"The ability to deceive seems to indicate cleverness, but the desire to deceive indicates weakness."
~Rene Descartes
______________________________________

The next morning, I woke up to someone banging on Blaze's door. My girlfriend, surprisingly wide awake, hurried over and opened the door just far enough that he could see her, but not inside, namely me on her bed. 

"Put your flight suit on. You have a briefing in ten minutes," Hamilton informed, sounding grumpier than usual. Blaze nodded and shut the door, shuffling over to me. I looked at the clock on her nightstand. It was a hellacious five-fifty in the morning, and I hadn't gone to bed near early enough to be waking up at this hour, but, being in the military, this was a regular occurrence I had been trained for. Still, I hated mornings.

"I guess you heard Hamilton," Blaze said softly.

"Pretty sure people all the way Cinigrad could hear him." I groaned, standing up and taking in my girlfriend's appearance. The circles under her eyes were darker than normal, and she looked absolutely exhausted. "How long have you been awake?"

"About an hour. Woke up and couldn't fall back asleep, so I've just been reading stuff on my phone." Blaze stood on her tiptoes and kissed me. "I'm going to suit up. You should do the same before Hamilton discovers something he shouldn't."

"That's the last thing we need. See you in a few."

Slipping out of Blaze's room and into mine, I swiftly donned my flight suit and walked to the briefing room. I was the second one after Blaze. Grimm came a few minutes afterward, followed by Nagase, then Genette, and last but not least, Cassie.

"Hey," I said, greeting Blaze with a tired smile when I sat down next to her. She smiled weakly back. Mornings weren't her favorite either. "Long time no see."

"I know. It's been ages. Here," Blaze said, handing me a cup of tea. She had one too. "Three spoonfuls of sugar and lots and lots of cream."

"Just the way I like it," I said. I took a sip, and it was freaking amazing. "Thank you."

"I have a feeling we're gonna need it."

The lights dimmed, and the computer screen turned on. The brightness in the practically pitch-black was murder on my eyes after having just woken up. The briefer gave his usual clearing of the throat and said, "The Yuktobanian force that defended the Bastok Peninsula is staging a large-scale withdrawal from the area. After analyzing the situation, we have determined that they are pulling back the force to regroup their defense network and strengthen their capital defenses. Yuktobania's southern armies sustained heavy damage during our landing operation, and their defensive war power has weakened considerably. Their current withdrawal is currently proceeding under the curtain of a set of electronic jamming signals. The enemy's air forces consist primarily of transport planes. Pursue these planes, destroy them, and halt their retreat."

Operation: Hammerblow

Location: Dresdene

Date: 2010/11/02

Time: 0600 Hours

The screen shut off, and the lights turned back on. I squinted from the brightness and gladly walked outside into the gentler, soft blue of the predawn light. My flight suit blocked out the cold wind, which set the tone for the predicted chilly day. Glancing up at the sky, I noticed the moon was still visible, so was a star or two. The sight brought me momentary peace in the mayhem of this war.

The four of us walked into the hangar, and Blaze chose the F14-A for all of us. Putting on our helmets, we got into our jets. We pulled onto the runway, took off, and headed toward Yuktobania. It took us hours and a mid-air refueling to reach our designated target area. Upon arriving at Dresdene, we had some fun skimming the cliffs of the mountains. The peaks already had snow on them, and while they weren't that tall, they were still very jagged; if we were shot down here, that would end our day real quick. Not to mention it was absolutely freezing outside, and so we would have to battle that too.

The image of one of my wingmen (or me) crashing into the mountains popped into my head, and in an effort to get it out, I asked, "Hey, hey, hey, Kid. Did you take a listen to that song?!"

"What song?" Blaze replied, obviously taken aback by my sudden, exuberant question.

"Back of the Coin."

"No, I didn't. Why?"

"You didn't listen to it? Back of the Coin is a masterpiece!"

Blaze laughed, albeit slightly confused. "All right! I'll check it out when we get back to base."

Suddenly, I spotted the first enemy in the distance. However, I wasn't the only one. Blaze had, too, already speeding off and engaging it. Nagase, Grimm, and I chased after her as she ordered us to engage. Nagase and Grimm both responded, but in the midst of chasing down my target, I suddenly remembered I'd forgotten to.

"Whoops! Chopper, engaging!"

"I was wondering when you were going to say something," Blaze mused.

"Eh, sorry, blonde moment."

"You have a lot of those," Nagase said, amused. I was too tired to come up with a witty response.

"Due to current circumstances, we have been forced to set foot on Yuktobania with weapons in hand," Commander Howell announced. What was Howell doing over the mic? Last I heard, he remained behind at the fortress we took over. "However, our true enemy here is the Yuktobanian military who started this unjust war."

Despite my confusion about his presence, I couldn't agree more with his words. It was Yuktobania's fault we were at war. They started it for no fucking reason, and while I questioned why I was fighting, that didn't mean I was going to sit back and let the Yukes win this war. They had another thing coming.

I maneuvered myself behind an enemy transport plane and started firing my guns at it. The damn thing wouldn't go down, and it took more time than I care to admit for me to finally realize missiles would work better than bullets. I blamed it on my lack of sleep. On the other hand, it was times like these that made me wonder how I ever made it through school with idiotic moments like now. Hopefully, one of my stupid moments wouldn't ever cost me or one of my wingmen's life...

An enemy transmission came through the radio. "No stragglers. Don't leave anybody behind."

I glanced at my radar to see how many Yukes remained.

"You've gotta be shitting me," I said semi-frantically as I counted twenty new blips that I know had not been there a mere three seconds ago. There weren't supposed to be that many! There was supposed to be like... eight! Maybe ten! Certainly not freaking thirty-something!

"Unbelievable!" Nagase groaned.

"This is insane!" Blaze agreed.

I huffed in annoyance. "We gotta bag all these planes?"

"The strange thing is-" Blaze trailed off momentarily- "the hits I see on my radar, I can't see them in real life. This isn't right..."

"You think every enemy plane in the area is up and flying?" Grimm asked.

"Well, let's ask 'em. Hey, how many planes you got there?" I replied sarcastically. Mumbling, I added, "... Man, this is makin' me cry."

Blaze gasped. "You? Cry?"

"It's a figure of speech. I never cry." I mulled my statement over and realized I was wrong. "Well, unless an animal dies in a movie."

"Me too! I also yell at the screen whenever a hot guy dies, which I realize is in almost every movie. I mean, look at The Outsiders. Dallas was smokin', and he just had to get shot. Then there's Percy Jackson. Luke was drop-dead gorgeous, and they had to kill him! He wasn't supposed to die! At least not until the fifth book!"

"Hey, I actually know those movies!" Nagase chimed in excitedly. "I should, considering I was with you every time you yelled at the screen for killing off the cute guy and joined in."

"Blaze, Nagase, you do know they're just movies... right?" I asked cautiously.

"Yes, that doesn't make it any better, though," Blaze retorted. "And you know what? I couldn't care less about when they kill people, but for the love of- don't kill the animals!"

"Right?! They're innocents who can do no wrong," Nagase declared.

I grinned when an idea popped into my head. "What about Cujo?"

"Let him live."

"He killed pe-"

"Let. Him. Live," Blaze enunciated clearly. Realizing I couldn't convince them otherwise, even with decent logic, I changed the subject. However, I had a feeling that the two of them would somehow find a way to circle back to it. These two girls had a knack for doing that, and when Cassie got involved, you better hold onto your fucking hat because they talk at a hundred miles an hour without stopping for a breath of air. You couldn't even follow what they were talking about since they talked and changed the topic so fast.

Moving on from my rant...

Blaze chased another transport, having shot down the other one (using missiles because she actually thought to use them, unlike me). Grimm trailed an enemy fighter that kept trying to go after Nagase, and I could tell he was getting pissed off judging by his unintelligible muttering.

Meanwhile, Nagase flew after fighters- ignoring the ones on her tail- to protect Blaze and me while we shot down transport planes. Yeah, we always had a plan. I bet people from Sapin would say that the goddess Athena is on our side and has given us the knowledge of wisdom and battle strategy. I say it's good teamwork, a lot of luck, and a fantastic captain.

"Report from Bjely. Picking up something on radar," an enemy pilot informed.

"There's way too many signatures on my radar," I remarked, "Still. Kid, Nagase, how about you guys?"

Nagase agreed. "My radar is showing strange results as well. Something's going on."

"Hey, uh, you don't think..." Grimm began hesitantly, but he was cut off by an enemy pilot saying, "Does the enemy have a tally-ho on us yet?" 

"Aha... I think I've figured it out," Grimm continued, but rather than elucidating upon his findings, my wingman stayed silent.

I sighed, rolling my eyes. "Well, do share your keen insights, will you please?"

"First Lieutenant Blaze and First Lieutenant Chopper, Jammer aircraft," Grimm informed.

"Of course! How could I be so stupid?!" Blaze scolded herself. "How could I forget jammer craft existed? They were the bane of my cousin's existence in the Continental War."

"So it's... a trick?" I guessed cautiously. Hey, even if these were my friends, I still didn't want to be wrong and make myself look like a bigger idiot than usual. At least I recognized that something weird was going on.

"That's exactly what this is," Nagase confirmed as I fell in above Blaze while we hunted for our next victim. Her words gave me hope because now, all we had to do was find the jammer aircraft, and then the blips representing the fake aircraft would disappear. The issue was finding the damn things.

"Okay, I feel better now," I admitted, relaxing ever so slightly once I realized my squadron and I didn't have to take out all these planes. "Ghosts aren't so bad once you figure out the trick behind 'em."

"How could this be? Our new jamming devices were supposed to be perfect," A Yuke squadron leader claimed furiously.

"Well, it's obviously not perfect, seeing how we know what it is and that we can destroy this," Blaze pointed out, climbing to a slightly higher altitude to be level with me.

"Where are the jammers? They've got to be somewhere close," Nagase said. "Let's take care of them first."

"We do that, and all these ghost planes will disappear off our radar," Blaze confirmed confidently. "Nagase, Grimm, you two go shoot down the remaining transport planes. Chopper and I will find the jammers."

"Roger," Nagase answered.

"Wilco," Grimm responded.

I sighed dramatically. "Why do you say 'Wilco'?"

"Because I know it annoys you."

"Oh, well, it's not working." It was, but I didn't want him knowing that because I had no doubt the little shit would continue saying it if he knew the truth.

"Yes, it is."

I grimaced. He knows.

"No, it's not," I protested.

"You're a shit liar, Chopper." With the worst timing possible, my girlfriend came over the mic and agreed with Grimm. I could practically hear the grin on his face when he said, "Dude, even Blaze agrees with me."

"Grimm, don't brag," Blaze chastised lightly before adding, "even though it's true."

"Blaze, you're supposed to be on my side," I whined.

"Says who?"

I paused for a few moments. "... The man?"

"Who's the man?"

"Me!" I declared triumphantly.

She laughed. "You may be my man, but you're not the man!"

"I am the man if I'm your man."

Blaze chuckled. "If you really want to be the man, stop flirting with your captain and help me shoot down these jammer craft."

"Aye, aye, Captain!"

"Don't let the jamming confuse you," Thunderhead commanded with his impeccably horrible timing and horrendously obvious comment. "Repeat, don't let the enemy's jamming confuse you."

Whatever you say, Dunderhead. I thought, rolling my eyes. I wasn't the only one to refer to him by the unfortunate nickname. A lot of people on base called him that but never to his face. I wondered what he would do when someone inevitably slipped up and did that, though. Chances are it'd be me. I'd be in for a hell of a reprimanding.

I was broken out of my thoughts when I nearly flew into a jammer. Only thanks to a quick maneuver was I able to not crash into it. I mean, on the bright side, the jammer would've been gone, but on the other hand, there would be no more Chopper, and I personally like being alive, thank you very much.

"Concentrate on shooting down the enemy jammer aircraft. The transport can wait," Thunderhead added. Did he not realize we already engaged the jammer aircraft? He was really living up to his Dunderhead nickname right now...

"We wish to work hand-in-hand, harmoniously, with the citizens of Yuktobania for this operation," Howell announced. "I've instructed our soldiers to follow this wish to the letter."

What operation? Was he on crack?

"What the hell is Howell talking about?" Blaze inquired, sounding equally confused.

"Yes."

"That's not an answer."

"Oh, I know. I'm just acknowledging it's a good question. I have no idea about the actual answer."

After many close calls of crashing into the jammer craft, we shot that one down, but we were still nowhere near being done with this mission or figuring out what the hell was going on.

"The enemy radar blips disappeared. Several of them at once," informed Nagase. Her statement was music to my ears.

"We definitely need to finish off the rest of those jammers... I see one. Permission to go after it?" Grimm requested. Blaze agreed, and he hit his afterburners, flying off in the distance to our left.

"Dammit! Our cover's blown!" A Yuke growled.

"No friendly IFF squawk. Confirmed enemy aircraft approaching," another one noted.

"I feel like having fun with this transport plane below me," I said nonchalantly.

Blaze sighed. "Really, Chopper?"

"I'll be back." I went above the transport below me and flipped my craft upside down, allowing me to see inside the cockpit. The pilots looked up at me, and even I could tell they were surprised. I lifted my hand and flipped them off, giving them a shit-eating grin, even if they couldn't see it with my helmet.

After a few seconds of recovering from the shock, they flipped me off too. I lifted both my hands in fist form and shook them as if I had won a great victory. They probably thought I was mental, but I didn't care. Their plane was about to be destroyed by me or my girlfriend in a few short moments.

"This Osean pilot just flipped us off," the Transport Captain said.

"What did you do?" One of his counterparts asked.

"We flipped him off in return."

"What did he do?"

"He raised his fists and shook them, but like he won something, not like he was mad."

"Are you fighting Charlie Sheen?"

"Chopper, it's not good that you're being compared to Charlie Sheen," Blaze remarked, "just saying..."

"Well, at least I have most of my brain cells," I argued airily. "Charlie lost most of his."

"Very true. At least Chopper's not going around saying 'Duh! Winning!'"

I laughed mischievously. "Not yet anyway..."

Grimm groaned in dismay. "You shouldn't have said anything."

"This is what you get for saying 'Wilco.'"

I got behind yet another enemy transport plane, and this time I was smart enough to use my missiles. The plane went down, and I went up because an enemy had a missile lock on me that I had to evade. I made a complete loop and got behind the fighter. Was he that stupid? Obviously, because he didn't try to escape me until after I had fired the missile. The projectile hit his left engine, and he went down. Blaze was speeding after a new enemy fighter after she had shot down two already.

"They're retreating together like one big happy family," I joked before adding, "Damn, this is the biggest withdrawal in history."

"This isn't normal!" Blaze exclaimed.

"Therefore, I ask you, citizens of Yuktobania: Do not fear us, but rather join us in..." Howell finished. This dude really needed to shut the hell up. No way were the citizens of Yuktobania going to turn on their own country! They may not like that they're fighting, but that doesn't mean that they're going to turn on their own country. What was wrong with General Howell?

"Hey, you think it's gonna be that easy?" I asked, knowing full well what the answer was going to be.

"No. I don't think it will be easy at all." Blaze answered precisely like I thought she would.

"I know, me neither."

"Fox Two!" Nagase shouted, firing at a jammer plane.

"Shack on the target!" Thunderhead notified.

"Nice shot Nagase!" Blaze complimented.

I saw Blaze do a rolling turn, and she ended up behind an enemy transport plane. She fired and hit it smack dab in the middle. The aircraft fell to the ground in a fiery mass.

Grimm cheered and proudly proclaimed, "The Captain shot down a bandit!"

"What else is new?" I joked.

"I know, right?"

"Bandit shot down!" Thunderhead interjected.

"Nice shot Grimm!" Blaze praised.

"Thank you, Cap-" Grimm never finished his sentence, getting distracted when he and I nearly crashed head-on. We'd been chasing after the same enemy transport, and having both shot at it, we were too preoccupied with seeing it fall that we didn't see each other. It was only because Blaze and Nagase yelled at us to watch out that we avoided one another.

Sadly, despite taking out the enemies, we still had to deal with those enemy jammer aircraft, which were a pain in the ass. They moved slowly, and you had to slow way down to shoot at them. Plus, if you didn't aim just right, your missiles would just fly over it. Not to mention the fact they created all these 'ghosts' on our radar. At least they hadn't interfered with our radio yet.

"... enemy... jamming waves... interference." Thunderhead's sentence had been fragmented because of the jamming waves.

I spoke too soon.

"This is the Eighty-Four-Ninety-Second leader. All Eighty-Four-Ninety-Second units, proceed as planned."

"Who... fu... is that?" Blaze asked, confused. "Are th... one... or-

"Dammit, even our radio's jammed. I can't understand shit," I said, but even I knew my statement had been chopped up into bits and pieces.

"Heads up! ............. us!" A Yuke yelled frantically. You didn't need to be a supergenius to figure out what they said. No small amount of glee ran through my veins, knowing the Yukes were freaking out over us being here. There seemed to be a trend that whenever we entered the battlefield, the enemy started to panic. 

Proudly and with more than a little arrogance, I asked, "Hey, Kid, you think we're the best squad in the Air Force?"

"No," Blaze replied, her tone slightly off.

"How can you say that? That's just rude, man!" I pretended to be offended, even though I knew she was right. We might be experienced by now, but we were probably far from the best. 

Still, Grimm must not have picked up on my sarcasm due to the jamming because he said seriously, "It's..... jam...!"

His transmission had been butchered, but it was easy to figure out. Then it dawned on me why Blaze sounded weird. I bet she didn't understand a word of what I said! I'd been so hyped up about the Yukes being terrified of our presence that I'd completely forgotten that our transmissions were out of whack thanks to the jammers. I sighed in aggravation. Why couldn't the radios at least work? Why would anything go right for us today? Not to mention the sketchy, mysterious squadron calling themselves the Eighty-Four-Ninety-Second. Who were they? Why did that name sound familiar?

I had to push the thoughts out of my mind and focus on the enemy planes swarming Blaze and me like hyenas circling their next victim. The mysterious air squadron could- and had to- wait.

"ECCM! Restore communication link!" Thunderhead commanded frantically.

"The Osean planes are firing on a school packed with civilians!" A Yuke cried out. "They're at the engineering college!"

Blaze gasped. "Did I just hear what I thought I heard?!"

"I think so," Grimm answered, his voice full of shock.

"Whoever's violating orders, cease fire immediately!" Thunderhead said furiously.

"What idiot's doing that?" I asked in disbelief. That was the last thing we needed, some moron breaking the rules and firing on innocent civilians.

"Attention, units operating in sector Charlie Omega! Attacks on civilians are forbidden!" Thunderhead shouted.

"That's right near us," Grimm commented.

"Wait a second," Blaze started, a realization dawning on her. "Isn't that..."

"Hell, that's where we're supposed to be operating. You see those idiots anywhere?" I said.

"No, they must be at the opposite end of our sector," Blaze responded solemnly.

"I'm no joy. I don't see a thing, and my radar's clean, too," Grimm added.

"This is Edge. I'm not showing any aircraft like that either. Are you sure?

Who the hell was stupid enough to attack civilians?! That was one of the first things you learned in school. You never, ever engage in an attack on civilians unless they engage you first. If they did engage you, you were taught to disarm and neutralize them, not kill them.

"Multiple casualties! Get an ambulance over here fast!" A Yuke called out anxiously. "Dammit! The Osean bastards!"

"This is Thunderhead. Wardog, did you engage in an attack on a civilian facility?"

"No, sir!" Blaze said firmly, both slightly panicked and irritated. Obviously, and most importantly, she was mortified at the idea of innocents being attacked. On the other hand, she, along with myself and I'm sure Grimm and Nagase, didn't like being accused of such treachery. Plus, if any top brass even suspected that we were lying, we'd get our asses whooped.

"Roger. So you're sure you didn't do this."

"Why would we do that?" I snapped. "Weren't you watching from up there?"

"Do they seriously believe we'd attack civilians after all this time? We have had plenty of opportunities," " Grimm pointed out. "If we wanted to do it, we would've done it already."

Nagase scoffed bitterly. "High Command needs someone to blame this on. We're in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"I have a feeling the war is going to be the least of our worries when we get back to base," Blaze said dejectedly. I wanted to ask what she meant other than the obvious but decided against it. I had a gut feeling that there was more to Blaze's statement than she wanted to divulge over the radio.

Instead, I furiously griped, "This is what I hate about war! No matter who starts it, it always comes to this!"

"Don't' break formation. Your primary mission is to escort the transports," A Yuke insisted.

"So we're just gonna watch them die?" Another one roared.

"Their radar's back online!" A Yuke pilot announced.

"What?! We're totally exposed flying like this!" his counterpart observed in horror.

"Calm down. It just means now we're on equal footing."

"All jammers were shot down!" 

I felt my face scrunch up. Did they just notice that? If so, these guys were stupid because Nagase and Grimm had shot those things down a while ago.

"Damn, our cover's totally blown!" A Yuke complained.

"Buran Squadron, split and engage the enemy fighters," another ordered. "Molniya Squadron, stay close and continue your escort mission."

"Chopper, you and I will engage the fighters," Blaze instructed, lifting her plane to a higher altitude. "Nagase, Grimm, keep shooting down the targets."

Blaze and I went head-on with an enemy squadron: four versus two.

"Chopper, switch to special weapons and fire at the two planes simultaneously," she commanded. I did as told, firing one SAAM at one plane and another SAAM at another. I kept the two planes within view, and the SAAMs hit both of them. Blaze's SAAMs hit her targets as well, and a whole squadron was wiped out by the two of us.

"Don't worry. It's just one more thing we have to take care of, is all," an enemy assured calmly.

"We let them get this far inland?" a different one asked, incensed. "This is our sky. Don't let them barge in here!"

Grimm snorted. "Too late for that one!"

"All but two enemy fighters shot down, and all jammers are shot down!" Nagase observed.

"Yes! Now we just have to shoot down those transport planes. Shit, they're way ahead of us. We need to get to them fast!" Blaze urged.

The four of us got in formation and shot towards the transports. They were so far ahead we couldn't even see them. Hitting our thrusters to the max, we rushed over to the remaining transports. I got behind an enemy and fired.

"Shack on the target!" Thunderhead confirmed.

"Get out of there! What are you doing?!" A Yuke Transport asked irately.

"We're gonna burn up the engines. This is as fast as it gets," a second transport captain told him.

"We can't hold them off for long!" An enemy squadron pilot ranted.

"Don't panic. We're still okay," his captain consoled.

"Chopper, have you heard Always Look on the Bright Side of Life by Monty Python?" Blaze questioned innocently.

"Of course! Monty Python is brilliant!"

"Kind of feel like the 'life's a piece of shit when you look at it' line is extremely relevant right now."

"I don't like your pessimism because we're kicking absolute ass right now, but I also agree."

"Oh, I wholeheartedly agree with you that we're doing great at the mission given to us. I'm talking about the aftermath of this because some dipshits attacked civilians, and I have no doubt we'll be the scapegoats for it."

"Anything to denigrate Captain Bartlett's nuggets, am I right?" I laughed humorlessly at the truth in my statement. Even now, even with our impressive win streak and track record, our Base Commander still suspected us of being in collusion with Bartlett, the Yuke 'spy.' There was no fucking way Bartlett was a spy. He had little to no filter, and his mouth would get him in trouble faster than one could blink.  

Blaze zipped past me and fired a missile at a transport. The projectile skimmed the top of the aircraft. I finished it off with a SAAM, leaving two more transport planes.

A glint in the sunlight above me caught my attention, and I could make out the shape of the last transport plane. Of course, two other planes were already there. It was Blaze and Nagase. They fired two missiles simultaneously, and while Blaze's missile hit, Nagase's didn't.

"Damn it!" Nagase mumbled, firing another one. "Fox Two!"

"Shack on the target! Nice shot, Nagase!" Blaze told her when the missile struck the enemy.

"Thanks, Blaze!"

I did a 180-degree turn and went to engage the last transport. I went head-on with it. I got within range to fire a missile at one of them, so that's what I did. Of course, my missile had to miss. I got behind it and shot two more at the plane to up the chance of hitting it. My plan worked. Both projectiles hit the plane, and it was destroyed.

Mission Accomplished

"Bandit down!" Thunderhead notified. "Last plane confirmed shot down. All enemy transports and jammers in the local air space have been eliminated."

We flew back home in formation, keeping up a constant stream of chatter to keep us awake and to keep our minds off of the impending shitstorm back at base. I had no doubt Blaze was right about us becoming the scapegoats for something we didn't do. It'd take some serious ass-kissing to get out of the situation if they chose to hold a hearing.

We made a quick stop at General Howell's camp, allowing us to stretch, use the bathroom, and restock our planes with weapons. We didn't stay long, and within fifteen minutes, we were back in the air and flying to Sand Island. When we neared the base, the briefer came onto the mic, saying, "We have succeeded in halting the Yuktobanian army's airborne withdrawal from the Bastok Peninsula. However, a Yuktobanian civilian complex, an engineering university, has been attacked. The attack occurred in an area within operating range of the Sand Island Squadron. Sand Island aircrew will report to Central Command headquarters in the Osean capital of Oured immediately."

I sighed. Shit.

When we landed, everyone treated us coldly, especially Perrault. He didn't believe us when we declared we weren't the ones that engaged the civilian complex, no matter how much we insisted. The only ones who treated us normally were Genette and Cassie. We found them in Genette's room, pouring over his pictures. The rest of us sat down and joined them, wanting to avoid everyone on base.

"What's this picture's caption?" I asked, holding a photo of the Bastok Peninsula, the one we'd just captured.

Genette swiped it out of my hand and stared at it for a few moments before writing something on the back and reading it aloud. "General Howell, Supreme Commander of the Osean Armies deployed to Yuktobania, successfully stormed the enemy beach and established a command center on the spot. The General, who claims to have been given full operational authority by the President, then made the following declaration: We will march forward, and we will not lay down our arms until the Yuktobanian capital has fallen."

"We'll have to get through Cruik Fortress to get to Cinigrad," I said, setting down the photo. "If we thought the Bastok Peninsula was rough, Cruik is an absolute bitch. God help us if we're assigned that mission."

"If they don't flay our asses at this hearing, they probably will assign us this mission just to try and get rid of us without it appearing suspicious," Blaze remarked, leaning back against the couch. "I just can't wrap my head around someone firing on innocent civilians. Why would someone want to do that, and why did it happen in our sector?"

"Maybe people are trying to go after us," Grimm suggested. "I mean, our battle record is undefeated since you became captain."

Blaze raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you saying someone is trying to tarnish my reputation?"

"That, or possibly destroy it." Grimm shrugged. "I don't know. It seems weird to me too. There are other squadrons out there with better records than us, so I don't know why we'd be the first to go after."

Blaze stared contemplatively at the photos. I laced my fingers through hers, squeezing her hand gently. She returned it but said nothing, too involved in her own thoughts.

______________________________________

November 3, 2010, 0500 Hours...

Blaze

My bag was already packed and ready to go for the dreaded trip to Oured for our hearing. I needed tea to help me deal with the bullshit of the whole situation. I'd drink alcohol, but I didn't want to make my squadron look worse than we already did.

It seemed that no one else was awake, other than a handful of people in the control tower keeping an eye on the radar and horizon. I didn't mind. It meant the crew room was empty, and I could avoid the glares of disgust and disdain. 

Or so I thought. 

As I mindlessly and sleepily stirred an ungodly amount of sugar and milk in my tea, an all too familiar and unwelcome voice said, "Death seems to follow you wherever you go."

I looked up at Bailey Cohen, not even bothering to hide my annoyance with her. "It's me or the enemy, and I'm choosing me."

"So that's why you attacked those innocent-"

"I did not attack them, and neither did anyone else in my squadron," I interrupted sharply. "I know it's hard for you to wrap your small mind around this, but I'm not a murderer."

She sneered. "I beg to differ, and so does my dead sister."

"The court found me innocent based on the evidence and eye-witness testimony of what happened," I said calmly, unwilling to let her goad me into arguing on the matter further. "It took me a long time to realize what happened to your sister, as terrible and tragic as it was, was not my fault. One day, I hope you realize it was an accident. I would never intentionally kill one of my own comrades."

"Please, all the witnesses who came forward adored you. I find it hard to believe that Chopper, Nagase, and Cassie would give unbiased accounts of what happened if it meant saving your precious, perfect reputation."

"You do remember Chopper was in the plane with your sister, right? Do you seriously think I'd try and kill someone when my best friend was in the plane with them?" I rolled my eyes and pushed myself off the counter. "That's some real solid logic there."

"I think you're capable of a lot of things." Bailey stepped closer to me in an attempt to intimidate me. It didn't work. "You might be fooling a lot of people on base with your angelic face, but I and a few others see you for what you are. A demon. And you know what happens to demons?"

"Enlighten me," I said, bored.

"We put them down. One day, I will make sure you pay for what you have done. I will bring you down when you least expect it."

"Yeah, you do that. If you don't mind, I have a flight I need to get to." 

I brushed past her, fully intending on ignoring whatever snide remarks Baily would continue to make. That was until she said, "I won't just bring you down. I'll bring down anyone who helps you. I'll take out your wingmen too."

I stopped and turned around. Nostrils flaring and blood thundering in my ears, I strode back up to her. Rage rolled off me in waves so strongly that Bailey backed up from me. I could see the genuine fear in her eyes when I said in a calm, firm tone, "You can come after me all you want, but if you hurt my wingmen in any way, I will turn into the demon you think I am."

"What are you going to do?" Bailey asked, putting herself nose-to-nose with me. "Kill me like you did my sister?"

"Oh no," I replied, smiling venomously, "but I'll make you wish I did."

Bailey gulped as I turned on my heel and strutted out of the room. While I doubted Bailey would hold true to her word about bringing my wingmen down with me, the threat still stuck in my mind. I would kill anyone who tried to hurt them. They were my family, and I'd be damned if I let anything happen to them.

_____________________________________

Genette

I woke up when I felt the plane shift to a lower altitude. Glancing around at my friends, I saw they all remained steadfastly asleep. My body ached from staying in one position for so long, so I started repositioning myself when I felt a weight on my left shoulder. Confused, I looked down and was surprised to see Nagase's head there. I froze when she stirred, hoping I hadn't woken her up, but to my dismay, she sat up and stretched. Sleepily, she smiled at me and said, "Sorry for falling asleep on you."

"You can fall asleep on me any time," I replied, not entirely thinking about my words until they came out of my mouth. My eyes widened. "I mean- I didn't-"

"Noted for next time."

I raised an eyebrow. "There's going to be a next time, is there?"

"We do have the plane ride back, and unless you want to be third-wheeling with Blaze and Chopper-"

"Point made. Although, not gonna lie, I'm already looking forward to next time."

Nagase's eyes briefly drifted to my lips. "Good."

"Hey, I, uh, I was wondering-"

Either the captain of the plane had terrible timing and stopped me from making the best decision of my life, or he had the best timing and stopped me from making the worst decision of my life. I wasn't quite sure, but whatever moment Nagase and I had been having disappeared when we heard Chopper stir. The last thing I needed was for him to see me and Nagase getting all cozy with each other because that would get back to Blaze, and I didn't want her hounding me about getting with her best friend.

Grimm and Blaze remained passed out. Nagase and I poked Grimm to wake him up, which had zero effect, so we shook him. That didn't pan out either. Then we tried tickling him, which worked too well. Grimm flipped out, and if it hadn't been for Nagase's lightning-fast reflexes, Grimm would've punched her in the face. Accidentally, of course. Meanwhile, Chopper still attempted to wake up Blaze.

"Try tickling her," I suggested with a grin. 

"Do it and die," Blaze growled, covering her eyes with the crook of Chopper's neck. 

He stifled a laugh. "Blaze, we're about to land. You gotta wake up."

She sat up, murder written across her face. Blaze peered over at Grimm and asked, "Why does he get to keep sleeping, and I don't?"

"Well, he was awake."

"He's almost as bad as you, Blaze," I said with a sly smile. My sister flipped me off.

"We could hit him?" Chopper suggested.

"I heard that," Grimm mumbled, lifting his head and giving us a death glare.

Five more minutes went by before the plane bounced onto the runway, jarring any remaining sleepiness out of us. Blaze and Grimm still wore murderous expressions because all they wanted to do was go back to sleep. 

After taxiing and grabbing our bags, we got into the car waiting for us. It was a big black suburban, your stereotypical government SUV. A big guy with black sunglasses on, a black suit, and an earpiece sat in the driver's seat. A second, almost identical guy sat in the back.

"Call me Nelson," The guy in the front seat said. "Which one of you is Genette?"

I raised my hand. "I am."

"You're sitting up front with me. Blaze and Edge, you're sitting in the back with Gleeson." I noticed Chopper clenching his fist but decided I'd bring it up later. I didn't need the agents thinking my best friend was planning on decking them or anything. "Chopper and Archer, you're sitting in the middle."

All of us nodded, taking our assigned seats without argument. The ride to the hotel was deathly silent. Even Chopper didn't try cracking a joke. Nelson and Gleeson breathed not a word, only setting me further on edge. I knew the situation was pretty dire, but for some reason, the lack of engagement from the two government agents made it feel worse than it did. How deep was the shit my sister and her wingmen got into?

The car arrived at the hotel, and we were escorted to our rooms. Nelson unlocked our rooms, saying, "Now, you must stay here. We gave you adjoining rooms so you can talk freely with each other. You're lucky. Most pilots don't get that luxury, and some end up sleeping on the floor. It's only because of your records that this is happening. Second, you're not allowed to leave the room. Order room service for food. Third, we will pick you up tomorrow at 0830 hours sharp, so don't be late."

"Yes, sir," We replied simultaneously.

"Good day. Now, if you do try and leave, we'll know, and you won't like the consequences," Nelson warned. We said "Yes, sir" again, and he left.

_____________________________

Nagase

Blaze and I spread out in our room, taking over our respective halves. We were silent while we switched into more casual attire. If we couldn't do anything, we might as well do it in comfortable clothing. When I came out of the bathroom, Blaze and I burst out laughing. We'd somehow chosen almost the same exact outfit: black leggings with a Victoria's Secret workout top. The only difference was her top was red while mine was blue.

"I swear we have some sort of telepathic connection going on," Blaze joked, walking over to the adjoining door when a knock sounded from the other side. Opening it, we found Grimm standing with his hands shoved in his hoodie's pockets.

"Hey, you two want to watch a movie with us?" Grimm asked.

"Yeah, what are we watching?"

"Fast and Furious, the first one."

"I'm in!" Blaze exclaimed as she scrambled through the doorway. I was right behind her. Along with fighter jets, I loved fast driving. Blaze and I both. Plus, Paul Walker and Vin Diesel were in the movie, and there's some eye candy right there. 

We all settled on the bed, each of us squished. I finagled my way next to Genette. I couldn't explain why I loved being around him so much. I liked him, there was no doubt about that, but I never saw myself with someone like him: athletic, adventurous, and a jokester. I'd always seen myself with someone calmer and, well, more with my personality. Genette was so much more extroverted and energetic, but he directed all that energy toward his job and hobbies. Perhaps that's why I found myself drawn to him- the way he lit up when he talked about the book he wanted to write or discussed the photos he took. 

After the fourth movie ended, Blaze yawned and glanced at the time, "What time did that grouchy Nelson guy say he was picking us up?" 

"0830," Chopper replied, rolling off the bed and shuffling to his luggage. He took off his shirt and shoved it into his suitcase. Blaze watched him, biting her lip and utterly oblivious to the fact I, along with Genette and Grimm, could see her reaction.

Genette rolled his eyes. "Blaze, I have to sleep in this bed, and I don't want your drool in it."

Chopper turned around at the comment while Blaze grabbed a pillow and whacked her brother in the face with all her might. Grimm and I were in the crossfire of it, but Genette shielded me from the brunt of the impact. Who knew a pillow could hurt so much?

Chopper slipped on a t-shirt, and Blaze, staring in dismay at his now-covered torso, asked, "Did you have to do that?"

"If he didn't, you wouldn't be able to put sentences together," Genette said.

Blaze flipped him off but didn't respond to the comment. Instead, she remarked, "Nagase and I should probably get back to our room and get ready for bed. We have a hell of a day tomorrow."

Chopper snorted. "That's an understatement."

Blaze and I crawled off the bed. She kissed Chopper goodnight before following me into our room. We didn't say anything as we got ready for bed. Our minds were preoccupied with the impending trial. It was only when we crawled into bed that Blaze inquired, "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course," I answered. I closed my eyes, thinking her question would be about tomorrow and what the future held. I had my answer ready for whatever question she asked regarding either.

"Is there something going on between you and Genette?"

My eyes flew open. Fuck. "Why would you think that?"

"Y'all are just always hanging out with each other, and I saw how close you two were earlier. I was just curious."

"Uh, no, nothing is going on between us," I said, hating how uncertain I sounded. I mean, I wasn't lying. Genette and I weren't sneaking around or anything. Blaze always knew when he and I were hanging out. Still, I hadn't told her some of the flirty comments and conversations we'd had. Was I lying by omission with that?

"All right. Well, you know I don't have a problem if y'all are or if y'all want to try anything. I'd be a hell of a hypocrite if I said you couldn't."

"How are you and Chopper doing?" I asked, desperate to switch the topic of conversation away from Genette and me.

Although I couldn't see Blaze's face in the darkness, I could hear the sincere happiness in her voice. "We're really, really good. I still don't know how I managed to get the guy of my dreams to date me, but I'm not complaining. Everything is going so well with us, though, that I'm worried something is going to happen."

"You can't think like that. Besides, you and Chopper are an unstoppable force in the air and on the ground. If anyone is coming out of this war alive, it's you two."

"It's not just Chopper I'm scared of losing. It's all of you." Blaze started to say something else but stopped short. I let her mull over whatever it was, waiting patiently for her to continue. She did. "I don't know what it is, but I have this sinking feeling one of us won't be coming back from this war."

"You'll always have us, Blaze, I promise. Even if one of us dies, we'll look out over you from Heaven, and we'll help you get your revenge on those who killed us."

Blaze chuckled softly. "It makes us sound more like  demons than angels."

"Sometimes, I think being a demon is better. You're not bound by the morality of things." I glanced at the clock, noticing it was almost midnight. "We better get to bed if we want to wake up not looking like death."

Blaze groaned. "Razgriz, help us tomorrow. We're gonna need it."

______________________________________

Genette

November 4, 2010, 0850 Hours...

Oured, the Osean capital. The winds of war have yet to reach here. The air still smells of peace. I wrote the note down on my phone for the picture I took of the court building.

Incredibly, I'd been allowed to go. Although, considering I'd heard the transmissions and belonged to the inner circle of the squadron at the center of the scandal, I guess it wasn't all that surprising. Actually, I was kind of shocked I wasn't on trial with them. Blaze shifted nervously on her feet, and I could imagine why. Captains were put under a lot of scrutiny in trials, and some had been dishonorably discharged for less serious accusations. Blaze's career was on the line here, more so than anyone else's. My stomach churned with nervousness for her, so God only knows what she felt like right now.

The five of us walked up the steps, flanked by Nelson in the front and Gleeson in the back. Despite the severity of the situation, I couldn't help but admire the inside of the court. Elegant wood banisters lined the stands where Grimm, my sister, Chopper, and Nagase would stand and be interrogated. Shining marble created the massive columns supporting the atrium.

I took my seat, and the commander came in soon afterward. He started by having Blaze, Chopper, Nagase, and Grimm swear an oath to speak the truth and nothing but the truth. Then he started retelling what happened on the second of November.

"What do you have to say for yourselves?" The commander inquired gruffly.

"It wasn't us," Blaze said respectfully yet firmly. "We were following our orders of attacking the transport planes and-"

The commander scoffed, interrupting her. "Then who was it?"

"We don't know. We were on the opposite end of the Charlie Omega sector when the attack occurred. All we do know is that the attackers called themselves the Eighty-Four-Ninety-Second Squadron."

"We already looked into that, and there is no squadron in our military with that number," the commander said sharply. "So I'll ask again: why did you attack a civilian complex?"

"But that wasn't us," Nagase insisted. "By the time we got there, they had already-"

"That's right," Grimm jumped in. "We heard them over the radio. They called themselves the Eighty-Four-Ninety-Second Squadron."

"Eighty-Four-Ninety-Two, Eighty-Four-Ninety-Two. Is that all you people have to say?" The commander interrupted furiously. Grimm bowed his head, his hand curling into a fist. "There is no squadron in our military with that number."

Chopper pounded his fist on the railing and threw his hands up in the air. "Dammit! What the hell's goin' in here?"

An alarm sounded through the court, making everyone jump. The commander whipped out his phone and called someone. All I heard was a lot of shouting. A few seconds later, he hung up and said gravely, "The Yuktobanian military has decided to launch an attack. As a result, we're going to have to request that you flying aces take off for us. Which mission do you want?"

"Which mission?" Blaze asked.

"Yeah, that's right. We have more than one attack to deal with right now." The commander pulled a coin out of his pocket. "Let's use this to decide."

He flipped the coin, and all I could think about was the absurdity of using that to choose the mission.