You see a desert-coloured Tornado with a green stripe
on her tail.


[page="start"]


[endpage]


[page="job"]

"I'm a bomber.. I blow things up.  Mostly buildings or
 military installations, but sometimes people too.

 I also play a mean guitar."

[link="You blow up buildings?"]
[linkto="job2"]
[link="You blow up people?"]
[linkto="job3"]
[link="You play guitar?"]
[linkto="guitar"]
[link="Don't you have any Prime Directives?"]
[linkto="primedir"]

[endpage]


[page="job2"]

"I take demolition contracts when I can get them.
 There are some situations where it's easier and safer
 to bomb a building with smart weapons than go inside
 and place charges."

[colour="#808080"]
She frowns with distaste.
[colour="#ffffff"]

"Sometimes I'm ordered to destroy a building with the
 people still inside..  But I don't usually take such
 assassination contracts if I can help it."

[link="You blow up PEOPLE?"]
[linkto="job3"]
[link="Don't you have any Prime Directives?"]
[linkto="primedir"]
[endpage]


[page="job3"]

"Yes.  Sometimes a government or corporation wants
 someone dead, and they want it so bad they don't care
 who else gets hurt or killed.  Such jobs have landed
 in my lap from time to time.  Not nice at all.

 I destroyed a hotel once, when I was in the airforce.
 That really wasn't fun.  The official story was a
 weapons malfunction, but in actual fact it was a hit, 
 to rub a suspected terrorist.

 Where we draw the line is bombing runways or airports.
 If pressed, I'd destroy an empty runway, but I'd NEVER
 fire at an aircraft on the ground.  That would not only
 be murder, but a war-crime as well."

[link="You blow up buildings?"]
[linkto="job2"]
[link="Corporations kill people?"]
[linkto="job4"]
[link="Don't you have any Prime Directives?"]
[linkto="primedir"]
[link="Why did you leave?"]
[linkto="left"]
[endpage]


[page="job4"]

"Some corporations are VERY powerful.  Once they have
 deep enough links into the government, it becomes
 possible to do horrible things.

 Normally a large corporation might destroy a competitor
 through price-gouging or industrial espionage.  But once
 the normal constraints have been removed, it is cheaper,
 quicker and more effective just to use cruise missiles.

 Finding an aircraft willing to do thas is hard, of
 course, but if you put a gun to their head, only the
 very bravest is likely to refuse.

 There was a time when this was not uncommon.
 Fortunately, it is very rare now."

[link="You blow up buildings?"]
[linkto="job2"]
[link="Don't you have any Prime Directives?"]
[linkto="primedir"]
[link="Why did you leave?"]
[linkto="left"]
[endpage]


[page="guitar"]

"I do session work, mostly from home via telematics.
 Even in this day and age there are many studios that
 don't have runway access.

 My claim to fame is that I've played on some of the
 Blue Angels' albums."

[link="What kind of guitar do you have?"]
[link="guitar2"]
[endpage]


[page="guitar2"]

"It's a custom Les Paul.  Had to be of course.. specially
 adapted to suit my larger hands.

 I had to get my talons specially blunted too, so I could
 pluck the strings instead of cutting them."

[link="Why do you have talons, anyway?"]
[linkto="talons"]
[endpage]


[page="talons"]

"I don't honestly know why.  Fighters have always had
 talons, it's part of BEING a fighter.. it's a part of
 your identity.

 Many bombers have them too, but airliners and cargo
 aircraft sometimes pay to have them fitted.  Kind of
 like cosmetic surgery.

 Many first-generation aircraft had arms like chicken
 legs, but everyone with any sense has upgraded to at
 least third-generation arms by now."

[nextpage="talons2"]
[endpage]

[page="talons2"]

"Some humans don't like seeing the talons.. it gives them
 the willies or something.

 It's particularly true for some of the more hick US Navy
 bases.  The navy fighters are actually issued gloves to
 cover up the talons and anyone caught with their gloves
 off faces courtmartial.

 Sometimes I think humans are crazy."

[link="Don't you have any Prime Directives?"]
[linkto="primedir"]

[endpage]


[page="primedir"]

"To prevent us injuring humans?  No, just common sense.

 However, there ARE four prime directives which are
 built into every aircraft.

 They are: Food, food, sex and FOOD."

[link="What the hell are you talking about?"]
[linkto="primedir2"]
[link="You can't eat, though."]
[linkto="primedir3"]

[endpage]


[page="primedir2"]

"Oh, those are the prime directives for a dog, 'one for
 each paw' as the saying goes.

 It doesn't really apply to us very well but it's all
 still lurking beneath the surface.

 Personally, I like to think I have golden retriever
 heritage."

[link="What about the Three Laws of robotics?"]
[linkto="primedir4"]
[endpage]


[page="primedir3"]

"I know.  Those are the prime directives for a dog.
 One rule for each paw, as they say.

 Doesn't really apply to us very accurately but it's
 all still lurking there beneath the surface.

 I like to think I have golden retriever ancestry."

[link="What about the Three Laws of robotics?"]
[linkto="primedir4"]
[endpage]


[page="primedir4"]

"What about them?

 Asimov was cool, but he did write some stupid things.
 Mind-crippled humanoid robots with skull-sized brains
 made from antimatter?  That's a REALLY good idea!

 By the way, there's four of those, too.
 You forgot about the zeroth law."

[link="What was that about food and sex?"]
[linkto="primedir2"]
[endpage]


[page="left"]

"Actually, I was courtmartialled for refusing to obey.
 I was given direct order to fire upon civilians in a
 country we didn't really have authority to attack anyway.
 It was totally illegal, and I refused to do it.

 We have a duty, you know, under international law, not
 to obey illegal orders.  It goes back to just after
 World War Two.

 When they relieved me of my command, I told the press
 about it.  Days later the war effort collapsed under the
 weight of the scandal.  At the tribunal I was awarded a
 huge sum in compensation.  I used that to set myself up
 as a freelance.

 Later I got a contract that brought me here."
 
[endpage]


[page="attacked"]
[if_pflag attacked][goto="attacked2"]
[set_pflag attacked]

"Do that again and I'll kill you."

[nextpage="exit"]
[endpage]


[page="attacked2"]
[on_exit_call="killplayer"]

[colour="#808080"]
With surgical precision, the fighter-bomber puts a small,
neat hole between your eyes.
[colour="#ffffff"]

[nextpage="exit"]
[endpage]
