Enjoy! 

Quote of the Chapter:

“I have one speed, one gear: go!”

~Charlie Sheen

___________________________________________

Battleship Uprising

Genette

December 25, 2010…

Three days later, and we had barely made any headway on the deciphering of the Gray Men’s CD.  Geller was working at a breakneck pace but there were so many codes to break that it was taking him forever.  He was getting annoyed, but unless you knew that him tapping his fingers was his way of showing annoyance, you would just assume he was thinking.  I had to give it to him; he was brilliant when it came to code breaking.  I thought I was good… Man, he made me look like I went at a snail’s pace compared to when he did it.  In car terms, he was a Lamborghini fully loaded while I was a Smart Car stripped to only the bare necessities.  Yeah, it was that bad.  Geller didn’t stop working on it though.  He would work well throughout the night and would usually be found snoring away by either Blaze or Andersen or Pops.  Blaze kept a steady stream of coffee coming and that helped but even that much caffeine couldn’t keep him up.  Finally, Pops ordered Geller to get some decent sleep and I took his place.  I was proud to say I was able to break two codes when Geller came back eight hours later.  He looked well rested and so I handed over the job to him.  He cracked a code in less than five minutes.

Show off…

I remember the last time I had been watching him breaking a new set of codes and he kept moving his legs and feet.  I couldn’t help but notice with amusement that he was much like my sister in that sense.  She could never keep still at a desk.  She could barely keep still in her sleep.  I couldn’t count how many times she had nailed me in the shin and a really sensitive area when we had had to share beds when we went on vacation.  I would have about twenty bruises on my legs and my parents would ask where I got them and I would just look at Blaze who had no idea she had done that to me.  Let me tell you, if my sister and I ever have to share a bed again (which I don’t think we will), I’m wearing shin guards.

Speaking of Blaze, she had seemed to be in a better mood; I think it was because of Bartlett.  I think it was nice for Blaze to have someone that she could rely on and tell her what to do because you have to admit, lately, she was the one everyone went to.  Sure, Pops told her what to do but Bartlett was just like Blaze in the way he acted; he didn’t like to show what he was feeling, he loved to piss of enemies, and he was a fantastic flyer.  I think Blaze could relate more to Bartlett than she could to Pops; don’t get me wrong though, Blaze loved Pops.  He was like a father to her.

Bartlett had been all over the place.  Mainly though, he would talk to Andersen, Pops, Nikanor, or Major.  Somehow, I convinced Major to tell me her real name.  It was Nastasya; she said she didn’t tell many people her real name because they never could pronounce it correctly.  I didn’t get that because it’s not the hardest name in the world.

Nikanor wiled away the time talking to everyone on the ship, and I mean everyone.  He particularly liked talking to Blaze and Grimm; I think he liked Blaze because she was a female captain and that was practically unheard of in Yuktobania. I think he liked Grimm because he was really talkative and had some really interesting stories.  I also heard Grimm explain how fantastic Blaze was at flying and that she would never admit it because she was so modest.  Blaze hadn’t been around when he’d said that but I knew she would’ve been blushing up a storm if she had been.

We had been in the open ocean for a few days, about three I think.  I had lost track, probably because I had seen just straight ocean for days.  I don’t think we had even passed an island.  I don’t know how the men on this ship were able to stay on here for months at a time.  I’d go nuts.

Anyways, Nagase, Grimm, Snow, Cassie, and I played card games with a deck of cards Nagase had found in her room.  Blaze would join us when she could but she was focused on keeping Geller focused and getting sleep.  She was sleeping a lot lately, strange considering a few weeks ago she could barely get any sleep at all.  We avoided playing card games that required money because, well, we had none on us.  So we stuck with kid games such as Go Fish and Crazy Eights.  Who knew kid games could get so violent?  One game of Crazy Eights ended up with Cassie and Grimm wrestling each other for a card.  Snow, Nagase, Blaze and I had started laughing.  Then in a game of Go Fish, Blaze and I hit each other repeatedly for some reason I can’t remember.  Needless to say, I had a lot of bruises on my arm.  Blaze, on the other hand, her skin seemed to be made of iron and there was no hint of a bruise anywhere.

It was about three in the afternoon and I was walking up to the bridge when I passed Bartlett who was going down the stairs.  I acknowledged him with a smile and “Captain.” He returned it.  As I got onto the landing, Bartlett shouted my name and motioned for me to come over to him.

“Yes, sir?” I asked.

“What’s up with Blaze?” He demanded.

“Honestly, I have no idea.”

“When did she become so… so…”

“Aloof?” I suggested.  Bartlett nodded. “I don’t know; I think it was about the time Wardog attacked the munitions factory in Sonza so about a month and a half ago.  Has she told you anything?  About what might be bothering her?” I knew it was far-fetched but I had to have some hope that someone knew what was going on inside my sister’s head.

As I suspected, Bartlett shook his head. “Not much.  She just said she’s upset over Chopper and I can’t blame her.  I think she also believes she has to save the whole world.”

“She’s always been like that,” I commented.

“How much has she told you?”

“Not much; really the only insight I got on what was going on was when she lost it when we were interrogating Geller.”

“What did she say?”

“I don’t really remember, but we were lucky enough to have the conversation recording; it’s upstairs in the viewing room if you want to listen to it.”

Bartlett said he did so that’s where we went.  I pulled out the tape and put it in the recorder.  I fast-forwarded the tape until I came to a good stopping point.

“Can you understand Belkan?” I inquired, looking at Bartlett.  He nodded and I hit the play button.

“And what do you know about Belka?” Geller growled.

“More than you think I do,” Blaze retorted.

“Oh really?” Geller laughed. “How is it I don’t believe you?”

In Belkan, Blaze said, “I know about your culture because I’m half Belkan and my parents have taught me and my brother our heritage quite well.  I understand the pride that all Belkans possess; I admit that I possess it and it has altered my judgment, causing me the life of a beloved friend, who happened to be my fiancé... I'm well aware that you were in the Belkan war fifteen years ago, and I know you saw the terror that the seven nukes incorporated into the lives of everyone.  So, if you are serious about what you said about wanting to stop those nukes, you will set aside your pride and tell us what the Belkans are planning.  We just want peace.”

“Don’t give me your petty lies about how your countries really want peace.  Not after you took half our land and Yuktobania plundered the rest.  All the rest of us just wanted peace.  All you really want is more oil and more bullets to fuel your Cold War with us.  I can’t wait for the day when I see Osea and Yuktobania get what they deserve,” Geller spat.

Once more in Belkan, Blaze said in a quiet, deadly voice, “I am not one to be trifled with.  I have experienced more tragedy and betrayal and bloodshed in my three months of being a captain than you can imagine.  I am sick and tired of this war; I want to put an end to it.  I don’t want to kill any more people.  I’ve had to turn against my own country because your country saw that it was necessary to pit Osea and Yuktobania against each other so that when both sides are exhausted from fighting, you can take over.”

She excused herself from the room.

I stopped the tape and looked at Bartlett who looked deeply concerned.

“So?” I prodded.

“It’s worse than I thought.  She has mastered the art of giving just enough information to where people get an idea but don’t delve any deeper.  I’ve seen it before and those people, when they crack, it’s not good.  You know when they’re going to crack too.”

“What if Blaze doesn’t crack?”

“Everyone cracks.  Some just can take more than others.  Your sister seems to have an unusually high tolerance.  The higher the tolerance, the harder the fall.”

“But what if she never cracks, though?” I urged.

Bartlett rubbed the back of his head and sighed. “My guess is she’ll stay like she is now, where she’s here but she’s not really.  Blaze will just kind of float through life.  Honestly, I think it’s a better alternative than if she does crack.  With how much she’s bearing on her shoulders right now, her fall will be catastrophic.  She’ll become reclusive, she’ll probably stop eating, stop sleeping, stop talking… she’ll be a walking zombie.”

“She’s already hit a walking zombie phase,” I muttered.  When Bartlett gave me a look that said ‘tell me,’ I said, “Just before Wardog attacked the Hrimfaxi, Blaze had stopped sleeping.  None of us knew what was going on.  We still have never figured it out.”

“We need Blaze to open up; if she doesn’t… it’s not going to end well,” Bartlett admonished grimly.  He seemed upset about the fact that Blaze could crash and burn.  I nodded and we said good day.

I knew one thing: I was going to get Blaze to open up.  I wanted my sister back.

___________________________________________

December 29, 2010, 1715 HRS…

Nagase

Blaze, Grimm, Snow, Genette, Cassie, and I were up on the bridge with Nikanor, Pops, and Andersen.  However, we were in our own conversation.  While Nikanor, Pops, and Andersen’s conversation consisted of politics and war history, ours was an argument about who would win in a battle against each other: Chuck Norris or Jackie Chan.  Blaze, Genette, and Grimm were for Chuck Norris while Cassie, Snow, and I were for Jackie Chan.

Us and our nutty conversations…

I was in the middle of explaining that Jackie Chan had awesome ninja skills when Blaze stood up; her brow furrowed as she said, “What is that?”

We looked out on the horizon.  I could just barely make out shapes on the horizon, but they were so far they looked like dots.  Andersen, Pops, and Nikanor had realized we were looking at something and went to the radar.  The six of us got in a line and continued to look out.

“What is it?” Blaze inquired, looking at the radar with Andersen.

“A naval fleet… A Yuke one if I’m correct,” Andersen replied.

“Should we get the catapults ready?” A crew member asked.

“Let me talk to them,” Nikanor protested. “Let me try and convince them to lay down their arms and join us.”

“Yes, Prime Minister, however, if the scenario rises up where they do attack us, we need to be prepared.  Will you at least allow our ship to get ready to fight?” Andersen inquired.  However, I got the feeling Andersen was going to do so with or without Nikanor’s permission.

Nikanor agreed and over the loudspeaker, Andersen ordered, “All hands, proceed to battle stations.  Yuktobanian fleet ahead.”

Now the fleet could be seen more clearly.  There were a fair amount of ships that I could see.  A crew member said, “The enemy fleet contains eighteen ships, arranged in a battle formation designed to block our fleet’s path.”

Nikanor took the mic from Andersen and said, “Attention, Yuktobanian fleet.  This is Prime Minister Nikanor, representative of your government.  I am on the…” he turned to Andersen and asked quietly, “Kestrel?”

“Yes.  Kestrel,” Andersen replied kindly.

Resuming in his clipped accent, Nikanor said, “I am on the Osean carrier Kestrel, for the sake of restoring peace between our Yuktobania and the country of Osea.  We will once again…”

He was cut off by a Yuke commenting on his loudspeaker.  He had a gruff and slimy voice. “Attention, all vessels.  The only thing that exists between Yuktobania and Osea is hatred.  Prime Minister Nikanor has joined the enemy.  Recognize him as such, and sink the enemy fleet with him.”

At that moment, Geller came bursting into the room and came to stand behind Blaze.  Of the group, although we all got along with him, he liked Blaze the most (even though I’m pretty sure she did tell him off when we were interrogating him that time after Blaze went on that solo mission in Belka).

Another Yuke came on, but unlike his leader, he seemed more level-headed and more willing to listen to us. “But Commander, that’s the Prime Minister talking.  Please, stand down, we don’t know what we’re fighting for anymore.  Sir, please, cancel engagement and stand down.”

I saw a ship turning in front of the Yuke fleet, both in real life and on the radar.  I couldn’t blame him for not wanting to fight because he didn’t know what he was fighting for; I remember thinking that not too long ago.  However, I had found my cause, and I wasn’t going to stop fighting until I had succeeded.  With Blaze as my captain, I knew that was going to happen.

The gruff voice came back on. “All vessels loyal to the fleet, a traitor is blocking our way.  Attack the frigate ship Pitomnik.  Open fire.”

We watched in horror as two Yuke ships fired at the frigate, dealing lethal blows.  Blaze covered her mouth and nose with both hands.  Her eyes were wide and sparkling; Geller put a firm hand on her shoulder.

I grabbed Genette’s hand and covered my mouth with my other hand.

“This is missile destroyer Gumrak of the glorious Yuktobanian Navy,” A Yuke announced.  His voice was gruff and I could just tell he was an experienced soldier. “We cannot follow a Fleet Commander willing to sink one of his own ships.  We will protect Prime Minister Nikanor.  All ships who are with us, change course and follow us.”

I saw two ships, possibly three, speeding up and coming towards us.  Were they really joining the Kestrel?

The Fleet Commander came back on. “Any vessel that does not follow the flagship will be fired upon.”

“Protect those brave defectors,” Andersen commanded over the loudspeaker. “Launch fighters!”  Turning to Nikanor, he said, “Prime Minister.  Please take your leave.”

“But…” Nikanor started to protest.

Andersen cut him off. “Go to our President, and get a televised picture of the two of you together, shaking hands.  Show it to the world.”

Nikanor reluctantly agreed and being escorted by Bartlett and Major who had just now come up, went to Sea Goblin’s helicopter where he would travel to Oured with Bartlett and Major.

On the way out, Bartlett turned to us, but looked at Blaze specifically. “I wish you the best of luck in battle.  Remember, watch each other up there and be there for each other, whether you’re having physical problems or mental.”

“Are you calling us mental?” Blaze demanded with a grin.

“Possibly,” Bartlett retorted.  Blaze bit her lip before running up to Bartlett and hugging him.  In that moment, I saw the old Blaze, the one that was full of life and knew she hadn’t seen everything.  It was refreshing and it gave me hope that she might just pull out of this… slump she was in.

Bartlett, although stunned by the sudden gesture and affection, returned it. “Now,” he ordered. “Go kick some ass.”

“Yes, sir,” Blaze said, a small smile on her face.  And then she was back.  The new Blaze replaced the old one and before she could even tell us to go down to the briefing room, we were already heading down there.

When we got down to the briefing room, the lights were dim and the screen was already up and waiting for us.  The four of us didn’t even leave the doorway when the briefing began.

“The situation is critical.  We must help provide stability as quickly as possible.  The Kestrel CIC’s IFF info will be directly connected to your HUD, so you’ll be able to get an ID on your targets.  Engage and render powerless all forces carrying out acts of aggression against the Kestrel and our new allied fleet.”

Operation: Glory Horn

Location: Ceres Ocean

Date: 2010/12/29

Time: 1731 HRS

The four of us left the briefing room the instant the briefing was over.  Blaze, naturally, already had our planes picked out.  We would be taking the F-35C’s.  They were good for anti-ship missions and were decent in air battles as well.

It barely took ten minutes for all of us to launch into the air.  When Blaze was being catapulted, Sea Goblin took off in the helicopter and I could’ve sworn I saw Bartlett looking out at us.

Blaze took up the lead position as I got on her left, Snow got on her right, and Grimm flew to the right of Snow.  She hit her afterburners and we were quick to follow.

“A group of comrades has come to our aide,” Andersen announced. “Protect those brave souls!”

When the targets appeared on our radar, a song started to play; it was coming from the Kestrel and it took me a moment to recognize the song as The Journey Home.  I found it somewhat peculiar that Andersen was playing an anti-war song during the battle, but I also understood why.  It was an indirect way of him saying “We don’t want to fight.  We want peace.”

“Is anyone else remembering the flyby when Chopper was singing along to this?” Grimm asked quietly, giving a small chuckle.

“And how off-key he was?” Blaze added with a laugh.  It was good to hear her talk about Chopper and not seem down about it.

“And when Grimm said it wasn’t exactly rock n’ roll, Chopper snapped at him saying he didn’t care and that it had soul?” I reminisced.

“Chopper was certainly a character… I remember when we were flying in the same airspace and he was talking incessantly and I was in a bad mood that day and I snapped at him pretty badly… he laughed and kept going,” Snow said, starting to laugh. “I thought he had guts and could just tell he was a ladies’ man.”

“He certainly was,” Blaze agreed.

“Commence battle.  We are not alone!” Andersen encouraged. 

“Kestrel CIC here.  We’ll transmit IFF data for the opposing ships.  Don’t fire on our allies.  Can you do that?” A Kestrel crew member inquired.

“Of course we can,” Blaze responded, sounding mildly offended.  She dipped her plane and fired two missiles at the first ship.

“Really, you would think that after so many missions, they would have more faith in us to not accidentally fire on our allies,” Grimm said with a “tsk-tsk” at the end.

“Attack any ships that desert the fleet immediately,” The Yuke Fleet Commander snarled.  This man was nuts; I still couldn’t believe he was allowing and pushing his followers to fire on their own ships.

“Unbelievable!  They’re firing at their own ships!” Grimm exclaimed in astonishment.  Blaze had fired her guns at another ship her line of fire but she had been going so fast she couldn’t finish the job.  However, she didn’t turn around to destroy it because she knew we would; Snow took the task of destroying the ship while Grimm and I surged on ahead, attacking any and all ships we could.

“I’ll support the Yuke fleet coming to our side,” I suggested.

“They’re fine,” Blaze said. “I destroyed the ships nearest to them so the enemy should have a harder time sinking them.  However, someone needs to take care of those enemy planes.  Grimm, Snow?”

“On it,” Grimm said.  He and Snow went up to a higher altitude and began shooting down enemy planes.

“There are only four enemy planes,” A Yuke said with smugness.  He was obviously underestimating us…

“What a joke.” Another Yuke snorted. “You’d better not take any damage.”

“Those planes… are you the Razgriz?” I knew it was a friendly Yuke asking, just by the tone of his voice.

“Yes, sir,” Blaze answered kindly.

“Wow… it’s an honor to be fighting with you.  I never thought that would happen,” he admitted.  I was pretty sure the guy was young.  His voice just had that innocence in it; most likely, this was the first real battle he had seen.

“It’s an honor to fight with you, too.  Thank you for coming to our support,” Blaze said and I knew she was smiling.

Blaze fired her guns at enemy Yuke frigates, three in total.  She damaged them enough so that when I went in, all I had to do was fire a missile and they were destroyed.  However, I had to use guns on the third ship because my missiles hadn’t reloaded yet.

“Kestrel!  We’re joining your fleet,” A Yuke announced. 

“You have my gratitude,” Andersen said sincerely.

“Look the battle’s just taken a new turn,” Snow observed.

“Someone out there understands us.  I can’t believe it!” I said.

“Sorry.  My eyes area just tearing up looking at our new fleet,” Grimm said, pretending to sniffle.

Wow, four ships now were on our side.  The enemy had started out with eighteen, destroyed one, so that made it seventeen, and then three joined our side, making that fourteen, and now another ship had joined, making that thirteen ships on the enemies side.  And that’s not including the ones we had destroyed (which I had now lost count).  I was in shock… this was really happening.  We were really fighting with the people I had just a few weeks earlier considered my enemies.

“I can’t believe we’re fighting with the people we considered our enemies just a few weeks ago,” Blaze commented.

“Wow, we’re freaking psychic with each other,” I pointed out. “I just was thinking that.”

“Oh my god…” Blaze mumbled.

“What?”

“We’re like Edward Cullen…”

“Only you would think of that,” I said, laughing.

“If I was stuck in an elevator with Edward Cullen, you know what I would do?” Grimm questioned.

“What?” Snow, Blaze, and I inquired simultaneously.

“I love it when that happens… Anyways, I would think of something really nasty or start singing an annoying song that’s really catchy.”

Blaze snorted. “I idolize you for that Grimm.”

“You’ve lost all sanity,” I retorted, although I couldn’t help but grin.

“Should I be worried that you know Edward Cullen can read minds?” Snow demanded warily.

“Cassie talks about it all the time; she doesn’t like Edward, just his powers.  She’s Team Jacob,” Grimm explained.

“I am, too.  I might not read the books, but I must say I am Team Jacob.  He’s so much cooler than Edward,” Blaze mused.

“I second that,” I agreed.

“Wow, this is just sad… we’re talking about Twilight in the middle of a battle.  Did you know that Edward is the son of Dracula and Tinkerbell?” Blaze questioned innocently.

“That explains so freaking much… I wonder if the sun will be so intense one day that he’ll explode into fairy dust,” Grimm wondered.  Blaze, Snow, and I laughed.

“Cassie is going to kill us when we land,” Blaze admonished drolly.

“Hey, not to change the subject here, but could someone get this scumbag off my tail?” Snow asked politely.

“I’m on it,” Blaze said, leaving me to fire at ships.  I was pretty far away from the remaining enemy ships since we had destroyed the Yuke frigates and by the time I got to another one, Blaze had shot down the enemy plane trailing Snow and was already firing at ships and dodging enemy fire.

“This is what we’ve been waiting for,” Snow acknowledged.

“I’ll take full responsibility for this!  Commence firing!” A Yuke shouted.  I realized the guy was on our side and I was amazed he was willing to fight his own people for our sake.  It sort of hit me right then and there that we were changing the way this war was going.  We were only four planes… I guess that tells you that a small group can make a big difference…

Another friendly Yuke said, “‘Enemy fleet’ ahead.  Commencing attack.”

“Our planes are all afraid, saying the Razgriz are here,” A Yuke informed over the mic.  Just by what was said, I could tell it was an enemy.

“What kind of excuse is that?” The Fleet Commander barked. “Tell them to hurry up and engage!”

I noticed that while Blaze and I had destroyed a fair amount of ships and that Grimm and Snow had taken out a good amount of the air defense, there were still a lot of enemies left and they had a lot of anti-air defenses on them.

“The enemy has an incredible amount of military force,” I observed.

“Thanks to Belka, trust me on that one,” Blaze said.

“They’ve got an overwhelming advantage in manpower.  We’ll be slaughtered,” A Kestrel crew member shouted frantically.

“It takes more than manpower to win a battle.  You just watch!” A different Kestrel member defended.

“And you have us,” Blaze pointed out.

“They must be insane to join up with the losing side,” An enemy Yuke declared.

“Just FYI, we’re fighting for both Osea and Yuktobania.  We might have an Osean carrier as our flagship but we don’t owe allegiance to them right now.  To them, we’re traitors,” Blaze replied hotly.  Whether the enemy heard her or not, I wasn’t sure but if they did, maybe they could be persuaded to stop fighting us and join us.  However, I was pretty positive they hadn’t heard Blaze.

“I can’t believe we have to fight an air-to-air battle and an anti-ship battle at the same time!” Snow grumbled.

“I’ve been in situations like this before but not on this magnitude… in fact, my first air-to-air and air-to-ship battle was with you Captain Snow,” Blaze said thoughtfully. “You yelled at Nagase to, and I quote, ‘Stop screwing around.  This is war.  The enemy will eat you alive.’”

Blaze started to laugh while Snow apologized sheepishly.

“Dammit, we’re getting fired at!” A friendly Yuke yelled.

“Those are our allies now.  Anyone who attacks them is our enemy,” Snow said as he flew down to help the friendly ship.

Blaze was on a roll, destroying ship after ship after ship.  The ones she didn’t, merely damaged, were the ones I finished off.  We didn’t have many enemies left.  This battle was almost over.

“You idiots!  When did you decide to sell out your own country?!” An enemy Yuke demanded, sounding somewhat hurt.

“When we didn’t know what we were fighting for anymore.  Maybe the Razgriz can shed some light on what’s really happening.  It’s obvious they don’t care who fights with them.  The only reason they’re attacking you is because you’re attacking them.  Maybe if you stopped and had the guts to talk to them, you could know why you were fighting as well,” A Yuke soldier fired back.

I dove down and fired two missiles and my guns at an enemy Aegis ship.  It was easily destroyed which the Kestrel decided to announce. “Yuke Aegis ship Kaniak sunk!”

“Allied fleet approaching,” announced a Kestrel member.

“Osean ships you mean?” Andersen inquired, sounding thoughtful. “Hmm… it’s probably a waste of time, but try requesting some support.”

There was a pause and my mind was racing…

My first thought: I had spoken too soon about this battle being over.  Of that, I was sure of.

My second thought: I was most likely going to have to shoot at the Osean fleet.  It made me feel like a hypocrite after not believing the Yuke’s could shoot at their own ships.  Now I was going to have to sink Osean ships.  I might not be fighting for them officially for them, but I still didn’t want to have to sink my country’s own ships.

“Looks like the Osean fleet has been listening to all of our communications up to now.  They’re calling us traitors that joined forces with the Yukes,” a Kestrel member informed solemnly.

“Just because they’ve added to their numbers, they’re still no threat,” An enemy Yuke declared hotly.

“So, this probably isn’t the best question to ask but if the Oseans are going to attack us and there a still a couple Yuke ships left, if our ships get sunk, are the Oseans going to then attack the Yukes even though the Yukes are firing at us too?  Because technically, when you have the same enemy, you’re technically allies,” Blaze rambled.  It was a lot she had said, but I got her point.

“Honestly, that’s a really good question,” I admitted.

“The Boyky is a tough one.  Attack that ship first,” A friendly Yuke ordered.

“You are a traitor to our country!” An enemy snarled. “If they want to be sunk, so be it.  Commence attack!”

“Does anyone else think that ‘Boyky’ sounds like ‘boinkin’?” Grimm asked.

“Oh Grimm…” Blaze groaned as Snow started to crack up along with me.

“Osean ships attacking!  Transmitting IFF data.  Intercept that attack,” The Kestrel guy commanded.

“Ah hell…” Blaze mumbled.  “We’re on it.”

She turned her plane in that direction, leaving me and Snow and Grimm to finish off the remaining Yuke ships.  She had turned her plane reluctantly; I could tell just by the jerky, sudden movement Blaze had turned it.

However, although we were really supposed to finish off the Yukes, they were far from the Kestrel so why not destroy the Osean fleet that was a hell of a lot closer?  I turned my plane and followed Blaze.  Grimm and Snow followed.

“We’re counting on you.  Be very careful to not drop-”

“-any bombs on our allies.  We got it,” Blaze finished.

“Actually, I was going to say planes but those too.”

I resisted the urge to retort that we already knew that but I knew it was no use.

“The Osean fleet turned over to the enemy!” I exclaimed in astonishment.

“That happened a long time ago, Nagase,” Blaze answered.

“My IFF is inop!  They’re really shooting at me!” Grimm announced.  I saw him dodging enemy fire from a plane that was trailing closely behind him.

“Of course they are.  They don’t know us.  We’re supposed to be dead,” Snow pointed out dryly.

“Aren’t we going to have problems maintaining a chain of command?” A guy from the Kestrel queried worriedly.

“No worries.  All we gotta do is destroy the enemy in front of us,” another guy assured. “Besides, the Kestrel is the only aircraft carrier here and I don’t see any enemy flagships joining our side so I think Andersen will stay in charge.”

“… I think you’re right.  I also believe that whatever ship the Razgriz are on is the ship that will be in command and since that’s the Kestrel…”

“How could four planes turn the tide of the entire battle?!” A Yuke ship demanded.  I destroyed the last Yuke ship and went to help Blaze who had already destroyed half the Osean fleet to my astonishment.  I don’t know why I was astonished… I mean, this is Blaze fighting.

“The Razgriz!  It’s got to be them, right?!” A Yuke pilot shouted.  Did these guys do anything else besides shout, yell, and bark what they’re saying?

“All the ships are lined up.  Now we’re in business!” a guy from the Kestrel chirped.  I vaguely realized that besides me, Cassie, and Blaze, the whole Osean fleet we were with was made of guys.

“Why is this happening?  They were our comrades!” A Yuke enemy argued exasperatedly, obviously upset he had to fire on what I could only imagine were some of his friends.

“Those planes flying above us… aren’t they the Razgriz?” This voice was different and I immediately recognized it as an Osean.  But whereas before they talked to us with nothing but kindness, now they were dead set on killing us.

“No,” Blaze replied casually although I could hear the slight sarcasm in her voice.  Why was she lying to them?

“They’re lying to us!  Those bastards!  Don’t forget what pain they’ve caused us,” An Osean barked.

“Congratulations.  Looks like the Oseans can still pick up on sarcasm,” Blaze complimented.  Ah, so she had just wanted to mess with them.  Typical Blaze…

“So, you have the nerve to respond?!” The Osean snarled. “You’ll pay dearly for your crime of treason!”

“How is it treason if I’m no longer fighting for the Osean military?” Blaze inquired.

“Because you’re an ex-Osean pilot that has joined forces with the Yukes!” He snapped.

“Actually, no, for two reasons.  Number one you see is they joined forces with us because they had this brilliant idea called ‘talking it out and finding out the truth about what the hell’s going on here.’  Number two is my squad and I are supposedly dead, and put ‘dead’ in air quotes for emphasis.  We’re actually not supposed to be here so I’m assuming in the Osean military database, we’re in there as ‘KIA’ so how do we serve Osea if we’re not even alive to them?  Do you see where I’m going with this?”

“You’re using an Osean ship for your carrier!” He pointed out.

“Yes, and they’re not fighting for Osea either,” Blaze said, sounding bored.

“If you’re not fighting for Osea, and you’re not fighting for the Yukes, then who are you fighting for?” He questioned sternly.

“We fight for both countries, not one specifically.  Unfortunately, some of you are too thick-headed to see that and you’re making us fire on you.  Believe me, we don’t want to fire on the people we called allies just a few weeks ago,” Blaze said. “We would be very willing to stop fighting and talk to you and tell you what’s going on.”

There was a pause and I had a small hope Blaze had convinced the guy to join our side.  I guess that wasn’t the case because he said that we were twisting the truth to convince him to join us and that he would never fall for it.

“Well, it was worth a shot,” Blaze mumbled.

“If I had been him, you would’ve convinced me,” Grimm told her.

“Thanks Grimm.  Now if only everyone in the Osean military was as sensible as you.”

I went up in a loop to make a missile lose track on me.  It worked just like I knew it would and when I headed back down in a complete vertical dive, I used a special weapon, an LASM, and destroyed the ship that had sent the missile after me in the first place.  I forgot I could use my special weapons and in no time, I had destroyed almost all the Osean ships with Blaze.

“This will likely be our final personal transmission.  Collin, good luck in battle,” A Yuke fleet (a friend) said.

“Don’t say that.  Once this is over, everything will be back to normal again,” Another Yuke, who I’m going to guess is Collin, said.

“The fewer the sacrifices, the better… Fire,” a friendly Yuke commander ordered.

“We’re too close to them.  Tell them to open up some space between us,” a Kestrel guy directed.  Then he added, “And don’t make the Razgriz do all the work for us!”

“We’re going to put the Razgriz in the watery grave,” An Osean growled.

“Hatred calls forth nothing but more hatred,” Snow mused, “and this is the result.  Is there nothing we can do?”

“I don’t think there is anything else we can do.  We’ve tried to convince them to just talk to us and that didn’t work.  So now we have to let it play out how it’s supposed to,” Blaze responded thoughtfully.

“The fate of human nature, huh?  I certainly won’t disagree,” Snow decided.

“Everything happens for a reason,” Blaze said with a sigh. “And sometimes, I would love to know what that reason is.”

“Amen to that one,” I agreed.  Blaze and I flew low to the ocean, and I’m pretty sure we were sending up ocean spray.  I didn’t dare look back and see though because I didn’t trust myself at that moment to not crash into the ocean.

We flew in between the Kestrel and the Andromeda and passed two friendly Yuke ships that had finally reached our little fleet.  I could’ve sworn I heard them cheering.

“I can see everyone on deck waving at us,” A Kestrel guy said in a way that I just knew he was smiling.  I heard Blaze give a small laugh before she shot up.  I followed her.  I knew that she was showing off for the Yukes, even though we were in the middle of a battle.  I think it gave her something else to think about besides the fact that we were firing on the people we had called allies.

She got behind an enemy plane, fired two missiles and went after another one.  Her missiles hit and the new enemy she was trailing was gone in less than a minute.

“The enemy’s headed straight to their doom,” An Osean growled.  There were only two Osean ships and about four or five planes left.

“Uh, I hate to point this out to y’all but you’re outnumbered.  Might I remind you that you started out with like, ten ships, and there are two of you left?  And those planes in the air?  There were twenty… there’s like… five.  Who do you think is going to win this?” Blaze pointed out as she shot down another plane.

“She has a point you know,” Snow observed.

“Bystry, merge with the main fleet,” a friendly Yuke ship commanded. “This is to everyone: blow the side of the ship under the smokestacks.  That’ll render them immobile in minutes.”

“All ships capable of attack, follow us,” A Kestrel crew member instructed.

“Connect this to the ship’s PA system.  Let everyone onboard hear it,” a Yuke said.  I wish I knew some of these guys names because I’m getting tired of saying ‘this Yuke’ and ‘that Yuke’ and ‘an enemy Osean.’  It gets old, you know?

The Journey Home suddenly became louder and I knew that it was what the Yuke had been talking about.  The next transmission confirmed that for me. “Ah, “The Journey Home”… I love that song.”

“There they go with that move again.  They never could shake that habit,” A Yuke said.

“You know, it’s an advantage and a disadvantage having Yukes on our side because they can read their own people and their own people can read them so you have an equal battle,” Blaze noted.

“It makes you wonder who would win if we weren’t helping,” I said.  I realized we had shot down all of the enemy planes but that I slightly miscalculated the amount of remaining Osean ships.  There were actually six instead of two… so I guess that’s more than a ‘slight miscalculation.’ “Enemy escort ships dwindling.  We’re almost there.”

“Thank god,” Grimm muttered. “I’m sick of shooting at these people.”

“Let’s finish them,” Blaze said, sounding grim.

“Transmission from Osean carrier: ‘From the bottom of our heart, we thank you for joining our fleet.’”

“We cannot hand over the Gumrak to the enemy,” an enemy Yuke ship declared hotly.  Blaze was already flying there and I was shocked at how close the Yukes had come to our fleet.

“Holy hell,” Grimm said.

“That’s a contradiction for you.” Blaze laughed.  I rolled my eyes even though she couldn’t see it.

“This is Gumrak.  Commencing attack.  Target  Zavtra!”

“Kestrel, tell the friendly Yuke ships, and Oseans if we have any, that the Razgriz are so grateful they’ve decided to help us out,” Blaze ordered.

There was a pause before a friendly Yuke said, “The Razgriz are thanking us for their help!  Wow!   I never thought they’d be thanking us!”

I grinned.  These people idolized us so much and we were just doing our job.  I also realized they were pretty much lionizing mere kids in military terms.  We were in our mid-twenties, save for Snow who was about ten years older than us.

“The Svabodny’s in the lead?  This won’t be like the war games,” a friendly Yuke grumbled.

“Uh, it’s not in the lead anymore,” Blaze said.

“I would ask why but it’s a stupid question to ask the Razgriz,” the guy replied with amusement. “Thanks for getting it out of the way.”

We had two enemy ships left, which we gave Blaze the honor of destroying.  She flew towards the first one at a rapid pace.

“What is this?” the enemy ship asked, incensed. “Somebody stop this song!  Why are we listening to the enemy’s music?”

“Did he really just notice it was playing?” Snow inquired with blunt astonishment.

“I sometimes wonder if our jet engine noise messes with the brains of our friends on the ground, you know, it rattles their brains a little and makes them become ignorant sounding?” Blaze wondered aloud.

“It would make sense but I think we would’ve learned that in our training if that were the case,” I said.

“I was trying to help them out, you know?  Give them a reason for being ignorant and stating the obvious, but I guess there are some things you just can’t fix.”  She sighed as she destroyed the ship, turned around, and headed for the last one.

“That’s all of them!” Blaze chirped.

“Uh, actually, there’s more…” Grimm observed.

“What?!” Blaze exclaimed. “Dear God, they just pop up out of nowhere.  Y’all get those last three.”

Grimm, Snow, and I headed towards what I hoped were actually the last ships we had to fight.  They looked like they were Osean… I could’ve sworn we destroyed all of them… well, apparently we didn’t.

“Enemy Osean fleet destroyed.  We’ll continue to attack the remaining enemy ships,” The Kestrel announced.

“Wait, what?” I asked, completely confused. “I thought those were Yukes we just destroyed?!”

“No, those were Oseans.  I think you’re confused Nagase…” Blaze said.

“Damn… I need sleep really badly.”

“Budusheye sent word that they’re joining us,” A Yuke informed.  An enemy ship that was severely damaged disappeared off my radar and I knew for a fact none of us had destroyed it.

“They did that just in the nick of time.  I was going in for a strike that would’ve done them in,” Blaze acknowledged. “I’m glad I didn’t though.  We need all the allies we can get.”

“The Budusheye’s joining, huh?  Now we have a chance,” Another Yuke friend said as I destroyed the last enemy ship.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

“All enemy ships suppressed.  We’ve won!” The Kestrel shouted victoriously.

“This is the captain of the carrier Kestrel.  To all the brave souls that have survived, I congratulate you.  Our journey is almost at an end.  But we must not waiver in our resolve to fight, to reclaim peace between the two nations.”

“This is the Captain of the ‘Ghosts of Razgriz.’  Thank you to everyone who has now joined our fleet.  You have our utmost gratitude,” Blaze said graciously as I got ready to land.

It didn’t take too long for us to land; Blaze was flying in between ships while Snow, Grimm, and I landed.  When I got out of my plane, I could see the Yukes all out on the decks, watching her fly.  Someone caught sight of me and waved; with a grin, I waved back.  Grimm landed after me, then Snow, and then Blaze.  When we stood together and waved at the Yukes waving at us, they started to cheer.  I felt myself tearing up at the sight… and the sound.

One of the Kestrel guys came and told us to go down to the briefing room.  With a final wave, we walked to the briefing room.  The four of us stood while we listened.  We weren’t too keen on sitting since we had just flown.  I don’t know about the others, but my butt was kind of sore.

I did not just admit that…

The briefer came up and he had a grin on his face; I think that was the first time I had ever seen him smiling. “The chaos has subsided.  All Yuktobanian ships in the area, as well as all hostile Osean forces, have been brought under control.  A decision was made to quickly form a combined fleet of Yuktobanian and Osean ships, with the Kestrel as its flagship.”

The briefer dismissed us and we exited the room only to be swept up in a hug by Genette and Cassie.  There was a lot of laughing and grinning.  Cassie slapped me, Grimm, and Snow upside the head.  Blaze managed to duck out of the way.

Even Geller came running down but he seemed happy about something completely different.  He put his hands on Blaze’s shoulders with a crazed look in his eye and an ecstatic smile that reached from ear to ear.  That guy seriously needed to lay off the caffeine…

“Miss Blaze!  I’m almost done!  I’m almost done decoding the disc!” Geller announced.

“That’s great!  How long do you think it will take you to finish?” Blaze inquired, putting her hands on Geller’s shoulders.

“Only a few hours.  It’ll be done by tomorrow.”  I felt my mouth drop open.

“You’re really something Geller,” I complimented.  He turned to me with his crazy grin.

“Thank you, Miss Nagase,” He said.

“Go get some sleep.  Genette will work on the disc,” Blaze said, turning him around and attempting to push him towards the way to go to his room.  Geller barely budged.

“No!  I have to finish it!  I just thought you’d want to know,” He said.

Blaze dropped her head and shook it. “I know I can’t convince you to get some rest.  Thank you for telling me.  I’ll have your next cup of coffee ready in a little while.”

He laughed and said okay before running back to the computer room.

“He really needs to lay off the caffeine,” I commented.

“This is going to be his last cup of the day,” Blaze assured before she headed to the cafeteria.  The rest of us split up.  Snow declared he was going to take a hot shower, eat, and then take a nice long nap.  Cassie and Grimm went to Grimm’s room to go to sleep and Genette and I went to my room.  We lay down on my bed and stared at the top bunk.  His arm was around me and I had my head resting on his shoulder, just above his heart.

“Good night, Genette,” I whispered, snuggling up to him and closing my eyes.

“Good night, beautiful,” he replied softly; I smiled.

___________________________________________

December 30, 2010, 1330 HRS 

I woke up to someone gruffly shaking me awake.  When I woke up, Blaze was standing over me, a wild look in her eyes.

“Geez, Blaze. What’s got you in such a state?” I grumbled.  Genette groggily opened his eyes and stared at his sister.  It dawned on me I hadn’t seen Blaze this excited since before Chopper died.

Elatedly, she informed, “Geller!  He did it!  He decoded the disc!"

___________________________________________

Okay!  There’s the chapter.  I would’ve had it up sooner but my computer decided to freeze up completely resulting in me shutting it down and it deleted five pages of writing.  Needless to say, I was ticked off.  Anyways, please review!  You really don’t understand how happy they make me haha