Sorry for the long wait! It's been a hell of a semester. However, I promised y'all I wouldn't wait a year to update this story again so here's your next chapter!

Chapter Quote:
"I cannot compromise my respect for your love. You can keep your love, I will keep my respect."
~Amit Kalantri
________________________________________________

Chapter 8: Bastion

Elizabeth

I got up at eight-thirty and got dressed, making sure I had enough time to do my hair and makeup before Chopper got here. Even though I couldn't date him, I still wanted to look good in front of him. He was always flirting with me but I think it was more his personality than anything else. I don't think he was actually interested in me. Besides, military or not, Genette was still really strong and intimidating and he was the last person you wanted to deal with if anyone hurt me. Despite our differences, we were extremely protective of each other.

When I entered the kitchen, Genette said, "Have a hot date or something? It's only Alvin."

"Oh please, I always do my hair and makeup like this when I'm seeing someone outside of family. You know that," I retorted.

"Actually, I forgot to tell you. I have another guest coming over. About the same time as Chopper. Hope y'all don't mind," Jason said.

"Not at all. I want to meet more of your friends, especially your military friends. I'd call them buddies but you only had one of them," I laughed.

My uncle grinned. "One day you just might. Come on, let's go eat breakfast."

We drove to IHOP, otherwise known as the 'International House of Pancakes.' I got the red velvet pancakes. Genette got chocolate chip. Jason ordered an omelet that I swear to god was bigger than his head. When we were done, we stopped by McDonald's for a McFlurry (you're never too old for one of those) and then headed back to the house. We'd barely been there for five minutes before the doorbell rang. Genette and I ran for the door, but my brother beat me to it only because he kept pushing me out of the way. Upon opening the door, it wasn't just Chopper, but my best friend too.

"Nagase!" I exclaimed, rushing to hug my friend.

"Blaze!" Nagase returned with just as much enthusiasm. I hugged my best friend, asking her how she'd been and what on earth she was doing down here. She explained she was driving down to see her aunt but her parents had allowed her to spend a day here since they knew I was here and that Nagase wanted to see me.

"What am I? Chopped liver?" Chopper demanded. I pulled away from Nagase and hugged him.

"Nah you're more than chopped liver to me. You're more like... chopped onions."

"What?!"

"You make me cry," I said, adding, "From laughing."

"Oh thank god."

"Come on, let's head inside. It's hot out here," Jason suggested. The five of us went back inside. We plopped on the couch.

"So what have y'all been doing this summer?" I asked. Nagase and I had taken over the big couch, forcing Chopper and Genette onto the love seat.

"I've been helping my dad do repairs around the house. We're travelling down here for vacation since it's my last year of freedom before I'm shipped off. What about you three?" Chopper replied.

"I'm travelling down to Argen to see my aunt. Otherwise, I've been doing a lot of studying. I'm so worried about this upcoming year," Nagase groaned.

"It's only sophomore year. Chill."

"Sophomore year was terrible in high school for us. We're just worried it's going to repeat itself," I explained.

"See, it was junior year for me," Chopper remarked.

"I think mine was freshman," Genette added.

"What do y'all want to do today?" I inquired. "Genette and I just ate breakfast so we're kind of full but we can go to the beach, we can go shopping."

"I'd say let's go to the beach but I don't have a bathing suit," Nagase admitted. "I forgot to bring one."

"You can borrow one of mine," I offered.

"Why do girls bring multiple bathing suits?" Genette asked.

"Because I like to have options. Come on, let's go get changed. Chopper, if Genette doesn't have an extra pair of swim trunks, ask Jason. He might have a pair." Nagase and I entered my room. Shutting the door, I said, "Okay, which one do you want?"

I pulled out three bikinis, a white one, a champagne colored one, and a pink one. Nagase went for the white one. She went into my bathroom while I changed in my room. She came out a few minutes later, throwing on her shorts and shirt over her bathing suit.

"So have you been watching that documentary on the Demon Lord?" Nagase questioned as I packed my bag for the beach.

"Of course. It's so interesting, not to mention what an incredible journey he went on."

"Cipher. It's quite a nickname. I mean 'cipher' means to code something or a secret way of writing. Ironic considering Cipher the pilot is a complete secret. I mean no one knows who or where he is now!"

"Not to mention 'cipher' also means a zero or the figure zero, and we have zero information about the guy himself. Makes you wonder how he's pulling it off."

"Very carefully I'd assume. Hey Blaze?"

"Hmm?"

"When do you think the next big war is going to be?"

I turned around to face my friend. "What made you ask that?"

"I don't know... I was doing some history reading and I noticed a pattern in Osea's history with wars. They all start fifteen years between each other, give or take a few. So if that pattern continues, that means we'll be entering a war in roughly five years. I'm just... I love being in the Air Force but now I'm wondering if I would have the ability to shoot someone down."

"If that's the case, then I think you might be in the business. Look, if this so called war happens, then we don't need to worry about the bases we're stationed at sending us up because we're nuggets. They're going to send their most skilled up first and us later. Don't worry about it until it comes, okay? Now come on, let's go!"

Nagase and I went into the living room where the boys were impatiently waiting for us. We hopped into Jason's car. He was ever so trusting of us and let Genette borrow it to get to the beach.

"You bring a football?" Chopper asked.

"Of course. What would a beach outing be without one?" Genette countered.

"A time for relaxation and tanning?" I suggested.

"What's the fun in that?" Chopper said.

"Hey, we're not going to be able to relax much if at all once we're stationed. I plan to take full advantage of my summer off."

"Supposedly the Thunderbirds are giving an air show in a couple days. They're meant to be practicing today," Nagase chimed in.

"Maybe we'll get to see them," Genette said as he pulled into a parking spot at the beach. One of the perks about my uncle's house was that it was less than a five minute drive to the beach. As we got out of the car, a crowd was forming on the beach and pointing off to the distance. I squinted my eyes to figure out what they were watching.

"What is it?" Chopper queried, coming to stand next to me.

"I don't know. I can't tell. The sun's too-"

"The Thunderbirds. It's got to be them!"

Sure enough, a few seconds later, I could see the definite outline of fighter jets, seven to be exact. Genette threw a towel on the top of the car and stood up on it to get a better view. Nagase, Chopper, and I followed. The jets roared overhead. People started cheering as we watched them begin their routine. I was amazed by how close together they flew together, how they could coordinate so well.

"You know, I'm impressed and all, but I really hope I don't have to do any shows when I'm a pilot, like ceremonial or anything," Chopper said.

"Why's that?" Nagase inquired.

"I don't know. I mean typically if there's a ceremonial flight, it's that one squadron in the air with no back up and if someone decided to attack, the ceremonial flight team would be all alone."

"But who would attack a ceremonial flight team?"

"Maybe if the enemy was desperate to hurt us?"

"Have you thought about this or something?" I asked.

"No, I actually just thought about it."

"You thought about something other than girls?" Genette placed a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You feeling okay man?"

"Shut up," Chopper laughed, hitting my brother's hand off.

The Thunderbirds continued for another twenty minutes before finishing their act. We hopped off the car and headed down to the beach. We went a few ways down to get away from all the tourists, mostly their loud kids. Chopper and Genette went down towards the ocean and threw around the football. Nagase cracked open a book. I put on my headphone, turned on my iPod, and fell asleep.
________________________________________________  

Jason

At dinner, Elizabeth, Genette, Chopper, and Nagase teased each other endlessly about things that had happened that day. Genette had had his swimming trunks pulled off by a wave and he didn't notice until he jumped out of the water to catch the football. Elizabeth had been walking and talking and ran into a bus's side view mirror (at least the bus was stationary). Nagase had bought an ice cream cone but the ice cream fell off before she could take her fist lick (the owner of the ice cream cart gave her a new one for free). Chopper got the most flack though. Elizabeth and Nagase needed to make a run to the store in the middle of their beach outing. My niece had asked Genette for money since she'd forgotten her wallet. When he told her no, Chopper apparently gave her fifty dollars when she only needed ten. Chopper protested that it was in case she needed gas for the car or if there was something else she wanted to buy but I didn't believe his story. But by the looks of it, the rest of them did so I said nothing.

Elizabeth's cheerful mood instantly dissipated the moment Nagase and Chopper left. At first I thought it was because she was upset her friends had gone but that was far from it. When she asked me where the aloe was, I knew immediately she'd gotten sunburned.

"How bad?" I asked, handing it to her.

"You can feel the heat of it through my jacket. I'm cold. I'm tired. I'm- OW!" Elizabeth yelped. Genette had clapped his hand on his sister's back, not knowing about our conversation.

"I didn't hurt you that hard," he said.

"No, but you hit my sunburn," she retorted, taking off her jacket. Genette cringed when he saw her back. I peered around to see as well. My niece's back was quite literally the same color as a tomato.

"Did you forget to put sunscreen on your back or something?" my nephew inquired.

"No, I just forgot to reapply it."

"Considering you're so tired, I'm going to assume you're not up to listening to another story," I mused.

"I never said that," Elizabeth said immediately. "I'm always up for a Demon Lord story."

I grinned. "Then when you're done putting on the aloe, meet me in the living room."

I went to the recliner, waiting for my niece and nephew to show up. It took them less than thirty seconds. Elizabeth took her place on one end of the couch, Genette on the other.

"Okay, so last time we left off... where?" I queried.

"Operation Constantine," Elizabeth replied.

"You had just liberated Directus," Genette added.

"Right, right. All right, next mission. It was a sunny day..."
________________________________________________  

May 17, 1995...

The last time I'd seen Janie, she'd been storming off to go see her father. That had been five days ago. I hadn't received word of what had happened but when I finally did see her, she didn't look at me or speak to me. I asked her what happened, where she'd been, but she gave me a very short answer that after her talk with her father, she'd been busy. Her father had said something to her that made her refuse to speak to me. I was pissed off about it, not at her but at him. I intended to find out what had really happened. She speak to Pixy though, but wouldn't tell him why she wouldn't speak to me. It was confusing.

Before I could think any more on the matter, the lights dimmed and the briefing screen came on. Hammerhead took his position and began. "Intelligence reports that Belka is developing nuclear arms and V2, a weapon of mass destruction. The Allied Forces' top brass have decided to send troops across the Hydrian Line into Belka to check for nuclear arms and secure resource interests. Centered on the ruined base of Glatisant, the Hydrian Line, Belka's long line of defense, stretches 700 kilometers from Osea's border to the border of Sapin. Situated at the peak of Mt. Ivrea, the ruins of Glatisant have been transformed into a modern base with antiaircraft artillery and a powerful defense system. The Galm Team's mission is to launch an aerial strike on Glatisant, opening the door to Belka for our ground troops. In all probability, this will be an extended operation. You will be able to refuel during the latter half of the mission. If you're low on fuel, temporarily withdraw from the battle and return to base. Good luck."

Operation: Hell Bound

Location: Mt. Ivrea

Date: 17/05/1995

Time: 1620 hrs

Pixy and I got up from our seats, heading towards our planes. I had both our planes equipped with UGBLs. This mission mainly had ground targets. Besides, we'd have a lot of air support with us so Pixy and I could knock out the ground forces while our allies took on the enemy fighters.

"Hey Cipher," Pixy called out. I turned around. "You figure out what's going on with you and Janie?"

"No. I probably did something wrong," I replied, climbing into my plane."

"Why do you think you did something wrong?"

"Because the guy always does."

Pixy chuckled. "Even when we don't. Keep your head up. We have a mission to go on here and I need you focused."

"Don't worry, I separate my personal life from my work life."

"If you say so." Pixy walked off. I put on my helmet and checked to make sure everything on my plane was okay before I pulled out on the runway. Within a minute I was up in the air, heading towards Glatisant with Pixy on my six.

When we arrived at our destination, the sky was a dark, nasty looking gray. I figured it would start snowing at some point in the mission. The weather was enough to demotivate me from doing this mission. Add a massive, armed fortress that was bigger than anything anyone here had probably seen, well, you could say I wasn't looking forward to this.

"'Nuclear inspection,' huh... what a joke," Pixy remarked.

"We have our orders Pixy. All we can do is listen to them right now. There's something bigger here, I agree, but it's still a threat that needs to be taken care of," I said.

"Who pissed in your cereal this morning?"

"A couple people," I retorted. "Pull up alongside me. We're nearly on top of our first target."

Pixy's plane appeared next to me.

"Fire away at Glatisant. Your job this time to take out their defense mechanisms," AWACS informed. Right after he said that, an AA gun came into range. I fired my guns at it. It didn't take much to destroy it. Pixy pulled ahead to take care of another one. "A return line is located on the south side of the operation airspace. All planes can pass over this line whenever they need to resupply."

"Pixy, a SAM is locked onto you!" I warned. My wingman muttered something as he swerved away, looping around to come in for the kill, but I was already there. We flew side by side again, low to the ground to make it harder for enemy antiaircraft artillery to hit us. I fired my guns at a control tower while Pixy fired two missiles at an approach site.

"Ah hell," Pixy said. "Cipher, those approaches, make sure you get the missiles inside the suckers, or else it won't do anything. I'm making a loop to try again. Take care of the other one."

"On it." I flew up higher so that my plane was slightly above the approach. Once I locked on, I fired two missiles. At first I thought they didn't hit, but then I saw the target disappear in two locations. I smiled. That was nice that it took out two targets. It was like killing two birds with one stone.

"Took care of the approach. Onto the next. You almost done Pixy?" I asked.

"Hold your horses, I'm coming."

"Fly high and then dive down. Big castle with lots of antiaircraft artillery at our twelve o'clock."

Pixy whistled. "That's a lot of firepower."

"It's a lot, but we have more."

"Cocky considering the company we're in, and by company I mean all the enemies around us."

"And here I thought you were quoting Top Gun," I said, going vertical to get as much space between me and the ground as possible. "You're sure as hell no Viper."

"Then who exactly am I?" Pixy demanded indignantly.

"You're Ice Man. A cocky, flies ice cold, no mistakes. You wear your enemy down, make them get bored, frustrated, they do something stupid and you've got them."

"Nice repeat of Goose's description. So who are you?"

"Maverick. A cocky son of a bitch that has no regard for rules and flies to the beat of his own drum. Also likes to mess with Ice Man as much as he can. Also he can beat Ice Man's ass."

"Says who?"

"Says me and practically everyone else." I pointed my plane back down towards the ground, setting my sights on an AA gun.

"Well you and everyone else are stupid."

"Cipher has a point, Pixy," Hammerhead said. "About your roles I mean."

"I'm not sure what's more shocking: the fact that you're entering this conversation or the fact you sided with me," I laughed.

"It's a one-time thing. Iceman never has any problems until the end though. Maverick is always having problems."

"Are you saying I have problems?"

"Yes," Hammerhead said bluntly. Pixy chuckled.

I saw my wingman to my right. He announced to me he had his sights on the AA guns on the right side of the castle; I had my sights on the ones on the left.

"It's hell out here, above and below," a fellow pilot muttered.

"And back at base because Hammerhead agreed with Cipher over something," Pixy remarked.

Hammerhead groaned. "I'm not living that one down for a while."

I locked onto a target and fired a missile. I hurriedly switched targets and fired again. Two AA guns were destroyed. Pixy had done the same thing. The castle had been neutralized. I flew low to the ground, searching for my next target on radar.

"Just don't bite the dust," Hammerhead warned.

"Aw, that's cute. You're worried about me," I told him.

"He's looking out for the Base Commander's investment. That's all," Pixy said.

"And you said someone peed in my cereal this morning..."

"This is Area Gate! A fire's broken outside!" an unfamiliar voice announced.

"Who was that?" I asked.

"I think we're picking up enemy transmissions," Pixy answered.

"These guys really need their own line... Hey Pixy, northwest, we have some more targets. Let's hightail it over there."

"Sector A's been taken care of. Head for the other sectors," Hammerhead ordered.

"Way ahead of you AWACS." Pixy and I flew down into the valley, hurriedly approaching our next targets. We turned around a mountain to be greeted by heavy fire from an AA gun.

"Stay alert or you'll be shot full of holes," Pixy admonished.

"Take care of that sucker. I'm going to go on ahead and assess the situation." I floored the engines, shooting past the AA gun. I flew over a hill when suddenly my warning alarm went off. A SAM had locked onto me. I locked onto it in return, firing a missile at it and pulling up before the missile it fired at me could hit me.

Pixy had caught up to me. We headed towards more approaches, once again splitting up to take care of them. I whistled when I saw the monster we had to take down. The antiaircraft artillery was heavy and I had to hurry up to a high altitude before I could deem myself relatively safe from being shot down.

"Pixy, use your UGBLs. That'll take out the main targets here and then some. We need to get rid of at least half of that antiaircraft artillery before we can go down and be semi certain we won't get shot down."

"Someone's firing at us from that mountain," a comrade noted.

I hesitated briefly before saying, "Did you not hear what I just said?"

I didn't get a reply.

Pixy and I pulled our planes up vertically, reaching twenty-thousand feet before plummeting back down towards earth. I took on the control tower on the left, Pixy the one on the right. The moment we got missile lock, we fired two UGBLs.

As the two of us pulled up to repeat the process, Pixy said, "Looks like an ocean of bullets coming at us."

I glanced down at the ground to survey what our bombs had did. They'd severely damaged the control towers and actually destroyed a couple antiaircraft artillery in the surrounding area. Pixy and I went back down. Two more UGBLs seemed to do the trick. The control towers were destroyed and we could fly near the ground without worrying about being shot down.

"Pixy, take care of the eastern side. I'll take care of the west. Attack those pillboxes from the back. They can't attack you from there," I observed as I followed my own advice, flying low to the ground and firing two missiles at a pillbox that I knew had its sights on me. It got damaged but not destroyed so I floored it away from the thing, making a loop to come at it head on.

"They must hate our guts to put up something like this," a squad member noted.

"I think the Belkans just hate everyone at the moment," I said.

"Just stick with someone slick, and you should get through this without a scratch," an Ustian pilot declared.

"I call being with Galm!" one guy shouted.

"Oh no, I go with Galm! You owe me a favor Red Two," another one said.

"Boys, stay in your designated areas. Us slick guys will take care of you no matter where you are," I promised.

"How do you plan on that?" Pixy asked.

"By taking out these antiaircraft artillery. Get with the program Ice Man." I flew over the castle grounds, firing a missile at a SAM and an AA gun. Pixy flew perpendicularly above me, firing at another SAM. I flew over the edge of the mountain, setting my sights on a pillbox. I waited until I was nearly on top of it before firing. Every missile counted this mission and I wanted to avoid refueling and rearming for as long as possible. My allies needed me.

"Are we really supposed to keep up with Cipher and Pixy on this mission?" a pilot queried, almost sounding annoyed.

"Don't expect us to do the impossible," a guy laughed.

"You don't have to keep up with us, just the mission."

"Thank god you two aren't the mission."

"I wonder who'd be harder to shoot-"

"Don't start again Cipher. I will end you."

"But you've-"

"Cipher."

"Buddy."

"Cooperate with all areas and take out those planes!" A Glatisant soldier barked.

"You two can continue your couple's quarrel later. The enemy's about to fight back so get ready," Hammerhead warned.

"Haven't they been attacking us since we got here?" I pointed out, swerving my plane out of the path of a missile fired from a SAM. Pixy came up behind it and blew it up with gunfire.

"I won't let them pass the Glatisant! Keep the Allied Forces out!" a Glatisant soldier declared.

"Retreat! Retreat! We'll get caught up in the smoke!" A Belkan shouted frantically.

Well so much for not letting us pass...

Pixy and I headed southwest towards a new sector to take care of. It wasn't heavily armored but still there which meant it had something that was putting up a fight. My guess was with more antiaircraft artillery because that seemed to be the order of the day. Our allies were keeping the Belkan planes off our backs. I was surprised, actually, that there weren't more enemy planes in the air. Either Belka overestimated their ability or the planes up in the air were all they had. I didn't know which scenario was better for us.

"Looks like there's still some old ruins out here," a comrade noted as we approached the ramparts.

"Let's take care of it. After this, we'll rearm and refuel," I said.

"Sounds good. I'm getting low on missiles."

"Me too. Let's use our special weapons, get maximum damage right off the bat. Let's blow this thing."

Pixy had pulled ahead of me so he was the first to meet the gunfire of the enemy. He yelled 'pull up' repeatedly but I'd done that the moment I saw the first flash of bullets. I was low on special weapons so I had to make these shots count if I wanted a chance of destroying this thing before I had to refuel.

"This is close to my home town. I won't let the Allied Forces go any further," a Glatisant soldier growled.

"How do you think we feel when you invaded our homeland?!" an Ustian shouted back. My allies were filled with a rage that would only be sated once Belka was out of Ustio once and for all. I would only be sated once this war was over.

I pulled my plane up, going to about twenty thousand feet before heading down in a vertical dive. It was the same tactic I'd used earlier but it was fast, effective, and the strategy that was the least likely to get me shot down. I wasn't going to pull a Pixy and land with one wing on my plane.

"This'll be a springboard to nuclear inspections. We've gotta sink that fortress!" an ally remarked.

I'd used up all my special weapons taking out the antiaircraft defenses. I had to rely on missiles and gunfire for the rest. Thankfully it was only a few AA guns, SAMs, and a couple pillboxes, but I had to make every shot count if I was going to destroy this section before my weapons cache ran out.

Pixy had to resort to using his guns. He needed to rearm but refused to leave my side. Despite our bickering, I was grateful to have a wingman like him on my side.

"This is Area Castle! All functions are down! Most of our troops have fallen!" A Glatisant soldier shouted frantically.

"No more attacks are coming from Sector B," Hammerhead informed.

"Cipher, we got the last of them. I need to rearm Buddy. What about you?" Pixy asked.

"I'm desperately low. Hammerhead, Pixy and I are pulling out of the battle to rearm," I announced.

"All right, but hurry back. You're needed."

"It feels good to be loved," I mused.

"Janie not giving you any lovin' or something?" Pixy queried.

"Hell if I know. Wouldn't even look at me today. You know this."

"I thought maybe something had changed."

"Yes, between the time we were briefed to the time before we began the battle, we worked it all out and everything's fine."

"Okay, I'm going to need you to roll back the sass. A simple 'no' would've sufficed."

"Sarcasm seems to be the only way I get through to you. And by get through I mean shut up."

"Hey now."

"Galm One, Galm Two, you're close to the Return Lin. Maintain your current heading to return to base and resupply," Hammerhead announced. Within a few minutes, the landing strip came into view. Pixy and I landed, pulling onto the tarmac. Men swarmed my plane, restocking my missiles and bullets. After a quick overview of my plane to check for damage, I was given the go-ahead. Pixy was soon to follow. We tore down the runway, getting back to the warzone as fast as possible.

The moment we arrived, we were bombarded with requests for more air support. I chose the area that was in the most critical condition. That happened to be as far away from me as possible. Naturally.

"Looks like things are gonna get rough. Don't go nuts on me now," an ally said.

"Are you talking about me or Pixy?" I asked.

"Neither actually."

"Glad to know that I'm not the only one with a nutty wingman," Pixy mused.

"Actually, you're my wingman. I'm your captain," I corrected.

"Semantics."

"Important semantics."

"No, important semantics are ones that say you're crazy and I'm sane."

"A guy who lands with one wing is hardly someone I would call sane."

"I will-"

"I know, I know. You'll end me. Well if you don't get this bogey off my tail, you'll get your wish."

"Damn it Cipher..." my wingman muttered. I actually half expected him to just let this enemy plane get me but in a few seconds, a saw a fireball heading towards the ground. My wingman said, "Let your guard down for a second and you'll get shot to pieces."

"Aw, you do care about me."

"You're like a woman: can't live with you, can't live without you."

"I'm not sure if I'm offended or flattered."

"And I'm not telling you which one I meant."

I grinned to myself. As we headed towards our next big target, we came across sporadically placed antiaircraft artillery on the way. Mostly SAMs, but there were a few AA guns as well. They were easy to take care of. A missile here, a missile there, some gunfire...

"It doesn't look like the Allied Forces are planning to retreat," an enemy groaned.

"Maybe if you guys gave us more of a fight, we would," I mused, not realizing I'd done so out loud.

"Cipher, do not encourage them. They'll take your words as a challenge," Pixy warned.

"I think we've destroyed too much of them for them to make their challenge attempt successful." I sighed. "Geez, how far away is our next target? It's taking forever to get there."

"You just had to choose the farthest area from the Return Line."

"Excuse me for wanting to help out the people that needed it most."

"They've got a handle on it!"

"How do you know? You're not there, you're with me!"

"I'm more experienced than you!"

"Then why am I captain?"

"Because you're dating the Base Commander's daughter."

"Oh trust me, that's not the reason I'm captain."

"Well captain, your targets are almost in sight."

"What happened to the enemy? Where'd they disappear to?" an enemy demanded.

"Oh we're on our way, don't worry," I said.

"No matter how many we shoot down, they just keep coming! How many fighters did they send here?" an enemy wondered in exasperation. I wanted to reply that we had all the pilots from my base, Valais Air Force Base, along with about thirty other pilots from bases from nearby areas. But I decided against telling the enemy. It wasn't like the information would be of much help to them right now.

"They're firing indiscriminately!" a Belkan yelled.

"Who's firing on neutral targets?" I demanded angrily.

"Sorry, Buddy. I saw some fuel tanks. Thought it'd be best if we destroyed those," Pixy said.

"No. Do not fire on the neutral targets. If they can't fire at us, don't fire at them. Am I understood?"

"Yes, but I don't understand why you're so upset about me blowing up some fuel tanks."

"Because if our forces come into this area to capture it from the ground which they're probably going to do, we could use that fuel for ourselves. This is war. We need everything we can to survive it."

"Point taken. No more firing on neutral targets."

"Enemy attacks are too intense! There's no time to even pick a target!" an ally exclaimed.

"Hang in there and don't get shot down. Pixy and I are almost to your sector, about 27,000 feet away. We'll be there in a few seconds," I said.

"Enemy planes are coming at us!" the ally alerted us.

"Belkan fighters... Great. Perfect timing..." my wingman grumbled.

"Hey Buddy, can I trust you to take care of the fighters while I go on to help the allied squadron up ahead?"

"I'm offended. Really. Have I let you down before?"

"No, and you better not start now. Have fun with them." Pixy broke away and immediately swerved behind an enemy plane. I let him have them all. I knew he'd been itching for some air battles. I preferred the ground enemies this mission mainly because they were more important to destroy. The more parts of this fortress we demolished, the sooner we could get back to base.

My first target of the sector practically popped up in front of me. It was an ACC, or in other words, an Air Combat Command. Every military had one. This was one of the places that trained, equipped, and maintained combat-ready units that were able to be put up for rapid deployment abroad. This place also ensured strategic air defense of whatever country they served. Osea and Belka had over thirty ACCs, which for Osea seemed logical because it was such a big country. But Belka, who was maybe about a tenth of the size of Osea? It seemed a bit overkill. But hey, they had a great military for a reason.

I fired two missiles at the ACC when I was in range. They both hit but barely damaged it whatsoever. I was going to need to do a few more runs since I was on my own here. I began pulling into a loop to go for a second run when my missile alert went off.

"Missile! Break!" Hammerhead warned.

"Cipher, I'm gone for less than a minute and you're already knocking on Death's door. Do you have a death wish or something Buddy?" Pixy mused.

"Ah it's just a missile from a SAM. You're keeping those planes busy so I'm fine. Stop worrying about me honey."

"I'll try dear."

"There something you two want to tell everyone?" Hammerhead inquired.

"Yes. I've secretly been dating Pixy this entire time," I replied.

"Janie was a cover up for my true feelings," Pixy added. "Thank you for that sweetheart."

"I'm not sure what's funnier: your sarcasm or Janie's face right now," Hammerhead said

"Wait, she's there?!" I asked.

Our AWACs was laughing so hard he could barely get a sentence out. "No... she's not."

"When was the last time you slept and how much caffeine have you had?" Pixy inquired as he flew up beside me. I fired at a Harrier plane and so did he.

"I got three hours of sleep last night and I'm on my fifth cup of coffee."

"Aye yi yi..."

"Pixy, help me take down this ACC. We take that out and this mission will be over much sooner."

"How much do we have to blow up for this to end? It doesn't look like things will calm down any time soon," an ally remarked.

"Pixy and I are about to deal a lethal blow to the enemy. Just hang tight. This'll be over in a few," I encouraged as I swooped my plane back down to the ground, sending two missiles at the ACC again. Pixy followed in suit coming from the opposite direction. As I shot across the area, I fired bullets at another Harrier aircraft, destroying it within a few seconds. Pixy blew one up on my left. I circled around and destroyed the one next to the one Pixy had just destroyed.

"Pretty fast Cipher!" Pixy noted, sounding rather impressed.

"Not fast enough. You're still able to keep up with me!"

"You're good Buddy, but not that good."

"I'm offended. Go take care of that last Harrier."

I heard him snicker over the mic, followed by an announcement by Hammerhead: "Eighty percent of enemy forces are under our control. It's time to rock and roll! All planes, eliminate Glastisant!"

Changing my tactics, I aimed to take down two SAMs on the outskirts of the ACC. They were easy to get rid of as neither had seen me coming. By the time their radar had locked onto me, they were gone. I pulled into a loop, heading back towards the ACC. An AA gun was on the way. With some gunfire, it was easily taken care of. I lined up perfectly with the ACC once more, going in for another hit. Pixy was low on missiles again from taking care of surrounding enemy planes and he was saving them for anymore enemy planes and antiaircraft artillery while I handled the ACC itself. It wasn't that difficult flying low to the ground now since we'd destroyed most of the antiaircraft artillery but there were still a few scattered here and there.

I fired two more missiles at the ACC. This thing refused to go down much to my annoyance.

"Extensive damage in Sector Two!" a Belkan shouted.

"Oh, so that's what sector we're in. They all look the same to me," I observed.

"Then you should probably get your eyes checked," Pixy replied.

"My eyesight is just fine thank you very much. For example, you have two enemy planes behind you and you're doing jack crap to evade them."

"I knew they were there," Pixy lied.

"Sure you did Buddy. You go get rid of them. I think this Air Command Center is about to collapse." I turned my plane around and lined up with the ACC for what felt like the hundredth time. Taking a deep breath and praying this thing would finally be destroyed, I fired two missiles. I nearly hollered out with happiness when the target disappeared off the radar.

"Yo Hammerhead, how much longer until we can get out of here?" I asked, snapping my plane to the right to go after a Harrier plane taking off.

"Not much more. We're almost there! We're almost-"

"Shot down those two planes Buddy," Pixy interrupted.

Mission Accomplished

I heard cheers rise up over the mic as Hammerhead announced, "Glatisant's attack powers have been neutralized. All planes, return to base."

I rubbed my eyes, trying to get the sudden sleepiness out of them. I was high enough in altitude that I trusted myself not to crash into a mountain or anything. It also meant I wasn't paying attention to anything for a few seconds.

"Hmm..." I heard Pixy say. "Did something just flash?"

"I don't know, but my glorious eyesight is going to become inglorious if I don't get some sleep soon. Let's get back to base," I said. My wingman didn't pursue the strange flashing light any further. Hammerhead debriefed on the way thank god because I was not in the mood to sit and watch the debriefing.

"The operation was a success. Glatisant has fallen. The Allied Forces have broken through the Hydrian Line, bringing the battle to Belka. I must inform you, however, that while you were on your mission, we received a report that the squadron attacking from Ustio's broder was wiped out by a mysterious attack. We are currently investigating the incident," Hammerhead informed.

When we landed, I shuffled to my room. The moment my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light. It'd been a long day, a hard battle, and I'd been running on little sleep. I dreamt about kicking Belka's ass half the time; the other half was being home with my niece and nephew and telling them war stories which probably would've consisted mostly of the bantering between me and Pixy.

It felt like I'd only been asleep for about thirty minutes when I heard the emergency alarms going off. I groaned very dramatically as I rolled out of bed. It wasn't an air attack so I was wondering what the hell was actually going on. I stumbled out of my room right as Pixy ran up to me. He put a gun in my hand as he said, "Someone or someones have somehow gotten onto the base. They're armed and dangerous and already killed two guards. We need to find them but we need to be alert that they might shoot us first."

"That's comforting. Okay, if you were breaking into a base, where's the first place you'd go?" I asked.

"The hangar. Most likely I'm an infiltrator and need to escape."

"No, they could've done that without breaking into the base if they were an infiltrator. They want information. They probably need weapons too. Let's head to the armory first."

We headed down the hallway to the armory. Upon entering, we found it empty. I lowered my gun and said, "Looks like they're not here. What do you say we-"

"Cipher look out!" Pixy yelled. I ducked thinking it was the best idea. I kicked out at whoever was behind me. I heard a grunt. My gun got knocked out of my hand. I stood up, barely managing to lean out of the way when my attacker swung an ax at my head, narrowly avoiding decapitating me.

"Why do you have an ax?!" I heard myself demand. The moment the ax was past me, I lunged at the handle of it, wrestling it from the hands of the stranger. "Of all things you could've attacked me with, you attack me with an ax! Hey Pixy, I could use a hand here!"

"I have my own problems here Cipher!" Pixy grunted.

"At least yours didn't attack you with an ax!"

"No, he just attacked me with machete!"

"Where the hell did he get a machete?!"

"I don't care where they got the machete or the ax! They're trying to murder us here!"

With a Herculean tug, I managed to get the ax out of my attacker's hand. I swung it at the person, not actually thinking it would hit them until I heard a yell of pain.

"That's my arm bastard!" the guy snarled.

"An arm is better than a head," I retorted. I grabbed my gun off the floor. As I was doing so, the guy somehow found the strength to try and attack me. I don't know where he got the strength from. The guy was indestructible.

Until he met my girlfriend's fist. Janie stood next to me, looking extremely pissed. I held the gun at the guy's head, keeping him on the ground even though he was half unconscious now.

"Thanks for that," I said. Janie said nothing back.

I looked over at Pixy who had his attacker at gun point as well. Pixy glanced over at the doorway.

"Boss," he said. I looked over at the Base Commander who was armed and ready to shoot. He had a multitude of people behind him.

"Take these two into custody. Pixy, Cipher, what happened?" the Base Commander demanded. Pixy and I gave a brief description of what had taken place. Someone took note of our story while we talked. Once we were done, the Base Commander left. Pixy hightailed it out of the room, knowing that something was about to happen between me and Janie. I turned to my girlfriend who was already trying to escape without me noticing.

"Janie!" I called out. She ignored me. I ran after her, placing myself in front of her. "What's going on? Why aren't you talking to me? What did I do?"

"You lied to me," she replied. "And you know it."

"I don't know it. I don't know what I lied about."

"You have a wife and two children. Yet here you are, dating me and kissing me and acting like nothing's out of the ordinary and-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, I don't have a wife or children."

"Then who are Elizabeth and Genette? Who is Everly?"

"How do you know those names?" I asked in a quiet voice.

"So it is true!" she exclaimed, shoving past me.

"No, hang on," I said, grabbing her arm. "Yes, I know them. Yes, they're family. But you have it wrong."

"Oh really?"

"Everly is my older sister. Genette and Elizabeth are my nephew and niece. Now how did you find out about them?"

"My dad told me. Why did you never tell me about them?"

"Because I'm a defect from the Belkan Army and I'm a good pilot that they'd want back. They could use my family against me if they knew I was in contact with them. Why the hell did your dad tell you about them?"

"He was asking me if I actually knew you. Why didn't you talk to the Ustian Army about protecting your family if the Belkans did try to use them as blackmail?"

"Because they don't live in Ustio, they live in Osea, and not many people like listening to mercenaries, especially militaries. Why would your dad ask if you knew me?"

"He wanted to know how serious things were getting."

I sighed. "Your dad already tried to blackmail me into scaring you out of being a RIO and you know that. Your dad is trying to break us up because he's mad that I didn't accomplish what he wanted me to because he can't fire me because Pixy and I are the reason that the Ustian army is making such headway. The one thing he can do is break us up because he knows how much you mean to me. What I want to know is that if you knew your dad didn't like me or us together, why you would listen to him about my family and ignore me instead of confronting me about it right when you heard about it?"

"I was hurt! I thought you'd lied to me and not just lied, but that you were cheating on me and I felt like crap thinking I was dating a married man!"

"You know your dad doesn't approve of us though! You should've come straight to me to confront me instead of leaving me to wonder what the hell I'd done wrong! I get that he's your dad but you also need to realize that he's not just trying to break us up because he thinks he's protecting you. I was going to tell you about my family sooner or later. Pixy only found out a few days ago because he heard me mention them in my sleep. If he hadn't heard that, I probably wouldn't have even told him and he's like the brother I never had. But you know what, it doesn't matter whether or not I was going to tell you or not. Maybe breaking up is the best idea anyways. You obviously don't trust me like I thought you did andit's not exactly like the top brass approve of us dating."

"Cipher-"

"I need to go see what's going on with the intruders." I walked off, not giving her a chance to try and stop me. Pixy was waiting down the hallway for me.

"By the look on your face, I'm going to say that did not go well," he said.

"You'd be right."

He hesitated. "I know this wouldn't be like me to ask this but do you want to ta-"

"No. Drop it." And he did.
________________________________________________  

Present Day...

"Wait, so she actually believed her asshole of a father that you were lying to her about having a family?" Elizabeth asked.

"That would be correct," I replied.

"And her dad told her you had a family because he hated you?" Genette inquired.

"Pretty much."

"That's messed up," my niece said.

"Totally messed up," my nephew agreed.

"Did you ever find out where they got the ax from?"

"They snuck onto the base somehow and they decided an ax was the best way to go. Guess they couldn't get their hands on a gun. The guy I hit with the ax ended up losing his arm. There was too much damage done to it."

"Ouch."

"So who exactly were they?" Elizabeth asked.

"They were two men from A World With No Boundaries. We didn't know at the time why they'd come onto our base instead of finding another method to get out of Ustio. I figured that out later."

"They were coming to see Pixy, weren't they?"

I nodded. "Those two were the decoys though. We found out later a third had snuck into Pixy's room in the commotion and left him some information for A World With No Boundaries. I don't know when he joined the group but he was in it for sure at that point in time. I do believe he didn't know those two men were going to attack. I do think he was generally surprised by that."

"Do you know why he joined?" Genette queried.

"I do. And you will too. Just not yet. It's getting late. Why don't you two go to bed? We'll have a bunch of stories tomorrow. Deal?"

"Deal..." the two mumbled in defeat. They shuffled off to bed. I smiled at them but the moment they disappeared, that smile faded. We were almost halfway through the story and this had been the last mission where I could truly say it was my last 'easy' mission. In the upcoming missions, I was going to experience more than I ever bargained for, and a backstabbing that not only could've gotten me killed, but worse, made me lose my brother and my friend.
________________________________________________  

I hope you enjoyed! I promise I'll try and update faster! Reviews would be lovely :)