Hey y’all!  Just for everyone’s information, I have turned into a complete Star Wars geek.  I bought a shirt that says “I <3 Star Wars.” So, expect some Star Wars references in this chapter.

Also, if you want to know a great anger management technique, here’s what you need: 1 pair of garden clippers and a forest of trees with dead limbs.  Here’s what you do: You whack those dead branches with those clippers as hard you can.  I tried it because I’m mitigating my backyard because I don’t want my home state to be the U.S.’s torch again and it’s really fun to whack off branches.  One was three feet long, no joke.

So, now that y’all have probably decided I’m psychotic (I’m not denying it) and that I have anger issues (I actually don’t have them), read the story.

Quote of the Chapter:

"We have women in the military, but they don't put us in the front lines. They don't know if we can fight, if we can kill. I think we can. All the general has to do is walk over to the women and say, 'You see the enemy over there? They say you look fat in those uniforms.'"

~Elayne Boosler

_______________________________________

Aces

Nagase 

Blaze was standing behind Geller, braced up against his chair while Genette and I stood on his left.  Grimm, Cassie, and Snow were peering over us while Pops and Andersen were on Geller’s right.  He was showing us the Gray Men’s plans that had been on the disc.  It had all the details of the Strategic Orbital Linear Gun, or simply called the SOLG.  I knew a little bit about the history of it.  I knew it was Osean made, that the project had been abandoned following the ending of the Belkan War, and that it was classified as an Attack Satellite that had never been fully completed.  Well, from the looks of it, Belka, or more specifically the Gray Men, had secretly completed the SOLG and had put a massive weapon on it.  Geller called it the V-2.  He explained its workings but there were so many big terms he used that the only part I understood was if the V-2 was launched, there was going to be pandemonium and lots and lots of death.  Also, because of its orbit something or other, it allows the SOLG to strike anywhere.

“So when do we attack it?” Blaze inquired, looking at Pops expectantly.

“Geller, you said there was a control panel?” Pops asked.

“Yes, sir.  It’s in Sudentor.  By the looks of all the plans on here, the control facility has two control panels and they are in a tunnel underneath the Waldreich Mountains.  It would take too long for someone to drive into the facility, destroy both of them, and come back out.  They don’t make any vehicles fast enough,” Geller informed grimly.

We fell silent.  What could we do?  Blaze murmured something but I couldn’t understand her.  Pops, however, did, and it seemed to shock him.

“What did you say?” Pops demanded; I think he asked the question just to make sure he heard her right.  What she said next was definitely not something I was expecting.  I thought maybe she knew of some missile that you could control and we could fly it through the tunnel and destroy the control system or something else really cool sounding.

“Fly,” Blaze repeated. “I can fly through it.”

We all stared at her in astonishment.

“What the hell are you thinking Blaze?” I said sharply.

“It’s suicide!” Cassie exclaimed.

“It’s an impetuous move, Captain,” Snow acknowledged.

“You’re a great flyer Blaze but even that’s too much,” Grimm said.

“The Demon Lord flew in Avalon in a tunnel narrower than this one.  What’s the difference?” Blaze countered.  I had to admit, it was a decent argument.

“Damn it, Blaze!  You’re not going!  I’m not going to let you go on a suicide mission.  You know it is and yet you want to do it anyway!  I know you miss Chopper but don’t you dare do it… don’t you dare do it,” Genette ranted.  I felt my mouth drop open.

“What do you mean?” Blaze growled.  I had never seen her look so angry in my life, not even when the Base Commander had told her to ‘suck it up.’  Genette needed to tread lightly.  I had seen Blaze lose her temper but I think with the way she had been acting lately, he temper would be much, much worse.

“Don’t make me say it,” He admonished in an eerily calm voice.  Blaze’s nostrils flared but the challenge in her eyes was unmistakable and Genette took the bait. “You want to kill two birds with one stone: Your plan is to destroy the control by crashing into it, then you will have succeeded in your mission and you’ll be with Chopper.”

The air seemed to freeze around us.  No one moved a muscle… until Blaze slapped him… hard.  The impact was so loud I believe I felt a sound vibration from it.  Genette raised a hand to his cheek, as if stunned by the fact that Blaze had slapped him and that he had just said what he did.  There was a distinct handprint on his cheek, so distinct I think I could even see some lines from Blaze’s hands on there.  I turned my attention to Blaze who seemed to be in a state of shock.  Her mouth covered her hand as her other gripped her stomach.  Her eyes were wide and fearful; I knew she hadn’t meant to slap him… at least not that hard.

Without another word, Genette turned on his heel and left the room.  Blaze, almost as if she was inebriated, stumbled after him, and I could’ve sworn I saw a tear fall down her cheek.

“Sir, should we go after them?” Geller asked hesitantly.

Pops shook his head. “No.  We need to let them work it out.”

“What are we going to do about the SOLG’s control system?  We need to destroy it somehow,” Geller pointed out stoically.

Pops grimaced as he said, “I know, and unfortunately, Blaze is right.  The only way we have a chance of destroying that thing is if someone flies through there.  And my bets are if anyone could pull it off, it would be her.”

_______________________________________

Blaze

I staggered after Genette, my feet not following what my brain was telling them, probably because my brain was on overload that I had just violently assaulted my brother.

“Genette!” I called out, attempting to get him to stop.  He didn’t, leaving me to continue to chase after him in my drunken-like running.  Somehow, miraculously, I caught up to him and grabbed a hold of his arm but he gruffly shook me off. “Genette, please talk to me.  I didn’t mean to!  I’m sorry!”

“Sorry isn’t good enough Elizabeth,” Genette snapped as he whirled around.  Now I knew how truly pissed off he was.  He never used my real name unless he was super, unbelievably mad or beyond belief worried; it was obvious which one he was now.  His cheek was bruising badly and my stomach lurched at the sight of it.  How could I have done that?  I reached up to touch it but he swatted my hand away.  The gesture hurt, but I deserved it.

“I know you’re mad-”

“I’m not mad, Elizabeth,” Genette cut me off, sounding tired. “I’m scared.”

“Scared?  Of what?”

“Of you!” He shouted, his lethargic tone completely gone. “I’m scared that you’ve had a complete mental breakdown and that you’ve finally cracked and that flying this suicide mission is the way you want to-”

He didn’t finish as he choked up.  I had never seen my brother so close to crying.  He hadn’t cried in years.

“I’m not going on this suicide mission so I can join Chopper.  I’m going to do it for my country and I fully intend to survive it.  I have too much to live for and I would never leave you or Nagase or Grimm or Cassie or Snow or Pops or mom and dad and Uncle Jason,” I declared. “I’m not a little girl anymore.  I can take care of myself.  You don’t need to watch out for me.  I know what I’m doing.”

“Do you?!  Do you know I do nothing but worry about you anymore?”

“Why do you worry about me?  You know me; I’m your sister,” I said.

“I don’t know you anymore Elizabeth, that’s just it!  Ever since Chopper died, you’ve changed.  I mean, the risks you’re willing to take are psychotic and not even Uncle Jason would pull those stunts!  What’s happened to you?  You’re not the person I used to know… I just want my sister back,” Genette admitted quietly.

“Genette-” I began.

“Save it.  I’m sick of your lies saying you’re all right because I know you’re not.  When you’re ready to tell me the truth, let me know.  I’ll be in my room.”

Of course, I had no intentions of telling him anything, so I shouted, “I’ll be downstairs, starboard side, if you need me.”  He didn’t reply.  I didn’t blame him.

_______________________________________

Snow 

Pops called us for an early briefing.  We weren’t going to head out yet but we were going to get an idea from this briefing.  Blaze was nowhere to be found which worried all of us but she had this strange habit of popping up when she was needed.  I wasn’t going to doubt her now…

Genette was present and he had a nasty bruise on his cheek from where Blaze slapped him.  He wasn’t using any ice; he should’ve but he didn’t seem in the mood to talk so I didn’t say anything.  I honestly couldn’t blame him for not wanting to talk.

“We’ve decoded the disc that the ‘Major’ brought back with her,” Pops explained. “It contained the blueprints for a ‘Mass Retaliation Weapon,’ code name ‘V2,’ a far more powerful weapon than the two tactical nukes that the Belkans used in the last war.  It was never fully developed at the time, but it appears that they’ve secretly completed its construction in the fifteen years since the war.  The V2 is a MIRV missile… it could wipe out half of all the large cities in either Osea or Yuktobania.  So where would they deploy it?  It had to be the SOLG, which was also secretly completed and is now operational.  After all, it was built to function as an orbital platform for such weapons in the first place.  The SOLG itself is unmanned- we know it’s controlled from the ground, but we didn’t know where.  Then, the intelligence vessel Andromeda tracked down the origin of ‘Schenze’s’ transmissions to the Arkbird.  It’s in the former South Belka, a state entrusted to Osean rule and is now called North Osea.  To be more precise, the transmissions originated from an experimental facility owned by Gründer Industries, the manufacturer of the weapons we use.  The president of Gründer has sworn allegiance to Osea, but in truth, he was a secret member of the ‘Gray Men.’  Under the guise of their ‘experimental facility,’ they are actually digging a gigantic tunnel under the mountain range that runs along the border dividing North and South Belka.  Their ultimate goal is to reunite the two Belkas.  And in that tunnel…”

A massive shudder went through the ship with an accompanying explosion sound, making us all jump about five feet in the air.  It had come from the starboard side.

“What the hell?” I exclaimed.

Pops radioed the bridge, demanding to know what had happened.  The voice replied frantically, “The Kestrel just took a missile hit!  Enemy unknown.  We can’t identify it in time! Additional missiles approaching!  Razgriz, launch immediately and gain altitude to escape!”

“Blaze…” Genette murmured before bolting off.

“Genette!” Nagase shouted before she chased after him.  Naturally, Cassie, Grimm, and I followed.  Genette had made a lot of headway and we were all having trouble catching up to him.  He was hysterically calling out Blaze’s name.  He practically leapt down the ladder to the floor below and I realized where he was going.

“What the hell are you doing Genette?” I shouted. “That’s where the explosion was!”

“I know!  Blaze is down there!” He answered.  The four of us reached the ladder and crawled down.

“Genette!” Blaze yelled.  I saw them hugging in the middle of the hallway; Blaze’s eyes were shut and I had a feeling that she was glad Genette was even talking to her.  We reached them as Genette held her in front of him.

“Are you okay?” he questioned, looking up and down her, checking for injuries.

“I’m fine,” She insisted. “What the hell was that noise?”

“A missile hit the starboard side of the ship,” Genette explained. “Let’s get up to higher floors.  I don’t think we’re just going to get that one missile.”

None of us hesitated and we ran like lightning up to the hangar and we explained to Blaze that we had been ordered to launch.

“We’re taking the F-22A Raptors,” Blaze informed.  Ironically, right after she said that, a Kestrel crew member said, “This’ll probably be the last time this ship launches an aircraft, so go ahead and pick the best plane we got in here.”

Another added, “Pick whatever you want, we’ll catapult it into the sky.  We’re gonna get you up there, no matter what, all right?”

Blaze announced her choice and we immediately helped get the planes ready.  Nagase, Grimm, and I were already in our planes.  Nagase was in the process of rising up to the catapult and Blaze was putting on her helmet when another explosion rocked the ship.  Blaze was thrown forward but Genette, who had been holding onto the ladder leading up to her seat, grabbed her by the waist and didn’t let go of her until the boat’s excessive rocking receded.  Blaze gave him a hug, and with the way Genette was returning it, I was pretty sure they were squeezing the living daylights out of each other.

_______________________________________

Blaze

“Be careful, Blaze, please be careful,” Genette begged as Cassie waited patiently for Genette to go up to the bridge with her.  She was a conservative distance away that gave me and Genette some privacy, although we still kept our tones quiet.

“You, too, Genette,” I whispered. “I’m so sorry about earlier.  You have to believe me.”

“I do; I never should have said that.  I know you wouldn’t do that.” He sniffed and blinked. “Now go before I stop you from flying and kicking some Belkan Gray Men ass.”

I gave him a sad smile and he reached down and kissed me on the top of the head.

“I love you, little sis,” He said.

“Love you too, big bro.  I’ll see you soon,” I assured, giving him a kiss on his bruised cheek.  With one last hug, I got in my plane, put my helmet on, and waited to takeoff.  I saw Genette and Cassie running out of the hangar and presumably up to the bridge.  He was in good hands with Pops and Andersen.

Suddenly, my thoughts went to Chopper’s wallet.  I patted my pockets, not wanting to leave without it, and was instantly calmed when I felt its bulk in my pocket.  It was the only thing of Chopper’s that I had.  I wasn’t going to go anywhere without it.

_______________________________________

Geller

I was standing with Andersen and Pops up at the bridge.  I had the Gray Men’s disc in my hand; I was gripping it so tightly that my knuckles were white.  I couldn’t lose this, even if I did make my hand permanently stay in a fist.  Hell, they would probably have to saw off my fingers to get to the disc…

I needed sleep…

Pushing the disturbing thoughts out of my head and mentally reminding myself that I needed sleep as soon as possible, I focused on the scene surrounding me.  Pops had his arms crossed and was staring out at the chaos going on down below.  Andersen had his head bowed as a crew member was frantically saying what was going on.

“Second wave of missiles inbound!  Ten seconds to impact!  Counter with artillery barrage!  We can’t hit all of them!  Brace for impact!” The guy shouted.  I made my stance wider and waited for the impact.  I glanced at Andersen but the only thing he did was slightly turn his head and right after the missile rocked the boat, making it shudder.

“Starboard side flood!  Damage control!  We’ve been hit by two sub-launched missiles!  The ship’s listing!” the crew guy announced, madly tapping away on the ships controls.

“Launch them out!” Andersen commanded.

“We can’t!  The ship’s listing heavily to starboard.  We’re sinking fast!” the guy pointed out.

“Continue with the launch.”

“But…”

“Take them up.  Hurry up with the catapult.  Just concentrate on launching them.  All hands not conducting aircraft launch, abandon ship immediately.”

“Sir, what should I do?” I asked.

Andersen turned and looked at me. “You abandon ship with us.  We need to find Genette and Cassie before we abandon ship.  Do you know where they are?”

“No, sir,” I replied.

“They’re launching,” Genette’s voice informed.  I turned around to see him and Cassie sliding to a stop.

“Good.  That was what I was going to order them to do anyway,” Andersen commented.  We all had to brace ourselves by leaning on our left foot because the ship was listing so heavily to starboard.

“I think we can leave.  We don’t have anything to do with the launch,” Pops said.  No one disagreed so we all headed out the door.  Andersen hesitated.  I’m sure it was painful to leave such a magnificent ship.

“She’ll always be remembered,” Cassie said softly.  Andersen smiled slightly before he turned around.

“Let’s go,” he ordered.  We followed him to the remaining life boats.  There were five, plenty for the remaining number of crew on board. “I’m staying until everyone is off.  I want to be the last person to get off this ship.”

None of us could see any problem with that except that we might sink with the ship but we decided not to mention that.  I saw three planes in the air.  The Kestrel had launched them quickly.  I remember reading somewhere that the carrier could launch aircraft every twenty five seconds.  I heard the final engine, and somehow, I knew it was Blaze.  Apparently, I think everyone else did too because we looked up at the ceiling, knowing she was right above our heads.

_______________________________________

Blaze

I was last to take off.  I had ordered Nagase, Snow, and Grimm to take off before me.  They were more important because as Bartlett always used to say, “It’s getting the crew back alive that counts.”  If I sunk with the ship on my airplane, they could continue on.

“We’re getting you guys into the air no matter what.  I don’t care what happens to the catapult!” A Kestrel crew member shouted.  I took off, wanting to get off the ship for two reasons: one, so I wouldn’t sink with it because I really didn’t want to die today (I had some things to settle with Grabacr and Ofnir), and two, I wanted the catapult crew members to get off the sinking ship too.

_______________________________________

Geller

“Good luck, Miss Blaze,” I said quietly.

“She doesn’t know she’s flying through that tunnel,” Cassie informed.

“She’ll do just fine,” Genette assured.  Her plane came within view and she did a three-sixty spin.  All of us grinned.

“She still has spunk to her,” I noted.

“She’ll always have spunk.  She could be held hostage and she would still have spunk to her and she would probably piss her captors off… purposely,” Cassie said with a laugh.

“You know she would do that,” Genette corrected.  There was the pounding of feet as the rest of the crew members came down and got onto the life boats.  Pops got into the final life boat first so he could help Cassie down.  I went after her, followed by Genette, who had his camera and camcorder (I hadn’t noticed that before).  Andersen was last.

“Goodbye,” he said to the ship.  Then he got on the lifeboat and didn’t look back.

_______________________________________

Genette

We lowered the lifeboat and quickly got away from the sinking Kestrel.  It was a pitiful sight.  Blaze flew with her wingmen in standard formation and as they flew over the Kestrel, they dipped their wings to right in honor of the ship.

And then they flew off toward Sudentor; I wondered how Blaze was going to react when she found out we were actually going through with her plan…

One of the crew waved at them as they flew over us, the engine noise deafening.  I don’t know if he was seen or not, but I had a sneaking suspicion that when Grimm’s plane tipped from side to side, he was trying to wave back.

“Enemy submarine sunk!” Someone shouted cheerfully.  Almost everyone cheered as an explosion occurred underwater, sending ocean spray onto I’m pretty sure all of us, but everyone in our lifeboat, me, Cassie, Geller, Pops, and Andersen, stayed silent.

“She’s sinking.  The ship’s sinking,” Another guy called out.  I looked at the Kestrel; it had black smoke rising up in the air, almost the same color as the Razgriz Squadron’s planes.  I could hear the creaking of the metal as it was being consumed by the icy waters of the Ceres Ocean. I turned around to look at the reactions of the crew and I saw one man salute, and one by one, the crew members followed suit.  I knew it wasn’t the best time to take a picture, but the sight was so moving, I couldn’t resist.  I turned back around and the Kestrel was almost completely underwater.  I stared at it until there was nothing more to be seen.  Andersen never looked at it; he merely kept his head bowed and held his hat in his hands.

“The Kestrel… is gone,” I announced softly.

“I’ve lost time and time again… but now, I’ve finally won,” Andersen replied.

“Huh?” I answered absolutely brilliantly (please know that was sarcasm).

Andersen looked up at the receding sight of Blaze, Nagase, Snow, and Grimm. “Look!  We launched them off safely.  There’s my victory.  As long as they’re in the air, I haven’t lost.  And I know they’ll succeed,” He declared assuredly.

“Yeah,” Pops agreed, looking at the squadron as well.  He was blocking the sun with his hands, and there was a slight smile on his face; I found myself smiling as well.  Andersen put his captain’s hat on and that’s when I heard humming; I realized the Captain was humming a tune.  The same song I heard from the anti-war audience in the stadium.  He was the one playing that record in the middle of a sea battle.

Although I could tell he was saddened by the loss of his ship, Andersen seemed optimistic that the Razgriz would succeed as we were lifted onto the Andromeda by her crew.  Andersen immediately took charge of the ship as if it had always been his.  No one argued with him as he walked up to the bridge.  We all followed him and tuned in for the President’s broadcast on the TV.  We were close enough to Osea that we were able to pick it up.

We turned on the TV just in time to see President Harling walk up to the mic, looking serious.  In the back were three people.  One was Nikanor, waiting patiently for his turn to speak.  The other one, which somewhat shocked me, was Pixy.  He looked sharp in a black suit and a red tie.  I wondered if he knew he was wearing the Razgriz colors.  The third person shocked me so much that I vaguely wondered if I was hallucinating.  It was my Uncle Jason… a.k.a. Cipher… a.k.a. the Demon Lord.  What on earth was he doing there?

But I didn’t have time to think about that because President Harling started to speak.

“This is President Harling of the Osean Federation.  Attention, all Osean and Yuktobanian officers and soldiers currently on the battlefield.  Let us put down our guns and come out of the trenches.  The Osean capital of Oured has been freed of the people who took advantage of my absence to usurp control of the country.  Once robbed of my freedom and of my ability to do the right thing, I now stand under the light of the golden sun, and I do so with the honorable Yuktobanian Prime Minister Nikanor by my side.  We have resolved our terrible and unfortunate misunderstandings, and the war is now over,” Harling stated before moving over to allow Nikanor to speak.

“This is Prime Minister Nikanor, head of the government for the Union of Yuktobanian Republics.  Attention, all officers and soldiers of Osea and Yuktobania currently on the battlefield.  Please watch as President Harling and I stand shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand.” They stood next together. “President Harling’s words are true.  The war is over, but there is one more battle that still needs to be fought.”

“We believe that those who have tried to stir hatred between us are now preparing a weapon that could wipe out half of all metropolitan areas in either one of our countries.  Our comrades are in flight as I speak, determined to stop this plan dead in its tracks.  Which country is under the threat of mass destruction?  That, we do not know,” Harling said.

“However, that is no longer important.  No matter which country is hit, it would be a severe blow to all of us,” Nikanor declared sincerely.

“So now I ask you, members of the military, if you see it in your hearts, please utilize the resources available to you and help out our brave pilots.  Right now, they’re flying east to meet the enemy,” Harling announced, looking up towards the ceiling, but I knew he was imagining the sky and his personal air fleet flying above him.  Whether that was true or not, I didn’t know; however, it wouldn’t surprise me if they were though because you have to admit, the Razgriz have impeccable timing.  Of course, then I remembered Harling was in Oured and that was a long way from Sudentor.

“To those who still dare to hide behind the power of their hateful weapons.  Bring yourself before the light of peace and harmony,” Nikanor said, raising his hands up.  The cheering that followed was sonorous and I couldn’t help but wonder how many people thought they were going to go deaf.

_______________________________________

Snow

Sudentor, North Osea, 2221 Hours, December 30, 2010…

The weather was grim and rainy as we flew in standard formation to the target area.  None of us had really spoken on the way there, but the silence hadn’t been awkward.  We all were in our own thoughts.  I vaguely wondered what was going in Blaze’s mind.  She had seemed sort of bashful in front of us.  I think she was embarrassed from the earlier episode between her and Genette; honestly, I think I was on her side because if he had said that to me, I probably would’ve had the same reaction, just with a punch instead of a slap.

Four enemy targets appeared on our radar right about the time someone started to whistle The Journey Home.  That song was becoming extremely popular in both countries.  They played it once every hour on almost every radio station.

“Those are Yuke fighters,” Grimm announced.

“Get ready, enemy fighters coming head on,” Nagase admonished.

“I’ll get ready to fire,” Grimm said.

“Hang on,” Blaze ordered. “They’re showing as friends on my radar.”

I looked down in confusion as I noticed it was the same on my radar.

“Whoa, they’re friends on my radar too… what’s happening?” Nagase asked.  Grimm acknowledged his was showing the Yukes as friends too.

And then the enemy/friend formation (I didn’t know which I could say yet), spoke to us. “This is the Yuktobanian 703rd Squadron.  We heard the President’s speech. We will fight with you.”

I blinked in shock, as if that would clarify what I had just heard.

“Tell me I just heard y’all say you’re joining us?” Blaze asked hesitantly.

“You heard right, miss.  We’re fighting with you,” the guy repeated as they got in formation behind us and as the singing started to get louder.

“Thank you,” Blaze said graciously. “Thank you so much!”

“Let us sing that song, too.  We’re going with you,” An Osean squadron informed cheerfully.

“So are we,” Another Osean squadron confirmed.  The two friendly squadrons got behind us, one squadron, comprised of four planes, trailed to the left of us while the other squadron, comprised of two planes, took the center.  We, the Razgriz, were leading the way, Blaze at the very front.  I wondered how ominous the sight of twelve planes looked to the enemy.  Pardon my language here, but I hoped it was scaring the shit out of them, especially since this new formation consisted of both Osean and Yuktobanian planes.

“… Does anyone else hear Chopper singing?” Blaze inquired softly.  I listened to the singing and I almost could hear him.

“Yeah,” Nagase said thoughtfully. “I do.”

“Same here,” Grimm added, sounding solemn and happy all at the same time.

I knew we were all just imagining it.  I had seen the crash on the news and there was no way he could’ve survived it.  Physically, he might not be alive, but mentally and spiritually, he was.  In fact, he was alive and kicking… I should probably say kicking ass because this is Chopper we’re talking about.

“He’ll be with us.  And he’ll kick anyone’s ass who tries to kill Blaze,” I said.

Blaze chuckled. “He’ll kill anyone who tries to mess with any of us… I hope the bastard Hamilton is here so Chopper can take care of him.  That would be wonderful.”

“Be careful what you wish for Blaze.  We don’t want Hamilton here.  He was trained by the Grabacr,” Nagase pointed out.

“And we’ve taken care of the Grabacr before, we can do it again.  I’m ready for him so Hamilton, if you’re listening to this right now, I hope you know I’m ready for whatever you bring my way.  If you don’t come for me, trust me on this, I will come for you.”

Grimm whistled. “He’s dead.”

“He is?” Blaze nearly shouted. “Damn it…”

“Not literally.  But when he meets you again, he will be.”

Blaze laughed mischievously.

“This is the Osean First Fighter Wing,” a guy announced. “I just knocked out the Brigade Commander.  We’d also like to help.”

“You knocked out the Brigade Commander?” Blaze questioned, sounding amused.

“Yes ma’am I did; he was a jerk to us anyways so he deserved it.  Damn warmonger he was,” the guy ranted.  I wasn’t sure if I should be happy the guy had knocked out the brigade commander or not.  It was a good thing that he had because he could join us; it was a bad thing because it seemed like the crew held a mutiny against the guy.  The last thing we need is a mutiny in our military.

Six military helicopters came and flew behind us.  Now we had eighteen aircraft, including us, in our formation.  If I was the enemy, I would be crapping in my pants right about now.

“This is the Yuktobanian 172nd Fighter-Bomber Squadron.  We love that song, too,” the gruff sounding Yuke announced. “We brought an AWACS with us.”

“You have our utmost gratitude, all of you do,” Blaze said earnestly.  She sounded so young when she said that and I had to remind myself that she was young, only twenty-four.  She’s a kid compared to some guys in the military.

“La la la…,” the guy sang loudly (and off key). “Listen to our beautiful voice.  This is AWACS Oka Nieba.  That would mean “Sky Eye” in your language.  We got a message from your boss.  I’ll patch it in.”

Three planes flew in front of us but went up to higher altitude.  I knew the one in the middle was the AWACS guy.  He was kind of annoying but I had to admit, I kind of liked him… or at least his style… and his accent; he had a wicked accent.  He was certainly better than Thunderhead, but that’s not hard, now is it?

Pops’ voice came on the mic. “The SOLG just docked with the last cargo shipment from the mass driver.  It may be fully operational soon.  The Andromeda has tracked down its transmission link.  It’s still coming from Schenze.  I’ll be briefing you, so pay attention.”

“Yes, sir,” We replied simultaneously.

The briefer came on and started to explain our mission.  I already had a good idea of what our job was but Blaze, having missed the first (and last) briefing on the Kestrel, had no idea what we were going to do.  It made me wonder on how she was going to react.

“We will attack the SOLG control system located in a giant tunnel under the Waldreich Mountains.  The tunnel entrance is located at the foot of the mountains, and the entire area is covered by mountains and waterways.  First, an armored force will try to move in from the town to infiltrate the wharf, where the entrance to the control system is located.  There are several enemy defense positions built along the path that the armored force will take so air support will be vital for their invasion.  Meanwhile, a helicopter formation will attack the control system entrance and capture the nearby area.  We’re also expecting the helicopters to face anti-air resistance, so we’ll need support to put down enemy fire around the entrance.  Your squadron’s mission is to protect the armored forces and clear out a landing area for the helborne fleet.  Once both units capture the facility entrance, a special-forces team will open up the shutter blocking the way inside. Go through the open entrance and destroy the SOLG control system from the inside.”

“Gründer Industries has detected your approach and they’re asking for help from the warmongers still left in both Osean and Yuktobania.  Said they’d hand over the third V1 tactical nuke in exchange.  They’re hiding the more powerful V2 from them.  Now listen, they’re gonna be sending out fighter jets,” Pops warned.

“Roger that,” I said.

“Tell me I heard the briefer wrong when he said we would be flying through the tunnel…”Blaze nearly begged.

“We’re doing what you proposed,” I said.

“I know that but I know I’m psychotic enough to do it.  What’s with the ‘we’ part?”

“You didn’t think we’d let you fly through it by yourself?” Nagase inquired.

“Uh, yeah, I did,” Blaze replied bluntly as she dove towards two enemy tanks; she fired two missiles at one and fired her guns at the other.  Only the smoldering remains would tell someone’s tanks had been there.

“You’re blonder than I thought; someone needs to watch your back and we’re the only ones you can trust to do that,” Nagase pointed out.

“Yeah, but if the gates start to shut on us, it’ll be almost impossible for us to get out,” Blaze countered.

“Then we’ll just have to fly like the demon we’re named after is chasing us,” Grimm retorted. “You’re not going to dissuade us Blaze, so you might as well drop it.”

“I know, I know,” she grumbled, destroying a hangar and an oil container.  I had only destroyed a tank and a hangar.  Already, Blaze was outdoing us and we had barely been fighting for a minute.

Nagase flew towards one of the three bridges, destroying a tank and SAM.  I hate SAMs, and they hate me, so I guess I could’ve said the feeling is mutual.

Grimm was flying and destroying the hangars and not so important targets (meaning they couldn’t kill us… unless we crashed into them), but they meant so much to the enemy and there were so many that he had his hands full.

“Enemy fighters, appearing on radar.  Keep alert,” Blaze cautioned.

“This is the sky that will determine our fate,” I mused.

“We’ve got to win this battle and bring back peace!” Nagase exclaimed, joining me as I trailed two enemy fighters that were trailing Blaze.  She knew they were there but Blaze kept on flying her usual paths, and by usual, I mean completely lunatic, demented flying paths.  It was hell trying to keep up with her and soon, the enemy got fed up and went after our new allies.  They tried to, I should say; Nagase and I shot them down before they could.

We started picking up President Harling and Prime Minister Nikanor’s speech. “As the commander-in-chief of the Osean Army, I hereby order all units to lower their weapons and cease fighting,” Harling commanded, sounding powerful and intimidating; you were nuts if you didn’t listen.

I flew low to the ground and fired my guns at a crane, destroyed it, and then fired at a storage facility.

“Don’t worry about the Yuke fighters!  Get the Wardog ghosts.  Follow me!  We’re going to put an end to this war once and for all!” A guy’s voice shouted menacingly.

“Whoa, Hamilton’s here, too,” Grimm said.

“Be careful.  He was trained by the Grabacr aggressors,” Nagase warned.

“Wow… did that bastard actually listen to me?” Blaze wondered aloud, sounding strangely droll.

“I would say don’t taunt him but I know you won’t listen,” Nagase commented.

“How right you are,” Blaze agreed as she destroyed the last AA gun in the area.  There were still one or two SAMs left but I took care of one and Grimm took care of the other.  In the minimal conversation we did have on the way here, we had decided to just destroy everything on sight.  We weren’t going to risk not destroying something only to have it stab us in the back later.

“All right, there it is.  Lock, load, and stand by,” A friendly Yuke helicopter said. “The Razgriz suppressed the AA guns for us.  We’re landing!”

“The advancing Osean and Yuktobanian forces have gathered in the industrial sector.  It seems that once again, this area is caught up in the flames of war…” A local newscaster said.  I realized he was right; Sudentor had had a major battle in the Belkan War fifteen years ago, Operation Cannibal if I can recall correctly.  The area had a nickname: Hoffnung.  It meant ‘hope,’ but I couldn’t help but think the people didn’t have much hope lately.

“This is going to sound weird-” Blaze began.

“Coming from you, it won’t,” Nagase said with a laugh.

“Oi vey!” Blaze retorted. “Does anyone feel like they’re in Dagobah from Star Wars?”

“It does kind of remind me of it, yeah,” Grimm noted.

“I’m just waiting for Yoda to pop up as my RIO and tell me I’m a reckless young padawan,” Blaze said with a laugh.

“He wouldn’t be wrong,” Grimm said.

“Hey!” Blaze protested.

“This is the 12th Infantry Battalion.  We were preparing to launch into Yuktobania, but the President’s words convinced us to change our battle mission.  Now commencing attack on the enemy facility.”

Next, the Osean leading the helicopters came on. “All First Fighter Wing units, listen up!  There go the air assault choppers!  We’re going in too!”

“So, who wants to be shot down next?” Blaze inquired nonchalantly.

“Ah, just shoot down that lead plane and this will be all over!” A Yuke snarled.

Grimm snorted before saying, “They’ll learn soon enough.  Our ace can’t be shot down”

“I really don’t get how I’m an ace,” Blaze said.

“Of course you don’t.  You’re too modest to admit it,” Nagase commented.

“I am not modest!” Blaze argued.

“Are too,” Grimm, Nagase and I said simultaneously.

“I’m completely outnumbered here… it’s not fair,” Blaze grumbled.

“All’s fair in love and war,” Nagase quoted.

“Not when the Gray Men are involved,” Blaze corrected.

“You have a point,” I agreed.

“We can see AA weapons at the drop point.  Air units, sweep up the area around the facility for us!” An Osean helicopter requested.

“Razgriz are on it,” Blaze told them.

“Okay, we’re leaving it to you.  It looks like they were deployed recently.  A lot more than we heard.”

“Of course…” Blaze grumbled. “Apparently they had some hidden.  So much for us having destroyed all the AA guns.”

“You know if something is too easy, it’s either wrong or something worse is coming,” Grimm said.

“Don’t remind me,” Blaze retorted.

“Ground forces appear to have entered the urban area.  Let’s go to a reporter on the scene,” A woman reporter said.  I don’t know why but a woman with a camera following her every move popped into my head.

“A fierce battle is taking place across the street from where I stand!  Look out!” A man shouted.  From the way he spoke and from his accent, I could tell he was Yuktobanian.  It never ceased to amaze me how quickly reporters were able to get to a scene or how they had the most impeccable bad timing in history.

“They need to get those reporters out of harms’ way,” Blaze said warily.

“I know.  It’s not safe for them between the ground and air forces blowing up everything they can,” I agreed.

“That nuke is ours, you dirty Osean vultures,” A Yuke growled.  He was definitely a warmonger…

“This is Osean territory now.  We’re not letting the Yukes have their way,” An Osean fired back.

“The guys that allied with the villains are biting at each other.  Look at ‘em- like a bunch of dogs from hell,” AWACS Oka Nieba observed with disgust.

“They’re hell hounds,” Grimm said, more to himself than to anyone in particular.

“… Gosh dang it, now you have me thinking of Supernatural… and how Dean was killed by hell hounds,” Blaze groaned. “I hated that episode.  I hated, hated, hated it!  He didn’t deserve to die!  Of course, he did come back alive because he was raised by Castiel who is a freaking awesome angel,” Blaze ranted.

“Sheesh Blaze, I know Dean didn’t deserve it but-” Nagase began.

“Of course, Cas did go all psycho ‘I’m-the-new-god’ and told Dean and Sam if they disobeyed him, he’d kill them… and then he died… and then he came back to life, took on Sam’s condition and randomly appeared naked on Dean’s car covered in bees,” Blaze interrupted.  She was in her own little world.  I couldn’t help but start laughing at her nutty thoughts.  Only Blaze could think of something like that in the middle of a battle.

“Are you done yet?” Nagase queried casually.

“For now,” Blaze responded slyly.

“That worries me,” Nagase muttered.

“It should,” Blaze said reassuringly.  I had the mental image of Nagase rolling her eyes.

I flew low to the ground, flying over tops of buildings and probably making equipment shake and fall of shelves from the vibrations of my engine noise.  I aimed for a gun tower that was currently shooting at Nagase and fired two missiles.  It damaged it severely and I finished the thing off with some gun fire.

Blaze had destroyed two of them I think, along with about five enemy planes (yes, you read that right), and another tank.  Nagase was starting to take on the air defense while Grimm continued destroying the neutral targets.

“Dammit.  Looks like we really did open up the gates of hell,” Hamilton muttered. “How could we have come to this?” He paused, and then, “It’s them… they’ve dragged us all into this- the Wardog ghosts, the Ghosts of Razgriz.”

“The Ghosts of Razgriz…” A Yuke murmured.

“Yeah.  Let’s get ‘em,” A Yuke insisted.

“Get those bastards,” A Yuke sneered.

“You cannot kill us if we are already ‘dead,’” Grimm pointed out.

My Harry Potter obsession kicked in (I’ll admit, I had an obsession with the series and I read each book five times) and I said, “Dumbledore from Harry Potter said something very similar to that,” I commented.

“What did he say?” Grimm asked.

“He cannot kill you if you are already dead.”

“You go Dumbledork!” Blaze exclaimed.

“Dumbledork?  Really?” I asked with a laugh.

“Enough with the Supernatural references, Blaze,” Nagase snapped jokingly.

“Never!”

“The ground force is being delayed by a defensive line of pillboxes.  They need some close air support bombing!” Oka Nieba announced, and then as he realized that Hamilton had pretty much told every enemy fighter to try and kill us (emphasis on try), he added, “This is Oka Nieba.  Listen up, everyone in the choir.  The enemies are all going after Razgriz at once.”

“We’ll protect them,” An Osean promised.

“We’re with you,” A Yuke assured.

“Thank you!” We all said, once more, at the same time.

“We’re getting really good at that,” Grimm noticed.

“No kidding.  What is that, the third time it’s happened this mission?” Blaze queried.

“I don’t know but it’s freaking awesome,” Grimm declared.  None of us disagreed so we kept on flying.  An enemy plane showed up on radar and it was heading straight for Blaze.

“Blaze, you have an enemy fighter making a beeline for you!” I admonished.

“Oh, hey Hamilton.  Glad you could join us,” Blaze said happily.

“That’s Hamilton?” Nagase inquired seriously.

“Yes, ma’am it is.  I’m going to go take care of him.  Y’all take care of everything around here… I wonder if he can hear us… Hey, Hamilton, are you there?” There was no response. “Come on, Voldemort, I know you can hear us?  Or would you prefer to be Bellatrix Lestrange?  She’s a psycho bitch witch, and pardon my language.”

“Bitch witch?  Really Blaze?” I laughed.

“Well if I had said ‘she’s a witch with a ‘B’ and an actually witch,’ then it wouldn’t be so catchy.  And Bellatrix really is a bitch… again pardon my language,” Blaze countered.

“No argument there.”

“So, come out Bellatrix, wherever you are!” Blaze taunted. “I hope you know, just like her, you’re going to crash and burn and you’re going to be killed by a woman, except where she was killed by an awesome ginger, you’ll be shot down by a psychotic blonde.  I think you would rather have Mrs. Weasley get you…”

“Do you ever shut up?!” Hamilton demanded.

“Ah, there you are.  I knew if I kept talking you’d get sick of it and jump in.  So predictable… tsk tsk,” Blaze scolded mockingly.

“You’re mental,” Hamilton growled.

“Who do you think caused that?  I won’t say any names but their initials start with Hamilton!” Blaze practically shouted.

“That makes no sense!” Hamilton stated, completely incensed.

“It wasn’t supposed to idiot,” Blaze retorted. “So how does it feel to have rookie pilots trick a mighty Belkan?”

“You never tricked me.  I knew you were alive and that you wouldn’t go that easily.  Captain Snow, when this is over and my side wins, I will make sure you are tried for treason against your country,” Hamilton declared.

“I dare you, Hamilton; I dare you,” Blaze said calmly, and I think it was her calmness that gave the threat its seriousness and intimidation.

“Damn Wardog ghosts.  I’m not through yet!” Hamilton declared.

“Oh shut up you warmonger,” Blaze snapped.

“What are you doing here, Wardog?  You traitors!” Hamilton roared.

“Captain Chopper said that we can trust our lead no matter what happens,” Grimm said defiantly. “The advice has done us well and we’re sticking to it so pull the stick out of your pompous top brass rear, admit your side is going to lose, and get the hell out of here before Blaze shoots your ass down because trust me, she will.”

Blaze whistled. “You go, Grimm!”

“I have no idea where that came from,” Grimm admitted, somewhat bashfully. “I just kind of went on a tirade there.”

“I found it awesome,” I said.  Grimm said thank you.

“Razgriz!  Wardog!  This is all your fault!” Hamilton declared heatedly.

“Again, I say shut up you warmonger,” Blaze retorted.  I found Hamilton on my radar and started to trail him.  Right as I was about to get a missile lock on him, a plane came perpendicular from us, fired two missiles, and went up to engage another aircraft.

“Heads up,” Blaze told Hamilton and just a few seconds later, he disappeared off my radar.

“Was that Blaze?!” Nagase demanded in amazement.

“Amazing!  It’s just… I can’t even describe it.  Just unbelievable!” Grimm said, barely being able to put a sentence together.

“She’s the one, no doubt.  The ace of aces!” I claimed as I realized it had been Blaze that had took the amazing shot.

“How did you do it?” Nagase asked, her curiosity prominent in her voice.

“I just simply shot the annoying bastard down.  No one threatens my wingmen and gets away with it.  Besides, that conversation was going nowhere,” Blaze said nonchalantly.

“Wow Blaze… just wow,” Nagase said blatantly.  Only Blaze could make such an amazing feat sound so simple because she blames it on the “conversation that was going nowhere.”

At that moment, a flash of light to the north exploded and lasted for about thirty seconds before dissipating.  It was blinding in the dark sky.

“Air attack!  It’s not from a plane!”An Osean shouted.

“The SOLG is attacking,” Oka Nieba announced grimly.

“A satellite?!  How can it attack from up there?” A friendly Yuke questioned.

“Our reinforcement has been cut off by the SOLG’s attacks!  Is the control facility destroyed?” An Osean asked suddenly.

“I wish,” Blaze answered. “It would make our job so much easier.  The control facility is still fully functional.”

“Seriously.  What were you thinking suggesting we fly into the tunnel?” I inquired.

“Well I was thinking I was the only one that was going to be doing it, but that backfired.”

“Big time,” Grimm added.

“Thanks for reminding me,” Blaze responded sarcastically. “Ah hell… someone get this dork away from the allies.  I have an enemy plane to deal with.”

“I’m on it,” I said, heading over to where the tunnels were.  Sure enough, there was an enemy fighter dive-bombing the allied helicopter squadron.  Luckily there shots weren’t hitting them.  I took care of the enemy plane with a missile and gun fire.  That had been way too easy.

Nagase and Grimm were taking care of the ground installments while I focused on the air defense and Blaze took on whatever she thought she needed to.  She was all over the place and her plane being black and having rain pouring down, it was a wonder I was able to find her at all.

“Soldiers and officers on both sides, please emerge from your positions, and shake hands with your foreign comrades on the other side,” Nikanor commanded, “… just as President Harling and I are doing right now.

“It’s still unclear why they’re being referred to as the ‘Razgriz.’  The Razgriz is a storybook character who is called both a demon and a hero…” A woman reporter said.  Have you ever realized that reporters all have the same tone?  I have and it drives me insane.  Have some character people!

“According to sources close to the President, the ‘Razgriz’ consists of four…” An Osean guy began but the mic sizzled out and we never heard the rest of what he was going to say although it wasn’t hard to figure out.

“One of the pilots is reportedly a female, but we haven’t been able to confirm this yet…” the same woman added.

“It’s two women, woman,” Blaze corrected in annoyance.

There was a lot of chatter about the Razgriz story and it made me realize something…

“‘The demon returns as a great hero…’ Huh, maybe it’s not a fairytale after all,” I acknowledged.

“I’m not one for believing in all that mumbo jumbo but Snowman, I think you might be right,” Blaze said.

“Thank you, Bandit, and might I say, you’re the lead demon.”

“Only because I’m captain, nothing else.”

“Keep on thinking that,” Nagase commented.

“I will,” Blaze stated.

“Whatever floats your boat… or in your case, flies your plane,” Grimm corrected.  We all gave a chuckle.

“Razgriz… the legend’s come true,” A Yuke said in awe.

“Is it true that the Razgriz are really the guys from Sand Island?” Another Yuke asked.

“I would love to tell you but we’re under orders from our President not to say,” Blaze replied kindly.

“We’ve got the Razgriz on our side.  Don’t falter and go forward,” A different Yuke directed.  Dang… first they were our enemies and now they were acting as if we had always been on their side.  Technically, we had.  We had fought for both countries, and it was only now that they could actually see and believe it.

Soon, there were only a few enemy targets on my radar.  From what I counted, there were nine ground enemies and about five air.  That was an improvement from the thirty or forty something ground enemies and ten or fifteen air enemies.

“Okay, landing stations!  We’ll take the facility from the roof!” The Osean helicopter leader called out.  A few seconds later, he said, “The 1st Airborne Battalion has captured the roof of the control facility.”

“Look around us!  Nothing but allies!” Grimm announced happily. “It’s true.  If we believe in ourselves, people will believe in us.”

“Yeah, except for the warmongers,” Blaze pointed out.

“Way to ruin the moment,” Grimm grumbled.

“We’re all heroes now… heroes for peace,” Oka Nieba added.  It was kind of a corny saying but it was true nonetheless.

Another explosion of light went off in the north, and even over the roar of my engine and the splattering of rain on my plane, I could clearly hear the explosion.

“Sheesh, it’s like the Death Star explodes every other minute,” Blaze observed.

“So you go from Supernatural to Stay Wars references?  Incredible,” Nagase said.

“Well if it’s Supernatural you want, then I say it’s like the time when Dean and Sam opened the gates of hell… well, actually they were trying to stop it.  It was that sergeant dude or whatever that opened it.”

“He was crazy strong… I wish I had strength like that.  Then I could just punch Hamilton dead,” Grimm admitted.

“I like your thinking Grimm,” Blaze praised.

“Thank you, Captain!”

“You just love to drive me nuts with calling me that, don’t you?” Blaze retorted.

“Yes… Yes I do.”

“At least you’re honest about it,” she acknowledged.

Blaze destroyed the last five air enemies by herself; each was finished off in about a minute.  Her skill scared me and this wasn’t the first time I was glad she was on my side.

“Nice working with you.  Your callsign?” An Osean asked cheerfully.

“Zenit One.  We’ll save the introductions for later.  Let’s finish the mission first,” The Yuke replied affably.

“This is Viper One.  I’ll sit back and let the Yuke Air Force show their stuff.”

“Roger, Viper One.  Allow us to join you in flight for a while.”

“This is incredible,” I said. “The Yukes and Oseans are joining together.”

“It shows how much influence a small group can have,” Pops said.  I don’t know where he had been because he hadn’t said much during the mission but he was Belkan, and Belkans were unpredictable in pretty much every aspect of their lives.

“Guess the President was right, huh?  No sense in bickering with each other,” An Osean confessed.

“I think this would’ve happened even without the President’s speech,” A Yuke said.

“We’re gonna fight together, and we’re gonna come home together.  Don’t you forget that!” A Yuke encouraged.

“And when we go home, the Razgriz will lead the way!” An Osean shouted.

“Whoa… how many people are we going to be escorting home?” Blaze joked.

“This is history in the making… and we’re making it,” Another Osean declared proudly as I destroyed two gun towers.  The air defense was taken care of (thanks to Blaze), so all we had to worry about were the ground forces, and they were thin in numbers.  It was thanks to Grimm because he had stuck to his task, even when he did get stalked a few times by enemy planes, but they were taken care of by either me, Blaze, or Nagase, although mainly Blaze.  She was all over the place and took care of enemies before anyone else could get to them.  Somehow, she still had plenty of ammo.

“Enemy position silenced.  Charge!” The Osean helicopter leader shouted.

“All right, now!  Let’s go!” A Yuktobanian soldier insisted.

“This is the Osean 502nd Tactical Fighter Wing.  We finally made it.  We’d like to lend our support!”

“The more, the merrier!” Blaze chirped. “Welcome aboard!”

“We lost several planes to the SOLG.  Sorry to keep you waiting,” The guy apologized.

“I understand,” Blaze answered softly right when another SOLG attack exploded, once more making the dark night seem like the middle of the afternoon.  I was really starting to get sick of seeing it and hearing it.  The explosion was too loud and too bright.  Maybe that’s why the Belkans were using it now, to disorient us.  Well, if I wasn’t so experienced (not trying to sound conceited), it would be working.

Nagase and I flew down and destroyed the last two pillboxes while Grimm and Blaze took care of the three remaining gun towers.  When that was taken care of, we flew around in circles around the target area, waiting for more orders or something else to attack.

“This is the 112th Infantry Battalion.  We’ve arrived at the entrance to the control facility.

A guy whistled and a familiar sounding voice, although I couldn’t place it, said, “Man, that’s a big tunnel.”

“Hey, get off the mic!” another guy ordered.  I heard a groan and then nothing.

“What was that about?” Blaze demanded.

“I don’t know… but it didn’t sound good,” Nagase said grimly.

I glanced at the tunnel and the guy hadn’t been kidding.  The tunnel opening itself would allow the four of us to enter it with our planes right above each other.  I was glad the tunnel was so big but that meant that they could fit machinery in it and that machinery could be blocking parts of the tunnel.  My heart start thumping in my chest as all the grizzly possibilities flew through my head.

“All right, we’re opening the tunnel entrance!”

“Razgriz, regroup and get into cover formation,” Blaze directed.  We followed orders immediately and we headed south, away from the tunnels.  My guess was Blaze was giving us enough distance to line up perfectly with the tunnel we were going to be entering.  I was right.

MISSION UPDATE

While we turned around and flew to the tunnel, the briefer on the Andromeda came on and gave us the explanation on our impending mission. “We’ve come across a blueprint of the tunnel facility on the ‘Major’s’ disc.  The SOLG control system is in the deepest part of the tunnel.  We can’t touch it from the entrance.  Fly into the tunnel, attack the control system in the deepest part of the complex and escape out the tunnel exit on the opposite side.  This is extremely dangerous, but there’s no other way to do this.  There are two central components to the control system.  You must destroy them both, but you can only destroy one of them per attack run.  Furthermore, the ground forces will not be able to keep the entrance shutters open for very long.  There’s not enough time for you to go back into the tunnel again after the first run.  So, a separate plane will have to go in from the other side at the same time.  We have only one chance.  Synchronize your run with the second plane to attack both components simultaneously and destroy the SOLG control system.”

“How lovely…” Blaze mumbled.

“Ground forces from both armies are advancing together! A scene unimaginable just a while ago!” The Osean woman reporter stated, in her annoying ‘I’m-a-reporter-voice.’  Sorry, it just really bugs me how almost all reporters sound the exact same way when they are reporting something.  They also have this unusual ability to change subjects quickly…

I have issues…

“We’ve confirmed the opening of the tunnel as well.  Are you ready?” Oka Nieba asked sternly, but not unkindly.

“Razgriz are ready to rock n’ roll… kind of…” Blaze replied.

“The soldiers in town are all cheering the ‘Razgriz’ in unison,” the local newscaster guy said.  Were they really?  I felt honored that they were cheering for my squadron.  I never thought that would happen.  I would have to thank Blaze when I got a chance, you know, when we weren’t about to fly through a tunnel and destroy a control facility and try and get out of there alive, but that’s just a typical day being in Blaze’s squadron.  We get assigned the crazy missions because let’s face it, none of us are quite sane.

“You can see the soldiers waving to us,” the Osean woman said thoughtfully.

“Explosions are echoing throughout the city, shattering the calm of the night…” the local guy announced.  My question right then was: how is this night calm?  You have fighter jets soaring around everywhere blowing up air and ground defenses, you have helicopters whirring about, and you have a massive thunderstorm going on.  How the hell is that a calm night?

“Anyone else thinking that guy is off his rocker for saying it’s a calm night?” Blaze asked innocently.

“I was seriously just thinking that,” I said.

“Well, we’re awesome like that and we all share some sort of telepathy thing with each other,” Blaze explained in a matter-o-fact voice.

“I never thought I’d be flying with the Razgriz,” A Yuke admitted.

“I never was superstitious…,” An Osean guy claimed. “But I think this time, I’ll believe.”

“Wow, you got everyone fired up and believing in miracles, Razgriz,” a familiar voice complimented, sounding somewhat sarcastic but genuine at the same time.

“Pixy?!” Blaze sounded incredulous. “You said that to Cipher one time, when you two were pulling out Tauberg’s sword!”

“I think you and your squadron deserve it as well because it’s true in your case too,” Pixy replied.

“Hey, Elizabeth!” Another voice came on.

“… Uncle Jason?” Blaze asked; whereas with Pixy she had seemed shocked, with her uncle, she seemed lost for words.

“You’re doing great!  Keep it up!  I’ll see you soon,” her uncle assured.

“Uh, yeah, okay,” Blaze answered, still trying to gather her wits.  Pixy and Jason cut off.  It was sort of a random radio transmission but it had clearly shocked Blaze, an impressive feat.

“So that was your Uncle Jason?” Nagase inquired.

“Yeah… um, I didn’t know he was with Pixy,” Blaze responded quietly.

“What’s wrong?” Nagase asked kindly.

“Nothing, it’s just I haven’t heard from him in a while.” Blaze didn’t say anything after that and none of us prodded her for information.

“Reporting from Osea, this is Mikhail Zirov, Soyuz Broadcast News,” A Yuke reporter stated. “Following the military, the news media here will join forces with Osea to…”

The reporter was cut off when a friendly Yuke fighter said, “I feel like we’ve been relying on them all through this war.”

“Us?” Nagase queried.

“Yeah, we might have fought on different sides of the war at first and I’ll admit, I hated you guys at first, but now that I have finally seen what you were fighting for, I realize that a lot of us, whether we’ve known it or not, have been relying on you.”

“Well, thank you.  But we wouldn’t have been able to pull off what we just did tonight if you and your teammates hadn’t joined us.  So you’re playing a part in this too, don’t forget that.”

“We won’t.  Good luck, Razgriz.”

“Razgriz, get ready,” admonished Blaze. “We’re going in.”

I hadn’t realized how close we were to the tunnel until I could actually see the entire inside of it.  It was a massive tunnel but that didn’t mean it was going to be easy to fly through.

“Be careful that none of you fly into anyone’s jet wash.  Fly a little above each other,” Blaze ordered.  We listened, having full faith in her judgment.

Blaze flew in first, followed by Nagase, then me, and finally Grimm.  The moment I flew into the tunnel, the thunderous sound of rain hitting my plane stopped and aside from our engines, the air was eerily silent compared to earlier.

“We’ll just have to stay glued to the Captain,” Nagase declared, sounding nervous.  The tunnel was a lot smaller when you had four planes taking up the space in it.  I took a chance to zoom out on my radar and saw another plane, a friendly one, flying in at the other end of the tunnel.

“A separate plane going in from the other side?  How many pilots have we got that can even do something like that?” I demanded in incredulity as the tunnel sloped downwards.  We followed it precisely.  Blaze was barely making it through the tunnel because since she was first, she was the first one to go under the shutters and they were barely open when she flew under them.

“I know one…” Nagase replied proudly.

I nearly grazed the ceiling and immediately and dipped my plane lower and tried to calm my pounding heart. “Don’t try anything risky!  Fly straight ahead!  Stray off course, and we’re done for.”

“No kidding,” Blaze said with a snort.  We flew into a room and shifted right to head into another part of the tunnel.  I don’t know what that room was for but I knew it wasn’t the control room.

“Enemy plane flying in from the rear!  It’s Hamilton.  Damn, he is good,” Grimm grumbled.  We flew down another slope before leveling off.  It wasn’t natural for planes to be flying underground.  They’re supposed to fly freely in the air… just saying.

“I feel like Luke Skywalker with the tunnel being the canyon like thing he flies through on the Death Star and Hamilton is Vader trying to kill us,” Blaze mused.

“Oh Blaze…” Nagase laughed.  We flew into a another room, almost identical to the first one we flew through, but instead of going right, we shifted left and continued on through the tunnel.

“You aren’t getting away, Wardog!  You’re going to fly straight to your deaths!” Hamilton sneered.

“Shut up, Vader,” Blaze retorted. “And what the hell are you doing here?  I shot your annoying ass down.”

“It’s called having a backup plane,” Hamilton replied spitefully.

“So you knew you were going to be shot down?  You really need to work on your confidence,” Blaze said with mock worry.

“This is Heartbreak One.  I’m right in front of you guys, Kid,” Bartlett informed as we flew down yet another slope.  How far underground were we going?  The tunnel twisted to the left, then to the right, and then it straightened out before sloping down (yet again).

“Roger that Captain,” Blaze said.  So that’s who Nagase had been talking about…

“You’re alive, Bartlett?” Hamilton actually sounded somewhat shocked.

“You know, you’ve always been too damn serious, Hamilton,” Bartlett observed gruffly.

“I’m going to take the Belkan nuke and terrify both sides into ending this foolish war.  Don’t get in my way!” Hamilton roared, making me cringe at how loud he was.

“The problem with you is that you can’t tell the difference between friend and foe.  Terror is not your friend,” Bartlett pointed out angrily.

We flew through the tunnel at a faster pace as we realized Hamilton was gaining on us.  We flew through another room and we had to fly low because there was a hanging light on the ceiling, unlike the previous two rooms.

When we reentered the tunnel, a hit appeared on my radar, and it was straight ahead of us.

“You only have one chance to attack.  I know you can do it, Captain,” Nagase encouraged.

“Thank you, Nagase; if I can’t, y’all have to finish it off for me.”

“You can count on us,” I said reassuringly.  I thought I heard her sigh in relief but I couldn’t be sure.  Within a few seconds after that statement and after narrowly avoiding crashing into a crane on the side of the tunnel, the control system came into view and Blaze fired two missiles at it.  They hit it right in the center and it gave a small explosion.

“Target neutralized!” Nagase announced.

My plane started to shake, or at least I thought it was my plane.  It turned out to be the tunnel.  Apparently, Blaze had destroyed the control system along with all of the things hooked up to it and those were in the rooms ahead of us.  Unfortunately, that meant that the shutters were going to be closing on the end we had to go through to escape.  This was going to be tough.  We flew into the tunnel once more and thankfully it was pretty straight and we hit our afterburners, wanting to get out of that tunnel and also away from Hamilton who had been gaining on us.

“This is Heartbreak One! I destroyed the system core on my end,” Bartlett notified.

“This is Blaze.  We destroyed ours as well.”

“This is Archer.  Captain Bartlett is approaching at high speed from our twelve o’clock!  Is he going to…” Grimm trailed off.

“… We gotta do it,” Nagase declared.

“Razgriz, get behind me and make sure he can fly past us,” Blaze ordered.  This was so insane it was almost funny.

“I’ll be passing you by head-on at full speed, all right?  Break right on the count of three,” said Bartlett.

His plane appeared on my radar; like us, he was going wickedly fast.  He began counting down. “Okay… one, two, three!”

He shot past us, making my plane shudder a little bit.

“Yaaaahooo!” Bartlett shouted like a banshee.

“Great balls of fire!” Blaze exclaimed. “Come on Jedis.  Let’s get the hell out of here!”

“No arguments there!” Grimm agreed wholeheartedly as we flew into a room, shifted left, and entered the tunnel once more.  I realized the shutters were starting go down.  This was going to be a close call.

“The shutters are closing!” Nagase cried.

“We gotta hurry, we’ll be trapped inside!” Grimm pointed out anxiously. I had to say, I’ve been in a lot of bad situations, but this one was by far the worst one yet.

We flew up as the tunnel sloped upwards.  I calculated that we had flown down three slopes coming into the center of the tunnel so if this tunnel was identical on each end, then we had two more slopes to go.  Hopefully the shutters would stay open long enough for us to get out of here…

Targets appeared on my radar and it suddenly dawned on me…

“The enemy planes that came in after Bartlett are still in the tunnel,” I announced sullenly.

“Enemy planes dead ahead!  We’re being attacked from both sides!” Grimm shouted as we flew into a room and then back into the tunnel.  Hamilton was dangerously close to us.

“Ah hell… hang on, is Hamilton still behind us?” Blaze inquired curiously.

“Yeah, and he’s gaining on us quickly.  He’ll be within shooting distance soon,” I told her dismally.  An enemy plane came head on and Blaze fired at it.  The plane exploded and it ricocheted off the walls behind us.

“My threat warning alarms won’t stop ringing!  This is just insane, from start to finish!” Grimm stated grumpily.

“You didn’t have to come you know,” Blaze said.

“And let you have all this psychotic, insane fun?  Never in a million years,” declared Grimm.

We flew up another slope… one more to go.  Another room we flew through before entering the tunnel and going up another slope.  The tunnel lights dimmed as we reached the top of the slope.  That’s when I realized it was the end of the tunnel.  We had all made it!  Blaze shot out of the tunnel, followed by Nagase, then me, and then Grimm.  We shot up vertically into the sky, wanting to put as much distance between us and that tunnel and to be in the open, free sky again.

Fire exploded out of the tunnel just barely a second after Grimm exited it.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

“Where’s Hamilton?” Nagase asked as we leveled out and headed back to Sudentor.

“He’s dead.  Hit by a ricocheting plane,” Grimm replied, his voice shaking.  Clearly, he was dazed by his narrow escape from being killed in the tunnel, especially being so close to that explosion.

“Serves the bastard right,” Blaze growled.

“Blaze, that plane you sent ricocheting off the walls by shooting at it…” I trailed off.

“That’s the one that hit Hamilton,” Blaze confirmed quietly. “It was a gamble on my part.  I didn’t know if it would work, but I took the chance.  Luck was on our side today.  Great job, all of you… and thank you for going with me.  I’m glad I didn’t do that alone,” Blaze admitted.

“We’re your wingmen.  We will never let you do stupid stuff… alone,” Grimm said firmly.  Blaze gave a laugh and we headed back to Sudentor, knowing our final mission was coming up.

_______________________________________

Okay, I even surprised myself with Blaze and Genette’s fight.  I was completely not planning on writing that… it just kind of came to me.  Anyways, one last chapter before the fighting is over :( it’s kind of sad… but don’t worry, I’m continuing on with the story because I don’t know about y’all but I always wanted to know what happened afterwards. 

This chapter was literally painful to write because earlier, I lifted up my cat to put him on my bed and he went ninja on me and slashed my chin, arm, and pinky and the scratch on my arm is conveniently placed that so whenever I type, it hurts haha… only me.  Anyways, please review!