missile kill, someone would have my back. But hey. Whatever. Keep giving me trouble about it." He spread his hands. There was a tinge of frustration, but not more than that, as Yul smirked at Hyeon-ju.

Again the Crane was enthralled, after the Utaku's story she was grinning. "Thank you Utaku-san, Shinjo-san foh sharing you-eh stories." She glanced down and remembered her cup, taking a quick sip the Daidoji continued, "Sounds like you had a lot trust in you-eh squadron mates. And I assume a lot of time spent practicing group maneuvers."

"Trust in your squadmates is the foundation of any unit. Even more so than the machine and the kami keeping it together," Hyeon-ju spoke with a tone that made it clear that she had utmost faith and trust in hers, even if she and Cricket butted heads frequently.

"And yeah, like most warriors of any kind do, we spend a lot of time drilling, practicing formations and maneuvers. A well-trained unit will move without needing to communicate much - it will be instinct."

"Yeah." Yul agreed. "I thought it would be different once I got out of the academy. I mean, you all know the same moves, right? But you've gotta make sure that you all know each others' moves exactly how you all do them."

He smiled a little sheepishly. "I'll admit, that took a bit of practice for me." He warily eyed Hyeon-ju, hoping she wouldn't pounce on this admission.

Clearing his throat, Yul nodded to Ishiyo. "But that's the same as you do it, right?"

"Well yes and no." Ishiyo smiled, "My branch of space warfare has its origins in Lord Kakita's most ancient art. And its hard to explain...12 duelists acting, swooping, and fighting 12 different individual duels as the same body." The red returns to her cheeks, "I am sorry its hard to explain."

"Mm, that does sound difficult to explain," Hyeon-ju agreed. The Unicorn now, much like their predecessors, believed still in the superiority of well-coordinated units on the battlefield. Cavalry tactics hadn't exactly adapted well too space-faring and aerial battles, but there were still elements there left from old times.

"... Maybe if the ships were to combine into one fighter, like in some tv-shows I used to watch as a kid," the Utaku mused, her delivery somewhat deadpan, which made it hard to tell if she was joking or serious.

Yul snorted, giving Hyeon-ju a surprised look. "What? Seriously? Did you ever watch Droid of Seven Thunders?" In which one fighter from each clan turned into a giant robot to battle evil. Yul made a face. "I think I might actually like you all of a sudden."

Chuckling and shaking his head, Yul looked back at Ishiyo. "Doesn't that lead to tunnel vision, though? Twelve individual duels... I guess I don't get it either. Here." Yul quickly tore up his napkin, presenting Ishiyo with a number of paper balls. "Could you try to show us a formation, or something?"

"Mmm well most of ouh formations are fairly standard," Ishiyo arranges a few table top items into the all to familiar right echelon formation. "When we contact the enemy we usually break into a dogfight. I know many otheh flying schools teach the importance of long range missile combat...but the Kakita stress the aerial melee. And in its midst we choose targets, balancing our focus on one with the needs of being aware of everything going on. You have to know you-eh squadron's movements, ready to aide any of them if necessary and just as important to make sure you are not all concentrating on one enemy...leaving the rest of you-eh opponents free reign to do as they please."

Aerial melee sounded pretty... intense. Hyeon-ju much more preferred the cannons on her ship. And long-range missiles.

"Isn't is just more effective to... not break off individually?" was her first thought.

Ishiyo blinks, “Well I mean when you are in a melee like that, it naturally breaks down into individual plans fighting each otheh. With a mind to snap any opportunity as they occuh. As I said we use formations on the approach and due have missiles as well, but the dogfight is where the Kakita school excels.”

“At the start of the attack we are flying togetheh but as the enemy separates out we break off to engage individual targets. How can one keep in formation when the enemy is buzzing around you? I mean bomber pilots sure...they are basically just making a flying castle where theih defensive turrets have to cover the blind spots of the otheh ships. But we only have ouh forward guns.”

Yul sighed. "This is making me wish I had my fighter with me. I'd love to be able to really compare our stuff." He swallowed his disappointment with a big bite of cheesecake. "You want any more of this?"

Still thinking, Yul drummed his fingers on the table. "I wonder if we could find any simulators here? Like, good ones." He frowned. "They had some at the arcade, but I don't think they were really suitable to this sort of thing."

"Yeah... I think some simulations or actual fighters would've been good now to get some idea." She agreed. "Maybe the Phoenix have some they use for training their pilots, although... maybe not, considering it's not one of their strongest suits."

Maybe they'd get a chance to fight Crane pilots in the near future, judging by the political environment. Not that she would say that out loud.

"So... are you enjoying the miai so far, Peeps?"

"Outside of some arcade games?" Ishiyo chuckles, "And they are not all that realistic. A pity as well, I would have loved to test my skills against clan trained pilots."

She frowns at the mention of her callsign but recovers quickly enough, "Well enough, a few surprises. The otori were adorable."