Wow, long time no see… or write in this case.  I know I say that I’ve been busy a lot but it’s true!  AP Euro is kicking my butt and I made a C on my last test which I’m not too happy about, making me be in kind of a testy mood.  Get it?  Testy mood?  Haha, ooh I crack myself up.  Sorry, I’m sick and it’s messing with my blonde brain.  Of course, crashing head first into a wall last weekend probably wasn’t the best either… anyways, hope y’all like the chapter!

Quote of the Chapter:

“On your knees you look up, decide you’ve had enough.  You get mad, you get strong, wipe your hands, shake it off, then you stand.”

~ Rascal Flatts

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8492

December 6, 2010, Vladimir Mountains, 1609hrs…

Grimm

The three of us flew lazily home over the snowcapped peaks of the Vladimir Mountains, exhausted from our previous mission.  I’m pretty sure Blaze put her plane on auto-pilot and napped a little bit.  I honestly couldn’t blame her after everything that happened.

“Have you ever seen a fortress that huge?” I asked, not able to take the monotonous silence anymore.

“Only on TV shows and I didn’t believe that they could make fortresses that big.  I stand corrected now,” Nagase replied.

“If I’m correct, overall, it took them two years to complete it although it was in operation after barely six months,” Nagase explained. “It was one of the fortresses on that show I watched.”

“I see.  So now what?  Are we going to help them invade Cinigrad or are we going to let our ground forces do it themselves?”

“They’re going to have us help capture it because we’ll only be getting one shot at this.  If we fail the first time, they’ll have time to regain one of their fortresses back by the time we have a strike force ready.  And, with our track record, they’ll definitely want us out on the front lines,” Blaze answered solemnly.  It was the first time she had spoken the whole trip back to base.  It kind of shocked me to hear her but her point was made.  In fact, I had thought about what she said before she said it and the only reason I asked the question was to see what my comrades thought.  Apparently, Blaze had thought the same thing.

“Wardog Squadron, this is Thunderhead.  Fly to the tanker for refueling,” Thunderhead ordered. “There’s an allied squadron to the east of your position.  They’ll guide you to the tanker for air refueling.  Good work people.”

“Will this war just freaking end?” Blaze grumbled.

“We’re one step away from the enemy’s capital.  We can win this as long as you’re with us.  I can feel it,” Thunderhead said confidently.

“Wow, a compliment from Thunderhead.  Who knew he was capable of it?” Blaze chuckled humorlessly, probably remembering the time Chopper said something almost exactly like that.

“Those enemy pilots we fought today… I can’t imagine what it would be like to fly with them in peacetime,” Nagase wondered aloud.

“Yeah,” I agreed.

“Wardog, this is the 8492nd Squadron.  Can you see us?  It’ll be an honor to escort you heroes.  Let’s go home,” the allied squadron said.  I sighed as I heard a friendly voice that wasn’t barking orders or yelling at us to get our asses on the move.  And, for once, we were being treated with respect after the disaster a few missions ago when we were accused of attacking civilians.

“Roger 8492.  Thank you for your escort,” Blaze replied.  The way she replied was in a manner that gave me the impression that she was trying to give off the impression that we were superior to them.  I wondered vaguely why, although, my mind was mainly on Chopper.

“I wonder when we’ll be sent to attack Cinigrad,” Nagase said.

“…Yeah,” I agreed. “But I’m still wondering what Captain Chopper was doing when…”

I never finished my sentence because at that moment, my missile alert went off.  I pulled into a steep incline to evade the missiles.  They shot past me.

“What the hell is going on?!” Blaze growled.

“Enemy ECM!... Wait a second.  That escort plane… oh, no!” I exclaimed as I had an epiphany.  I knew something had struck me as odd when I heard the name 8492 but I couldn’t place it.

“The 8492nd Squadron doesn’t exist!” Nagase announced gravely.  Of course!  But where had I met them before?  I knew I had met them before but where it had been was escaping me.

“Dammit…” Blaze muttered.  She shot past me and headed for an enemy jammer.  God, how I hate those things.  She fired two missiles at it to be sure that it got shot down.  Both of her missiles hit the plane, making it fall in a fiery mass towards the ground.

MISSION UPDATE

“Someone in the Army’s trying to lead us into a trap!  Just like back at the stadium…” I added almost as an afterthought because the thought itself scared me.  The trap at the stadium had cost us one of our friend’s lives.  I couldn’t stand it if it happened again.

“Like back at the stadium…” Blaze murmured. 

Oh no, please not now Blaze!  Don’t lose it now! I thought frantically.

Nagase and I flew around in maniacal paths to stop the enemies from getting a lock on us but it seemed like every two seconds, I had my missile alert going off. 

“Thunderhead!  Thunderhead, respond!” Nagase begged.

“Multiple unmarked fighters inbound!... Hey!  Is that their voice on the radio?” I inquired as I heard a man’s voice that definitely didn’t belong to anyone in our squadron seeing as how I was the only guy.

“You must destroy them.  We can’t let them end this war,” The harsh voice barked.

“We’re just getting started,” Blaze snarled.  Her tone, even though she wasn’t talking to me, scared me.  

Unlike me and Nagase, Blaze was managing just fine on her own (as usual) as she trailed an enemy fighter in such a mercurial flight path I was amazed neither of them crashed into the snowy mountains below.  Blaze fired a missile at the enemy plane, hitting it dead center in its engine.  The plane exploded in midair.

“Roger!  We’ll surround them and attack from all directions,” The enemy replied, apparently not having heard Blaze’s threat.

I got behind an enemy plane just as it was about to fire a missile at Blaze.  It rolled to the left and so did I.  I followed it relentlessly until I got a good missile lock on it.  I fired before it could evade and I shot it down.

“The 8492nd Squadron aren’t Yuktobanian spies?!” Nagase questioned.

“8492, 8492, 8492… I, I know I’ve heard that somewhere before…” I pondered aloud.  I thought carefully about the time that we went to Oured because of the accusation that we attacked civilians.  It was at the courthouse that we were told the 8492nd Squadron didn’t exist but I knew for a fact that they had called themselves our allies.  Then, two missions before that when we rescued that President… “That’s right, when we were helping the President’s emergency landing, it was the 8492nd who took our place!”

“Yeah… you’re right,” Nagase acknowledged.

“They got the President, too… so that’s what escalated the war?” I queried as I dodged a missile headed for me at my six.

“Yes!  This all makes sense now!” Blaze answered ecstatically.

“What do you mean?” I questioned.

“Our President would never enter a full-blown war like this.  He’s more of a negotiating person.  That’s what he was off to do when we helped in his emergency landing.  Without our President, the Vice President is making all the decisions and the citizens of Osea aren’t happy with that.  Belka can see that and so they’re going to take advantage when we’re weakest and invading Osea!” Blaze informed ardently.

“Belka’s behind all this!  The country that was defeated fifteen years ago!” Nagase added.

“We’ve got to tell people about this!  But how?  We’re completely surrounded!” I pointed out.

“So we’ll break through!” Nagase suggested.

“I’m breaking through their curtain!” I shouted as I raced off towards the east.  Nagase was with me.  It was a few seconds before we realized that Blaze wasn’t with us.

“Captain, penetrate their barrier CAP and head east!” Nagase ordered.  There was silence on the radio and for a split second, I feared that Blaze had been shot down.

Then, “… No.”

That one word sent chills down my spine.  How could Blaze say no?  Did she want a death wish?

“Wh- what?” Nagase stammered.

“I’m not running,” Blaze declared defiantly.  I saw her on my radar chasing after an enemy plane.  Even on my radar she was lightning fast.

“Captain, you have to escape!” I exclaimed worriedly.

“No!  These bastards are the reason that Chopper’s dead!” Blaze cried. “I’m not leaving this area until every single one of those sons of bitches is shot down!”

I had never heard Blaze so fervent.  So she did want a death wish… but not for herself.  She wanted it for the enemy’s planes that swarmed around us like flies.  Blaze wanted justice, revenge… and blood.

“We’re not going to let you fight alone,” I declared, jerking my plane around to fight alongside with Blaze.  Nagase followed and together, we joined Blaze in a battle for blood.  It felt like it was us against the world considering how for every one of our planes, there were four or five for us to fight against.  It was insane.

“Blaze, just don’t get yourself killed,” I pleaded.

“I won’t,” Blaze replied softly.  I had been worried that after everything had happened, Chopper and Bartlett being shot down, us being accused of attacking civilians, that Blaze had been hardened by the war so much that she didn’t feel anymore, that she had no emotion.  But when I heard her soft voice, I realized she still did have emotions, that she was just bottling them up and when she couldn’t contain them anymore, she exploded… like now.  She had bottled up her emotion so much after we were accused of attacking the civilians, especially after Chopper died, that she was like a volcano that was just waiting to explode its wrath on anything that got in its way.  While the idea scared me, it gave me hope that we could survive this because when Blaze was this pissed off, no one stood a chance.

I went after an enemy plane that was trailing Nagase persistently.  She had been going in kamikaze flight paths to get it off her tail and she would manage to lose it a few times but it would always reappear sooner or later, usually the former one.  I somehow was able to get within a few yards from it and shoot two missiles at it.  Both of my missiles hit the plane much to my delight.

“Thanks Grimm!” Nagase said.

“No problem.  We’re not losing anymore of this squadron,” I stated confidently.

“Agreed,” Blaze said.  Blaze got behind me and I realized it was because there was an enemy plane behind me.  Of course, I didn’t have to even evade because Blaze shot it down before it could even get a missile lock on me.

“Thunderhead, respond!” Nagase begged for what had to be the third time.

“Nagase, don’t waste your breath.  Thunderhead can’t hear us; the enemy is doing something that’s messing up our communication lines with him,” Blaze sighed wearily.

“Isn’t there any way around that?” Nagase asked fretfully.

“No.  We’re on our own,” Blaze said a little too calmly for my taste.

“Damn,” Nagase muttered.

“You said it,” I agreed whole-heartedly.

“You two get back to base.  I’ll handle these assholes,” Blaze ordered.

“Like hell we’re going to do that!” I laughed in shock at the absurd order Blaze had given us. “There’s no way we’re leaving you.”

“Y’all get back to base and tell the Commander what’s going on.  He needs to know that Yuktobania isn’t the enemy!”

“No,” Nagase said firmly.

“Yes,” Blaze countered in an annoyed tone.

“No,” Nagase repeated. “We are not going to leave you here.”

“I don’t want to lose anymore of my wingmen,” Blaze replied hotly.

“And we’re not going to lose our Captain,” Nagase shot back.

“Where are some more enemy planes?” Blaze asked, apparently abandoning the argument of telling us to go back to base since it was obvious we weren’t going to leave her.

“I’ve got nothing but gray on my radar! It’s being jammed!” I announced while I headed towards an enemy plane that was attempting (emphasis on attempting) to get behind Blaze.

“Meteor Seven, missile behind you!” An enemy warned.  I heard a yell as the missile Blaze had sent after the enemy she was trailing hit the plane.  I guessed that was Meteor Seven.

We were now dead center of the battle.  The planes swarmed around us, giving us no way to escape.

Nagase was trailing an enemy plane that skimmed the sides of the mountains, trying to get behind Blaze unnoticed.  It failed epically, especially when it hadn’t realized Nagase had gotten behind them until after she had fired two missiles at them.  The idiot of an enemy was too slow to react and crashed into the mountainside.

As I was flying up towards another enemy jammer, four planes came from each side of me, all shooting missiles at me.  I somehow was able to avoid all the missiles and shoot down the jammer, but I had to be careful going back down because those enemies would jump at the chance to shoot me down if they could.

“Oh no, we’re completely surrounded!” Nagase pointed out.

“It’s a trap!  We fell right into it!” I exclaimed.

“Well let’s turn the tables on them!” Blaze suggested (although it sounded like more of a command, and coming from her, it probably was).  I was starting to think that maybe fighting against all these enemies had been a bad idea.

“Captain, we’ve got to make it back!  Even if we have to turn our backs to the enemy.  Right?” I questioned, hoping, praying, that she would say yes.

“No!  I’m not leaving until every single one of these enemies is gone!” Blaze declared fiercely.

“You’re not thinking about defeating all those enemy planes before returning?  That’s insane!” Nagase objected.

“They’re the reason Chopper’s dead!” Blaze cried.

“But we can’t defeat all these planes by ourselves!” Nagase wrangled.

“We’ve done it before and we can do it again.  I am not running this time.  I want them to run away from me,” Blaze hissed.

Not wanting them to be fighting, I said, “Captain, she’s just worried about you…”

“Why is she worried about me?” Blaze inquired shortly.

“Because we’re your best friends and these fighters are much better than ones we’ve fought before and you’re so intent on getting them, it’s kind of scaring us.”

There was silence.

“I’m not meaning to scare y’all.  I just can’t make myself leave this place until after I’ve shot every single enemy plane down.”

I could (unfortunately) understand why.

“There’ll be no place in history for you,” A Belkan sneered.

I went up in a loop to lose the enemy plane trailing me and to get behind the plane that I had been trailing earlier but had to bail on it when this enemy plane got behind me.

“We could care less if we make history.  What we care about is ending this damn war and that means getting you bastards out of our way!” Blaze snapped as I got behind the enemy plane and shot it down easily.

“Oh my god!  More enemy planes?  How is this possible?!” Nagase asked as more enemy blips appeared on our radars.

“The only thing we can do now is escape as quickly as possible!” I said.

“No, that’s not the only thing.  We have two options: We can run away or we can stand and fight.  For me, I’m going with the latter one,” Blaze said.  Of course… she knew I wouldn’t leave her side, nor would Nagase.

“I’ve got to shake off these enemies,” Nagase said.  I turned my head to see where Nagase was.  She had two enemy fighters on her tail.  I turned my plane towards her and went after the planes; Blaze joined me.  Together, we shot down the two enemy planes with ease, allowing Nagase to fly towards the target she had been aiming to get for a while.  Somehow, the target had always seemed to avoid her.

“Aim for the cockpit.  Don’t let them get out alive,” A Belkan yelled, practically making me go deaf.

“Sheesh, could he tone his voice down?  I’d be amazed if Thunderhead didn’t hear that,” I said.

“He didn’t.  Stupid Belkans seriously messed up the communication devices,” Blaze replied.

“Enemies of Belka, be gone!” A Belkan roared in frustration.  I couldn’t blame him.  We were shooting down the enemy planes and there were only three of us… there were like, fifteen of them.  I’d be getting ticked off too.

“We’re not going anywhere,” Blaze growled.

“Nip the dangerous seeds in the bud.  Those are our orders,” Another Belkan said.  Then I heard… laughter?

Blaze was laughing.

“Uh, Blaze?  Are you laughing?” I asked curiously.

“I’m s-sorry,” Blaze laughed. “I’m laughing at th-their analogy.”

I started to chuckle too as I thought about it.  I mean, you would think if they hated us as much as they said they did that they would use a better analogy than what they did.  I would expect some more vulgar words.  Soon, I was cracking up, so was Nagase.  That told me we needed some serious rest if we were in hysterics over something that really wasn’t that funny.

I snapped out of my hysterical laughing fit when an enemy plane got behind Blaze.

“Damn, I can’t lose this guy!” She said exasperatedly after a couple minutes had passed.

“We could lose them in the clouds…” I suggested, but then added, “But it’s too dangerous.”

“Dangerous is my middle name,” Blaze replied mischievously.  Blaze shot up and disappeared in the clouds.  Even I couldn’t see her.

“Dammit!  I lost the lead plane!  They disappeared in the clouds!” A Belkan shouted in anger.  I heard Blaze laughing over the radio.  She had officially lost it.

“They went too far, capturing that fortress,” A Belkan said.

“They will now pay for their insolence,” A Belkan answered.

“These pilots are the straw that broke the camel’s back.  Get them,” A Belkan added.

The straw that broke the camel’s back? I thought.  What is it with the Belkans and their analogies?  And how did a camel enter the equation?  Oh my god, and I thought we were random.  The Belkans just put random on a whole new level.

“Did they just say something about us being straw that broke a camel’s back?” Blaze inquired curiously as she shot down from the clouds to get behind an enemy plane.

“So I didn’t hear that wrong.  I thought I was losing it when I heard them say that but they really did say that.  They just put random on a whole new level,” I chuckled.

“Amen!” Nagase agreed while she joined Blaze in shooting down the enemy plane Blaze was trailing.  The two of them shot it down in ten seconds flat.

“Don’t let them escape, no matter what.  The future of Belka is hanging in the balance,” A Belkan announced.

“Well when you put it like that…” Blaze began before rolling her plane to the side and then up into a loop to go after the third to last enemy plane.

“Blaze, how many more planes do we have?  My plane is heavily damaged from the last mission.  I can’t fight much longer,” Nagase warned.

“We have two left.  I just shot the third down.  Pull out though.  I’m not losing you, too,” Blaze said.

“We’ve got to evade their attack and separate from the flight,” I said.

“Just hang in there Grimm.  You’re doing fantastic!” Blaze encouraged.

“There’s too much to think about.  I think I’m going to lose it!” I exclaimed.

“Grimm, don’t stress yourself.  Pull out if you need to.  I’m not losing any of you.  If you two survive, that’s all that matters.  It’s getting the crew back alive that counts,” Blaze told us.

“We have to get out of here and report this!” Nagase insisted as she shot down the second to last plane.

“I can’t believe Belka’s behind all this,” I said.  How could the country that was defeated fifteen years ago by the combined powers of Osea and Yuktobania and other countries think that they could pit the two superpowers against each other without someone on either side realizing what’s happening?”

“If this is the truth, then what was this war all about?!” Nagase demanded.

“I don’t know but we’re going to find out.  That, I promise you,” Blaze assured as she shot down the last plane.

“Last plane shot down!” Blaze declared triumphantly.

“Let’s hurry back home!” I urged.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

The three of us hit our afterburners and headed to the east, wanting to escape this desolate place.

I couldn’t believe we had just shot down all those planes.  The three of us had just gone up against probably around twenty planes and we had kicked their butts.  We had gotten unimaginably good at flying.  Our coordination together was impeccable.  It’s no wonder that all of our previous enemies had been afraid of us.  After this battle, I could understand why people on the enemy’s side were scared when we came to the frontlines. 

We truly were part of the reason Osea was winning.

______________________________________________

December 7, 2010, Sand Island Air Force Base, 0110hrs…

Genette

I stared at the blinds that blocked the nighttime view as I listened to one of my friends, also a reporter, answer some questions Pops and I had ever since we had lost contact with my sister, Nagase, and Grimm somewhere over the Vladimir Mountains.  Pops had just happened to get a glance at the allied squadron meeting up with my sister’s squadron before we lost contact.  He told me that the plane’s ID number didn’t match up with any of Osea’s allies’ numbers.  He also told me it matched the ID number of the planes that had met the Wardog Squad when they rescued the president.

Hence the reason I was on the phone, trying to dig up any information I could that could possibly help me and Pops figure out what was going on.

When I was done on the phone, I hung up and turned my head to look at Pops.

“Would it surprise you if I said that President Harling is nowhere to be found within the capital?” I queried, just having a feeling it wouldn’t surprise him.

“Not really,” Pops admitted, shaking his head. “The hardline war Osea’s waging right now hardly resembles the peace policy the President was promoting.” He paused briefly. “Let me guess, he disappeared just before we invaded Yuktobania, right?”

“Exactly,” I said, now turning my whole body to look at him. “My journalist friends told me that nobody’s seen him enter or leave the office since.  All of his decisions are communicated through the Vice President.  And it gets better.  A lot of the military officers that resigned over disagreement with the President’s arms-reduction plan have started to return to the capital.”

Pops shifted a little on the couch at my announcement.

“I found out something myself,” Pops said. “That Belkan aggressor force I was telling you about… apparently they’re called the 8492nd Squadron.  Also, and here’s the kicker, Captain Hamilton, the Adjutant Base Commander here, used to be assigned to the 8492nd.”

Pops looked up as I exclaimed, “What?”

Right at that moment, we heard plane engines… fighter jet engines… they were okay!

“Oh, they’re back,” Pops acknowledged.

______________________________________________

Blaze

I landed first, followed by Nagase and then Grimm.  We were completely exhausted having been in the air for most of the day.  I wanted to go and crash out in my bed but there were things we had to do that couldn’t be postponed.

“There’s no point in talking to that blockhead Commander,” Nagase pointed out irritably. “He treated our President like an idiot just because he wanted peace.”

“What about his Adjutant, Captain Hamilton?” Grimm suggested.

“Idea, Grimm, good,” I said wearily, my brain not being able to put a sentence together properly.  I guess Nagase could sense how tired I was because she said, “Roger that.  The Captain and I will go see him.  Grimm, you go let Genette and Pops know.”

“Right.  Be careful,” Grimm warned.

“Good job, guys, today,” I praised, then I mentally cursed my brain for once again not being able to put a complete sentence together.

“Thank you Blaze,” Nagase replied.

We pulled our planes into the hangar.  Grimm bolted off to Genette’s room while Nagase and I ran towards Hamilton’s office.  Cassie met us on the way.

“Hey!  What’s going on?  Why are you running?” She inquired as she fell in step next to us.  I started to explain what had happened.

______________________________________________

Genette

“What?” I exclaimed sharply.  Pops had stood straight up, flipping over Kirk’s silver food bowl, when Grimm came in and told us that Blaze and Nagase had gone to talk to Hamilton. “Nagase and Blaze went to see Hamilton?”

Grimm looked worried. “What is it?  Did I do something wrong?”

“Let’s hurry,” Pops urged.  Grimm glanced over at Pops.  Briefly, I explained everything.  Grimm’s mouth dropped open.

“You got it!” I agreed.

“We need to warn them!” He exclaimed.

“We don’t have time to warn Blaze and Nagase.  We’ll have to talk to the Base Commander ourselves,” Pops said grimly.  We left my room and strode confidently to the Base Commander’s office.

I turned the corner that led to the office.  Opening the door, I let Pops go in first, but Grimm let me go in before him.  The Base Commander was standing at his desk with his hands behind his back.

“Thank you for coming Second Lieutenant,” The Base Commander said. “I was just thinking about calling you over.”

“Me?” Pops inquired askance.  I could see Pops out of the corner of my eye glancing towards the semi-open door.  He was looking for an escape route in case something went wrong.

“Special Forces Second Lieutenant Peter N. Beagle.  Or I guess you prefer ‘Pops,’” The Base Commander began. “Fifteen years ago, you and Bartlett were shot down over enemy terrain.  Bartlett’s squadron HQ was destroyed and all of its data was fried by Belka’s magnetic-pulse weaponry.  When you made it back to the allied front lines, it was Bartlett’s word that convinced them that you were his squadron leader.  Is that really true?”

The Base Commander pulled out a gun and pointed it directly at us.

______________________________________________

Blaze

Nagase, Cassie, and I marched to Captain Hamilton’s office.  I knocked and waited for the reply.

“Come in,” Hamilton’s muffled voice said.  I opened the door and walked in, followed by Nagase and Cassie.  They flanked me.  I tried to hide my shock when I saw Bailey Cohen leaning casually up against Hamilton’s desk.

“Captain Hamilton, sir, we need to speak to you privately,” I said, not looking over at Bailey.

“Whatever you have to say, you can say it in front of Bailey,” Hamilton replied nonchalantly.  I glanced over at Nagase and Cassie and they did a slight nod of their heads telling me to go on.  But before I could say anything, Hamilton cut me off.

“I know why you’re here,” He said.

“You do, sir?” I questioned.

“Yes, I do.  You’re here to tell me that Belka is behind this, are you not?”

“Yes, sir but how- how did you know that?” My gut was telling me that I needed to get out of there and that I needed to get out of there now.  But my feet refused to move, so did my heart.  My heart was telling me to stay, that I needed to find out why Hamilton knew this.  I forced myself to ignore my gut and stay.

“Excuse me sir, but before you tell us, can you tell me why you have a Major’s Insignia on your shoulder?” Nagase questioned.  That’s when it hit me full force.

“You bastard!” I shouted.  Nagase and Cassie looked at me like I had lost it.

Hamilton turned to look at me, the evilest face I had ever seen settled upon it.

“You dare insult me, Captain Banks?” Hamilton sneered.

“Blaze, what’s going on?” Cassie asked worriedly.

“He’s not who you think he is,” I said through gritted teeth.

“Then please, tell me Blaze, who I work for,” Hamilton urged with an amused smile, having the thought that I wouldn’t be able to guess it.

“Belka.”

______________________________________________

Genette

The three of us took a step back.  Now all of us were on alert.

“Is that really true?” He demanded. “Bartlett turned out to be a spy.  So, who are you, really?”

I glared at the Base Commander.  Hamilton had persuaded him that Pops was the traitor and that his friends, meaning me, Cassie, Blaze, Nagase, and Grimm, were also traitors.  I made a mental note to myself saying that if I ever got my hands on Hamilton, I was going to strangle him.

Pops didn’t say anything.  He just continued looking at the Base Commander.

“Can’t prove anything about your military record, can you?” The Base Commander taunted.  Pops turned to look at me and Grimm.  His eyes told us that we were to escape through the slightly-ajar door.  Grimm and I did slight nods to show that we understood.  Pops started moving his foot back.

The Base Commander’s hand was barely a centimeter away from the emergency button when the lights flickered before going out.

______________________________________________

Blaze

Hamilton’s face turned murderous and I knew I had guessed right.  It helped having an uncle and a brother who knew everything about other military symbols and customs.  I was glad at that moment for the times when my brother and uncle would force me to look at military symbols and rank indicators.

“How did you know that?!” Hamilton barked.

“You can thank my brother,” I replied with a smirk.

“I knew we never should’ve let your brother on base, of course, he won’t be getting off this base.  The Base Commander is an idiot and I told him that you were all traitors.  Your brother is with the Base Commander right now in fact,” Hamilton said. “Anyways, none of you are going anywhere except to jail although you,” –Hamilton pointed at me- “You are not going to live to see another day.”

Hamilton pulled out a gun but he was too late.  Cassie had pulled hers out and fired at Hamilton.  He ducked out of the way.  Nagase bolted for him and as he was getting up, she struck an experienced blow to the side of Hamilton’s head.  He collapsed and Nagase kicked the gun out of his hands.  Cassie joined her and together, they fought against Hamilton.  He didn’t look strong, but he was equal in strength to both Cassie and Nagase.

Bailey yelled in frustration and lunged at me.  I hadn’t seen it coming.  She had me pinned to the floor with a letter opener in my face.  Its serrated edges made fear rise up in me.  No way was I going, not like this.  I held her wrist away from me.  I couldn’t move anything but my head.  On a very dumb decision, I bit her.  Bailey howled in pain and I kicked her off of me.  I kicked her again, this time in the side of the head, instantly knocking her unconscious (I’m an ex-soccer player you know).  I grabbed her gun.  It was still fully loaded.  Why she had grabbed an envelope opener instead of her gun was beyond me but because of her mistake, I was alive.  I turned to go help Nagase and Cassie but they didn’t need any.  Nagase punched with all her might towards Hamilton’s face and knocked him completely out.  We were all breathing hard but we couldn’t rest.  We had to get out of there and to my brother.  Hopefully Grimm and Pops were with him.

We raced through the halls of the base.  Thankfully, we passed no one on the way there.  We slowed down as we neared the Base Commander’s office, not wanting to alert anyone to our presence, not even Genette.  We could hear voice inside.  One was definitely the Base Commander’s… the other one was Pops.  If Pops was there, so was Grimm and I already knew that Genette was in there.  We crept closer to the door to hear exactly what was being said.

“… You were his squadron leader.  Is that really true?” The Base Commander demanded.  Then I heard a slight click… the slight click of a gun.  Oh hell no.  First Bartlett, then Chopper.  No way was I going to lose anymore of my friends.  The Base Commander said more but I wasn’t listening.  I was looking for a way to get Genette, Pops, and Grimm out of there.  I narrowed in on the electrical box outside of the Base Commander’s office.  I pointed my gun at it and fired a clean hole through the metal.  The lights flickered before going out.

______________________________________________

Genette

“This way!” Pops shouted in the dark.  I whirled around, knocking over a chair in the process, and ran out of that office.  A bullet whistled dangerously close to my ear but it miraculously didn’t hit me.  Pops, Grimm and I managed to get out of there and I heard more gunshots after that.  I couldn’t help but smile as the Base Commander fired blindly at nothing.  My smile vanished when I saw three figures were waiting for us.

“Genette?!” A familiar voice shrieked.

“Elizabeth!” I breathed, my smile returning.  I wanted to hug her so badly but we couldn’t.  We had to get out of there, especially when I heard the Base Commander yelling, “Arrest them on sight!  They’re spies.  Shoot ‘em if you have to!” 

We ran like the devil himself was after us, Pops in the lead.  He knew of a place where we could go where we wouldn’t get caught.  Grimm was having trouble going so slow.

“Grimm, go see if they’ve seized our planes in the hangars!  We’ll meet you in the alley with the barrels,” Pops commanded.  Grimm nodded and bolted down another hall at an impressive speed.  Pops led us outside and into an alley.  We all stopped and bent down to catch our breaths.

______________________________________________

Grimm

I peered around the building to see if there were any guards near the hangars… there were… and one just happened to see me.

“Over there!” The guard yelled, starting to chase after me with his very big automatic.  Five or six other guards joined the chase.  I ran inside the base.  I knew where I was headed: Chopper’s room.  I managed to get inside his room before the guards had time to turn around the corner, giving me sometime to search for a way out of there.  I looked around.  My only escape routes were the way I had come in (I’m not that stupid), breaking the window which was sure to attract some attention, crawling through the vent (I’m not that tiny), or crawling through the ceiling.  I decided the ceiling was the safest way to go.  Insane, yes, but it was my best shot.  I was about to climb on the bed when I saw Chopper’s wallet.  On a spilt-second decision, I grabbed it because I knew he kept pictures of him and Blaze together and I was thinking Blaze might like to have those photos.  I put his wallet in the waterproof pocket in my flightsuit.

I climbed on top of the bunk bed and moved one of the ceiling tiles aside.  I climbed up inside the filthy, dark space before replacing the ceiling tile.  I did it in the nick of time because barely two seconds later, the guards busted down Chopper’s door.

“He’s not here!” One announced.

“Keep searching for him then!” The lead guard barked.  I waited until the door closed before I started crawling in the direction of which I had entered the base.  It was slow tedious work but I managed to get to the place after removing a few ceiling tiles to see where I was.  I had accidentally moved a tile that was above the girl’s restroom.  Thankfully, there was no one in it.

Finally, I reached the door where I had come in.  I made sure no one was around before I moved the tile fully out of place and dropped down with a slight “oomph” on the tile floor.  I ran outside, making sure to stay in the shadows.

______________________________________________

Cassie

I was leaning up against the wall next to Nagase.  Pops was sitting down on a barrel on my other side, petting Kirk.  Blaze and Genette were leaning up against the wall opposite me and Nagase.  Blaze was silent, looking down at the ground, ignoring us completely.  I felt so bad for her.  She couldn’t catch a break.

“Hamilton’s got the Base Commander deceived, too,” Genette said.

“Yeah, Hamilton told us that,” I told him.

“I punched that guy’s lights out,” Nagase said. “That bastard was wearing a Major’s insignia on his shoulder.”

“It was Blaze who alerted us who he really was,” I added.  I saw Blaze smile slightly.  So she was listening and my compliment had made her smile, which made me smile slightly as well.

“I don’t know who it is, but someone’s trying to widen the rift between the two countries and keep this war going,” Genette announced with a grimace.

“It’s Belka,” Blaze answered.

“I know that it’s Belka, but who in Belka?” Genette inquired.  Blaze was silent because she didn’t know either.

“If Osea continues to win,” Genette went on, “Then the war will be over.”

“And they’re after us to prevent that?” Nagase questioned, astounded at the fact that she and Blaze and Grimm might be cause of all this. “You’re kidding.”

“You people are the pillar of morale for the entire Osean Army now,” Genette pointed out.  Blaze harrumphed at the idea as the spotlight glided over our position.  It didn’t spot us.

“And now you know something you were better off not knowing… the President’s disappearance.” Pops spoke quietly.

“Listen, Pops, who exactly are you?” Genette demanded harshly, but not unkindly.

“He’s a deserter from the Belkan Air Force.  He was given orders to drop one of the nuclear bombs but he didn’t want to and went AWOL.  He joined the Osean Air Force and has helped them ever since,” Blaze responded.  We all looked at her; Pops looked astonished.

“How do you know that?” Genette queried.

“I called Jason,” Blaze replied, looking at Genette.  An understanding seemed to pass between them, making me wonder who this Jason person was.

We all whipped our heads around when we heard footsteps rapidly approaching.  Kirk stood in front of everyone and wagged his tail as he waited to attack the enemy.  Grimm appeared, breathing heavily.

“It’s no good.  They seized our planes in the hangars,” Grimm announced between breaths.  We were silent for a while before Pops looked towards the hangars which we could clearly see from our hiding spot.

Hangar C in the rear probably isn’t so heavily guarded,” Pops observed, almost to himself.

“Yeah, but…” Grimm took in another gulp of air, “But over there, there’s nothing but…”

“We’ll escape with my training jets,” Pops declared. “Good thing I maintain all my planes well, eh?  Let’s try it.  Genette, you take the seat behind me.  Cassie, you go with Grimm and Blaze, you’re taking Kirk.”

“Are you sure?” Blaze nearly squeaked.

“Yes.  He knows what to do,” Pops assured.  Blaze looked unsure but she didn’t argue.  Pops stood up and we followed him soundlessly through the back passages throughout the base.  We had to hide a few times as soldiers passed us but they never heard nor saw us much to our relief.  We made it to the hangar and with amazing stealth, we were soundlessly able to get every strapped in the planes, including Kirk.  Blaze looked pale in the darkness.  I think she was scared that she was going to kill Kirk with her flying but Pops assured her that Kirk was capable of flying with her.

It was almost three thirty in the morning by the time we were ready to go.  It was also time for the most nerve-wracking part.  We started up our engines after Pops had hit the door opener before hopping into his plane and starting his engine.  We started pulling out of the hangar before the doors were fully open.  We just wanted to get out of there.

______________________________________________

Sand Island Base Guard

We were all running towards Hangar C at breakneck speed when we had heard plane engines.  The first training jet pulled out, then another, then another, then another.  The four planes headed towards the runway.

“They’re getting away!” Someone shouted.

Well no kidding! I thought but I refrained from saying it.

“Fire!  Take ‘em down!” Another guard yelled.  We fired our guns in a futile attempt as the planes got on the runway.  They were lined up in pairs.  I knew that Blaze and Pops would be in front, seeing as they both seemed to have superiority within the group, and Nagase and Grimm were in the back.  They hit the afterburners and shot down the runway, barely gaining enough speed before taking off.

______________________________________________

Blaze 

“Okay, let’s get out of here,” Pops said.  I didn’t argue as we shot down the runway.  We were barely a third way down the runway before we pulled up.  When all four of us were in the air, Pops said, “All right, now keep climbing to a higher altitude.”

Sand Island was now behind us as we headed to god knows where.  So much for a good night’s sleep…

“So where do we go now?” Grimm questioned.

“We no longer have a home to return to,” Pops said.

“Attention, all Air Force planes!  Enemy spy elements have made off with four training jets and are heading north.  Find them and shoot them down.  Repeat, all Air Force planes…” Hamilton commanded.  I growled at Hamilton’s voice.  I was going to get my revenge on him sooner or later.

“That’s Hamilton’s voice.  The bastard…” Grimm started before mumbling things indecipherable to all of us although I think I heard the F-bomb a few times along with some other words I care not to mention.

“Guess I’ll try my hand at combat maneuvering, then,” Pops said. “Excuse me while I take the lead.  Follow me, people.”

Pops sped up to be in the front of the formation that I had been leading into the oblivion.  I was glad that I wasn’t leading right then and there.  It felt good to be following someone else again.

______________________________________________

This chapter is short compared to all the other chapters.  God, I hate Hamilton.  He’s a no good, lying little Belkan…  Now I’m starting to sound like Grimm.  Anyways, please review!!!