I'm so, so sorry it's taken me as long as it has to get this chapter up. School, life, it's just prevented me from having the motivation to write for this story since it requires so much to do so. However, I'm back and I hope you enjoy :)

Chapter Quote:
"If I cannot move heaven, I will raise hell."
~Virgil
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Chapter 11: Mayhem

Cipher

"Uncle Jason, where are we going?" Elizabeth queried, peering out the window. We'd been driving for about thirty minutes to our destination by now and honestly, I was surprised she'd waited that long to ask.

"You'll see in a moment," I promised, pulling into a busy, gravel parking lot. There were hardly any spaces available, and if there were, people stood in them chatting with other people. I had to drive around a few times before a space actually became available and even then I had to wait for some visitors to get out of my way before I could park.

"It's the air show!" Genette exclaimed excitedly.

"How did you-" I began.

"I'm an up and coming journalist. I used my resources to find events going on in the area," he explained.

"He used Google," Elizabeth announced.

"Google is a resource."

"Not a personal one. You're not a spy."

"I should be."

"Please, if you want something found out, get a girl to do it."

"Oh yeah, why's that?"

"Because girls talk. We network. Nothing can be hidden from a girl for long. Sooner or later, she finds out the truth."

"Right... so that's why I found out where we were going before you did."

"Jason wanted it to be a surprise so I was going to let it be one."

"Excuses, excuses."

"Okay you two," I interrupted before they could bicker anymore. "We're here."

The three of us got out of the car and walked to the tarmac cordoned off for the visitors to walk around and sit down in preparation for the air show. It'd actually started about two hours ago but I knew people in the program that coordinated the entire air show so they told me when the good acts were coming which of course was at the very end so that people would stay the entire time rather than coming to watch the good stuff and then leaving after.

"Look at the F-4!" Elizabeth pointed out. While the two of them had already turned their attention to something different, I cocked my head in curiosity at the jet. There was something familiar about it, and not just because I knew F-4s well from flying them. Studying the dark camouflage paint, the curious design of a playing card- an ace of hearts- being impaled by a dagger, I kept thinking back to the war but couldn't figure out why. With a shrug I carried on, quickly trying to find my niece and nephew so that I could catch up with them. They were already at the front of the crowd, watching a person strapped to an upside down plane. The act was followed by a squadron from Sand Island doing a mock dogfight. My niece was enraptured by the entire spectacle, never taking her eyes off them. Next to attending the program at Heierlark, her dream was to be stationed at Sand Island. It was where 'the best of the best' pilots were stationed because Sand Island was Osea's first line of defense against anyone coming from the west; and with certain issues with countries over there, I started wondering how long it'd be before we were embroiled in some sort of war again. Yuktobania was really our only ally in that part of the world. They had relatively decent but oftentimes strained relationships with their neighboring countries, most of whom despised Osea for some reason or another.

Finally the main attraction came on. The Thunderbirds, the elite, fighter pilot stunt team, took off. Hearing the roars of their engines took me back to my time as a pilot, and not for the first time, I longed to be in a jet again, to feel the power vibrating throughout the plane as I started up the engines, to hear the thunderous roar as I hit Mach 2, to have nothing holding me back except myself. I missed the freedom being in a jet provided. I had a feeling Elizabeth got the same experience being in a plane as I did because despite our different upbringings, she'd taken on after me, her brother after their mom.

Bringing myself out of the reverie, I watched as the jets shot straight into the air before separating with the smoke trailing after them. They did fly-bys of each other with barely a foot or two between them each time they passed. They did loops and spins and everything I could remember doing myself. They did the show for around twenty minutes before they landed. Elizabeth and Genette got in line to get their signatures while I hung back, avoiding the crowd.

Within ten minutes, my niece and nephew were back at my side with smiles on their faces that reached ear to ear.

"Blaze! Genette!" a familiar voice shouted. We all turned around to find Alvin Davenport finagling his way over to us.

"Chopper!" Elizabeth beamed. "What are you doing here?"

"Here for the air show of course. Had I known you two were here, I would've come and found you. How have you two been?" he asked, giving my niece and nephew a hug and shaking my hand.

"We've been good. Just hanging out with Uncle Jason and relaxing before school starts again. What about you? I thought you were in Argen?" Elizabeth replied.

"It's about two hours away from here, three if Melissa is driving, one if I was driving, but thankfully Aunt Nadia drove so we got here without before the Thunderbirds showed up and without dying."

"Oh Melissa is here? Where?"

"Somewhere over... there," Alvin replied, motioning with his hand towards an area nearby.

"I'm going to go say hi. I'll be back." Elizabeth darted off through the crowd. It made me nervous to have her out of my sight because despite her being nineteen, she had a tendency to attract unwanted attention. She'd already had a slight stalker issue her freshman year of college when a sixty-year old man had gotten the wrong idea when she'd been chatting to him (she was only talking to him because he had a dog that she wanted to pet) and had written her a love letter asking her for coffee or drinks. The creepy thing was he'd gotten her full name even though she had only said her first name. Let's just say her dad got involved and called the guy who had meant no harm, was just a lonely old man looking for company, but he was told to stay away from her and not to contact her again. Needless to say he listened but it'd made me, my sister, brother-in-law, and nephew even more protective of her than before. Guys also had a tendency to stare at her when she walked into a room, or anywhere for that matter. Lucky for us, she was incredibly oblivious to guys flirting with her, she never gave them the time of day. As she put it, and of the guys she liked were all either too immature, too much of a partier, or too old. But she was also incredibly oblivious to the nice guys that were interested in her which was pretty amusing.

"Is she avoiding me or something?" Alvin asked. "First she wouldn't return my text and now she's dashing off to see my sister."

"Why do you have my sister's number?" Genette replied suspiciously.

"We're at the same school. She's asked me for help with homework a few times."

"Right... anyway, what's on the agenda for the rest of the day?"

"Well Melissa and I are heading back to our aunt's for a few more days and then we're going to the beach and then we're heading back home. You're going to be up at your uncle's for a while right?"

"Yeah, we're staying with him for two weeks."

"Cool. If it's okay with him, maybe I can drop by one more time before I head back home."

"That'd be just fine," I said with a smile. "You're welcome at my house any time. Listen, kids, we should probably head back. It's getting late and although the days are longer, with traffic, it'll take a while to get home."

"Speaking of, I should go find my sister and aunt. They're probably waiting for me at the car. I'll see you later Genette! If I don't see Bla- I mean Elizabeth- on my way over there, tell her I say hi and that I'll see her around," Alvin stated. He gave a bro hug to his best friend and shook my hand before darting off through the crowd. Barely five seconds later, my niece popped into view in front of us.

"I saw Chopper on the way over. You two ready to go?" she chirped. I led the way back to the car. Like I expected, traffic was bumper to bumper. The kids were restless so I asked, "What about a new chapter of the Demon Lord story?"

The instantaneous stop of their fidgeting was hilarious to me. They sat perfectly still in the backseat, staring at me with wide eyes.
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28 May 1995, 1200 hrs...

I fiddled with my medal, deep in thought about this war. I was also thinking about Janie. We'd barely talked when she was giving it to me which was for liberating the capital of Ustio. Pixy had received one as well but long before I had since there was a communication problem on my end. However, as I was leaving the room, Janie had stopped me and in near tears, apologized for everything. My heart had wrenched at the sight of her crying because I didn't want her to. I still loved her, but I was still hurt by her actions. I was currently in a state of uncertainty, unsure about whether or not to take her back. Unfortunately, I wasn't given any more time to think about it as Pixy came to tell me that we had a new mission to go on. With a groan, I got up from the couch.

"You sounded like an old man," Pixy remarked.

"At least I don't look like one, unlike someone," I replied, looking him up and down.

"Old or not, the ladies are still attracted to me so I'd say I'm doing well in my ripe old age of twenty-five."

"You're twenty-four."

"I'll be twenty-five tomorrow. Might as well say it now."

"When were you going to tell me it was your birthday?" I demanded.

"When it became necessary."

"But I thought I was your buddy? Buddy's need to know their buddy's birthday," I argued.

"Fine, you can buy me drinks if we live to see tomorrow after this mission," Pixy bartered. I agreed, knowing that was the best deal I was going to get.

We took our seats in the briefing room, surprised to see Janie also sitting there. We both greeted her, my wingman maybe slightly more enthusiastic than me but I was friendly enough. Pixy tried to start conversation with her but Hammerhead interrupted us and dove straight into his commentating.

"Orders have come in for an emergency sortie," he declared, causing me to lean forward in my seat. "A major air engagement is taking place as we speak between Belka and the Allied Forces near the border, in the B7R airspace, which Belka is committed to defend at all costs. B7R, commonly known as the 'Round table', has long been a symbol of Belka's political, military, and industrial might. However, at noon today, along with its lightning-quick commencement of Operation Battle-Axe, the Allied Forces officially announced the permanent abrogation of its nonaggression treaty at the Assembly of Nations, and simultaneously attacked B7R with a massive fighter squadron. This mission may be our chance to finally end the Belkan War once and for all. I wish you luck."

Operation: Battle Axe

Area: B7R

Date: 28/05/1995

Time: 1200 HRS

The three of us got up to go to the hangar. Pixy turned to my ex-girlfriend and asked, "You coming along?"

"No, I saw the look on my dad's face and wanted to be here for the briefing to see what was going on. I've rarely seen him that flustered in that manner," she responded. "I have to go but you two be careful."

"Tell that to this one." Pixy jabbed his finger at me. "He's the psychotic one."

"Who's the fool: the fool that goes or the fool that follows?" I countered.

"Don't turn this around on me." I gave him a cheeky grin, knowing he didn't have a good answer for me that I somehow wouldn't be able to use against him. Choosing XMAAs as our weapons since this would be a total air-to-air mission, I hopped into the plane. My wingman and I pulled out of the hangar. Janie turned around to watch us take off. I felt the urge to wave to her but she was too far away to see me doing it, so I chose against doing so.

The flight to B7R didn't take that long considering how small Ustio was and how close Belka was. Even before we hit the target airspace, I could see the dog fight raging on. Black dots zipping across the sky, through the clouds, disappearing behind mountains only to pop up on the other side of the mountain range.

Upon entering the airspace, it was complete and utter chaos. Our allies weren't fairing too well either. The Belkans had sent their best to defend this area which was to be expected considering how valuable it was to them with all of its natural resources.

"Incoming message from Allied Forces HQ," Eagle Eye announced. "Forty percent of Allied air forces are already lost."

Shit that's a lot... I thought as I entered the frenzy. Two planes flew in front of me, nearly crashing into my plane. If I hadn't jerked my plane upwards when I did, I would be in a fiery inferno falling towards the ground.

"Dammit, there's too many of them! We can't handle them all!" a comrade snapped, sounding more frustrated than anything else.

"Where are the reinforcements?!" Another one demanded.

"Time to dive into the fireworks!" Pixy exclaimed as we turned our planes upside down and dove to lower altitude. I leveled out around five thousand feet and locked onto two planes coming straight for me. I switched my weapons to XMAAs. Even if they didn't hit, it'd scatter them and Belkans had a tendency of being stronger together than apart. I was praying that hadn't changed since I'd left the air force there. If they scattered, I could go after one and Pixy could have the other.

"I've never been in an aerial battle of this scope before," a familiar voice stated over the mic just as I fired the special weapons. To my complete surprise, both hit their targets. I knew that was just a stroke of luck, and not to let it convince me that this battle was going to be easy, but I did let it give my confidence a small boost in thinking that we might have a shot at salvaging this operation.

"PJ?" I said. "That you man?"

"Yeah, they said it was all hands on deck so they sent us out here just a little while before you two got here."

"Why didn't they just send us in the first place?" Pixy griped as he fired his guns at an enemy plane in front of him. "We could've gotten this situation under control."

"All damaged aircraft, return to base," an ally ordered.

"But then who is going to take over B7R?" another one countered.

"Galm's got this," I promised. "Pixy, you and I can hold our own out here and we're no use holding each other back by sticking together. Feel free to engage on your own."

"If you get shot down because I left-" he started.

"I'm not going to get shot down. I've never been shot down."

"Doesn't mean it can't start today."

"I just don't want you making a habit out of it."

"I was talking about you, buddy."

"Pretty sure the only person who currently stands a chance against me is you which is why I'm extremely grateful you're on my side."

"Nice save. Watch yourself out there and let me know if you need any help." Pixy swerved to the right, engaging another enemy plane. I locked onto a MIG, trailing it like a hunter after its prey. It swung around to the left, it swung around to the right, it went up into a loop, but halfway there I fired a missile, hitting it directly in the engine. I moved my plane to the left so that it didn't get hit by the debris.

"Still no reinforcements from base. If only they'd get here, we could put an end to this all at once," A Belkan stated.

"The Round Table's nothing special. I'll take care of things!" PJ said confidently. Even I was on edge in this battle, or at least more so than usual. No one should be that confident in a battle. You start to think you're invincible and that becomes dangerous. That's when enemies slip through your fingers and stab you in the back.

"Careful PJ, I appreciate your optimism but don't let it keep you from noticing the reality, okay?" I warned. "No one else is getting shot down now that I'm here."

"Yes, sir!" I watched him latch onto an enemy. Despite his relative youth, being even younger than me, the guy seemed pretty decent. I let it allay my fears of him getting shot down. He'd survive this mission at least.

Taking a cue from my comrades and remembering there were more enemies to take out, I looked around for my next target.

"Our support is here? Who did they send us?" an ally asked, causing me to question if he'd been flying in another plane of existence to have not known that reinforcements had arrived.

"IFF has confirmed it's Galm. The reinforcement team is Galm," another responded.

"Guys, really, I announced it just a few minutes ago," I said in tired exasperation. "I know you're all distracted but really..."

Pixy zoomed overhead of me with an enemy hot on his tail. I fired at the plane I'd been following then immediately switched targets to help out my wingman. Pixy excelled at evasion, maybe even better than I did, but that meant whilst he was trying to evade his pursuer, I was also trying to keep up with them. Easier said than done to be honest but somehow I managed to get a lock on the bogey. The enemy disengaged from Pixy, swerving sharply to the left. I wasn't letting him go that easily.

"The guy who pulled out Tauberg's sword is here. Be careful!" A Belkan warned. A small smirk appeared on my face. It was rather satisfying to know that I had a reputation with the Belkans as an enemy pilot that was not only one that was exceptional at flying, but dare I say it, even one to be feared by them. It was hard to rattle a Belkan. I would know being one. To hear them warning each other about me made all the hardships I'd gone through and that I'd put up with over the past few years worth it. If everything I'd been through with the Belkan military led up to them being afraid of me, then I could deal with it. It meant that the mercenary they had mocked and whose name they spit on was now on a level playing ground, if not one with a slight advantage. It was an ego boost for sure, but I couldn't let it get to my head. I had full Belkan blood, but I didn't have to be like one.

With that in mind, I fired my guns at the enemy plane, hitting it multiple times before its engines went out. The target switched to neutral on my radar and despite me wanting to finish the job on it, I knew that it was now harmless to any of the allies in the area. I was a fighter, but I wasn't ruthless. War hadn't done that to me yet.

"You all are doing great!" I encouraged, figured my comrades could use some morale boosting considering the dire situation they were in. "Keep it up!"

"We've still gotta get the job done," Pixy commented.

"Come on, buddy. They are getting it done."

"I could say something, but I'll bite my tongue."

"That's a first."

"You ever wonder why I'm so quiet sometimes?"

"Because you were taught if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it?" I suggested, rolling my plane to the left to avoid a head-on collision with a missile.

"Exactly. Now get your head in the game, buddy. I just shot down two enemies in the time of that conversation."

"Yeah, but they were right next to each other," PJ remarked. I started howling with laughter as Pixy said defiantly, "No one asked you."

"I like you man," I laughed. "And for the record Pixy, the only reason you were able to shoot down those two enemy planes is because I got that bandit off your tail earlier."

"I hate you."

"I love you too."

I locked on to a MIG off in the distance, trying to lure the other enemy planes over there and use the mountains to my advantage. There was something to be said about being able to hide behind one mountain and pop up from behind another. It was the same with clouds. Great coverage when you needed it.

Upon closing in on the MIG, I fired a missile at it, praying it would hit the engine. Although the aim was slightly off, the missile still hit, and the MIG went down. Flipping my plane upside down, I headed down towards the ground, only pulling up when it was getting dangerously close. Now I could see everything above me a little more clearly rather than being mixed up in the fray. I was trying to figure out where, or who, needed me most, when a Belkan stated, "I'll put that Ustio mercenary in his place. I'll shoot them down and make a name for myself."

"You'll have to catch me first," I growled, snapping my plane up vertically so that I headed into the thick of it all. Two enemy planes were ganging up on an ally who was struggling to stay out of their range. I locked onto the closest one and shot a missile at it. By a hair's breadth, it missed. Angrily I switched to guns and shot the living daylights out of that plane.

"You don't have what it takes to fly in the Round Table," A Belkan sneered.

"Then why are we gaining air superiority?" I clapped back as I took down the enemy plane, giving my ally a chance to regain his footing and fight back against the last one. Knowing they had it covered, I went to find my next enemy.

"The enemy threat level is down. Continue to engage," Thunderhead informed.

"I mean I could've told you that. I think I just indirectly said it, actually," I mused.

"Maybe you should take over his job," Pixy suggested nonchalantly. "You'd alert us about things a lot sooner than he does."

"My job is extremely complicated," Hammerhead argued. "You wouldn't last a day in my shoes."

"First of all, yes we would. Second of all, you couldn't do our job."

"No, because I know my place and I know my strengths, unlike some people whose initials are Pixy and Cipher."

"That makes absolutely no sense," I commented.

Hammerhead sighed. "It's called sarcasm. You two are supposed to be fluent in it."

"Um, yeah, when it's good sarcasm."

"Just focus on your mission."

Pixy made a noise of frustration as he flew into place beside me, going head-on with the enemy planes in front of us. "There's so many of 'em!"

"Wizard One here. The enemy has broken formation. Take them out," an ally announced. There was a pause as Pixy and I played a game of chicken with the enemy planes, getting as close as we possibly dared before firing missiles and high-tailing it away from there. I glanced at my radar to see the blips of those enemies disappear of my radar when Wizard One added, "Larry, can you read me?"

"Looks like you've still got the touch," Pixy noted, sounding pleased.

"It's happening just as you thought." There was something about Wizard's tone that gave me a shiver down my spine, but why I couldn't quite place it. "It's about time we got out of this dead-end job."

"Not just yet," Pixy said. A silence fell between the two and the conversation that had started so quickly ended just so. I wanted to ask what that had been about but first of all, had a battle to focus on, and second, knew that Pixy wouldn't say anything in front of Wizard if I wasn't supposed to know about it. Pushing down the gnawing curiosity, I focused on the mission at hand.

"Get a good eyeful of this flying! Let it sink in!" PJ exclaimed. I glanced over to my right where I saw my ally bravely taking on two enemy planes at the same time. His flying style, despite being textbook evasive and attack maneuvers, flowed together so elegantly that the enemy was unable to predict what he was going to do next. He went up into a loop, heading straight for the ground, twisting his plane and pulling up in the opposite direction before shooting back up and firing at an enemy from below, hitting the target with incredible accuracy. Confident he could handle himself, I went on looking for more enemies.

"Reinforcements still haven't arrived! What is our country doing?!" A Belkan griped.

"Terrible things," I said, not expecting a response back. It was always iffy if they ever heard us. I was kind of hoping they had this time but alas, luck was not on my side in that.

"Nice work! The enemy threat level has dropped to under fifty percent. Just a little more," Hammerhead announced. With that bit of information, it motivated me to get this mission done and over with. Just a little more and we'd be heading home.

Pixy and I tag-teamed a SU-37, one that he was much closer to but one I had locked onto regardless. When the missile actually hit the plane and effectively neutralizing it, I was shocked. Not just shocked, but impressed with myself.

"Sorcerer One to all units. That's the Galm Team. Watch and learn," an ally instructed.

"Aw shucks, you're making me blush," I said in fake embarrassment. In a more casual tone, I added, "We're nothing special. We're just not worn out like the rest."

"Galm's not fighting alone. Let's show 'em what the Osean Air Force can do!" another ally cheered. "Time to fire up boys!"

"Damn. The sky is too crowded," a Belkan muttered. I didn't want to break it to him that the only reason it was crowded to him was because we had corralled the few remaining Belkan planes into one area. Not to mention we, at this point, almost had complete air superiority. I thought about that as I shot down another SU-37, one that hadn't seen me hiding in the few clouds in the area. I had waited for them to pull ahead just slightly, just enough that our blips on the radar looked like one, before jerking my plane up, easily firing and getting a direct hit. I had to hurriedly evade the area to avoid being hit by debris. Suddenly, that same Belkan shouted, "The commander's plane is gone! Confirm our chain of command!"

"They're attacking without mercy. Do they plan on burning everything?" another Belkan queried. I wondered what he was on about considering we weren't burning anything at all. Unless there was another mission going on simultaneously as this one but surely they would've told us we were a distraction this time? I would hope so...

"That Ustio mercenary, damn him! He's turning the tide of battle in their favor," a Belkan snarled.

"He can't be human!" his comrade remarked.

"He's like a demon... I've never seen anything like it."

"That kind of pilot... They call a Demon Lord," an ally explained.

"I'm just that great, I know," Pixy piped up.

"Buddy, hate to break it to you, but I think they're referring to me," I said.

"Why would they do that? You're not the battle-worn one here. I know when I'm being talked about."

"Oh you might be being talked about but I don't think it's from our friends the Belkans."

"You're rude and I don't like you."

"Aw, buddy, don't be like that. You're a demon to me, does that help?"

"No!"

"Wizard One to all units. Belka's days are over. Let's wrap this up."

I looped up and over to head towards the mountains, cruising high in the sky on the hunt for any more enemy planes. It looked like there was only one or two more left. Pixy flew into place beside me as our allies started chattering excitedly.

"Galm's revived our front line!" one exclaimed in amazement as I came into range of firing with the last enemy plane.

"Those mercenaries are gonna get all the credit again," another said.

"I fight for peace. That's what I'm up here for," PJ interjected. "And as long as 'those mercenaries are up here fighting for the same thing, it doesn't matter who gets the credit."

I'd always had respect for PJ, but in that moment, it increased drastically. Here was a man who didn't care who got the credit as long as everyone on his side was fighting for the same thing. My wingman, on the other hand, seemed to have a different opinion.

"While you're up here 'fighting for peace', tons of blood is being shed on the ground. Some 'peace', kid," he snapped.

I was about to argue with him when I locked onto the enemy plane. I lost my train of thought, focusing on the mission at hand. Meanwhile, PJ said, "And I'm here to put an end to that."

"You think you can stop the bloodshed by shedding more blood?" Pixy countered as I fired a missile at the enemy plane before swerving to the left to go fly beside my wingman. "Flying with those ideals swimming around in your head is gonna get you killed."

"Then what ideals are you flying with?" PJ fired. "If not for peace, then for what?"

Despite wanting to quell the argument before they started physically firing at each other, I also wanted to know Pixy's answer. He responded in typical Belkan form with, "I'm a mercenary, kid. I could have a lot of reasons for flying up here, none of which I'm telling you about. But I've seen plenty of boys like you with your ideals in the air and all of them have gotten shot down. You're not going to be any different if you keep it up. Experience has taught me that."

"If you're the one with the experience, then how come you-"

"That's enough you two," I intervened before PJ went down the route of Pixy being shot down because I knew that's exactly where that conversation was going. I rarely raised my voice or reprimanded my wingman, or anyone, for that matter. So when I did, people took me seriously, including Pixy. I was going to need to have a word with him about this later. I would with PJ but I wasn't his captain so it wasn't my place.

"Damn it, the enemy has the initiative. Where's the reinforcements?!" A Belkan demanded, obviously frustrated.

"Galm Team, multiple craft approaching! Something's wrong... stay alert," Hammerhead warned. I glanced at my IFF to see five aircraft approaching. These were the reinforcements that the Belkans had been waiting on. And remembering my last time in this airspace, it was going to be an elite ace squadron. I was glad we'd taken care of the other enemy aircraft so we could focus solely on these elitists.

"The front is retreating," one of the enemy pilots observed.

"They're fast. Follow them," their captain ordered. "This will be your final lesson."

"Roger, Boss," the pilots responded simultaneously.

"Follow me," Silber's captain commanded. I used my tried and true method of scattering them by locking on with my XMAAs and firing. I never expected the missiles to hit, and unlike my luck the past few missions I'd tried it, none of them hit this time. But I succeeded in scattering onto them. The thing about Belkan pilots is that for the most part, they were stronger together than they were apart. The perk about flying with mercenaries is that you learn to fend for yourself and to not rely on others. The perks about being trained in both is that you could excel at both. It was probably one of the main reasons Pixy and I worked so well together. We could hold our own and work together. It was a great combo.

"Analysis has come back. Looks like it's Silber from the Belkan Air Force. They're the 51st Air Division, 126th Tactical Fighter Squadron. Be careful. They're good," Hammerhead said, caution in his tone.

"Pixy, by the way the captain was talking, I think these guys are almost up with their training meaning-"

"-except for him, they're not aces," Pixy finished. "So it should be easier-"

"-To take them down. Let the games begin." Pixy and I latched onto one plane each while our allies kept the skies clear of any other incoming enemies.

"Follow me," Silber One ordered his wingmen. They were trying to regroup which I knew would be bad for me and Pixy if they did so we needed to take care of the two we'd chosen before they had a chance.

"Galm One, take out the reinforcements," Hammerhead ordered.

"What am I supposed to do? Let him take all the glory?" Pixy asked, diving down after his target that was zipping towards the ground. Mine had decided to play hide and go seek in the mountains. Luckily my plane could keep up with his smaller one.

"See, I thought I was being reprimanded for not doing anything, which I am doing something," I added hastily. "But maybe that isn't being shown on radar."

"Are you really doing something though?" Pixy inquired.

"More than you," I countered, rolling my plane to avoid the gunfire aimed at me from one of the Silber members who had decided to tail me. I disengaged from the one I'd been following and flew down towards the ground, leveling out when I just below the tip of one of the jagged rocks. I floored my plane so that I could pull off the stunt I was attempting. The moment I zipped past the peak, I rolled my plane to the left, slammed on the breaks so I made a hairpin turn, and then floored my jet again, pulling around behind the enemy and firing a missile at it. With all my sudden movements, they were thrown off guard and were unable to evade. The plane was hit, plummeting into the mountainside. A second later, one of the Silber members, the one I was chasing down, said, "One of our planes is down! Awaiting your orders, Boss."

"All planes, stay focused and fly as usual. This battle is getting out of hand. Stay alert at all times," Silber 1 cautioned. At that moment I heard Pixy swear over the radio followed by a bunch of beeping.

"I missed," one of the Silber members grunted.

"If you get confused, just let your hands take over," their captain explained. "You've had enough training to do this in your sleep."

"You better not have gotten shot down," I said, searching for the original enemy plane I'd been trailing. I found it flying high above me in the clouds, having regrouped with its leader and another wingmen. They were all going after my buddy who was going after their fourth compatriot.

"You are never going to stop making jokes about that are you," Pixy sighed.

"Well when I hear you swear and missile alerts going off, what else am I supposed to think? That you have everything under control?" I questioned, flying up underneath the three enemy planes, knowing that my plane was hidden on their radar since I was practically right below them.

"Yes!" Pixy exclaimed in exasperation, firing a missile at the enemy he was tailing which missed by what had to be a millimeter. That pilot definitely saw that missile shoot past his cockpit.

"Phantom jets? It's the Silver Eagle!" A Belkan said in awe. "They really did come back!"

"Wh-what's the Silver Eagle? A coin?" I mused.

"First off, that's the Silver Dollar," Pixy corrected angrily, firing another missile at his target, this time hitting it directly. He pulled around to distract the remaining three Silber members from noticing what I was doing. If I didn't get within range soon, I knew the leader at least would begin to wonder where I was if he hadn't already. "Secondly, the Silver Eagle is one Belka's prized fighters. He's one of the top aces and one of the top trainers. If he wants to train you, he sees something in you."

"You would know this how?"

"I have my sources. If you weren't wrapped up in your head with Janie all day and hanging out with the non-mercenaries, you'd know that mercenaries talk, regardless of who they're working for."

"I do know that," I lied.

"You're a terrible liar, you know that?"

For the first time I didn't have a witty comeback. But thankfully I locked onto the captain, alerting him of my presence. His two wingmen broke apart, circling to come after me. Pixy zeroed in on the closest one, while I switched my target preference to the remaining wingman, leaving the captain be. I'd heard a saying in Belka that a captain is nothing without his wingmen. There was a saying that went 'it's getting the crew back alive that counts.' Maybe that would hold true in this case and make it easier to take down Silber One.

"Three's been hit!" A Silber member exclaimed.

"Get out there! The rules will protect you," their leader said firmly. I wondered what rules he was talking about but decided not to dwell on it. Every pilot had a different set of rules they thought worked, which was illustrated by Pixy and PJ's earlier argument. I never had rules up in the air. I just followed my instinct. Then again, maybe that was my rule...

"We'll fly by the rules and take them out," one of his wingman said.

"I taught you how to fly. The rest is up to you," he responded. I got fatherly vibes from this man. He didn't sound like all the other Belkan aces, like he had a stick that was perpetually up his ass. I almost felt bad for wanting to shoot him down.

"They're watching each other's positions. I better not divert from the team..." PJ commented. I saw his plane off in the distance with the remainder of our allies battling some new enemy planes that had joined the fight. They weren't aces and our allies outnumbered them so I wasn't worried about it.

I did decide to remind him, "Stay with the allies. Let Pixy and I handle Silber. That goes for all of you."

"Tailing enemy aircraft. I'm closing in," a Silber member stated confidently. At that moment my missile alarms started blaring at me. I snapped my head back to see one of the planes right on my tail, closing in fast.

"You didn't get shot down did you buddy?" Pixy taunted.

"You are right behind the bloody plane! You know damn well I'm still in the air," I retorted.

"How does it feel to have to state the obvious?"

"One of these days, I swear to god I'll be shooting at you rather than the enemy planes."

"What if I am the enemy?"

"Sometimes I think you are," I joked. "Come on, get this asshat off my tail."

"I'm on it, don't you worry," Pixy reassured. Sure enough the warning alarms in my cockpit promptly disappeared about two seconds later as my wingman went in a battle of loops and swerves as he tried to get a missile lock on the enemy plane.

"He's fighting clean," A Belkan remarked. "I'll show him he's only digging his own grave."

"I can't believe how quick they are," PJ noted. "Damn the Phantom. I guess looks can be deceiving."

"You better be staying with the allies," I said, jerking my plane downwards as I followed the Silber pilot. The captain of the squadron kept switching between chasing me and Pixy, whoever was closest. So far he hadn't gotten a clean shot at either of us.

In the midst of the chaos, I heard Pixy shout, "Yeah!" I saw the third Silber plane disappear off radar. The captain took this moment to latch on to me. Deciding to let Pixy handle the fourth Silber member, I chose to handle their leader. I spiraled downwards toward the ground, the captain struggling to keep up. I yawed my plane to the left, making the missile he'd sent towards me lose its tracking on me, exploding into the ground instead of into my plane.

"Where did you learn to fly like that, mercenary?" Silber One demanded.

"Uh, I've just always flown like this," I admitted. "Instinct, I guess?"

Unsurprisingly, there was no answer received. In the midst of him chasing after me, a stray Belkan craft flew into my view. PJ was chasing after him but considering I had plenty of missiles to get me through the remainder of this battle, I wasn't worried. Also, the plane wouldn't be expecting me to fire so switching to guns, I shot at the enemy plane. I caught it off guard coming perpendicularly from it and PJ took the opportunity of the enemy's confusion to fire a missile at it. The plane fell towards the ground. I had no time to engage in any excitement from shooting it down though because I was still being chased by the captain.

"Demon of Ustio," A Belkan growled.

"So that pilot is the Demon Lord?" another queried.

"Excuse you, I'm the Angel of Ustio," I said. Pixy snorted but rather than making a sarcastic remark, said, "Fourth Silber member is down. It's just the captain now."

I swerved to the right, and rather than following me, the captain swerved to the left. I wondered what he was doing but I needed to end this battle quickly. I was getting tired and I needed to be awake for Pixy's birthday celebration tomorrow. I circled around to follow the captain only to find myself going head on with him. We locked onto each other at the same time. I fired two missiles immediately, proceeding to high tail it away from him the moment the weapons left my plane. He, on the other hand, didn't move, allowing the missiles to hit. In the explosion, I could've sworn I saw a parachute but I needed to focus. I had a feeling this mission wasn't quite over yet.

"Cipher just bagged a bandit!" PJ cheered.

"Did that seem too easy?" I questioned, wondering if my mind was playing tricks on me.

"You mean how it seemed like he let you shoot him down?" Pixy replied.

"Yeah..."

"It could go either way. Let's just take the victory and not think too much about it."

"Right..." Shaking my head to clear it, I ordered, "Everyone, stay alert. I have a feeling this battle isn't over with. The Belkans will have more reinforcements."

"You're right..." Hammerhead said almost instantly. "Eight bogeys headed your way. Looks like it's Schwarze, Belkan Air Force, 13th Night Fighter Air Division, 6th Tactical Fighter Squadron."

"Eight?! Man, I'm running low on ammunition," Pixy grumbled.

"Better make sure every shot counts then," I said. "Pixy, with me. We're going head on with them. How many XMAAs do you have left?"

"Six. Why?"

"Scatter them."

"Sooner or later, the enemy is going to pick up on your tactic."

"Not if none of them live to tell the tale."

"That's dark."

"That's the truth."

I could see the dots of the enemy planes in the distance, rapidly closing in. Their captain came over the radio and said, "Schwarze Leader to all units. The escaping craft is headed this way. It's Huckebein. Don't let your guard down."

"Another one's coming!" PJ informed, flying next to me and Pixy. I didn't want him in the fray of this but two against eight weren't fantastic odds. I had to take a gamble and trust that PJ could hold his own.

"That plane... is that the Vulture?!" A Schwarze member asked. I had no idea who the 'Vulture' was, but couldn't dwell on that because a man came onto the radio and said, "This is Peter N. Beagle, callsign Huckebein, of the Belkan Air Force. I'm trying to get to safety of allied borders to help their cause. To help yours. I'm unarmed. I have no weapons on my plane and therefore cannot fight. Would you be willing to help me out?"

"Get to the safety of allied lines. We'll take care of the Belkans," I told him. "Allies, I hate to ask you of this but we need your help with these new aces. Let Pixy and I handle them. You just distract them as best you can and keep them from going after Huckebein. PJ, escort Huckebein to safety, away from the fight. Return when he's clear."

"Yes, sir!" PJ answered promptly.

"We'll what?" Pixy demanded. "What if he's a traitor?"

"Then we'll shoot him down too. Engage." I could practically see Pixy shaking his head in his plane at my decision, but I knew what I was doing. And the Belkans wouldn't be chasing him down if he they didn't have reason to.

"There's an annoying fly in the enemy. All right, change of plans, we'll deal with the escaped craft later," Schwarze's leader commanded. Well at least we had their attention now.

"Guess they've come to pick on the dead again," Pixy muttered.

"There they are. The mercenary dream team," the leader observed viciously.

"Aw, we're a dream team. Pixy did you hear that? We're a dream team," I said drolly, making my plane do a corkscrew as gunfire erupted from behind me. One of the Schwarze members had gotten behind me and was trying to take me down. Pixy tried to curve around to get behind the enemy trailing me, but one latched onto him, forcing him to use evasive maneuvers himself. Getting fed up with being trailed, I pointed my plane down at the ground, hoping I could pull this trick off. For now, enemy pilots didn't seem to know my flying style, so most of them didn't know about my favorite trick to pull, one I utilized almost every mission. The Schwarze member fired its guns at me but I succeeded in avoiding being hit. At the last possible second, I braked as hard as I could, pulled my plane up, and floored it upwards, praying that I could gather enough speed before my own plane crashed into the earth, because there was little to no margin for error here. Miraculously, the gamble paid off for me. For my pursuer, not so much.

"Let's go hunt them down," A Schwarze member said. His voice sent chills down my spine, except these weren't electrifying. These were from being slightly terrified of the coldness in his voice, as if he held or felt no emotions whatsoever.

I made my plane go as fast as possible to put some distance between me and Schwarze. Some of them tried to catch up with me but I had had a good head-start on them. When a safe-enough distance away, I turned my plane back around to go head on with them. The moment I was within missile range, the one closest to me locked on and fired. I dipped my plane down just enough that the missile soared overhead of me. I lifted the plane back up to find myself about to crash into the Schwarze member. Out of reflex, I pulled the trigger to launch a missile and got the hell out of dodge. When I looked at my radar, the blip for that enemy had disappeared. The missile had hit.

"Those mercenaries smell of money and death. They're nothing but vultures... scavenging for profit through the blood of others," Schwarze's leader snarled.

"Just because I'm a mercenary doesn't mean I'm fighting for money. I may not be fighting with a country's symbol on my plane, but I'm fighting for other reasons than money. And getting your dick of a leader out of power is one of those. We're not the only ones shedding blood either. Some shed blood for profit, some for their countries. One might be more honorable than the other, but blood is being shed regardless," I snapped.

"Feeling a bit scared? Afraid? That's just death lurking around the corner."

"Glad you're getting acquainted with that feeling."

"If I wasn't having to fight these planes, I'd be clapping for you," Pixy remarked as he pulled an impressive maneuver to get behind one of the Schwarze members. He was barely thirty feet behind it and rather than waste missiles, he fired his guns instead. Being in such close proximity, the bullets were more effective than usual, especially when a few of them got into the engines. The plane fell towards the ground with no hope of restarting it.

"There's two of them that stand out from the rest," an enemy ace noted.

"Target the leader," their captain ordered.

"Yeah, that's right boys. Come and play with the demon," I taunted.

"You know you're not a demon right?"

"Well I'm not from heaven so I can't be an angel, but I am raising a little hell, so I am technically a demon of some sort at least."

"You're a lot of things Cipher. A Demon isn't one of them. And didn't you say you were an angel earlier?"

"I look like an angel maybe, but I fly like a demon."

"I will give you one of those. I will not tell you which one."

"Asshole," I muttered. My wingman laughed as he went in for another kill, heading perpendicular towards another Schwarze plane. Ticked off at what he said, I went behind the same plane. We both fired a missile at the same time, both of which hit. But neither of us could determine whose had hit first. So naturally, we bickered about it until Hammerhead told us to shut up.

With an aggravated sigh, our AWACS said in a deceptively calm voice, "About half the Belkan fighters have been shot down. You can win this."

"All planes, we don't have time to go game hunting out here," Schwarze's leader reprimanded. Right as he said that, one of his team members flew directly in front of me in an attempt to get at Pixy who I was trailing. They must not have seen me in the sky, or had mistaken me for one of their allies. Regardless, it was a bad mistake. A missile shot by me and they were one and done, prompting his leader to demand, "What the hell happened?"

At the same time, Pixy was able to take down the Schwarze member that he'd been tailing. There were now only two left. My missiles were getting low, but if anything were to happen after this, I'd be good to go. Belka liked things in threes, so I was preparing myself for one more wave of aces after Schwarze.

There was only the leader and a wingman left of Schwarze. Considering the captain seemed to have a personal vendetta against me, I chose to handle him. Pixy handled the other. My enemy went up high in the sky, to twenty-one thousand feet. I rarely flew this high because it pushed the boundaries of my plane's functionality.

Suddenly I got an idea. Calling for my wingman, I explained the plan. He thought it was crazy, like usual, but still decided to go along with it. I dipped my plane down so that I was heading straight for the ground. The Schwarze leader took the bait and followed. We plunged towards the brown dirt that made up B7R. Directly in front of me, Pixy was rapidly closing in, his enemy not far behind him. Somehow we avoided any missiles and gunfire aimed our way, which was very much a recurring theme. Just as he and I were about to crash into each other, we shifted our flight path so that we practically skimmed the bottom of each other's planes. We changed targets, fired, and split away. I turned to see if the plan had worked. My line of sight was greeted with two fireballs in the sky.

We'd beaten Schwarze.

"You did it again!" PJ chirped. "That was amazing!"

"I'm hiring you as the Air Force's personal cheerleader," Pixy said.

"Thanks PJ," I chuckled, amused by his enthusiasm. I liked the guy. Despite what Pixy thought, I had a feeling PJ would survive this war. Maybe not without a scratch, but he would.

"I hate to say this Galm, but you have another team to deal with. It turns out the Belkans aren't quite out of reinforcements," Hammerhead told us. All the allies groaned, but I'd been expecting this.

"Who is it this time?" I groaned, checking my ammunition levels. If Belka sent any more reinforcements after this, I'd be screwed. I had to make sure all my shots counted this time...

"It's Schnee, Belkan Air Force, 22nd Air Division, 4th Tactical Fighter Squadron.

"Target is in firing range," their captain informed over the radio. "Schnee One to all units. Release your missiles."

A bunch of XLAAs came whistling our way. I was actually offended and couldn't help but say, "They're using my bloody tactic!"

"It's not like you invented it," Pixy pointed out.

"Yeah, but that's my move. Those bastards."

"At least there's only five of them," he said, tactfully changing the subject before I could go on a rant. "I'm dangerously on missiles. Even my bullets are low."

"Schnee Four to Schnee One. Target confirmed on radar. It's him."

"Ustio mercenaries! This is gonna be fun!" Schnee Leader stated.

"Looks like I'm becoming famous buddy," I said, a tinge of pride in my voice. My wingman caught it instantly.

"Don't let it go to your head, buddy," Pixy replied. The two of us avoided the missiles that Schnee had sent towards us, but unlike our enemies when we did it, we regrouped. Angrily, I sent the remainder of my XMAAs at them, knowing none of them would hit. I just wanted them to scatter and get a taste of their own medicine. It worked. Schnee went in all different directions. Pixy and I, at this point, went our separate ways to take on the enemy aces. Satisfied that I still got to use my move, I locked on to the closest enemy.

"Stay on guard," Pixy warned. "Those guys can fire long-range missiles."

"I'd say we could too but we used them all," I said.

"Because someone has ego issues."

"I may have an ego, but it's not as big as this one guy's who got shot down. He flies an F-15C with his right wing painted red."

"Those jokes get less and less funny the more you make them."

"I find them funny so that's all that matters." As I was trailing the enemy plane, another came head on towards us. I realized Pixy was behind him which is why the enemy was high-tailing it away. My wingman was also close enough to be locked on, which meant that the enemy's missile alarm would be going off, which meant if I locked on, he wouldn't notice that two people had a lock on him. Taking the risk with a ninety-nine percent assurance that this would work, I fired the missile at the enemy just before it zipped past me. It was a direct hit.

"Ustio mercenary... nice shooting," the Schnee leader complimented, taking me a little bit by surprise. Wasn't that against the rules? To praise the enemy's flying abilities?

"You gotta fly faster!" Proclaimed one of the Schnee members.

"Got 'em"! Pixy exclaimed. I looked behind me to see my wingman pulling up behind me, a fiery mass just disappearing out of view. Glancing at my radar, I noticed that there were only two Schnee members left.

"Enemy radar blips are fading. I have a feeling the radar's been jammed," Hammerhead said.

"Jamming? Radar response dropping!" PJ stated.

"There's an escort craft with ECMs. It's interfering with the radar."

"Yo Buddy, you want to take care of that jamming craft?" I queried, turning my plane around to go after another Schnee pilot.

"I'm on it," he said. He pulled up, heading towards the epicenter of the jamming circle. I hid myself in the scarce cloud coverage as one of the Schnee pilots appeared in front of me.

"My squadron will bask in the glory if we get through this alive," Schnee One declared.

"Well two of you have already been shot down so your odds aren't looking too good mate," I remarked, pulling up behind him. He rolled and pulled to the left. My plane, unable to make such a sharp turn at such late notice was unable to stay locked onto the target. But I was able to get it back once the guy had stopped turning. We went up into the sky, then downwards toward the mountains, wove in between the peaks, and did a few more turn and burn tricks before I finally felt comfortable with the missile lock I had on him to fire. My tenaciousness paid off as I saw the Schnee Leader disappear off radar.

"This one is fast!" The remaining ace said. There was a pause before, "Wait am I the last one?"

"His flying is unpredictable," A Belkan stated.

"I'm following the Captain's lead," Schnee said.

"Terrible idea," I told him. "That is a horrendous idea."

"Don't be too hasty. Just fly as you always do, and we can win this," his leader told him.

"Okay first off, when the enemy and your captain are agreeing on your flying style, you might want to listen."

"This is our turf and we'll fly how we please," the leader

"But that's getting you shot down," I said. "Hey Pixy, any success on the jamming craft?"

"We are clear in three... two... two and a half... one... three-quarters... Now!" Pixy assured, adding quickly, "Not a word from you Cipher. Not. A. Word."

I kept my mouth shut, mostly because I wanted to take care of the last Schnee member rather than respecting Pixy's wishes. I swiveled my head around in an attempt to find the last one, but for some reason I wasn't able to. Therefore, I played a dangerous game. I leveled my plane out and waited for them to find me. Pixy was not pleased with my tactic until he realized it worked. My missile alert went off and I hit the afterburners, getting the hell out of there while my wingman locked onto the target. I pulled a hairpin turn to go head-on with them.

"That pilot's unbelievable. He did all this with those limited contacts..." Schnee leader observed as I locked on. Now Pixy and I were both vying for the same target. We fired simultaneously but this time it was clear who had hit the target. My missile went askew while Pixy's hit the target. What he didn't know is that I purposefully missed it, as an early birthday present. I'd been picking on him a lot and I'd been getting a lot of praise from the higher ups, more so than him from what I'd been told. I wanted him to feel that he was just as good as me, because he was. Taking down the last member of Schnee was one of those ways.

"Yeah buddy! That's how we do it!" Pixy exclaimed.

"The demon born of the Round Table..." An ally murmured.

"All targets within combat airspace are down. Operation complete," Hammerhead confirmed.

"Yo, Buddy. You still alive?" Pixy asked.

"No. This plane is a ghost. What you're seeing is me coming to haunt your ass," I replied. "Yes, I'm alive. You?"

"Yeah, I'm alive."

"Let's get back to base and celebrate your birthday," I said.

"It's your birthday, Pixy? Why didn't you say so?" Hammerhead queried.

"Damn it, Cipher," my wingman groaned. "That wasn't supposed to get out."

"Oops?"

"Oops my ass."

"Cut the chatter you two. Let me get this briefing over with and then you two can continue," Hammerhead said. He cleared his throat and began. "We were victorious in the B7R engagement. According to our reports, the pilot in the F-4E that you engaged was an academy-trained ace. Furthermore, the squadron led by that enemy ace in the Foxhound was the one designated to intercept and destroy the fleeing aircraft. Lastly, incidentally, the pilot that was in the F-14D was an enemy ace. He was personally responsible for shooting down dozens of our planes. Belka is no longer a threat. The Round Table has finally toppled. Thanks to you, our forces' morale has skyrocketed. It won't be long now before we win this war."

When we got to base, a bunch of the crew were waiting to congratulate us. Half of them hugged us, half of them shook our hands. Hammerhead got us each into a headlock to give us a noogie. In the midst of the crowd, I found myself searching for Janie, hoping she'd be there.

"Come on! Drinks are on me!" Hammerhead shouted above the crowd. Someone dragged me away just as I saw Janie come out onto the tarmac. I couldn't fight against whoever was pulling me inside to the crew room where all the furniture had been moved aside, allowing for a party to be held in the middle.

"What are we doing?" Pixy asked.

"Celebrating your birthday. What are you, fifty?" he answered.

"Very funny."

"Janie even managed to get you a birthday cake. We're not going to get that drunk. Just a few drinks."

"Last time someone said that, I wound up falling asleep holding the wheel of my plane with nothing but my underwear on," Pixy retorted. "The Base Commander was not happy to find me like that."

"We'll watch out for you. Now, take these," Hammerhead ordered, handing us a shot glass each. At the top of his lungs, he shouted, "A toast! To Galm Two, who won't reveal his age so we'll just say it's his twenty-first birthday for the fourth year in a row. Happy birthday, Larry!"

"To Pixy!" I yelled, raising my glass. Everyone else in the room lifted theirs, repeated the saying, and then we did the first shot of the night. Hammerhead made everyone do another round. Two shots turned into three, three turned into four, four turned into five. And let me tell you, this wasn't the cheap, low percentage stuff either. Some guys were already getting past the tipsy stage. I wanted to celebrate, but seeing everyone being here for a birthday for some reason reminded me of my own family. The one I hadn't talked to in ages in order to protect them. The one whose birthdays I kept missing...

Unable to control the urge, I slipped out of the room and went to one of the base's phones. I held my finger over the number pad, but for some reason it wouldn't push anything. It just hovered for an unknown amount of time. I finally slammed the phone down and sank into the chair beside it. Bracing my head against my hand, I stared at the phone.

What would I have even said had one of them picked up? What if it had been one of the kids? How would it be explained about why I'd been gone for ages without any call, any email, any letter? My sister was most likely furious at me. She had every right to be. My brother in law would be mad at me for ignoring his family. Elizabeth and Genette would be entirely confused by my sudden disappearance and sudden reappearance with no explanation because I couldn't tell them what I was doing. All these missions were top secret. I was pretty sure that except for the Base Commander, Janie, Pixy, and Hammerhead, no one here actually knew my real name. They just all referred to me as Cipher.

It had been so long since I'd felt at home with some place, with someone. I always felt like that when I was with my family. The last time I had been with them was almost a year ago. The last time I talked to them over six or seven months. The last time I'd felt at home was when I'd been with Janie.

An epiphany occurred at that moment. Standing up, I headed to her room, avoiding going the route where I'd run into any party-goers. When I got to her bedroom door, I raised my hand to knock, but like it did with the number pad on the phone, my fist just hovered. What if she didn't want me back? What if she'd moved on? What if I'd waited too long to get past my damn pride?

I sighed and leaned against the door frame. This was the only person I'd felt at home with since I'd been at base. Pixy was my brother, and he was a home of sorts too, but being surrounded by all those people in there, I'd never felt more alone. I needed to do this. I needed to talk to Janie.

My hand knocked on her door and it opened a few seconds later.

"Hi," I said quietly.

"Hey, what's up?" she replied, her eyes searching my face to figure out the reason I was here.

"I came, firstly, to apologize for the ass I've been lately. My family is why I'm up there fighting, so I can end this war and get back to them without having to worry about Belka taking over. No one is supposed to know about them. The only people who do are you, your dad, and Pixy, the latter who was never even supposed to know in the first place. I'm protective of them and I miss them terribly. I can't speak to them because Belka would target them to get to me. They just can't figure out where I am. If Belka knows I'm not in touch with them, then they can't go after them. It wasn't just you accusing me of being with someone while being with you. I got scared that people would figure out that I had a family and word would somehow get back to Belka that I'm here, putting them in danger. I should've told you about them upfront, it's just I'm extremely private. I don't trust people easily. Pixy is my best friend, he's the brother I never had, and I wouldn't even tell him. I'm sorry for taking everything out on you. You did not deserve that."

"Apology accepted. Now let me make one of my own. I'm sorry I accused you of what-"

I shook my head to interrupt her. "You don't owe me an apology. You've apologized enough already."

"But I do. I knew my dad didn't like me with you for whatever reason. I should've known that he had something up his sleeve when he told me about your sister and your niece and nephew. I'm sorry for being blind. He's my dad and I thought he would accept us being together if he knew I was happy."

"Speaking of being happy, I'm only ever really happy when I'm home. Right now, home means my family. So when I came onto base, yeah, I enjoyed myself. I even found a brother. But the only time I felt like I do when I'm home is when I'm with you. If you're still into me, I'd very much like to try things again."

"I'd like that." Janie stood up on her tiptoes, hesitated, then kissed me on the lips. My hands cupped her face as we both melted into the kiss.

"Hi guys!" PJ slurred cheerfully, and quite obviously inebriated. We pulled apart in surprise. He was blinking innocently at us. "Sorry, didn't mean to interrupt. Cake is being cut if you want some. I'll leave you two alone."

PJ stumbled down the hallway. Even with him being around the corner, we could hear him shouting to the party, "Hey guys! Cipher and Janie are back together!"

She and I both laughed at the cheers that went up. I glanced down at her and said. "Do you want some cake?"

"I want to be with you more, but I have a feeling they'll talk if we don't."

"Yeah, they do love gossip on base, don't they?" I kissed her on the head, took her hand in mine, and escorted her to the party.
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Present day...

"I'm so happy you two got back together," Elizabeth practically squealed.

"Wait, what happened after the party? Did Pixy wake up hugging his plane again?" Genette asked. The three of us walked into my house. I tossed the keys on the counter and pulled out a frozen pizza from the freezer, preparing to make it.

I laughed. "No. He fell asleep in his plane. PJ fell asleep on the hood of a car with Iris. Hammerhead was passed out on the top of a tank. It was a good thing we all had the day off the following day because they all had murderous hangovers."

"What about you and Janie? What did you two do?"

"That, my dear niece, is something that I will not be telling you about."

"You know, with you not telling us what happened, you're actually telling us?" Genette pointed out. He and Elizabeth got this gleam in their eyes that caused me to blush furiously. I forgot that they were definitely old enough to understand this sort of thing.

"Okay, let's move on. The documentary is back on," I said, hastily changing the subject. I hit the play button on the TV and we began watching Pixy recount the mission as I got dinner ready.
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Okay, 20 pages and 11900+ words later, this chapter is finally done! Expect more to come as an apology for taking so long to get this up!