Hey y’all!  Long time no update.  Well, I’m about to change that with the newest chapter.  I don’t have much to say except that I am going to make a joke about a politician so if you are on that politician’s side, I’m just making a joke so don’t flame me for it.

Quote of the Chapter:

“Don’t break anyone’s heart.  They only have one.  Break their bones instead.  They have hundreds of those.”

~Drakari Cruel from the League Series

______________________________________

Final Option

December 7, 2010, 0704 hrs, Ceres Ocean…

Blaze 

The four of us flew towards a destination unknown to all but Pops.  He knew where he was going which was more than you could say for the rest of us.

Sand Island was far behind us.  I couldn’t even see the distant shore of it.  However, we could still hear some transmissions from them.  At least the ones that involved us.

We had remained relatively silent during the time we had been flying which had been for a few hours.  The radio was silent as well.

“This is the 8492nd Squadron.  We have a visual on the enemy.  Engaging,” The leader of the 8492nd snarled.  I growled as I looked at them high above us.  I knew any minute they were going to fly down here and shoot us down.  It was extremely tempting to go and shoot them down.

“Blaze, you’re not armed,” Pops told me, as if he had read my mind about going after the 8492nd.

“I know,” I mumbled.

“It’s them!” Grimm exclaimed.

“This is Thunderhead.  Roger, 8492nd.  Are those guys really traitors?” Thunderhead asked incredulously.  He sounded unconvinced that we were traitors.  I wanted to tell him that he was right for once but he couldn’t hear me.

“Yeah,” the 8492nd leader said.

“I can’t believe it,” Thunderhead replied.

“You can believe what you want, but it’s the truth.  8492nd Squadron, you have permission to shoot down those planes,” Hamilton ordered.

“Bastard!” I shouted.

“8492nd, roger.”

“I should’ve punched Hamilton harder,” Nagase commented.

“Punched?  Shot is more like it,” I retorted.

“I’ll get you guys out of here.  You all stay with me, now,” Pops said.

“Yes, sir,” I replied.  Grimm and Nagase were quick to follow.

“Good answer,” Pops approved, dipping his plane towards an island below us; the three of us followed suit.  The island was oddly shaped but then again, most islands are, aren’t they?

“That flying style… that isn’t the Colonel, is it?” The 8492nd leader queried.

“Colonel?  You mean the Colonel?  The legendary pilot they used to call Huckebein the Raven during the last war?” An 8492nd wingman asked.  It was about this time that my radar went out.  I could just barely make out the blips that were me, Pops, Grimm, and Nagase.  The 8492nd were nowhere to be found on it.  The question was, where were the 8492nd?  I didn’t care about my radar although I probably should’ve.  No, I wanted to know where the 8492nd were at all times because if they attacked, I would do everything in my power to protect my wingmen.

“Yeah.  The most infamous traitor our country’s ever produced,” the leader snarled.

“Wow, Blaze, you were right about Pops being Belkan and going AWOL on them,” Grimm observed.

“Since when is Blaze ever wrong?” Nagase pointed out.

“Touché,” Grimm agreed.

“Trust me, I’m wrong more than you know,” I said.

“We never see it,” Grimm objected.

“That’s because I don’t let you,” I replied simply.  We were quiet as we focused on trailing Pops and making sure we didn’t crash into the rolling hills or dark blue water below because that would really suck.

The island was rather pretty and I would’ve enjoyed it more had I not been pretty much flying for my life away from the people I wanted revenge on the most.  How ironic is that?  The hunter was now the hunted.  I didn’t like it one bit.

“Is that you Ashley?” Pops inquired. “I kept hearing this name, ‘8492,’ and was wondering what the heck it was.  Since you started calling yourselves the Grabacr Fighter Squadron in the last war, I got sick of flying the same skies with ya.  Sounds like you’ve strayed even further from your ideals since then.”

“Are you talking about Ashley Bernitz?” I questioned.  My Uncle Jason had mentioned him before but I forget which battle.  I think it was during a mission in the Round Table.  I reminded myself that I would have to ask Uncle Jason that… if I survived this blasted mission.

“Yes, I am.  You know about him?” Pops answered.

“Yes, well, sort of.  I’ve heard his name before when I was learning about a battle that I think took place in the Round Table.  I’m sure that’s not the only place he’s been but that’s the battle I remember his name most definitely being in.”

“Blaze, how do you know all this?” Pops sounded amazed.

“The guy Jason that told me about you also told me about other big names in the BAF. He told me and Genette about the Rald Party, about ‘Talon’s Sword,’ about a guy named Solo Wing Pixy.  He told me and Genette everything,” I said.  I had probably said too much but in our current situation, I don’t think any of us were going to live long enough to have any use for my and Genette’s knowledge.

“Blaze, who is this Jason person?” Pops inquired seriously.

“He was in the Belkan War and he was just very observant, that’s all.  He studied the Rald Party, about the mission that destroyed Excalibur, he flew in the same sky as this Solo Wing Pixy guy at some point in his career.”  It wasn’t the exact truth but it was part of the truth and that’s all that mattered.  I hated lying to the guy that was the reason we were alive so far.

“He was in the Air Force?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Was he a mercenary?”

“No, sir,” I lied.  Well, technically, if you want to get technical, he was a mercenary that fought for Ustio.  I mean, he was practically an official pilot of the UAF by the time the war was over.  No one really called him a mercenary except for the enemy, and even they would refer to him as the Ustian pilot, even though in reality he was Belkan… I never told you that, did I?  Okay, let me explain this before y’all get all panicky about nothing.  My grandparents were originally from Belka but moved to Ustio because the Rald Party was starting to come into existence and they didn’t like their ideals.  My mother and Uncle Jason were born a year before the move.  When my uncle was old enough, he moved back to Belka and was trained by the Belkan Air Force.  However, when he realized that the Rald Party was dangerous, he moved back to Ustio.  He still wanted to fly but he felt no real connection to any one country that was arguing against Belka, so he decided to become a mercenary.  He fought for Ustio since he had some relations to it… plus he had a pretty decent pay apparently.  And that’s the story behind my Belkan family ties.  I’m not necessarily proud of it seeing as how they are the reason this blasted war started but I will give them credit for their extensive knowledge in technology and military strategies.  I think it’s in Belkan blood the ability to be in battle.  With their pride, determination, and sense of honor, they are a dangerous enemy to be tangled with.

“Hmm, this Jason person is very interesting still to say the least,” Pops noted to himself.

“What’s that island down there?  Dammit, my radar’s out…” Bernitz muttered.

“That’s a volcanic island.  There’s a strong magnetic force field all around it,” Pops informed us. “Our radar’s out, too, so you guys better follow me closely.”

“Yes, sir,” Nagase, Grimm and I said simultaneously.  We flew between electric generator windmills stationed on a hill.  Nagase and Grimm were close behind me.  They still relied on me.  I was the one who agreed to go with Pops on this escape and if this failed, it would all be my entire fault.  No pressure, right?

I turned around to see how Kirk was handling my flying.  He seemed to be managing pretty well but I was being extra careful with my flying.  I was trying not to turn my plane too sharply or be too erratic with my flying style which I for some reason am told I do but I don’t see it.

“The ravine is widening up ahead… what’s that?!” Grimm inquired.  I stared at the ravine before me.  There were scrapped planes along with some hangars.  What was this place?

“It’s… a scrapyard!” Nagase exclaimed.  A scrapyard?  If it was a scrap yard, what “scraps” went there?  Were they simply planes that weren’t in use anymore or did they put trashed planes as well?  And if they did, were parts of Chopper’s planes (the ones that hadn’t been incinerated that is) there?  The thought of Chopper made my heart contract.  I pushed down those thoughts and focused on flying.  I couldn’t have any distractions, no matter whatever I was thinking meant to me.  I had learned to push down my emotions to where I didn’t feel anything from the past.  I didn’t like it but it was what kept me sane.

“This is a graveyard for scrapped planes,” Grimm said solemnly, again making me think about the possibility of Chopper’s plane being somewhere down there.

Pushing down those emotions, I started thinking about the 8492nd.  The more I thought about them, the more I wanted to tell them off… which was exactly what I decided to do.

“Hey Pops?” I asked sweetly.

“Yes, Blaze?”

“Can I talk to the 8492nd for a moment?” Before he could answer, I switched my radio frequency to that of the 8492nd.

“Is this the 8492nd?” I asked.

“Yes, who is this?” Bernitz’s voice replied.

“Hi there, this is Blaze and I would just like to ask you boys a question: why are you doing this?” I asked as innocently as I could.

“Did you just call us boys you insolent girl?  We are men!  Not boys, not guys, men!” Bernitz shouted.

“You didn’t answer my question and men answer questions so therefore you are boys, and by your reaction, little boys at that,” I replied, smirking to myself, knowing full well I was pissing them off.

“The answer to your question,” Bernitz snarled, “Is so that Belka can get the glory it deserves and to have its dignity restored from the war fifteen years ago!  If it was not for that damn ‘Demon Lord,’ we would’ve won.  But for some unknown reason, he struck fear into our soldiers’ heart.  He was no hero; just a monstrous mercenary that was only in it for the money.  He had no sense of honor or duty.  The only sense he had was for the paycheck the Ustian Air Force had waiting for him.  No mercenary is a hero.”

“I beg your pardon, but, didn’t he beat you in a battle in the B7R?  Oh wait, he did.  And thanks to him, the war ended so therefore he is a hero because he stopped you delusional Belkans from gaining world domination which almost no one denies is what your were after,” I countered.  Man, it was so much fun getting the Belkans worked up because it was so freaking easy.  All you had to do was tell them the truth.

“How the hell do you know that?  That information is confidential!”

“Apparently it’s not seeing as how I just said it.  Sheesh, and I thought you Belkans were smarter than this.  I mean, first you let us get away, which was way too easy.  I was expecting more resistance.  Then we fly to an island that has a strong magnetic force field and now you can’t find us.  When I realized you were considered aces of the BAF, I was expecting something more… well, more,” I said blatantly.

“More?!  We are the top in the mighty Belkan Air Force!  We did not let you get away!  It was those incomp- those soldiers.  No, we’re not letting you get away.  None of you are going to live to see another day,” Bernitz threatened.

“That’s what Hamilton said and look what happened to him; he got beat up by two girls and probably has a shiner to prove it,” I pointed out.

“He was surprised that your friend shot at him,” Bernitz argued.

“No, he was too slow to pull out his gun and his idiot of a girlfriend Bailey tried to kill me with a letter opener.  Again I say, I was expecting more.  Sheesh, y’all are moronic,” I said.  I knew I was pushing his buttons and I was probably going too far, but after everything that happened, I didn’t care.  Whether I lived or died, I wanted to let the Grabacr know that they didn’t scare me.  That was their ultimate weapon: their ability to drive fear into other people’s hearts.  When someone was able to block the attack, it unnerved the attacker, giving the prey a chance for a counterattack.  This was my strategy.  I knew they were trying to scare me but after everything that’s happened, I don’t think I had any more fear left in me.  The only emotion I was able to sense was my feeling of justice, of righting the wrong… and of revenge.

“We are not moronic!  You’re the moronic one contacting us!”

“If you think I’m a moron, then why are you conversing with me?  There’s some reason you feel the need to talk to me.  You could just as easily ignore me.”

“I can’t ignore you when you insult my people, my country, and my honor,” Bernitz wrangled as I followed Pops out over the ocean.  He turned his plane, making sure to stay low to the ground and close to the hills.  I followed likewise.

“And therein what you think is the truth is really just a lie for your comrades to listen to so that their morale is high.  You are fighting for your honor.  You could care less about the people you’re supposedly fighting for.  The only reason you’re fighting for your country is so that you can kill us and receive the glory of it.  Well I have news for you bucko!  First of all, we’re not going down without a hell of a fight, and two, I can insult Belkans as much as I like because I am Belkan.  So you can shove your so called ‘I’m fighting for honor’ crap and admit the truth that you just want glory or you can feel my foot up your ass to where you’re burping my Christian Louboutin stilettos.  I’m done arguing now.” 

“Giving up?” Bernitz snarled in triumph.

“No, I’m done arguing because you can’t argue with two year olds.” And with that, I switched my frequency back to where I could converse with Pops and the others.

“I’m back,” I announced.

“What the hell did you just do, Blaze?” Pops demanded.

“Oh, you know, just keeping up verbal foreign relationships,” I replied.  Nagase actually laughed at that, Pops even chuckled.

“Your actions never fail to amaze me, Blaze,” Pops said.

“I hope you mean that as a compliment,” I said.

“I’m not sure how I mean it.  So how did you keep up relations?”

“Oh, I just completely insulted them while acting like an idiot bringing up good points that they had trouble defending.  Oh, and I called them two year olds.”

“Geez Blaze, they already want to kill us,” Nagase muttered.

“Might as well have some fun with them seeing as how they have no idea where we are right now so I say, what the hell?”

“Touché,” Nagase said.

I continued following Pops by flying between two hills.  We stayed hidden in the shadows, making it almost impossible for anyone to see us.  While I was making sure my flying was steady in case Kirk decided to throw up in the plane, Pops was doing intricate turns and stuff I didn’t even know was possible to do.

“Amazing!  Where did he learn to do that?” Nagase questioned in admiration.

“He expects us to follow that?” Grimm sounded nervous.  I merely chuckled.

“Whoa! ... That was a close one!” Grimm shouted.

“Are you okay?”I asked immediately.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just came too close to a cliff for comfort.”

“Be careful, Grimm,” I said.

“So you tell other people to be careful but not yourself?” Grimm almost laughed.

“I am careful except when all sane reason leaves me,” I bantered.

“So that’s every battle?”

“… Pretty much,” I admitted.  Grimm chuckled.

“Where did you learn how to fly like this, Pops?!” Nagase inquired in amazement as we flew dangerously close to the façades of the mountains.

“In many air battles long ago, my young aviator!” Pops replied good-naturedly.

“Did you ever fly over B7R?” I asked, curiosity gnawing at me.  I knew the answer but I wanted to see what he said.

“Yes, why?” Pops questioned.  I could sense he was on guard.

“Just curious.  I know that almost every ace in the war fifteen years ago flew over B7R at some point in their career,” I said simply.

“Where do you learn all this Blaze?”

“Books, TV, people” I said.

“What people?”

“It’s a secret,” I whispered jokingly.

“You and your secrets Blaze,” Grimm said as we flew out into the open.  The openness unnerved me.  I didn’t like going into a battle unarmed except with my wits when my opponents had missiles.  I forget what the saying that goes to my situation is but it has something to do with sticks and knives I think.

“What?”

“You have so many!”

“Do not!”

“Do too!” Grimm argued.

“Would you two stop it!  I’m losing focus!” Nagase snapped.  Grimm and I shut up but I was going to bring this argument up again one day.

“You need to concentrate,” Pops said gently. “Stay cool.”

Grimm let out a big sigh and Nagase took in a deep breath.  I purposefully swallowed loudly just to act like I was scared because in all honesty, I wasn’t but I didn’t want them to know that.

“Relax.  You can do this,” Pops assured.

“Yes, sir!” Nagase replied enthusiastically.  Her changed tone made me think if she liked Pops being captain more than me.  I couldn’t shake the feeling she did. “How’s Genette doing?”

I mentally slapped myself for not asking about my own brother!  How could I forget about him?!

“He hasn’t passed out yet.  The guy’s pretty tough,” Pops replied.  I tried not to laugh at the image of Genette passing out because I could actually see him doing it, which he has. He was in college and he got really drunk (it was his twenty first birthday) and he decided to down a few shots of vodka and when I drove him to his dorm (since I was sober because I wasn’t old enough to drink), I escorted him into his dorm and I looked down to check my phone, looked back up, Genette grinned at me stupidly, then passed out.  I had barely caught him.  You can imagine the hangover he had the next morning.

“Ask Genette if he remembers his twenty first birthday,” I laughed.  A few minutes went by before I got a reply.

“Genette says to shut up,” Pops said with a laugh.  I cracked up because I could’ve sworn I heard Genette groan.

“What happened on his twenty first birthday?” Nagase inquired, her voice hinting she knew the story was amusing.

“I’ll let him tell you that,” I said.  Nagase prodded me to get it out of me but she only received the same answer each time.  Finally, she gave up.

We followed Pops meticulously so to make sure none of us fell prey to the 8492nd because we got lost.

“Good, good, keep it up,” Pops praised. “You’re doing great.”

I smiled but let my thoughts take over me.  I was good at this: flying leisurely while letting my thoughts fly faster than the plane itself.  Although, I wasn’t really flying leisurely right now but you know what I mean.

My thoughts went first to Chopper.  They always did.  He was my waking thought and what I thought of right before I went to sleep.  His crash plagued my dreams whenever I fell asleep but I welcomed the dreams because I heard his voice again.  What I would do to just hear once more and have it actually be real, not in some dream.  I couldn’t shake the feeling that his death was my fault.  I had been having dreams about it for god’s sake!  I should’ve known some way to stop it!

I ceased my train of thought abruptly as my heart started pounding to a rate that could very well give me a heart attack.  Tears stung my eyes.  Then I realized how unstable I was.  One moment I would be laughing, then next I would be crying, then I would be cursing, then I would be praying.  I couldn’t make up my mind nor would my mind makes its own self up which I would really appreciate it if it did.

Moving my thoughts along, I thought about how victorious Hamilton looked when he thought he had me, Cassie, and Nagase cornered and then how horrified he looked when Cassie shot at him.  It had been classic.

My thoughts moved on to the thing that amazed me most: a dog was my RIO.  And honestly, I think Kirk is a better RIO than some trained RIOs.

“Hey, you still keeping up with me?” Pops questioned firmly.  I realized I had strayed when I had been thinking about everything so I zoomed back to being just a few dozen feet behind him.

“Yes, sir,” I said.

“Good, that’s it.  Those folks sure don’t seem to like us very much,” Pops observed.

“That’s a bit of an understatement,” I said wryly.

“They hate us even more because Blaze ticked them off,” Nagase laughed.

“I thought you disapproved of that?”

“I did at first, Blaze, but I realized that if I was in your position, I probably would’ve done the same thing.”

“Oh, okay.  So how are you two holding up?” I queried, averting the conversation from going to Chopper.

“This is so intense!  My senses are as sharp as knives right now!” Nagase exclaimed.

“I can’t even blink!  My eyes are drying up!” Grimm added.

“Grimm, blink; it is necessary unless you’re like Nancy Pelosi who even if she was told that she was elected President she wouldn’t blink.  Her lack of blinking is creepy.”

“That’s… you’re right, actually,” Grimm agreed. “God, now I can’t stop blinking!”

“Grimm, don’t deviate from the course!” Nagase warned.

“Were you blinking too much Grimm?” I asked, somewhat amused.

“… Maybe…” Grimm said.

“Grimm, are you doing okay?” Nagase inquired.

“Yes, but not nearly as okay as you and Blaze sound!”

We flew once again next to the mountains, making me feel more secure.  Being out in the open was not something I like to be unarmed.

“It’s not that bad,” I said, knowing full well it was.

“The cliff faces are blowing right by the canopy!” Grimm wrangled.

“Don’t fly so close then,” I countered.  There was silence.  I turned around to see Grimm pulling farther away from the façades of the dark mountain sides.  I smirked.

“We’re diving into that cave now.  You all ready for this?” Pops inquired, sounding completely calm.

“Whoa, what?!” Nagase, Grimm, and I exclaimed simultaneously.

“It’s not as bad as you think,” Pops said.

“Uh huh,” I said, completely not believing him. “Fine, let’s do this.”

“What?!” Grimm exclaimed.

“If we’re going to escape the 8492nd, we have to do this,” I replied.  Grimm grumbled something unintelligible over the mic which I’m pretty sure had something to do with me and Pops eating “special brownies” from Las Vegas before flying on this trip.  And Grimm thinks I’m crazy.  I’m not crazy enough to choose to fly into a cave over flying in the shadows of the mountains… maybe…

We flew in the shadows, far enough away from the mountains to where our wings wouldn’t hit the sides of them.  The cave came into view and from the looks of it our planes were plenty small enough to fit in them.  Of course, the cave looked very dark…

Pops disappeared into the cave.  I was soon to follow.  Darkness engulfed me except for a faint light at the end of the tunnel that illuminated the tunnel just enough to where I could see.

“His flying is incredible!” Nagase acknowledged.

“Gah!” Grimm shouted. “Whoa!  Aaahh!”

“Got it there, Grimm?” I asked worriedly.

“Yep, I’m good,” Grimm sighed as he flew out of the tunnel.  I trailed Pops as he flew past an island between to bigger islands.  The crystal blue waters below me sparkled like sapphires in the sun.  The thought of sapphires made me look at my engagement ring from Chopper.  A knot formed in my throat and it took all of my willpower to swallow it down.

“Pops was pulling some amazing maneuvers!” Nagase noted enthusiastically.

We flew through a narrow valley.  One mistake and you would crash into the mountain side.

“I can barely keep up with him,” Grimm muttered.

“Woof, woof, woof!” Kirk barked, making me cringe at the sudden loudness.

“Yes,” I replied having no idea what the hell three woofs meant.

“Woof!” Kirk barked again.

“Pops, what did I just say yes to?” I asked.

“He may be my dog but I have honest to god, no clue,” Pops answered truthfully.  Lovely.  Knowing my luck, Kirk had asked if he could have a bone and I just gave him false hopes.  Now, I feel bad.  But what if that isn’t what he asked for and I’m feeling bad for no reason?

That’s when a new question formed in my mind: why was I stressing over possibly lying to a dog?  I shook my head in dismay.  Only I would do something like that.

“There’s no way I can fly like that,” Grimm said, breaking me out of my absurd train of thought as the four of us flew back into a narrow valley.  I stayed low to the ground to make it harder for the 8492nd to see us.  Of course, if we did get caught, I wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

“Like what?” I queried, studying the way Pops moved.  They were graceful, almost completely unpredictable movements. That’s how I wanted to fly.  I wanted to give my enemy no chance of guessing what I was going to do.  It tended to make them get frustrated and therefore make more mistakes, giving me the chance to get them.

“Like Pops!  It’s crazy the way he flies!  Genius, don’t get me wrong, but completely crazy.”

“Well, he’s not an ace of the Belkan War for nothing,” I pointed out.

“He’s an ace of the Belkan War?!” Grimm exclaimed.

“You didn’t know that?”  I guess I forgot to mention that part.

“No!”

“Oh, well now you do.”

“I can’t believe we’re both flying the same type of plane!” Grimm sounded like a schoolboy when he said that.  I couldn’t help but laugh.  It made me think: we’re not as old as I think we are.  We’ve grown up faster than we should have because of this war.  Hell, I was only twenty four and I had already seen more gore and bloodshed than some fifty year old veterans.  We all had.

Pops flew low to the ground, in the shadows.  We came into open space again, above the sapphire waters of the ocean.  The glistening water blinded me for a few moments.  After being in the shadows so long, it hurt to be in the brightness.

Once my eyes adjusted, I stopped squinting.  I didn’t want Crow’s feet when I was thirty which I realized wasn’t that far away.  God, I felt so old right then and there…

“Pops is the only guy we can rely on right now,” Grimm said.

“We can also rely on our wits,” I pointed out.

“What would that do against an armed opponent?” Grimm asked.

“Mainly, give him a false hope that he can shoot you down and every time he gets a good missile lock on you, use your wits to make that missile go askew and leave him bubbling with rage.  That rage will lead him to make mistakes that you could possibly use to your advantage,” I explained.

“You sure thought that through,” Grimm noted.

“I have a lot of time on my hands.”

“This is why you make a great captain Blaze.  You think ahead.  That and your mercurial flight paths that I don’t even think I could keep up with.  The only person I can think of that could keep up with you is Chopper,” Pops said.  He had hit it spot on about Chopper being able to follow me, although that was because Chopper and I had the same ideas.  We were completely predictable and unpredictable to each other at the same time.

We rounded an island that was just a plain hill in the middle of the two bigger islands.  Another cave came into view.  It looked more like a manmade cave rather than a natural one or it was natural but had been made into a storage place of some sort.

“Now we’re going into that cave?!” Grimm nearly shrieked.

“Let’s do it, but first, I have to do something,” I said.

“Blaze, don’t you even think about talking to the 84-” Nagase began but I was switching radio frequencies by then.

“Hey Bernie,” I greeted sarcastically.

“You again!” He snarled.

“That was a great movie!” I exclaimed.

“What?” Bernitz sounded confused at my sudden change of topic.

“It was a movie with Betty White?  Had a hot guy in it?  No?  Not ringing a bell?  Well, it’s a good movie which you should check out when you’re not trying to find us.  Speaking of which, I just wanted to wish you good luck with that.”  I switched back to the radio frequency so that I could converse with my comrades again although I decided not to let them know I was back because I really didn’t want Nagase griping at me for talking to the 8492nd.  I’m sorry, but it was too much fun getting them riled up, and I can’t forget to say how easy it is as well.

“What do you think Blaze is saying?” Grimm inquired as we flew between the extremely constricted space that was our red carpet for the entrance to the mouth of the cave.

“My guess is she’s torturing them with her random thoughts,” Nagase replied.

“Or, if she’s anything like the Demon Lord, who also liked to torture them, she’s conversing with them using much satire so that she’s acting like she’s being funny even though she’s being completely serious,” Pops suggested.

“Y’all know me too well,” I laughed.

“Good god!” Nagase exclaimed. “How long have you been listening in?”

“I came in right at the part where you were wondering what I was doing to them.”

“I don’t like the way you said that,” Nagase mumbled.

“I was doing exactly what y’all thought I was doing.”  We fell into silence while we concentrated on flying through this tunnel.  I t was definitely a storage place. 

“Agh!  Whoa!  It’s pitch black!” Grimm exclaimed.

“Don’t lose your sense of range in the darkness,” Nagase warned.

“Just let your eyes adjust.  It’s actually surprisingly pretty bright in here,” I said.

“Speak for yourself,” Grimm grumbled.

Metal railings lined the sides of the cave with beams going across every few hundred feet.  There were yellow stripes on the metal, making it easier to see where they were.  I flew underneath the beams, same with Grimm.  Nagase and Pops flew above the beams.

“This is unreal.  It’s insane!” Grimm sounded exasperated and I couldn’t really blame him.  I had to admit, this was pretty insane, even for us, and we had done some pretty insane things.

“I’m with you on that Grimm,” I agreed.

“Oh my god, Blaze just admitted that she thinks this is insane!” Grimm laughed.

“What’s wrong with that?” I questioned, trying to focus on the conversation and making sure I didn’t crash into anything, which was easier said than done.

“I never thought you would say something was insane,” Nagase told me with amusement.

“I did think some things were insane, I just never said them,” I retorted.

“Well, then, that’s just rude.  Here we are thinking you’re not sane thinking things are insane when really you are sane thinking things are insane,” Grimm said.

Silence…

“What?” Nagase, Pops, and I asked at the same time.

“Never mind,” Grimm muttered.  We laughed as we continued flying through the narrow cave.

“It’s just barely wide enough for us to pass through!” Nagase said.

“Barely is a bit of an understatement,” I replied.

We rounded a sharp corner; I only just made it without crashing into the wall.  It was getting darker in the cave now, making it almost impossible to see.

“How can you fly like that?!  That’s not human!” Grimm exclaimed.

“Hey, hey, easy.  You’re giving me way too much credit,” Pops said.

Nagase and Grimm were right behind me.  Pops was a little ways ahead of us and I lost sight of him when he rounded a corner.

“Stay low, or you’ll graze the ceiling!” Nagase cautioned.

“No kidding.  I’ve almost crashed into these blasted walls to many times to count,” I said in disgust. “Nagase, Grimm, fall back into a single file line.  This cave is getting even narrower.”

Nagase got directly behind me while Grimm got behind her.  This cave shrunk in all directions.  The ceiling came down lower, the floor came up higher, and the sides came in closer.  It was kind of claustrophobic to tell you the truth.  On top of all that, there was barely any light which didn’t help in the least.  If I could pull through this without crashing, I think I could pretty much pull off anything.

“Keep a wide field of vision,” Pops suggested.  I tried it… it worked. “Right, that’s it.”

We rounded yet another corner.  I wanted to check on Kirk but I didn’t dare.  Not with the highly possible and highly likely chance that I could/would crash into the rock.

“I knew you could do it.  You’ve all become excellent pilots,” Pops praised.

“Thank you sir,” We answered simultaneously.  I realized we did that a lot.

“I can see the exit,” Nagase breathed in relief. “There’s the open sky on the other side!”

“Come home to mama!” I laughed gleefully.  I was about to be home free again.

“The exit!  The light’s blinding me!” Grimm announced.

It was burning my eyes, the severe transition from dark to light.  But I didn’t care.  All I cared about was that when we came back out of that cave, the jamming was gone, and the 8492nd was nowhere in sight.  Whether I should’ve been worried about that or not, I wasn’t sure.  I was too glad to be away from Sand Island.  It felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulder and for that alone, I was glad.

“This is Edge.  Are we still being pursued?”

“I’m not sure.  They’re not appearing on radar but that doesn’t really mean anything.”

“Roger.  Looks like we can relax a little.”

“This is Thunderhead.  What happened to the 8492nd?  We’re seeing the traitors on the radar again.”

“There they are again,” Grimm commented wearily.

Freaking hell.  Can we not get one little, tiny break from being pursued or being called traitors or being accused of something we didn’t do.  Good god, we have the worst luck.

The four of us went up to higher altitude.  The island was disappearing behind us quickly.  The 8492nd were still nowhere to be found on my radar… not that I was complaining.

“This is Swordsman.  I just found ‘em.  So now I just shoot ‘em down?”

I could see Swordsman approaching head-on form the north.  No way was I going now.  I tried to fire missiles in hopes that the plane might actually be equipped with missiles and I didn’t know it but Pops had been right.  This plane wasn’t equipped with missiles.  However, I kept hitting the ‘fire’ button.  It made me feel better.

“Exactly,” Hamilton said.

“Screw you Hamilton,” I spat.

“He’s not really our enemy,” Pops said.

“Who?  Swordsman or Hamilton?” Nagase asked.

“Swordsman.”

“Ah.”

“Nagase, Hamilton kind of tried to kill us.  I doubt that was all for show,” I pointed out.

“Oh hush.  I’m sleep deprived.  Cut me some slack,” Nagase snapped.

“We’re all sleep deprived,” I said.

Swordsman flew past us in his usual F14-D.  Jealously struck me.  I was in a midget plane and he was flying a giant plane.  I don’t like midget planes, I like big ones that when you’re coming head on with enemy planes, they want to run at the sight of you in your giant plane.

… I have issues, don’t I?

Swordsman got behind us just far enough away to where he couldn’t get a missile lock on us but close enough where we could still see him.  A signal light started flashing our way.

“It’s a signal light,” Grimm informed.  We watched intently so that we could decipher the message.

“Trust… me… bail… out… he wants us to bail out?” Grimm asked, astounded.

“We’re not that stupid,” Nagase laughed humorlessly.

“What say we trust him, then?” Pops said.

“I trust him.  He would’ve shot us down by now if he was really planning on killing us,” I pointed out.

“Cassie says you’re all lunatics and that the world has gone insane,” Grimm informed.  I merely smiled.  The world had been insane for quite some time, we just were figuring it out now.

“Genette, you first,” Pops said.  Pops and Genette were ejected from Pops’ plane.  A missile, shot by Swordsman, hit Pops’ plane.  The plane went down in a fiery mass.

“Swordsman to Thunderhead.  Splash one.”

“Tracked on radar.  Kill confirmed,” Thunderhead replied.

Nagase went next, then Grimm and Cassie ejected.

“Just one left,” Swordsman snarled.  Either Swordsman was a really good actor or he thoroughly enjoyed shooting us down.  I was hoping it was the former one.

I hit the eject button and Kirk and I shot upward.  All I saw was blue but somehow I managed to keep a careful watch on Kirk.  He barked in protest a few times but then he was silent.  Pops was waiting below to catch Kirk.  Kirk landed a few yards from Pops but Genette had a hold of him.  I made my graceful splash landing next to Grimm and Nagase.  Our planes crashed into the ocean just a little ways from us.  We were close enough to be pushed by semi-big waves.

The water was freezing since it was December.  My flight suit kept me somewhat warm but my teeth were still chattering.

I could see two helicopters in the distance.  I could tell it was an Osean craft.  It was heading from the north, not the southwest which is the direction Sand Island was in, so I had hopes that they were on our side.

“This is Pix.  I do not see any floating debris in the water.”  The mic on our helmets still worked, which I was thankful for.

“Image faded from radar.  All planes destroyed,” Thunderhead said.

“You’d better give me a medal for this later,” Swordsman warned.

The helicopters approached us quickly.  By then I was shivering so bad, my vision was shaking.  I ducked down in the water though as the helicopters came closer, just leaving it where I could breathe through my nose.

“This is Sea Goblin.  We have found the floating remains of the destroyed aircraft in the water… I don’t see any of the crew… It looks like they couldn’t eject and sank with their planes.”

“Roger Sea Goblin.  Return to base,” Thunderhead ordered.

“All right, let’s go,” A man from Sea Goblin said with friendliness. “We’ve got a new home waiting for you.”

A man dropped down and one by one, we were lifted into the two helicopters.  Kirk was lifted first, then Pops since he was Kirk’s owner.  Genette was lifted next.  Grimm, Nagase, and Cassie were lifted onto the second helicopter while I was hoisted up onto the first helicopter with Genette and Pops and Kirk.  A blanket was placed around me immediately but my shivering was practically uncontrollable.  Genette, even though he was shivering severely as well, tried to help me up, but the co-pilot made him sit down and helped me sit down next to Genette.  They shut the side doors to the helicopter and we flew to the north.  I leaned forward so I could see through the window to see the second helicopter.

I could see Nagase, Grimm, and Cassie sitting huddled together.  Grimm looked out, saw me, and waved with a smile.  I returned it.  I leaned back, exhaustion taking over me.  That’s when I heard the briefer from Sand Island come over the radio.  My eyes snapped open.

“All planes from the Sand Island detachment were shot down by naval jets from the carrier Kestrel.  Likewise, all of the pilots are confirmed dead.”

“Relax Blaze, we’re safe now,” Pops assured.  I nodded but exhaustion started consuming me again.  I closed my eyes because I couldn’t fight it anymore.  It had been almost twenty-four hours since the last time I had slept.  I was sleep deprived, I was cold, and I was finally safe.

I woke up when I realized I was gently being lifted out of the helicopter.  I freaked out.  My eyes snapped open and I thrashed, trying to get away.  It worked but I also succeeded in hitting my head on the side edge of the entrance to the helicopter.  I was dazed and my vision made me think I was in a washing machine.

“Blaze!” I heard Genette’s voice call out.  My vision cleared and he was by my side. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine.  What happened?  Where are we?  Where’s Nagase?  And Grimm? And Cassie?  And Pops?  And Kirk?  Are you okay?” The questions spilled off my tongue.

“Easy Blaze, we’re all fine.  You were still sacked out so the pilots lifted you out of there to bring you to the infirmary.  You flipped out on them and hit your head.”

I realized two men were standing next to me as well.

“Sorry?”I said looking up at them, hoping they would forgive me.  They laughed.

“I’ve never seen someone so asleep wake up and fight like that.  You have my respect girl,” The pilot said.  I smiled bashfully.  Genette and the pilots helped me up.  I assured them I was well enough to walk on my own to the infirmary where the doctor told me all I needed was some food and a good night’s sleep, which is exactly what I planned to do.

I was led to my cabin.  It was bare but cozy.  There were some jeans, a long sleeve t-shirt, a coat, some gloves, shampoo, conditioner, a brush, a hairdryer, and, my god, make up!  It was just liquid foundation, powder, and mascara, but good lord, I was so thankful right then and there that there was makeup, I could’ve screamed.  There was also a toothbrush along with some toothpaste, a towel, some bath soap, and some pajamas.  I took a quick shower, got dressed, dried my hair, brushed my teeth and went to bed.  Chopper was there to greet me in my dreams.

______________________________________

Genette

Kirwin Island, December 8, 2010, 1630 hrs, on the OFS Kestrel…

I walked up to the bridge where Captain Andersen was.

Captain Andersen: the man who commanded the aircraft carrier Kestrel and kept her aloft through countless battles.

He was a tall man, with graying hair.  He had a sharp look in his eyes, telling me he was always alert.

“Hello Captain Andersen,” I greeted with a salute, even though he wasn’t facing me.  He turned around with a smile.

“Hello, Mr. Banks,” Andersen replied.

“You can call me Genette.  Everybody does, sir,” I said.

“Alright then, Genette.  To what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?”

“I just wanted to come up here and see what it’s like to look at everything from up here,” I said. “I also wanted to meet you, the captain that’s kept the Kestrel afloat for so many years.”

“Nahh… I’m just a guy who’s fought one losing battle after another,” Andersen said with a sad smile.

“What do you mean?”

He just smiled. 

However, since this war began, this ship hadn’t taken a single hit from enemy forces.

I took his silence as my cue to leave and I headed back down to where they launched the aircraft where Blaze, Nagase, Grimm, and Cassie were.  I heard footsteps behind me.  Turning around, I saw it was Andersen.  I smiled before continuing down the steps.  Grimm was playing the harmonica with Cassie sitting next to him listening intently.  Blaze was leaning up against the wall reading a book with Kirk stretched out over her legs.  Nagase was drinking coffee while she stared out at the sea and mountains surrounding us.  I went over to join her.  She smiled at me as I approached.  For the first time since Chopper died, I felt safe.  Chopper’s death seemed to have unleashed a pent up fury that had been waiting for the right time.  Oh it came at the right time all right, but not for us.

I pushed the depressing thoughts from my mind and concentrated on the sense that I was safe… for now.

______________________________________

Pops 

I stood at the edge of the OFS Kestrel with Captain Andersen.  He wasn’t much older than me except by three or four years if I was correct.

Captain Snow was standing next to his plane, examining it.  The two helicopters that had rescued us were just a little ways behind Snow’s plane.  Blaze, Nagase, Genette, Cassie, and Grimm were in a group near the wall.  Grimm’s harmonica playing was attracting some attention because he was pretty good.

The water glistened in the bright sunlight while seagulls cried overhead.  I was just making sure none of them needed a target for target practice meaning I was making sure they didn’t poop on my head.

“Andersen,” I said.

“Beagle,” Andersen replied.

“How are you?”

“Fairly well.  I’m troubled over how many ships we’ve lost,” Andersen admitted.

“At least the Kestrel is unharmed,” I said.

“This ship may be unharmed, but it pains me to see fewer and fewer pilots coming back every time we launch them out on combat sorties.  Now the only pilot left is Captain Snow, the squad leader.  Nobody wants an aircraft carrier without aircraft, so we’re just sitting idle here.”

I was quiet for a few seconds, trying to decide whether or not I should tell Andersen what I was about to tell for fear I couldn’t trust him.  However, I realized he had jeopardized his career for us and I figured if I could trust him with rescuing, I could trust him with this.

“At the end of the last war, I was assigned the mission of dropping a nuclear weapon on a city in my own country.  When I refused and went AWOL, it was Captain Bartlett who took me in.  His nickname was also ‘Kid’ back then,” I said, turning around to look at Blaze.  She was completely engrossed with the book she was reading.  Turning back around, I continued. “He was a strange man… Fifteen years since the war and he never got promoted once.

“In my country, there was a group called the ‘Grey Men.’  They’re likely to still be around today.  To them, I’m a traitor, and for the past fifteen years, Bartlett’s protected me from them.”

There was silence as we both thought about what I had just said.  It still seemed strange to me that I, over a decade older than Bartlett, have had to rely on him to protect me.  In Belka, you always had to rely on the older person, not the younger.  Some of my ideals and beliefs still stuck with me after all these years.

“Speaking of which,” I began, turning to Captain Andersen, “You don’t think the ‘Grey Men’ are involved with the disappearance of President Harling do you?”

“I’ve got an intelligence-gathering vessel in my fleet, the Andromeda, that’s capable of intercepting all forms of communications,” Andersen said.  I was wondering where he was going with this because it wasn’t answering my question. “Recently, it picked up a secret message transmitted in Belkan.  That, Colonel, is why I called all of you here.”

It didn’t really answer my question but when Andersen didn’t know something, he chose not to answer rather than say “I don’t know.”  However, I understood why he chose us to come here.  Mainly it was because of me seeing as how I’m really the only Belkan on Sand Island that truly worked for Osea and not Belka.  Then, Blaze, Grimm, and Nagase were the morale of the entire Osean Army.  It made sense that Andersen would want them here too.

“All this intense flying’s tough on an old body,” I said, patting my chest. “From here on out… it’s their time to shine.”

Andersen and I turned to look at the Wardog Squad.  I felt a certain pride well up in me as I looked at the young squadron before me.  They were special for many reasons.  The first being that they were able to survive this whole ordeal, the second being they had a female as captain because that was extremely rare, and the third being was that they were the youngest squadron in Osean history.  Well, they used to be at least when Chopper had been a part of the group.  Still, they were one of the youngest squadrons.  Now, what made them all the more special was that they were seen as a threat by a single country dead set on crushing two super countries.  Now they were seen as enemies of Osea and Yuktobania.  For four planes to be seen as a threat by Osean, Yuktobanian, and Belkan, that was no small matter.

I smiled as I saw Kirk running away with Grimm’s harmonica and Grimm, Cassie, Blaze, Nagase, and Genette were chasing after Kirk trying to get it back.

“Mmm,” Andersen hummed in agreement.

Turning back around, I asked the question that had been nagging me ever since we had arrived. “But what’ll we do about planes?”

“We’ve captured a ship trying to smuggle aircraft from a South Belkan company into Yuktobania.  Plenty of planes to choose from,” Andersen replied.

“Good.  Well, I best go see if I can get Kirk to give Grimm his harmonica back.”  I said goodbye to Captain Andersen and went off to search for Kirk and the Wardog Squad who had disappeared inside.

______________________________________

Well there it is, the twenty-second chapter.  I just realized it’s been a month since I’ve updated and that is unacceptable.  Of course, with finals coming up, it will probably be another month again unfortunately but I will try to make sure that it’s not a month!  Anyways, please review!