An incomplete sequel to Strikers 89, itself a spinoff of 'planefags' successful Strike Witches Quest, and set 27 years after the events of Strikers 89. As with Strikers 89, Strikers 2016 features similar themes to SWQ, but with a larger number of Ace Combat references and with much less of the inherent insanity.
You are Lieutenant Morgan Laroux-Bishop, only son of legendary pilot Frank Bishop, and newest pilot in the United States Navy's Wyvern program. After going through the selection process for your Systems Information Officer, you're sent on what's colloquially known as a deck tour. After arriving at your first destination, you provide top cover for a CSAR mission to rescue a downed Tomcat crew in Iraq, shoot down a bunch of cloaked witches, and get sent along on your deck tour.
Following a brief stop aboard the George H.W. Bush and intercepting a Soviet Tu-95, you're pulled back to the States and sent off to liaison flights aboard IJN carriers as tensions in the South China Sea reach a boiling point - only for war to break out, putting the next generation of the Bishop legacy once more on the front lines.
The archived threads can be read here
, while active threads can be found on the /qst/ board.
This show provides examples of:
- Ace Pilot: Morgan becomes one on their first sortie after arriving aboard the IJN Kaga. Morgan's Wingman, Captain Wendy Maloney, is already an ace by the time the story starts (due to having flown on Frank Bishop's wing 27 years prior in Strikers 89), but demonstrates that her skills haven't blunted at all in the same sortie.
- Airborne Aircraft Carrier: The Chinese have deployed an unmanned drone carrier based on the final boss of Strikers 89. Other than that, Frank's performance against the Poltava (the Soviet Aigaion knockoff) in Strikers 89 has effectively killed the trope, in-universe.
- And Now for Someone Completely Different: Much like with Strikers 89, the POV has occasionally followed characters other than Morgan:
- Tiny Morgan Adventures follows a much younger Morgan, meeting his father and extended family for the first time.
- There have also been instances where portions of the thread are following a different POV - thus far, RADM Samantha "Merlin" Wells (the RIO for Frank Bishop from Strikers 89), Captain Wendy Maloney, and Natalya Bishop (a former Soviet superwitch, later adopted by Frank post-war) have all had their time as POV characters.
- Attack Drone: Beginning to be deployed by the Chinese in an effort to counter the US's Wyverns.
- Badass Crew: Wyvern Combat Teams are this by default, due to the design parameters of the Wyvern. WCT Muninn (all Wyvern teams are named after the aircraft/its AI, to simplify naming schemes) is even moreso, due to Morgan and Kyou's skill.
- Big Damn Heroes: Morgan's first combat sortie has them and their SIO, Kyou, flying top-cover for a CSAR mission, rescuing the pilot and RIO of a F-14E Tomcat that got shot down over Iraq. Later on, they also provide top-cover and close air support for retreating KDF and IJA forces in Seoul and Chuncheon.
- Bottomless Magazines: Averted, although the use of a Hyperspace Arsenal VLS combined with internal payload bays and optional wing pylons means that Wyverns can carry levels of ordnance closer to what would be expected for Ace Combat protagonists.
- Even with this level of firepower, Muninn's run out of missiles at least once in the story thus far, bringing down a Chinese drone carrier.
- Cool Plane: The XF-02D Wyvern serves as Morgan's aircraft - derived from the XF-02B used by Frank in Strikers 89, the -02D features MIU hardware (derived from the WW3-era VDNI tech), an onboard AI, and all around improvements to sensors, armament, and maneuverability.
- Additionally, the F-22B King Raptor (an upgraded F-22A with IRST and EOTS hardware from the F-35), the F-35 Lightning II, Su-57 Felon (in particular, a heavily westernized version operated by the UNEDF), and the CFA-44 Nosferatu/"Fandance", as well as a number of PLAAF fighters.
- Cool Ship: Two Nimitz-class aircraft carriers, the USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN-71) and USS George H.W. Bush (CVN-77), make relatively brief appearances as WCT Muninn's home base.
- More prominently featured is the IJN Kaga, one of the IJN's Asuka II-class aircraft carriers - and one of the only nuclear powered supercarrier classes not operated by the United States Navy.
- Deflector Shields: Witches can generate them. Because Wyverns always have a witch as the Systems Information Officer, Wyverns are also capable of generating them. Morgan's SIO, Kyou, is notable for generating one able to tank shots from some of the largest guns in the setting.
- The Dreaded: Brigitte "Nyx" Laroux still holds this reputation amongst those familiar with her days in SOCOM. Morgan and his crew are quickly developing this reputation amongst the Chinese and their allies due to their combat capabilities.
- Dude, Where's My Respect?: Averted - because Wyvern teams are often assigned the most difficult and dangerous assignments, they're treated with a great deal of respect.
- Fighter-Launching Sequence: Occasionally seen at the start of a mission, usually when Morgan and their crew are planning their strategy going into a mission.
- Girl In Back: Sho-sa Kyou, one of the Imperial Princesses of Japan, serves this role for Morgan as his Systems Information Officer - in addition to fulfilling the same sort of role as a Radar Intercept Officer on other aircraft, she also provides magical power for Muninn's systems.
- Improbable Aiming Skills: Much like how Merlin was able to boost Frank's missiles in Strikers 89, Kyou is able to boost Morgan's missiles to achieve hit ratios well above normal for conventional aircraft.
- Improbable Piloting Skills: Morgan, although unlike Frank (who relied heavily on his talent as a gnome), Morgan is benefiting from 27 years of Merlin innovating on what was already bleeding edge technology, as well as having a super-witch for a SIO.
- In Spite of a Nail: Less prevalent than in Strikers 89, there are still notable instances of this - for example, the US is engaged in strikes against Islamic terrorists in Iraq calling themselves ISIS, there are ongoing territorial disputes in the South China Sea, and the Su-57, J-20, and FC-31 were still developed.
- Luminescent Blush: Wendy and Merlin are both known for this, although they've not yet managed anything on the level of Ice triggering the Wyvern's thermal sensors (yet).
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: While Morgan doesn't seem to have inherited Frank's piloting talent, there are signs that Morgan's abilities in the kitchen - and especially his ability to prepare herbal teas and ointments - is, in fact, a result of a gnome talent.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: Kyou and Morgan respectively.
- Reporting Names: Used occasionally, with the most commonly used being Fandance.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Morgan's SIO, Princess Kyou (daughter of the current Japanese Emperor's heir).
- Shipper on Deck: Played with - Kyou is more than happy to encourage Wendy to join her and Morgan, and has been doing her best to slowly pull Merlin into the group as well.
- Shout-Out:
- There are references to both the Chandelier installation, as well as a new pair of partial Stonehenge installations in North America (one in South Dakota, and another in Arkansas) - the latter two built specifically to cover the defensive gap caused by the Chandelier's minimum range mentioned in Strikers 89.
- The Chinese deploy an unmanned airborne drone carrier, ala the Arsenal Bird. Which is also a reference to the ending of Strikers 89 (due to being built on a modified version of the "Stalin's Shield" airframe).
- While not mentioned in the quest itself, mention is made in the threads about the European Union working on the ADF-01 Falken as their answer to the CFA-44 Nosferatu/Fandance, XF-02D Wyvern, and XF-19.
- Super Prototype: While the XF-02D in general isn't really a prototype, Morgan's Wyvern has wound up being Merlin's go-to flight test aircraft - and seeing as Merlin is a near-unparalleled genius, this puts Muninn squarely into this category.
- Wing-Woman: While Morgan didn't have one starting out (due to Wyvern Combat Teams generally operating as single-ship units), they flew alongside Captain Summer Spears over Iraq, and later gained a more permanent wing-woman in Captain Wendy Maloney, who operates a Valkyrie "variable striker" that allows her to more easily keep pace with a Wyvern in combat.
