me feel better to immerse myself in it, smiling as I considered my choice of war: Korea, 1952.
That country’s why I’m not making money right now, after all.
Battle simulations were an early favorite of mine. In Standard Reality, my grandfather made his career in the Air Force. He retired after the Upper Indian Ocean Conflict, which everyone but politicians called a war, and moved back to Idaho when I was still a kid growing up there. I enjoyed hearing him talk about battles and became something of an enthusiast. I even considered joining the military myself, which made him happy. My grandfather was always a little disappointed that my dad hadn’t signed up for military service, and everyone knew that my brother had hated it, though he wasn’t exactly a volunteer.
Always the history buff, my grandpa would frequently mention older wars, too. Especially the second World War, which occurred in the 1940’s and involved most of the countries in the world. Even when I was younger, twentieth and twenty-first century battle recreations weren’t hard to find in Dynamic Reality. Playable combat scenarios, historical or fictional, were a hot item on many servers.
Softball ended early for an 1830 briefing – 1830 being a local time, used when the world was divided into time zones – and I sat in a crowded room with other pilots as our commanding officer gave us details on our targets, the expected weather, recent enemy movements, and so on. The whole thing became boring after the first few minutes, but I reminded myself that briefings were another part of combat that typically got abridged or left out, essential as they were in Standard Reality. I tried to focus, or at least I wanted to try, but my mind kept wandering and I even yawned loudly at one point. I knew that the simulated characters weren’t programmed to react, but found myself wondering what the CO would’ve done in a real briefing when a real soldier yawned. I brushed the thought away and began using a pencil to doodle on the back of the wooden chair in front of me. I even conjured a bag of flavored tortilla trips and began crunching away.
Three days and absolutely nothing to do.
The orders I knew I would be given were to fly my F-86 Sabre in formation into enemy territory, through an area known fondly as ‘MiG Alley,’ where engagements with the Soviet-built jets were common.
That country’s why I’m not making money right now, after all.
Battle simulations were an early favorite of mine. In Standard Reality, my grandfather made his career in the Air Force. He retired after the Upper Indian Ocean Conflict, which everyone but politicians called a war, and moved back to Idaho when I was still a kid growing up there. I enjoyed hearing him talk about battles and became something of an enthusiast. I even considered joining the military myself, which made him happy. My grandfather was always a little disappointed that my dad hadn’t signed up for military service, and everyone knew that my brother had hated it, though he wasn’t exactly a volunteer.
Always the history buff, my grandpa would frequently mention older wars, too. Especially the second World War, which occurred in the 1940’s and involved most of the countries in the world. Even when I was younger, twentieth and twenty-first century battle recreations weren’t hard to find in Dynamic Reality. Playable combat scenarios, historical or fictional, were a hot item on many servers.
Softball ended early for an 1830 briefing – 1830 being a local time, used when the world was divided into time zones – and I sat in a crowded room with other pilots as our commanding officer gave us details on our targets, the expected weather, recent enemy movements, and so on. The whole thing became boring after the first few minutes, but I reminded myself that briefings were another part of combat that typically got abridged or left out, essential as they were in Standard Reality. I tried to focus, or at least I wanted to try, but my mind kept wandering and I even yawned loudly at one point. I knew that the simulated characters weren’t programmed to react, but found myself wondering what the CO would’ve done in a real briefing when a real soldier yawned. I brushed the thought away and began using a pencil to doodle on the back of the wooden chair in front of me. I even conjured a bag of flavored tortilla trips and began crunching away.
Three days and absolutely nothing to do.
The orders I knew I would be given were to fly my F-86 Sabre in formation into enemy territory, through an area known fondly as ‘MiG Alley,’ where engagements with the Soviet-built jets were common.