I’m working like lightning to get this chapter done!  Ugh, I can’t believe I “killed” Chopper.  That sucks!  But I had to follow the story line of the game.  Of course, I’m not saying whether or not he’s alive after that little teaser with the canopy blowing open because I can’t decide whether or not I’m going to make him be alive or not.  It’s up to y’all to decide :)

Alright, here’s the next chapter.

Quote of the Chapter:

“Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius, and it’s better to be ridiculous than absolutely boring.”

_________________________________________

Fortress

Nagase

December 3, 2010…

We were all sitting quietly in Blaze’s room.  She wasn’t very talkative and if she did say something, it was quiet, short, and to the point.  The fire in her eyes had died out ever since… that day…

“Have they told Chopper’s family?” Cassie asked quietly.  Cassie wasn’t faring much better than Blaze, although I was one to talk seeing as how I had cried for three hours straight without so much as a bathroom break.

“Yeah, I called them,” Genette replied solemnly.

“How’d they take it?” Grimm inquired.

“Melissa answered.  She started bawling the moment I told her.  She managed to ask me what happened so I told her… we hung up a few minutes later so she could go tell her parents.”  We just nodded in response. “She asked how Blaze was taking it… I told her not well.”

Blaze didn’t even glance at us the entire conversation.  She was too busy fiddling with her necklace while looking out the window.  A fierce knocking at the door didn’t even faze her, which honestly was kind of frightening.

Genette stood up and went to answer the door.  The Base Commander strode in pompously.

“Captain Blaze!” He barked.  Blaze looked over at the commander before standing at attention.

“Yes sir!” She said weakly.

“I know you and Captain Davenport were close but this happens in war.  Get over it! Suck it up!” Blaze looked like she had been slapped… but then I saw it again.  That little flame in her eyes appeared, the one she had always had before Chopper had died.  Blaze’s eyes narrowed in on the commander as she stopped standing at attention.

“You stand at attention when I’m here!” The Base Commander barked.  Blaze didn’t listen.  Instead, she held her head up high, her eyes looking murderous.  She stepped forward so that her face barely inches away from his.

“Don’t you ever tell me to suck it up again!” Blaze hissed. “Captain Davenport and I were engaged and I know your pompous top brass ass doesn’t know what love is, but let me give you a little lesson in it- you just don’t get over your fiancé effing dying in two days.  So my advice, get out of my way you bastard.  And yeah, I frankly don’t give a damn that you could kick me off of this base but I wouldn’t advise doing it because I don’t mean to sound conceited and all, but we are the reason that all your insane missions have succeeded and we’re the reason the ground forces are doing so well because their morale is high when we’re above them.  So go ahead, kick me off, but you’re going to piss off a whole branch of the Osean army, not to mention you would ruin you ‘precious’ reputation.”

And with that, Blaze pushed past the astonished base commander and out the door, leaving all of us with our mouths hanging open, including the base commander’s.

_________________________________________

Blaze

I walked out of my room, trembling from anger.  The nerve of that effing base commander to tell me to suck it up!  I’ll suck it up when I want to!  The only thing he loves is his donuts and cupcakes that he has a hidden stash of somewhere in his office.  I remembered Chopper telling me that…

The thought of Chopper brought stinging tears to my eyes.  I attempted to blink them back as I walked past other soldiers.  They respectfully moved out my way.  Of course, even if they had stayed in my way, they wouldn’t have stayed there for long.

I mindlessly wandered around, having no set destination.  I ended up in the hangar that Pops was usually in.  I decided to talk to him, seeing as he was the only one who actually really knew the truth behind what I was going through.

“Pops?” I called out.

“Blaze?  Is that you?” Pops responded in a muffled voice.

“Yes, sir, it’s me!” I replied.  Pops popped up from inside the plane he was working on.

“Hey Pops,” I greeted tiredly.

“How you doing Blaze?” Pops inquired, stepping down the ladder.

“Umm, could be doing better.  I’m probably going to be suspended or something,” I chuckled weakly.

“Why?”

“I called the base commander an ass and a bastard… to his face,” I admitted sheepishly.  Much to my surprise, Pops laughed.

“Good for you!  I didn’t think anyone had the guts to tell him.  You just proved me wrong,” Pops announced.

“Lovely,” I muttered. “Need any help?”

“Not that I can think of.  What’s wrong Blaze?”

“Everything,” I mumbled. “It happened… the dream came true.”  Pops looked at me understandingly.

“I understand.  If it’s any help, I know what you’re going through although not quite to your degree.  See, in the Belkan War fifteen years ago, I had a dream that came true as well.  It was catastrophic in the end.  I met the Demon Lord on the way to my destination.  I convinced him that I was on his side.  He believed me.  I don’t know why because he shouldn’t have but he did and because of him, I’m here,” Pops explained.  The mention of the Demon Lord sparked my interest on where Pops had come from.  More importantly, it gave my mind something other to do than think about… him.  I couldn’t even think about him because then I would start bawling with no hope of stopping for hours.

“That’s cool.  I didn’t know you and the Demon Lord knew each other,” I replied.

“Yeah, well, that was a long time ago.  I’m sure that if he’s alive, he’s forgotten who I am,” Pops said with a half-hearted smile.

“You never know.  Well, I’m going to go to my room.”

“Alright.  Take care Blaze.” I waved goodbye to Pops before heading to my room.  I heard the pitter-patter of feet behind me.  Turning around, I saw Kirk, Pops’ black Labrador retriever following closely behind me.  I felt a little bit touched by the dog’s gesture and for the first time in days, I smiled.

_________________________________________

Later that evening…

Genette

Blaze had been practically impossible to find the whole day after telling the base commander off.  She had even skipped dinner which made me nervous.  Was she okay?  I didn’t know and it bugged me.  So I decided to go looking for her.  Everyone told me she just probably wanted to be alone but I wanted to check to make sure.  I was her older brother after all.

My first instinct was that she was in her room, but when she wasn’t there, I headed to the hangar where Pops worked.  Blaze had always liked Pops for some reason.  Hell, I liked him too because he was just easy to talk to.

Pops was staring at a trashed plane when I got to the hangar.  It wasn’t an Osean plane.  I could tell by the colors.  After studying the colors, I decided it was a Yuktobanian plane.

“Hey Pops,” I said.

“Look at that wreckage,” Pops replied.  I did.  “I’m amazed they’re still making ‘em like this.”

“They?” I asked curiously, not sure of whom he meant.

“This looks like a standard fighter jet, but it’s actually different.  They’ve done a lot of things to reduce the number of parts without sacrificing the plane’s strength and performance.  Very cost effective.  You could make three planes for the price of two this way,” Pops explained grimly.

“Who’s this ‘they’ you’re referring to?” I was still unsure of whom Pops was talking about.

“North Osea Gründer Industries.  Formerly the South Belka Munitions Factory run by the Belkan government,” Pops replied, sounding disgusted when he said the ‘Belkan Government.’

“But Osea’s taken over that land now,” I pointed out. “South Belka technology is being used for Osea.  Why does Yuktobania have this?”

“Good question,” Pops said, turning around to sit on the bench that was outside the hangar doors. “Actually, speaking of Belka…  Osea recruited some Belkan flying aces after the war fifteen years ago to strengthen our Air Force.  You know about this?”

“No… really?”  It irked me I didn’t know about this.  I knew almost everything there was to know about the Osean military of each branch, mainly the Air Force seeing as how Blaze was in it and all.  There was very little I didn’t know.

“An aggressor squadron comprised entirely of Belkan aces.  Our old enemy.  Well, that’s the rumor, anyway,” Pops told me thoughtfully.  Looking up at the sky, he continued. “Even an old fox like me isn’t sure they exist.  I bet the current administration isn’t even aware of the story.”

“They’re idiots if they don’t,” I said. “How could they not know about that?”

“Another good question to which I don’t have the answer to.  How’s Blaze doing?”

“Honestly, not that great.  She lost it with the base commander today- called him a bastard and an ass to his face.  I completely agree with her but I don’t want her to get in trouble for it.”

“She told me about that,” Pops chuckled quietly. “He had it coming.”

“She talked to you today?” I inquired curiously.

“Yep, Kirk followed her.  I don’t know when he came back but he followed her to wherever she was going and I guess came straight back here.”

“I think I’d better go find her.  I need to see if she’s doing alright,” I said.  Waving goodbye to Pops, I left the hangar towards Blaze’s room.  She usually left her door unlocked and today was no exception.  When I walked in, she wasn’t there.  I checked in Nagase’s room- nothing.  Same with Cassie’s room and I even checked Grimm’s room.  No one on base had seen Blaze leave or enter her room.  I started to feel a little frantic until the bright idea came to me that she might be in the room that she considered her other room ever since she had gotten engaged: Chopper’s room.

I walked over to Chopper’s room and as quietly as I could, opened the door.  The door didn’t creak at all thank god.  I shut the door quietly before walking in.  My idea had been right.  Blaze was asleep on Chopper’s bed, hugging Chopper’s pillow tightly with her face buried into it.  The small part of her face that I could see had tear stains streaked on.  She was asleep, which was a good thing because she needed it after everything that had happened.  Carefully, I grabbed a blanket from inside Chopper’s closet and covered Blaze up with it as gently as I could so that I wouldn’t wake her up.  That was the last thing she needed.

_________________________________________

December 6, 2010…

Nagase 

I walked slowly to the briefing room, dreading the mission the closer I came to it.  My feet became heavier every time I took a step towards the briefing room.  Finally, I reached it, wanting with every part of my being to turn around and run out of there.  Blaze wasn’t there.  That’s when my mind started racing.  What if Blaze had quit?  What if Blaze couldn’t take the pressure anymore?  If Blaze wasn’t our captain anymore, then who would be our captain?  Why would Blaze quit?

My racing questions stopped when Blaze entered the room, flanked by Hamilton.  Blaze sat down huffily next to me.

“Why the hell are we here?” Blaze grumbled, taking a seat next to me.  I knew she knew why so I didn’t say anything.  Her hair was ruffled and she wore minimum makeup that seemed to consist of powder, mascara and eye shadow under the eyes to hide the dark circles under her eyes.

“Attention everybody!” The base commander shouted.  Blaze stared at him with a lethal look.  If looks could kill…

“The briefing is about to begin.  Listen up!  This is a critical mission for us!” The commander informed.  He blatantly avoided looking at Blaze.  After a few days ago, I couldn’t really blame him.  Hell, I was somewhat scared of her now.  I had never seen Blaze lose control like that.  Sure, Genette had told me a few times that Blaze has lost her temper, but I never believed him because she seemed so level-headed, collected.  To see her lose it like that gave me a whole new perspective of my best friend.  This was not someone you wanted to aggravate because you would most likely not win.

The briefer entered the room and we all hushed down, even Blaze who appeared to be quite irritated that she was required to be here.

“Before Osean ground forces can proceed into the Yuktobanian capital of Cinigrad, they’ll have to deal with Cruik Fortress, directly in their path,” The briefer explained. “The robust defense of this fortress has stalled the advance of our armies for the past five days.  If this situation continues for much longer, it will give Yuktobania time to complete preparations for a counterattack.  We need to take the fortress and enable our ground forces to reach the enemy capital as quickly as possible.  To do this, we will launch an air attack on Cruik Fortress.  Our last attack sortie fell prey to the anti-aircraft guns and air defense fighters.  Deal a decisive blow to the fortress and its surrounding airpower, and support the ground forces as they penetrate the complex.

Operation: Doodlebug

Location: Cruik Fortress

Date: 2010/12/06

Time: 0600 hours

The three of us got up and headed towards the hangar.  Blaze was far ahead of me and Grimm.  I could’ve sworn that when she left the briefing room, she was crying.

When Grimm and I reached the hangar, Blaze already had our planes picked out.  She had chosen the SU-47 ‘Berkut’ for herself.  Why I wasn’t sure because it was much better for air battles than ground battles.  But, seeing how this was Blaze was choosing the planes, I’m sure she had a reason for choosing that plane.

“Nagase, Grimm, you’re both taking the SU-32,” Blaze ordered.  The SU-32, a.k.a. Strike Flanker, was a phenomenal plane for ground battles.  I think I realized Blaze’s plan.  While Grimm and I attacked the ground forces, Blaze would protect us by herself by shooting down enemy airplanes.

“Yes, ma’am,” Grimm and I replied in unison.

“Don’t call me ma’am.  It makes me feel old,” Blaze said with an irked expression.  Grimm and I couldn’t help but laugh a little.  It felt good to laugh.  Even Blaze cracked what might have been the beginning of a smile… but then the base commander walked in and the hope of a small smile vanished into the cool, humid air.  Blaze got into her plane without acknowledging the base commander at all, which seemed to tick him off a little.  However, if he wanted to say something, he held it back, probably because of the memory of her telling him off a few days ago perturbed him a bit.

We pulled out of the hangar (I think Blaze tried to run over the base commander in the process) towards the runway.  We took off when the all-clear was given.

We were almost to Cruik Fortress and almost out of fuel.  Thankfully, the people on base had predicted this so we had tanker plane waiting for us.

“Pilots, check your plane and prepare for refueling,” The tanker plane captain said.  Blaze went first since she was captain, then Grimm let me go saying that ladies went first, and lastly Grimm went.

The final hour of the flight was rather dull seeing as how we all wanted to get to the adrenaline-pumping part of the mission.

Finally, Cruik Fortress came into view in the horizon.  The closer I got, the more the realization hit me that this thing was a monster.  It was made of practically solid concrete with at least eight behemoth bunkers surrounding it.  An extensive runway split the middle of the fortress in half.  This thing was a monster.  No wonder this was the third time we were attacking this… thing.

“King Cobra to Abel.  Today, we’re gonna do it,” A ground unit announced confidently.

“This is Abel.  Don’t be stupid.  Can’t you see that wall in front of us?” Another ground unit responded.  I could just see the guy rolling his eyes at his comrade.

“We’re getting air support from Sand Island today,” The ground unit King Cobra countered.

“Roger that.  I’ll tell everyone now!” Abel exclaimed excitedly.  Blaze had been right (when is she ever wrong?).  We were the pillar of morale for the Osean Army.  How that had come to happen, I wasn’t sure.  I wondered how Blaze felt knowing that the ground forces depended on us so much.

“Lieutenant Colonel, the enemy sent this message to our armies,” An Osean G informed.

“‘This fortress will not be captured.  Go back to your country.’ Hmm…” The Lieutenant Colonel, Nelson, read aloud. “All right, then.  Let’s finish this up quick so we can get home to our families.”

“Wardog, attack,” Blaze commanded (I think it was more of a growl actually).  None of us needed to be told twice.  In a matter of seconds, Grimm and I were firing on pillboxes while Blaze took on enemy planes.  In fact, she had already shot one down.

“Allied forces in the air, listen to me, if the ground forces are wiped out, this operation will fail!” Nelson warned. “We need you to place top priority in eliminating the threat to our ground forces.  We’re counting on you.”

“No pressure.  We only have a few hundred soldiers counting on us to help conquer this whopper of a fortress.  Sheesh, and I thought the one on the coast was bad.  What was I on back then?” Blaze muttered.

“Blaze, are you okay?” Grimm asked cautiously.

“Oh I’m just peachy,” Blaze retorted.

“Uh, okay then.  I just won’t say anything to you for a while,” Grimm replied.  I considered that a pretty smart move on his part.

“You know the Sand Island Squadron above us?  Supposedly, they’re the Razgriz we keep hearing about,” An Osean G announced.  I avoided the gunfire being directed at me from a pillbox I was targeting.  Firing two missiles, I destroyed the pillbox in one swift swoop.

“Are we seriously being called the Razgriz?” Blaze wondered thoughtfully aloud.

“We certainly are.  Only thanks to our amazing captain,” Grimm complimented as he dove down, shooting at a pillbox.

“Thanks Grimm, but I’m not all that amazing,” Blaze replied softly.

“Oh yes you are,” I chided.

“Even up against just two of you, I can’t freaking win this argument,” Blaze sighed.

After that last radio transmission, Blaze shot past me, firing at the control tower at the front of the fortress.  She was contradicting herself by saying that she wasn’t that good of a captain as she shot at the control tower from an impossible angle and succeeding in destroying it.

“And you say you’re not good,” I said.

“What?  I’m not near as good as you think,” Blaze answered solemnly.

“Why do you keep saying that?  You’re not amazing, you’re phenomenal!” Grimm pointed out exasperatedly.

“We’re one member short…” Blaze whispered.

Well, hell…  Of course.  How could I be so stupid?  Of course she was saying she wasn’t amazing because she believes that she’s the reason Chopper is dead.  Grimm swore quietly, something to do with him being a stupid idiot for not realizing why Blaze was upset.

“Listen, y’all keep firing at the defense at the front of the fortress.  I’m going to try and take care of these bunkers surrounding the area,” Blaze informed in a somewhat shaky voice.

I turned my head to find Blaze.  She headed towards the bunkers alright… after flying into the aperture that was the entrance of the fortress… which her plane barely fit through.

“Blaze?  Did you seriously just fly through that entrance?” I inquired.

“Yes, ma’am, I did,” Blaze chirped.  Wow, her mood swings were off.  First she was happy, then she was about to cry, then she was making me feel old by calling me ma’am (she had actually been right about that… as always).

“Don’t call me ma’am.  It makes me feel old coming from you,” I snapped lightly.

“I told you so,” Blaze pointed out.  I rolled my eyes.

“I saw that,” Blaze said.

“Saw what?” I questioned, having no clue what she meant as I fired at a pillbox.  Grimm backed me up, firing at the pillbox with me.

“You rolling your eyes,” Blaze told me in a tone that told me I should’ve known that.

“What are you?  Psychic?” I asked.

“Possibly,” Blaze chuckled.  She flew over me and Grimm at a miraculous speed towards the bunkers on the east side of the fortress.

“Radio intercept team, does the enemy have something hidden up their sleeves?” A Yuke queried in a dire voice.

“They always have something up their sleeve,” Another Yuke responded in a muffled voice.

“Our air support’s from Sand Island, so don’t worry about a thing,” An Osean assured.  Did they really have that much faith in us?

“I’m sick of looking at this place, but after today, I won’t have to,” Another Osean declared.  What made him so sure?

“This is the final obstacle before the enemy’s capital city,” I said in a neutral tone, trying to keep out the worry in my voice.

“Meaning it’s going to be a living hell trying to take this sucker down,” Blaze added.

“Yeah, pretty much,” I agreed, shooting at the other control tower at the entrance of the fortress.

“I see it.  ‘The Coliseum’ is still in operation,” An Osean soldier pronounced.

“This is the third attempt.  Remember, there will be no fourth time!” Another Osean warned.  Okay, I had to admit, that was some pretty rough motivation.  Good, but rough.

Grimm and I attacked two different bunkers flanking the entrance of the fortress.  Blaze was taking on the bigger bunkers all by herself.  That made me think that Chopper would be pissed if he knew that Grimm and I were letting Blaze fight by herself.  Then again, Blaze wouldn’t want anyone but Chopper backing her up.  They knew what the other was going to do without saying anything.  They were always in perfect synchronization flying together.  But what if Chopper was going to haunt me and Grimm for not protecting Blaze?  And where the hell am I going in my head with this argument?  Ugh, my brain needs to shut down for a while… or at least the thinking part so I won’t have an argument with myself about whether or not I should protect Blaze lest Chopper’s ghost comes to haunt me out of anger.  Personally, Chopper’s ghost is scary itself, but having it ticked off… you know what, forget it.  I’m decided to help Blaze whether she liked it or not because the prospect of Chopper’s ghost was scarier than Blaze telling me she was okay.

And I really need to shut up now…

“Grimm, I’m going to help out Blaze,” I said, flying off towards Blaze’s plane in the distance.

“Wilco,” Grimm said.  I waited for Chopper to yell at Grimm for saying “Wilco,” but it never came.  Apparently, Grimm had been waiting for it too because he started to ask Chopper why he wasn’t yelling at him, but then the awareness that Chopper wasn’t here anymore struck him hard.

“Enemy ground forces advancing,” A Yuke informed gravely.

“Another large-scale offensive.  This is the third time,” Another Yuke added.

“Well, we Oseans don’t like to be accused for something we didn’t do,” Blaze pointed out.  I flew up next to her and together, we destroyed one of the many monstrous bunkers.

“Our tread’s been blown off!  We can’t maneuver!” An Osean shouted.

“King Cobra, get out while we can still provide cover,” An Osean unit responded immediately.

“Wisna ready for takeoff.  Remaining aircraft will follow shortly,” A Yuke squadron leader said.

“Nagase, if we can shoot enough airplanes on the runway, then we can block part of it,” Blaze informed.  It was brilliant.

“Got it,” I said.  Blaze and I turned our planes around to face the runway.  A plane was already taking off when we got there.  Blaze fired instantly, hitting the plane in the right engine.  It plummeted towards the ground.

“If we break through here, the capital’s just ahead!” An Osean yelled gleefully.  They seemed so ecstatic about this mission even when I myself thought this was a complete suicide mission.

“We’ll eliminate the threat near the gate with the help of Sand Island,” Another ally said.  Geez, could they not have so much faith in us?  It was bad enough with our own obligation of feeling like we couldn’t fail these people.

“Sorry, no visitors allowed.  Run along home, now,” A Yuke said sarcastically.

“Sorry, but we’re not visitors.  And this is going to be our home when we’re through with it,” Blaze retorted.

“Damage report, Puff Adder and Mamba team have been annihilated.  Remaining forces at seventy percent,” An Osean notified everyone.

“Like hell they’re going to kick our ass,” Blaze growled as she dove towards a bunker again.

“I can’t believe we have to capture a fortress this huge!” Grimm exclaimed.

“No kidding.  And to think we thought that the fortress in I think our ninth mission was hard.  It has nothing on this mother,” Blaze said.

“Allied planes overhead, this is the Ferdelance Armored Brigade.  Requesting orders to penetrate the fortress!” An Osean inquired with respect.

“Yes, enter the fortress,” Blaze replied, shooting at a SAM on top of one of the bunkers.

“All right, roger that.  Air support is with us!  All Ferdelance units, forward!”

Blaze, Grimm, and I regrouped.  We headed towards the enemies lining up at the entrance inside the fortress.

“HQ to First Platoon, move forward!” An Osean shouted.

MISSION UPDATE

“Here they come.  I’ve been waiting for this,” An Osean snarled.

“That makes two of us,” Blaze agreed.

“Hell,” I muttered as an enemy plane got behind me… or at least I thought I saw an enemy plane behind me.

“Enemy’s off you back,” Blaze told me.  So that’s what had happened to it.  Well that makes sense why I thought I had seen a plane.  I had seen one but Blaze kicked its annoying ass and shot it down before I could even ask for help.

“HQ, we’ve broken through the southern fortress wall!” An Osean G shouted delightfully.  This was the hard part- getting the forces through the fortress without failing the mission.

“Captain, it’s up to you to prioritize the targets for this attack,” I reminded.

“Roger.  Wardog, attack the enemy formations posted at the southern exit and protect our troops,” Blaze commanded.

“Got it,” Grimm said.

“First barrier cleared!  Wow, in record time, too!” A soldier shouted, laughing. “Take that you Yukes!”

“That’s a tongue twister for you,” Grimm chuckled.

Grimm and I split up and came at the enemy formation waiting for our troops inside the fortress from different directions while Blaze game parallel to them.  It was something that Blaze called the ‘Three Sisters’ after she watched a show about how there’s this wave that comes at a ship from three different directions.  Leave it to Blaze to make an example from Mother Nature into a battle strategy.

“They have a great view on all sides from here.  They can target us no matter where we are,” An Osean soldier cautioned.

Blaze, Grimm and I fired simultaneously at the enemy positions.  In total, there were six enemies waiting: four tanks and two AA guns.  After our first wave of attack, there were simply two enemy tanks to deal with.  Blaze took care of those while Grimm started flying around attacking other enemy ground forces.

“This fortress has turned out to be full of surprises!” A soldier exclaimed.  Yeah, no kidding…

“Keep your takeoff roll short.  Begin launch!” A Yuke commanded. “Climb as steep as you can the moment you’re airborne.  Use max throttle!”

“We’ll get shot down before we even make it up!” A Yuke responded angrily with a hint of fear.

“This is the only way.  You’ve got to carry out your mission!” The Yuke wrangled.

“Enemy planes taking off from fortress runway!” Grimm alerted. “They’re sending reinforcements to launch a counterattack!”

“Nagase, Grimm, keep taking out the ground forces.  I’m going to try and shoot down some enemy planes taking off from the runway to block it,” Blaze instructed.  We had abandoned our last attempt at blocking the runway because the ground forces were more important.

“Roger,” Grimm and I responded at the same time.

“Hey, y’all.  Do you really think the base commander has donuts stashed somewhere in his office?” Blaze asked out of the blue.

“Well, looking at the factors that he hardly ever comes out of his office and he’s not very athletic to put it nicely, yes, I do believe so,” Grimm laughed.

“Where did that randomness come from?” I asked amusedly.

“I don’t know; I just started thinking about it,” Blaze replied simply. Huh, talk about bipolar.

I headed towards a SAM that was making its way over towards where Blaze was.  Blaze probably knew it was there but if she did, she didn’t act like it because she kept flying straight over it, giving it perfect aim every single time and each time, the thing never fired.

“This is Wisna One… commence attack.”

“Targeting the Razgriz and the enemy strike craft,” A female Yuke said.  Wow!  So the Yukes weren’t sexist jerks and actually had women on the force?  Shocking!

“Lure them over here.  We’ll attack from both sides,” A Yuke snarled. 

“Agh!  Whoa!  This guy’s good!” Grim yelped in surprise.  Blaze shot past me at speed’s I didn’t even think her plane was possible of reaching.  In a matter of seconds, Blaze was behind the enemy plane trailing Grimm.  She got dangerously close to the enemy plane.  It realized she was behind them and retreated from trailing Grimm.  If they thought Blaze was going to let up, they were gravely mistaken.  Blaze tracked them like a hound after a fox.  She wouldn’t let them out of her sight.  I swear she was barely a foot away from the plane.  Blaze fired two missiles before shooting up into the sky, avoiding the mid-air collision.  It was an astounding achievement that shouldn’t have been possible with how close Blaze had been to that enemy plane.

“Yeehaw!  Bandit’s off your tail Grimm!” Blaze whooped.

“Thanks Blaze,” Grimm sighed in relief.

“No problem.  I’m not losing any more of my wingmen!” Blaze declared.

“I believe you without a doubt,” I assured her.

“Thanks Nagase,” Blaze answered quietly.  Her mind must be going back to how she lost Chopper.  That girl was seriously devastated.  Happy, sad, mad, ecstatic, mad, confident, upset- this was some emotional rollercoaster.

“They made it in, but it’s even worse inside!” Grimm pointed out.  I fired at a SAM that was about to fire at Blaze.  It had been the one that she had been teasing constantly earlier.  I guess it finally got ticked off enough to realize it should fire at her.  I fired a missile at the SAM which quite promptly blew it up.  Of course, then I had to evade because another SAM had appeared and started firing at me.  I started wondering how many ground defenses they had.  It had to be a massive number considering how many AA guns, SAMs, and tanks I saw in the ground.

“Defense network destroyed!  Dammit, these guys are unstoppable!” A Yuke yelled in frustration.

“Damn right we are!” Blaze laughed. “That’s what you get for starting a war with us when we did nothing wrong!  I swear to god there’s something else going on here.”

“Like what?” I inquired, intrigued.

“I feel like there’s another force behind this whole war.  I mean, why would Yuktobania declare war on us when we’re they’re biggest ally?”

I could see Blaze’s point and I had to admit that I had wondered the same thing a few times.

_________________________________________

Hamilton

I listened to the fight over the radio.  The things the Wardog Squadron said over the radio was shocking, for example, the base commander and his donuts?  Only they would have the guts to say something like that. 

That, however, wasn’t what caught my attention.  It was how Blaze thought that there was another force behind this whole war.  The more I thought about it, the more obvious it seemed that there was an actual force behind this whole war.  I had to stop this.

_________________________________________

Nagase 

“Can’t we load any faster?” An Osean soldier asked exasperatedly.

“We’re taking sniper fire!” Another soldier cried.  I could tell he was rolling under something or jumping to avoid something with the way his voice had pitched up.

“Where’s that coming from?!  Check the direction!” A soldier shouted in response.

“Engine damage!  Get out!” An Osean captain ordered frantically.  Over the radio, I heard the explosion of a tank.  I cringed, hoping no one had been in it.

“Good, the minefield’s slowed them down,” A Yuke cheered.

“Like hell we’re letting the Yukes win again!  Nagase, Grimm, attack enemies closest to our ground forces.  I’m taking out the air defense!” Blaze said.  How many times has she said that?

“You’re going to take them all out by yourself?” I questioned.

“You bet I am,” Blaze replied.

“Blaze, has it ever occurred to you that it’s you versus about ten planes?” Grimm laughed.

“Yeah, and?” Blaze countered.

“Why do I even try and argue with you?” Grimm chuckled.

“Because I’m an insane fighter pilot who fights ten planes by herself without allowing her wingmen to help her out?” Blaze chirped.  I found myself laughing along with Blaze and Grimm.  It felt good to laugh after the week we had had.

“So, I have a question,” Blaze told us thoughtfully.

“Yeah?” I asked as I fired two missiles at two separate AA guns.

“Is it true that when the Pillsbury doughboy bends over, you see doughnuts?” Blaze asked innocently.  Grimm started howling with laughter along with me.  Leave it to Blaze to ask a question like that.

“Why do you ask?” Grimm asked between laughs.

“I was just wondering,” Blaze giggled.

It took us around five minutes to stop laughing because when one of us stopped laughing, another one of us would start giggling, sending you back into a hysterical laughing fit.

“So where’s Thunderhead?  He’s unusually quiet,” Blaze commented while she shot down her third plane.  She had seven more to go.  Blaze had six on her tail while she was chasing one of them.

“Yeah, where is that nuisance?” Grimm wondered aloud, abandoning his ground targets and going to help out Blaze with the enemy planes trailing after her.

“If he’s a nuisance, then why are we wondering where he is?” I remarked.

“Touché,” Blaze laughed.

“Watch out for enemy air attack,” A Yuke ground force warned.

“They’re in trouble.  I can see everything from up here,” Grimm said grimly… haha, Grimm said grimly.  That’s fun to say. “Nagase, why are you laughing?”

“What?” I was completely confused.

“You’re laughing.  Why?” Grimm repeated.

“Crap, I was laughing aloud wasn’t I?  Well, I thought that the way you said your comment was rather grim, Grimm,” I giggled.

“Oh god,” Grimm muttered. “You’re as bad as Chopper with your jokes.”

“What?  You’re saying I’m not funny?” I countered while I evaded a missile sent for by an AA gun.

“I’m not saying you’re not funny, I’m just saying Chopper was funnier,” Grimm retorted.

“No one is as funny as Chopper,” Blaze pointed out.

“Amen,” I agreed.  Blaze went into a rolling dive after an enemy plane that was headed towards the ground.  Firing two missiles, she hit the plane with ease and pulled out of her kamikaze dive.

“Blaze, you’re a psychotic flyer.  Did you know that?” I laughed.

“Proud of it!” Blaze exclaimed.

“You would say that.” I rolled my eyes.

“I need troops over here.  Prepare the anti-tank for battle,” A Yuke G shouted.  He should be focusing on us, not the ground troops because we were the ones wreaking havoc on the place. “Prepare to launch!  Hurry, we don’t have much time!”

“There’s a firefight over the runway.  It’s too dangerous to take off,” A Yuke warned.

“You’re welcome!” Blaze said amusedly. 

“The air defense team will cover you while you take off,” A Yuke tried to assure.

“No, they won’t.  They’re not there.  They made the mistake of coming after Osean ground forces,” Blaze said bluntly.

“Blaze, can they hear you?” Grimm queried, rolling to the left to get behind an enemy plane.

“I don’t know.  Whether they can or not, I don’t care.  It still feels good to point out that their defenses are gone,” Blaze admitted simply.

Blaze and I flew side by side with each other as we took on an enemy formation coming from the east.

“This is Tarantula.  We’re halfway through the fortress!” An Osean G boasted.

“If things keep going like this, we just might pull it off this time,” Nelson acknowledged.

Blaze and I fired two missiles at the two enemy planes headed for us.  They hit the planes without any difficulty.

I looked down to see where some enemy tanks were so that I could destroy the SOBs.  They were exiting out of the fortress.

“Enemy tanks advancing out of fortress gate!” I announced.

“Damn…” Blaze muttered, heading down towards the retreating enemy tanks.

“Not even the Razgriz would be able to dodge these missiles,” A Yuke bragged.  A missile appeared out of nowhere, heading straight for Blaze.  Blaze simply headed towards the ground at breakneck speed.  If she didn’t pull up soon, she was going to crash… I hoped she wasn’t so depressed that that was her intentions.

“Blaze!” I shouted.  Blaze pulled up so quickly, the missile lost its tracking on her and exploded into the ground, taking a few enemy tanks with it. “Dammit, Blaze, stop scaring the hell out of me!”

“Sorry Nagase,” Blaze apologized sheepishly. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”

“You take the lead.  All right, now!” An Osean G yelled.

“Our ground forces are inferior.  They might just overrun us this time…” A Yuke said solemnly, almost making me feel bad for them.  Then I thought of Chopper, and my sympathetic feeling disappeared.

“It’s them!  They’re back again!” A Yuke screamed.  He screamed like a little girl.

“Blaaaaze,” I warned.  She was at her kamikaze flying stunts again.  She did a loop, started doing a corkscrew as she headed down towards the ground (and in the process destroyed two enemy ground defenses), leveled out, and then fired her guns at an enemy plane.

“Their attacks are so deadly it’s frightening.  I can see how they’d be like demons to the enemy,” An Osean soldier observed.

“I’m just glad they’re on our side,” Another soldier said.

“Amen,” The first Osean soldier replied.

I trailed Blaze to unprecedented heights.  I pulled out, afraid my plane would stall.  Blaze however, kept on going.  I was fast approaching three enemy airplanes.  One was shot down by Grimm who had been following them.  I shot another down with two missiles.

“Captain, you stalled!  Are you all right?!” Grimm asked worriedly.

“I’m fine.  All part of the strategy,” Blaze answered assuredly.

“Grimm, she’s all right physically.  Mentally, I beg to differ,” I joked.

“You have nooo idea,” Blaze agreed as she flipped her plane in a steep turn before plummeting down towards the ground from almost thirty-thousand feet.  The enemy plane that had been trailing was shot down as she shot towards the ground.  Blaze was going supersonic now.  She pulled up with a little difficulty, the opposition from the air causing her some trouble.  But Blaze being Blaze still made it look easy and graceful.  That girl…

“Attack the remaining enemy forces,” Blaze ordered.

“Commencing full fire!” I announced.

“Enemy tank at your rear!  Turn around!  Go, go!” An Osean soldier shouted.

“Max speed!  Give me everything you’ve got!” Another Osean soldier shouted.

“We can’t go any faster than this!” An Osean soldier responded in an aggravated tone.

“Come on Osea!  We can do this!” Blaze encouraged.  I could hear the excitement in her tone, the tone she used when she knew we were going to win.  It was also the tone whenever she talked about marrying Chopper.  It was the ‘I’m-going-to-giggle-because-I’m-a-girl-with-a-high-school-crush’ tone that made people around her feel the same way.

“Looks like we’ll be able to enjoy the New Year with our families… thanks to Sand Island,” Nelson said kindly.  I was rather touched by the thanks, mainly because Nelson was one tough SOB and to actually hear him say thank you shocked me into realizing that even the top brass can have manners… although most like to belittle you… or try to in our case since no matter what the base commander does to us, Blaze always seems to scare the shitake without the ‘ake’ out of him… god, now Blaze has me saying what she says.  The shitake without the ‘ake’ part, I mean.

I flew under the runway as I evaded an enemy plane after me.  I heard the missile crash into the runway.  Maybe if I kept doing that, the runway would collapse, preventing more enemy planes from coming up.  Of course, knowing my luck, the runway would collapse on me.

“HQ, we’re at the northern fortress wall.  We’re breaking through!” The Osean soldier cheered.  I could hear cheers from compatriots in the background in agreement.  That fueled my already burning passion to get these ground forces through.  This was the final obstacle that we had to overcome before we reached the capital city Cinigrad. 

“At this rate, we’ll be able to make up for all that lost time,” Nelson acknowledged.

“This is Ferdelance.  We’re at the fortress wall.  Should we go outside?  Please advise!” The Ferdelance commander asked.

“Yes, get out there now!” Blaze commanded.

“Roger, we’ll break down the gate.  Thanks for your instructions from above.  Good luck!”

“Bonne Chance!” Blaze replied cheerfully.  I hadn’t heard her so happy in a while.  It was good to hear that she hadn’t gone completely depressed.  She still had it in her to sound happy and I say sound happy because I knew Blaze like the back of my hand.  She had been faking the cheerfulness, but I had to admit, she pulled it off pretty well.

“Blaze, you will never fail to stump me,” Grimm laughed.

“What did I do now?” Blaze asked.

“You spoke French.  I didn’t even know you spoke French,” Grimm replied.

“Oh, well, now you do,” Blaze said.

“Bust through here like you’re gonna run all the way to Cinigrad!” An Osean soldier encouraged.

“That’s the spirit!” Blaze cheered as she fired missiles at enemy targets.

“We’ll push them back all the way to Oured!” A Yuke fired.

“You wish,” Blaze snarled, firing more missiles at enemy ground forces.  Grimm and I flew to the outside part of the northern wall where the enemy was gathering to put a final stop to our army.

“Dammit, it’s over!  Our army’s completely fallen apart!” A Yuke yelled angrily.

“Don’t give me that!  Beat Osea to the ground!” Another Yuke sneered.

“Nagase, Grimm, keep attacking the enemy ground forces.  I’m going to destroy any facilities still in operation in the fortress,” Blaze informed.

“Got it,” I said.

“Those guys are gonna blow the entire fortress away,” An Osean commented, sounding impressed.

“Help up!  It’s the Razgriz!” A Yuke cried.  A twinge of regret shot through me.  I hated killing people and with the way Blaze, Grimm, and I flew, there would be only an iota of survivors.

“Hang in there.  We can still win this!” Another Yuke tried to reassure.

Blaze fired missile after missile at the control towers on the outside of the northern wall, destroying them all by herself.  This was a miracle that we had overcome the ‘impregnable fortress.’  It was unheard of having a fortress of this size falling in half a day.

“Move forward!  Disregard any damage!” An Osean soldier commanded.

“There’s no place to run for us.  Defend this area to the death,” A Yuke growled.

Defend to the death…

The words echoed through my brain.  I hated war, I hated it, but I fought for my country.  There was no way I was going to back out now when we were so close to winning, nor was I going to let Yuktobania attack Osea again.

“Get the Razgriz over here now!  Our lives are depending on them!” An Osean soldier shouted.  I turned my plane in response to the transmission.  Blaze was already down there, firing left and right at enemy forces.  I felt bad for any enemy that felt Blaze’s wrath.  She blamed them for Chopper’s death, and that meant she was out for blood.

“Please let us make it in time!” Grimm prayed.

“I’ve heard of the ‘Four Wings of Sand Island’… but I only see three,” An Osean observed.  I heard Blaze let out a shaky sigh.  Why did they have to bring up the ‘Four Wings of Sand Island’?

“Don’t you know?” Another Osean asked. “Only good little boys can see the fourth one.”

I heard Blaze laugh a little.

“Concentrate your attack on the areas of least resistance,” An Osean soldier suggested.

I started trailing an enemy plane that kept pulling a Houdini on me and had kept disappearing every single time I tried to go after it.  It went up and so did I.  It went left, I went left.  It couldn’t and wouldn’t shake me.  Getting a perfect missile lock, I fired at the enemy plane.  Bullseye!  Right in the center!

“Those guys can attack from any position!  Don’t let your guard down,” A Yuke fighter warned.

“All right, come on!  Keep going!” Grimm urged while he destroyed two enemy tanks at one time.

“Nice shot Grimm,” Blaze praised.

“Thank you.”

“These guys are even better than I imagined!” A Yuke admitted.

“Well we don’t call them the freaking Razgriz for nothing!” Another Yuke shot back.

“Suckers!” Blaze laughed.

“These pilots are good!  They’ve got some sharp moves!” I pointed out.

“We’ve got better,” Blaze countered.  She was right.  I pulled into a harrowing sharp turn, making the enemy plane lose its trail on me.  I raced behind it and fired the second I got missile lock on it.

“Continued resistance!  I can’t believe they’re still holding up,” I said.

“You only have three planes to deal with.  No need to panic,” A Yuke assured.

“Is it just me, or is this guy out of the loop?” Blaze inquired.

“He’s way out of the loop.  Hasn’t he heard his comrades calling us the Razgriz for the last, what?  Fifteen minutes?” Grimm added.

“The Yukes have some major idiots,” I chuckled.

Blaze, Grimm and I destroyed the remaining ground forces outside the northern part of the fortress, ending the mission.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

“We made it!  Northern fortress wall waken down!  We skewered them!” An Osean soldier shouted in delight.

“Yes!” Blaze cried in excitement.

“Excellent!” Nelson agreed. “Hey, send a message back to the enemy! ‘This fortress has been successfully captured.  We’re going back to our country real soon.’”

I could hear the soldiers chanting “Osea!  Osea!  Osea!” over the mic.  Blaze was cheering with them.  In fact, the mood was so ecstatic, it was hard not to join in.  I started chanting along with them, and so did Grimm.

_________________________________________

Genette

The so-called “impregnable” fortress fell in half a day, and the momentum of the Osean Army had reached a peak.  Its final stronghold lost, the Yuktobanian Army was setting up a barricade in the urban area up ahead.  The next battle could see a lot of bloodshed, with innocent civilians caught in the crossfire.

However, the men and officers of the Osean Army were optimistic.  They thought, as long as the three fighters from Sand Island were taking part in the action, things would turn out all right.

They have become the center of the Army’s strength now.

They were the reason Osea was winning.

_________________________________________

Osean Soldier 

The Sand Island Squadron landed briefly to refuel.  Only Nelson and the superiors who knew how to refuel a plane actually got to meet them.

All the soldiers, after we replaced the Yuktobanian flag with the Osean flag, stood in silence as we stared in awe at the Sand Island Squadron taking off from the runway.  It would be a dream to meet the squadron responsible for so many victorious missions.  They were the reason Osea had made it this far.

_________________________________________

Okey doke, so that’s the first part of the eighteenth chapter.  Part two will be up soon (hopefully).  Hope y’all enjoyed it.  I can’t believe I’m this far into the story!  It’s almost halfway done!  Sheesh, where does the time fly?  No pun intended (you know, time flies?  And this is a story about fighter pilots?  No?  Okay then…)