Thanks for the comments - and yes, subtle criticism ahoy. I am, afterall, Malaysian.
With this series, I'm needing a good name overall, and I plan to do small story arcs - 1 or 2-shots - so as to not burn out too much
Fortunate Son is a theme of sorts with Ray, though it doesn't really fit IMO with this first story - Brothers in Adversity, perhaps, would be a better title.
There are a few things I want to focus on: 1) fighting BETA is hard, 2) fighting BETA is motherfucking hard when you don't have spare TSFs, 3) Lipan is a lucky squadron, in that they take occasional losses but remain combat-effective. Unlike the Thai or Indonesian squadrons, or even other Malaysian squadrons, who deploy and get wipe out en masse, the largest number of casualties Lipan has suffered in a single mission is... two. And even then, one of the Hornets was salvageable.
I intend for a running gag of Lipan (Hornet) being confused for Lipas (Cockroach), on account of how the core team never seem to die.