"Experience is the teacher of all things."
~Julius Ceasar
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Frontline

Blaze

Another day, another mission. 

I shuffled into the briefing room, taking a seat next to Chopper and not saying a word. I'd had a not-so-nice conversation with the Base Commander after the mission yesterday that still pissed me off. Perrault had the audacity to criticize us for going after the bombers instead of listening to our AWACS and focusing on taking out the cruise missiles. I proceeded to point out to him that by shooting down the bombers, that not only did all cruise missiles stop, but we destroyed the cruise missiles that had been fired, and none had hit the mass driver. He reluctantly shut up, refusing to acknowledge I was right. He simply warned me to "listen to my superiors better than my predecessor." I nodded but had no intentions of actually doing so.

Noticing my dour mood, Chopper placed his hand on my thigh and asked, "What's going on?"

None of my wingmen knew about my heated discussion with Perrault. I wanted to calm down over the situation and the insult myself before telling them because I knew they'd be just as upset that someone who wasn't even there was criticizing our decisions.

"I'm just ticked off at some top brass." My eyes flicked over to the Base Commander, and I could feel the disgust etching itself onto my face. "Tell you later."

"All right. Hey, I have a question." Chopper leaned in and whispered, "How many donuts do you think that man eats in a day? One dozen? Two?"

"My guess would be two. He's probably in a foul mood because we're keeping him from them," I added, biting my lip to prevent myself from giggling. Leave it to Chopper to make me laugh when it's the last thing I thought I would do.

"I bet he has cookies and candy too. You know, come to think of it, I always wondered where the leftover dessert goes. I think I have an idea now."

I pursed my lips, narrowly avoiding bursting out laughing. "We're so going to hell for this."

He shrugged. "It'll only be hell if he's there."

"You people are like the plague, you know that?" Perrault barked, commanding everyone's attention. "The moment you return to Sand Island, this happens."

I lowered my head so Perrault wouldn't see my eye roll. Yuktobania attacking us again wasn't our fault, and you know what? He was damn lucky his top fighter squadron was back to help defend Sand Island! 

The briefer continued his tradition of clearing his throat before speaking. "A large combined force of Yuktobanian vessels and aircraft has been detected advancing in the ocean directly toward Sand Island from the west. Our intelligence has confirmed the presence of amphibious assault ships within the oncoming fleet. We believe the enemy's goal is to conduct a landing operation on Sand Island and capture this base. Close with the enemy, disrupt landing operations and suppress their naval gunfire directed at our forces ashore."

Operation: Vanguard

Location: Sand Island

Date: 2010/10/04

Time: 0830 HRS.

"Even if this turns into a ground war, I am prepared to fight for this island to the bitter end," The Base Commander declared. "As my advanced guard, I want you to forget everything else and concentrate on dealing a lethal blow to the incoming enemy invasion fleet. We'll be deploying everything we've got. Launch every aircraft capable of anti-ship combat, regardless of combat experience."

My stomach dropped at his words.

Launch every aircraft... regardless of combat experience.

Was he seriously sending up the nuggets today? This battle wasn't going to be a dandy walk in the park or Sunday drive. These weren't drones like what my squadron faced in our first couple of missions. These were real planes with real people, and they had an impressive fleet of ships to back them up. We were going to have missiles and guns coming at us from every angle. They weren't ready for that! Hell, I didn't even know if we were...

Numbly, I got up and walked ahead of my squadron, engrossed in my thoughts, some of which included calling the Base Commander some not-so-pleasant names.

"What exactly did Perrault do or say to you that's got you so upset?" Chopper asked. I hadn't even realized he'd fallen in step beside me.

"A few things," I replied, glancing over at the Base Commander who waddled after us to the hangar for God only knows what reason. "Right now, it's about his decision to send the rookies up. They aren't ready for this. Whether they survive it or not, they're still not ready. The outcome of this battle is going to fall heavily on us and as good as we've become, I'm worried we're not enough to give it a favorable outcome."

"I think we've got a good shot," Chopper replied, lacing his fingers with mine. "You've been leading us to victory so far. I have faith in my captain."

I smiled gratefully up at him, glad one of us had faith in me. I wished I could show my appreciation to Chopper in a different way, but I couldn't. Not with Perrault behind us. I didn't want to give him any more ammo in his disgust with us. 

We arrived at the hangar where, to my surprise, found four new planes. Confused, I turned to Pops. He must've sensed my question because he said, "I talked to the Base Commander yesterday saying as good as it was that Wardog had great planes for air combat, I thought it was critical for you to have equally great planes for ground combat. Knowing how much you love the F-14s, I thought the F-14B was a good route to go. They got here yesterday before you arrived back."

I stared starry-eyed at the planes. "This day started out shitty, Pops, but you made it so much better with this! Thank you!"

"Sand Island's top squadron, not to mention my favorite squadron-" Pops winked at me- "needs the best planes."

"You're our favorite," Chopper said, clapping Pops on the shoulder and beaming up at the jets. Our friend bade us good luck and goodbye, then walked off to help some rookies with their planes.

"Blaze, you good?" Nagase asked, coming up behind me with Grimm and Genette.

"Yeah. Just a headache." I watched the Base Commander stroll past us. The minute he stepped foot out of the hangar, I added, "Headache's gone."

"He's the plague," Grimm noted, "not us."

"What? You didn't enjoy his little pep talk?" Chopper queried. He cleared his throat and in an almost perfect imitation of Perrault, said, "Even if this turns into a ground war, I am prepared to fight for this island to the bitter end."

Nagase, Genette, Grimm, and I burst into a fit of laughter, but quickly sobered up when we heard the roar of jet engines taking off. Steeling myself, I said, "Come on. We have some Yukes to deal with."

__________________________________________________

Nagase

Genette wistfully watched Blaze climb into her plane. My heart ached for him, unable to imagine what it felt like watching a person I loved fly off to fight a war with the possibility of never returning. I had no doubt that Blaze would survive this, but what was certainty without concrete proof?

Placing my hand on his arm, I promised, "She's coming back. I won't let anything happen to her."

"I know." Genette met my gaze. "You better come back too."

Before I could stop myself, let alone process what I was doing, I stood on my tiptoes and kissed Genette on the cheek. Immediately my eyes looked up to Blaze, but she was too focused on preparing herself and her plane for the mission. I conducted a quick scan of the hangar. No one stared at us with their mouth agape, so presumably, no one saw what I'd just done.

"I'll see you in a bit," I said. Genette only nodded, staring at me with clear perplexity. I scurried off to my plane, feeling the weight of his gaze on my back. I was playing a dangerous game with Genette. I had no doubt he was interested in me, but we weren't like Chopper and Blaze. We hadn't grown up together or silently been in love for a decade. We'd seen each other on occasion while I was at the Academy, but otherwise, we were near strangers to each other. If we ever tried something, what would happen if it didn't work out? I doubted Blaze would have an issue with us dating considering she was dating her brother's best friend, but did I want to risk our friendship by going for her brother? I couldn't decide. I suddenly understood her dilemma from just a few days ago all too well.

Still, I had a mission to focus on, and I shifted my attention to that. My lovelife could wait. Climbing into my plane, I swiftly prepped myself and my plane to take off. Within a few minutes, the four of us were speeding down the runway and gliding smoothly into the air. I watched Sand Island grow smaller and smaller beneath me, but even from my height, I could see Genette walking back to the main building, where he'd be taking shelter while we fought to prevent our base from falling into Yuke control. I couldn't imagine his feelings right now, watching his sister and friends take off to go fight a war, not knowing if they'd come back, the agony of waiting...

"This is AWACS Thunderhead. All units, listen carefully."

"Ahh." Chopper sighed as we fell into formation behind Blaze. I could the enormity of the invasion fleet even from our distance. Yuktobania spared nothing for this attempted invasion. "I missed that sweet voice. Say, you get that from your mama's side of the family?"

Blaze attempted to cover her laugh with a cough but failed miserably.

"Cut the chatter," Thunderhead said, sounding mildly exasperated. It wasn't the first time he'd been subjected to Chopper's sarcasm, and I knew it was far from the last. "First enemy wave, bearing 280 degrees. You are cleared to engage on sight."

I peered over my shoulder at the new pilots working with us today. Every single one of their planes wavered. I couldn't help myself as I remarked, "It's too risky to bring the nuggets here."

"I'm with you on that," Chopper said. "You agree, Kid?"

"Don't get me started on it," Blaze replied, surprising me with the amount of venom in her voice. I doubted it was directed at the nuggets though. They had no say in whether or not they got sent up. 

"Seriously. They've got their hands full just keeping their planes in the air."

With the first enemy ship within shooting range, Blaze shot off. Chopper followed her. Meanwhile, Grimm and I stayed back with the nuggets to prevent any enemy helicopters or fighters from reaching the mainland.

A rookie came onto the mic. "Hey, Captain? Captain Banks?"

"Yes?"

Sounding rather bashful, he said, "If we make it back alive, there's something I want to ask you if that's all right."

"Of course," Blaze answered kindly.

"Thanks. It's just something I have to know... Do you ever get scared, Captain?"

Blaze paused for a brief moment. "Yes, I do."

"I see. So you're just like us."

"I'm you with a higher ranking. That's all."

"And more experience," Chopper added.

The enemy had at least twenty or more ships plus all their air support. This was going to be tough. Blaze, having decimated her first target, found another one. It was one of the destroyers. They set their sights on her, too, and they engaged in an intense game of cat and mouse with Blaze diving and firing, then pulling away before they could hit her.

"This is Sand Island Base Defense! Enemy amphibious force intercepted at the coastline!"

"Oh, great," Chopper grumbled. "Here we go."

"Grimm, Nagase, take on the ships and planes closing on the shore. Chopper and I will take on the larger ships. Chopper, take the right, I'll take the left. The closest to the shore, take out first."

"Aye, aye, Captain!" Chopper shouted, diving down to attack a ship.

Blaze chuckled. "Chopper, I'm a pilot, not a pirate. I'm not Jack Sparrow."

"There should be a 'captain' in there somewhere. Besides, they both start with 'pi,' so what's the difference?" he countered.

"I fly planes, and he sails ships. I fight for my country, and he fights against them. Jack drinks rum. I drink margaritas and any other tropical drink I can get my hands on."

"Okay, okay, you win! You made your point... although I still don't see that much of a difference."

I shook my head and said, "Of course, you don't."

"When did you enter this conversation?"

"Just now."

"Well, what do you think? They're alike, right?"

Bluntly, I said, "No."

"Think about it! They're both epic captains, they both can kick ass, they both fight evil. Well, Jack does, in a way. And they are both totally awesome!"

"You've lost it."

"Yeah," Grimm said hesitantly, "I've got to agree with Nagase on this."

Chopper scoffed. "No, no, no, you're not allowed to side with them!" 

"It's too late for that one."

"What is this, gang up on Chopper hour?" He demanded in exasperation. The three of us snickered but said nothing. As much as random conversations helped our nerves during a mission, this one had all of us on edge. It was hitting too close to home. Literally.

With Grimm behind me, the two of us headed closer towards Sand Island, setting our sights on the enemy planes and ships that had slipped ahead of their comrades. I let Grimm take on the helicopters. Meanwhile, I skimmed the ocean, aiming for the boats. Whether they saw me coming or not, I'm not sure, but being so low to the ground seemed to make it difficult for them to shoot me.

"Enemy ships are firing towards Sand Island. Stop them," Thunderhead ordered. "Enemy assault ships are launching attack helicopters. Shoot them down before they reach Sand Island."

"Our island's the closest thing to the enemy. I guess it makes sense we got attacked first," Chopper said.

"Unfortunately for us," Grimm noted.

"They probably weren't expecting a big fight from such a small island," I said.

"Their mistake," Blaze remarked.

Having taken out a majority of the missile boats, I decided to help Grimm. Whereas my targets would disappear once I'd taken them out, his kept getting replaced by more. Not to mention, fighter jets had finally reached our area too. Getting a missile lock on an enemy, I fired and hit it right in the engine. The plane fell helplessly towards the ocean. One down, a thousand more to go.

Okay, not really, more like forty, but when it's ten to forty and only four of the ten have real battle experience, it might as well be a thousand.

"You know, of all days they could've attacked," Blaze began, diving down towards a ship in the distance, "I'm kind of glad they chose today."

"Why's that?" Grimm asked.

"Because I'm in a seriously bad mood, and I can't take my anger out on who I need to, so the Yukes are going to have to suffice."

"I'd ask why," Chopper chimed in, "but I know the answer."

"You know about something other than your rock'n'roll records?" I teased as I tailed an enemy fighter. They were focused on Grimm, not seeming to notice me behind them. I fired at them, thinking it was a good lock, but much to my dismay, my missile blasted just a hair's breadth away from them. Sighing, I tried to get another lock. But now the enemy knew I was onto them, and they weren't making it easy.

"You know," Chopper began, "I think the real battle today is me dealing with you sarcastic little shits."

Blaze laughed. "Can that be our squadron name?"

"Officially, no. Unofficially, it probably already is. Probably because of me. I have an issue controlling my mouth."

"Really? We haven't noticed," Grimm said. He leveled out his plane and locked onto a helicopter. Meanwhile, I finally got another lock on my enemy and fired, this time, a direct hit. Grimm destroyed his target at the same time and happily declared, "I bagged one! So did Nagase!"

"Awesome! Keep it up! At this rate, we'll be heading home sooner rather than later," Blaze encouraged. My mind wandered to the people on Sand Island. An amphibious force reached our coastline ahead of the fleet we were engaging. We'd been ordered to destroy the latter one, which made no sense to me. Wouldn't it make more sense to attack the fleet closest to us first? It was times like these that made me question our Base Commander's leadership abilities.

I hoped Genette was okay. Chopper, Blaze, and I all had strong ties to him. It'd be devastating to all of us if something happened to him. Even Grimm, despite not being with us for long, had cemented his place within our group. He was like our little brother.

"Damn, this ain't looking good," Chopper said.

"No kidding," Blaze agreed. I wondered what had happened to her earlier demeanor, the one that believed we were doing great. Upon watching the two of them in the distance, I could see them tag-teaming a destroyer and aircraft carrier. It made me think they were talking more about that than the mission overall.

"The coastline is under heavy enemy attack!" An Osean exclaimed.

Please let Genette be okay! Please let him be safe! The prayer popped into my head, taking me by surprise. Had I really fallen for him that quick? We'd only known each other barely two weeks, and sure, we'd been hanging out almost every day, but that's all it'd been. I guess I always had found him attractive but-

No! Now was not the time to be thinking about Genette. I had a battle to win. Shaking my head, I refocused my attention on the enemies in front of me.

"I know, I know! All units, this is Colonel Perrault at Base Command. Do everything in your power to stop them." I silently scoffed at his words. As if we weren't doing that already?! "If you can't protect this island, what'll we tell our great heroes in the sky?!"

"'Great heroes?'" Grimm repeated, taken aback. "What's with him? He's like a completely different man."

"Don't expect that stuff when we get back. I bet he's got a different script for us," Chopper said.

"Absolutely he does," Blaze confirmed. "He doesn't like us for some reason."

"I can't help but wonder why," I said. I actually had an idea, and I'm sure Blaze did too, but neither of us wanted to bring him up. We were under enough suspicion with him gone as it was.

"What have we ever done to him?" Grimm queried innocently.

"I don't know. We always do what he says, and we always come back alive," Chopper pointed out.

"Maybe that's what we're doing wrong. Maybe we're coming back alive."

"Nah," Blaze responded. "The paperwork for our death would be more work than keeping us alive."

"Hey, he didn't like Bartlett, and we're his nuggets so..." Chopper trailed off, letting the implication linger. Leave it to him to bring it up and remind anyone who'd forgotten that Bartlett had trained us. Everyone knew Perrault suspected Bartlett of being a spy. By being Bartlett's trainees, by extension, we were most likely under suspicion as well. I know everyone in my squadron, including myself, would have no trouble telling anyone who accused us of such treachery to fuck off, but we didn't want to be put in that position in the first place.

"That does make some sense," Grimm acknowledged.

"Listen, can we talk about something cheerful? It's already depressing enough to be fighting a battle."

"What do you suggest?"

Chopper's response was immediate. "Captain Jack Sparrow?"

"No!" Blaze and I retorted simultaneously.

"Worth a shot."

"Later, Chopper, later," Grimm promised. 

I heard Blaze open her mouth to say something, most likely to shut that idea down, but Thunderhead cut her off. "Enemy assault ships are launching hovercraft."

"Oh, lovely, as if we don't have enough ships to be dealing with," Blaze said. She had already blown up about four vessels, the same with Chopper. Grimm took on the remaining enemy aircraft and ships closest to Sand Island, which were all missile boats and helicopters. I took on the fighter jets.

"Finally, a real battle! I'm getting nervous," a rookie admitted.

"Beamer, your plane's wavering," another one warned.

"Hey, nuggets. Try to keep sight of your flight lead and don't screw it up, all right?" Chopper admonished.

"Yes, sir."

Chopper chuckled. "Heh, he just called me 'sir.'"

"You have a higher position than him. He's supposed to call you that," Blaze pointed out.

"I know; I'm not used to it. I like it."

"This is Khraby. Commencing support fire," A Yuke barked.

"With that tone of voice, I think it should be 'crabby,'" Blaze muttered. Chopper, Grimm, and I burst out laughing.

"Engaging amphibious force!" A Sand Island soldier shouted.

"Airborne attack squadron, don't worry about us. We will stand firm and fight to the end!" Perrault declared.

"What a tearjerker," Grimm joked.

"I'm worried about him. He's acting nice. Think there's something wrong with him?" Blaze asked in mock worry.

"Man, if he needs our help, he should just say so. Of course, not that we have the time to help right now," Chopper commented.

"That's a bit of an understatement," I said. I circled around, looking for my next target. Having taken care of most of the fighters in the front of the fleet, I trained my sights on the back. It didn't take me long to find one.

"Enemy ground forces opening fire!" A Yuke yelled.

"Has the enemy reached the Island yet?" I inquired.

"I don't think so," Grimm answered.

"Calm down. Keep a cool head," A rookie said, speaking to himself.

"Good job, rookies, keep it up! Everyone, be careful with the destroyers, they have SAMs on them," Blaze cautioned.

"I'd be worried if they hadn't noticed them by now," I said.

"Amazing... So this is what a real battle's like," A rookie mused. I wondered if it was the same one that was completely oblivious to the enemy on its tail. Regardless, I was going to make sure the fighter didn't get them. On my way over to him, a projectile shot in front of my plane from the ocean below, which could only mean one thing.

"Missile fired from enemy sub!" I shouted frantically, high-tailing it to the .

"What?!" Grimm exclaimed. I heard Chopper swear colorfully. In the distance I saw him abandon his target and jerk his plane upwards.

Meanwhile, Grimm continued finishing off a ship, causing me to say, "Get out of there, Grimm! You nuggets, too!"

"Climb! Climb! C'mon!" Chopper barked. "Blaze! Get above five-thousand feet!"

"I know, I'm coming!" she promised, shooting past the safety altitude at breakneck speed. She flipped upside down and leveled out. Chopper chased after her, falling into line behind her

"You hear me, nuggets? You have to climb!" I said firmly, watching as they struggled to get above the required altitude.

"Pull up, everyone! Get your altitude above five-thousand feet!" Chopper added. I could see all our allied planes shooting up into the sky, trying to escape certain death from the missile. My gut told me it was the Scinfaxi, and if that was the case, unless it breached the surface, we had no way of fighting it, let alone destroying it.

"Submarine missile launch confirmed! Believed to be a burst missile, with multiple warheads that separate in mid-air," Thunderhead informed. "Get above five-thousand feet and stand by!"

Blaze and Chopper flew dangerously low to the altitude limit. If they went down even a little, they'd dip below five-thousand feet, and the outcome would be horrific. Grimm and I got in formation behind her. If they went, we went with them, no matter what.

"Wait. We're getting a command override from somewhere," Thunderhead said. "Data link to A-Sat Targeting System... What is this? Now it's counting down by itself. Nine, eight, seven..."

The sound of something being hit sounded over the mic, followed by Chopper exclaiming, "Damn it! They're not gonna make it!"

"Nuggets, listen to me! Slam on that accelerator and MOVE IT!" Blaze commanded, furious. It wasn't that she was mad at them; she was scared for them. The nuggets weren't moving nearly fast enough upwards despite being given plenty of time to escape. It would take a miracle now to save them...

Thunderhead finished counting down. "Four, three, two, one..."

A beam of light came from the sky. The four of us hurriedly swerved to miss it. Glancing behind me, it appeared as if a laser was being fired from space. I knew of only one machine that could do such a thing...

"The sky just lit up!" Grimm said in awe.

"Missile vaporized in mid-air!" Thunderhead cheered.

"What was that? Did you see that, Kid?" Chopper asked. "A beam of light fell from the sky."

"I don't think that was a light," Blaze replied. "I think that laser."

"Think it's aliens?" Chopper suggested.

"No, but if it is, I'm not going to complain because they're helping us."

I hesitated for a moment, wondering if I was completely off my rocker for thinking this. But considering I didn't know of any other weapon that could fire from space, I asked, "...Was that the Arkbird?!"

"Missile destroyed by a laser beam fired from orbit altitude. It's the Arkbird. We've got the Arkbird!" Thunderhead confirmed cheerfully. "All units, continue engaging the enemy!"

We had gotten our miracle. The beautiful white bird saved the nuggets from a terrible death. Maybe our luck was changing. Before, Yuktobania was always the one with the surprise. Now, we did. Could our luck be changing?

Diving back down, I started going after the enemy fighters again with Grimm. Blaze and Chopper were taking care of the ships. Looking out over the expanse of the attacking fleet, it seemed like we'd only destroyed a fraction of it. We'd dealt more damage than it looked like, I knew that, but still, the sight wasn't exactly motivating.

I wondered how the people on base were fairing. We hadn't heard much from them after the Base Commander had a momentary personality switch and was being something other than an asshole. Hopefully, they were at least holding up as well as we were.

Suddenly, the Yukes' communications started blowing up over the mic. "The missiles all disappeared! What's going on?!"

"What was that! What happened?!" Another one shouted.

"This is the anti-sub patrol plane Blue Hound. Submarine detected by sonobuoy. Sound Pattern analysis produces a match with the Scinfaxi."

"Captain, do you think the Arkbird can really avoid hitting us?" Grimm inquired warily.

"I think so, although we should still be on guard."

"Yes, it does seem to be highly accurate."

"Yeah,I would not want to be on the receiving end of that thing."

"What a nightmare. Who are they aiming for?" A Yuke inquired.

"Chopper, get this asshole off my tail, please?" Blaze requested. He complied readily, swiftly destroying the plane only for another one to take its place. With a snarl, he locked onto them and fired, taking them out.

"If one more plane targets my captain, I'm going to land on one of these aircraft carriers and take every single one of them out," Chopper declared. At first, I thought he was exaggerating. Then I reminded myself this is Chopper, the same guy who tried to take on a wrestling team single-handedly when they wouldn't leave his sister alone. The guy would take on a Mack truck if it was bothering someone he cared about.

"Thunderhead, this is Blue Hound. Detecting sounds from Scinfaxi indicating imminent missile launch."

"Arkbird, we'll send the data over as soon as we detect the missile. We're counting on you," Thunderhead replied.

"Looks like the enemy's stopped playing nice," A Yuke growled.

"We weren't playing nice in the first place," Blaze griped, "and I'm slightly offended they thought we were."

"Missile away from enemy sub," the anti-sub plane informed.

"Locked on! Begin data link!" Thunderhead ordered.

"We're all within range of that thing!" A Yuke shouted. "If that laser even grazes us, we're finished!"

"Let it graze you, please. It would make our job a hell of a lot easier!" Chopper said.

"Arkbird firing laser," Thunderhead told us.

"I've sunk three ships," Blaze said. "Heading to the next."

"Me too," Chopper said.

"I've shot down five aircraft," I added.

"Sunk most of the hovercraft," Grimm finished.

"Nice job Grimm. Those are fast little suckers," Blaze praised.

"Believe me, I noticed."

"Missile destroyed! We did it!" Thunderhead declared.

"Goodness gracious!" Blaze exclaimed.

"Great balls of fire!!" Chopper hollered.

"I was referring to the multiple missiles coming at me, but I gotta say, that works too! You know I'm a sucker for Top Gun."

"Yes, I do. Please don't lose that lovin' feeling, though."

"I won't if you help me take out these ships."

"On it!" Side by side, they tackled more of the enemy aircraft carriers and destroyers, systematically taking them out one by one. In the center of it all, the Arkbird's laser shot down each time the Scinfaxi released a missile.

"What was that light?" A Yuke demanded. The enemy was confused right now, but I knew it'd only be a matter of time before they figured out a way to launch burst missiles without them being destroyed by the Arkbird. "They shot that from outer space? This was what they launched that day?"

"I'm gonna make it! I'm gonna get out of this alive, I know it!" A rookie claimed.

"Don't panic. We haven't lost yet," Another Yuke encouraged.

"Oh, no!" The anti-sub plane sounded horrified. "They're launching more missiles! Number three, number four, number five..."

"There's too many!" Grimm exclaimed.

"Shit!" Chopper groaned.

Unfortunately, as I predicted, the enemy found a way to launch the missiles without them being blown up. The Arkbird's laser wasn't quick enough to reload to take out all of them. I hope none of the burst missiles went near the mainland because then it would all be over.

"C'mon, Arkbird! Use your lasers! The nuggets are gonna get killed!" I encouraged anxiously.

"Climb, kids! Go, go, go!" Chopper urged.

"Come on, nuggets! Climb! Move it!" I shouted.

"You've got to go faster!" Blaze ordered.

"Follow the flight leads!" A rookie said. At least one of them was smart.

"Did that attack really come from a submarine?" Another rookie inquired in awe.

"Yes! Now stop loitering and get your ass above five-thousand feet!" Blaze snapped.

"Missile vaporized in mid-air!" Thunderhead announced triumphantly.

"They're coming! They're still coming!" Chopper shouted.

Although reluctant to ask in the midst of the chaos, I couldn't escape the enemy chasing me. "Captain, clear my six."

"I'm coming!" She replied. Blaze came speeding towards me and started to trail the enemy after me, but the plane bugged out on us within a few seconds. Blaze let it go. I wondered why until I realized she and I were both three thousand feet high, and the burst missile was about to explode at any moment. We high-tailed it to five thousand feet and just in the nick of time.

"Ten seconds to impact. Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, impact... now!" Thunderhead said. My plane shook violently as multiple explosions rocked the world beneath me. Mushroom clouds rose up into the atmosphere, creating an ominous scene. The deafening sound didn't help either.

"The eject handle's stuck!" A rookie cried.

"Damn it, three rookies were just hit," Blaze notified grimly.

"Wings damaged! Losing altitude!" another rookie shouted.

"They're all falling," Grimm said, mortified.

"Damn it..." Chopper breathed.

Why did the Base Commander let the rookies fight with us? They were nowhere near ready for battle like this! This was a suicide mission for them. I'm not saying we were the best qualified either as we weren't much older than them. Still, we'd had better training and more experience with this type of situation. They'd been released to Sand Island too soon. We were supposed to be the best. Nuggets, nine times out of ten, weren't. And right now, my point was being proven. We needed people like Swordsman, ones who had years of experience. Not months.

"We can't deal with the enemy fleet like this," Thunderhead said.

"This is Sand Island Base Defense. Intense fighting along the coastline! We can't hold out much longer!"

"Is Genette okay?" Blaze demanded worriedly. "Where is he?"

"Don't worry about him. Worry about the oncoming enemy invasion fleet," the guy responded.

"You better tell me if my brother's okay or so help me God, I will land this plane and come find out myself!"

Silence engulfed the radio, making me wonder what they were doing. Were they getting him? Or were they getting the Base Commander to put Blaze in her place?

"Hi Blaze," Genette greeted, unnaturally cheerful.

"Hey! Are you okay?!" Blaze exclaimed.

"I'm safe. They put me in the bomb shelter."

"Okay, good. I just wanted to make sure you're okay. Didn't expect them to go get you."

"The guy looks white as a sheet. Did you threaten him or something?"

"Maybe..."

Genette snorted. "So that'd be a yes. How are y'all holding up?"

"We've had better days. We'll tell you more when we get back to base."

"Okay, be safe. All of you."

I felt no small amount of relief wash through me hearing Genette's voice. At least he was okay. Part of me was amazed Blaze told Sand Island off. The other part of me knows I would've done the same if I had a brother on the island.

The Sand Island guy came back on, sounding thoroughly annoyed. "See? He's fine. Now continue to engage!"

His tone didn't faze Blaze one bit. "Thank you for getting him. Although all you had to do was tell me he was in the bomb shelter."

"Eh, the guy's melodramatic," Chopper said.

"There are so many missiles! We can't handle this!" a rookie exclaimed. "There's too much going on!"

"We have no choice. Just weave through the missiles and continue attacking the ships!" Thunderhead commanded.

"Nuggets, attack from the outskirts. Leave the attacks in the middle to us, okay?" Blaze said, surprisingly gentle.

Meanwhile, Chopper spoke with his sarcasm in full force. "Oh, yeah, just weave through the missiles! What are you, nuts?"

"I think he is," Grimm said.

"He's been nuts for a while now," Blaze agreed.

"Call me nuts one more time, I'm going to report you to the Base Commander."

"Who's to say I wasn't referring to Chopper?" Grimm countered.

"Yeah, what's to- Hey!" Chopper protested.

"I've got my eye on you four," Thunderhead warned.

"You're supposed to. You're our AWACs." My wingman snickered as Thunderhead muttered something unintelligible, although I'm pretty sure it rhymed with 'ducking bass bowl.' Deciding to change the subject and divert attention away from us, Chopper said, "Man, look, they're gaining the upper hand again."

"We can't let them take over Sand Island," I said.

"Enemy sub launching burst missile. Brace for impact," The anti-sub group announced. Once again, for what seemed to be the thousandth time, Blaze, Chopper, Grimm, and I shot up to five thousand feet and cruised at a safe distance. How many ballistic missiles did they have? The Scinfaxi had to be monstrous with how many they launched.

"Ten seconds to impact. Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, impact... now!" Thunderhead said. The burst missile exploded, and when all the shaking was done, we flew back down and engaged, trying to destroy as many Yuktobanian ships and planes as we could before the

Chopper whistled. "Man, I'd hate to be on the receiving end of that..."

"Calculate the launch point of the burst missile while we still have time," I suggested before adding, "I'll slip amongst the bad guys and attack them while they're confused."

The anti-sub plane spoke over the mic. "Enemy sub launching burst missile. Brace for impact."

"Fuck me, how many missiles do they have loaded on that thing?" Blaze groaned.

"Late-" Chopper halted his train of thought immediately- "never mind. Listen, maybe it's like Hermione's bag in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. You know, how it was enchanted to hold more than it looked?" 

"You know, of all things I thought you'd reference of Harry Potter, that was not one of them." Blaze queried.

"I always thought it'd be handy to have something that holds that much," he replied.

"Come to think of it, girls need a purse like that..." Blaze mused.

"As if your purses aren't abysses already."

"I can stick my hand into my purse without looking and find what I need. Why are guys so petrified of women's purses?"

"Because they're endless voids! I swear-"

Thunderhead interrupted him with another countdown. "Ten seconds to impact. Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, impact... now!"

"Blue Hound, this is Arkbird. Requesting sonobuoy data link."

"Stand by. We're dropping a new sonobuoy."

"All remaining squadrons, rejoin into attack formation," I said. "The remaining enemy forces are regaining their momentum."

At that moment, Blaze shot past me at a very high rate of speed. Barely a second later, an enemy plane shot past me with Chopper on his tail.

"Blaze, fly in a straight line so I can shoot him down," Chopper instructed.

"Chopper, if I fly in a straight line, I will be killed!" Blaze protested. "Use your guns!"

Blaze sounded exasperated. Last time I heard her talk like that had been during a fake attack at the Academy when a false enemy had targeted Chopper. Her tone then was the same as it was now: scared. I refused to let myself lose another captain. With this in mind, I accelerated after them.

"Nagase, help Grimm with the ships!" Blaze commanded. "Chopper can deal with this enemy."

"But-" I started.

"That's an order!"

Reluctantly, I did as I was told, but if I saw that Chopper couldn't handle the enemy, I was going to help him whether she liked it or not. I could tell Grimm wanted to help out too, but Blaze had told him to keep firing at the ships as well.

"Blaze, if I use my guns, there's a chance I may hit you instead," Chopper pointed out.

"Fine, then at least try to get a missile lock on him and see if he will get off my tail."

"Captain, look out!" Grimm shouted.

Blaze narrowly avoided a mid-air collision.

That did it. Blaze and Chopper needed our assistance. "I'm coming to help."

"Me too!" Grimm said.

"Nuggets, destroy the enemy ships until this asshole is taken care of. If a burst missile warning comes, go to above five thousand feet immediately!" Blaze said firmly. There were a few shaky yeses, and in the distance, I could see some of the rookies aiming at the ships. Five missiles were fired, but only one hit the destroyer. I grimaced. Precision came with practice, but this battle shouldn't have been practice for them.

It took me and Grimm a while to catch up to Blaze and Chopper. They'd already been going so fast that I had to go full throttle to catch up. Blaze was executing loops, Immelman turns, Split-S's, and she still couldn't shake the enemy plane.

"This pilot was definitely at the top of his class!" Blaze attempted to joke, even giving a slight chuckle, but I knew her well enough to recognize its fakeness. I also knew she was trying to lighten the situation for our sake.

"I wonder..." Blaze began. She started flying directly to an enemy ship.

"Blaze! Pull up! You're gonna crash!" Chopper yelled. Blaze ignored him. Unable to tear my eyes away from her, I watched as she flew so close to the aircraft carrier that I thought there was no feasible way she could pull up in time. However, miraculously, Blaze shot straight up into the air right in the nick of time while the enemy plane crashed directly into the enemy ship, destroying both.

"Blaze, you okay?" Chopper inquired quickly. When she didn't respond, he repeated, "Blaze?"

"Captain?" Grimm prodded.

"Blaze?!" I asked, listening intently for any sign of response. I could hear shaky breathing.

"I'm fine," she finally replied.

"You sure? 'Cause you don't sound too good," Chopper said carefully.

"Yes, I'm fine," she assured. "Just an adrenaline rush. That's the closest I've come to being shot down. That's all."

"Okay..." He still sounded dubious, as did I. While she seemed calmer, not as stressed, her tone was still off, and I'm sure Chopper and Grimm heard it too.

"Blue Hound, this is Arkbird. Is that sonobuoy data available yet?"

"Roger, we're sending it now. What are you going to do?"

The Arkbird responded, "Countdown to firing. Five, four, three, two, one..."

Suddenly, the laser shot directly in front of me once more, and I had to pull a hairpin turn to avoid it.

"The Arkbird shot a laser into the ocean!" The anti-sub plane announced excitedly. "Explosion in the water! It damaged the submerged Scinfaxi! Picking up sounds of main ballast blow. The Scinfaxi is surfacing!"

I turned to look where the Arkbird had fired just in time to see the infamous Yuktobanian submiarine breaching the surface. I knew it was going to be big, but even I was impressed by its size. It had to be at least four-hundred feet long.

MISSION UPDATE

"It's huge..." I observed.

"Holy shit! How the hell do they make subs like that?" Grimm inquired in amazement.

"Looks like its lost diving ability. It's floating like a cork," Thunderhead observed, seemingly shocked as we were by seeing the sub. "All units, commence attack."

"The Scinfaxi's surfacing! It appears to be damaged!" A Yuke shouted. He was a little late to the party, considering it had already surfaced.

Blaze sighed in frustration. "Damn, we have to destroy that... that thing?" 

"How do we want to do this, Kid?" Chopper asked.

"We'll use hit and run tactics. Once you fire your weapons at it, turn and burn before it can shoot at you."

"Aircraft launching from enemy submarine," Blue Hound said.

"Roger, Blue Hound, stand by. Wardog, engage the enemy aircraft if you see an opportunity," Thunderhead instructed.

"Yes, sir," Blaze responded.

"Enemy sub launching burst missile. Brace for Impact."

Of course. More burst missiles. Could they give us a Goddamn break?!

"Multiple burst missiles..." Grimm groaned. "This really is like steel rain!"

"No kidding," Chopper said. "We gotta end this soon, or we'll be in trouble."

"Ten seconds to impact. Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, impact... now!" Thunderhead said.

The burst missile exploded, and I had stupidly been looking at the Scinfaxi when the explosion happened. All I could see was the shadow of the Scinfaxi burned into my vision for a few seconds, a black demon in the light. It gave me an ominous idea.

"It's like this enemy came straight out of the demon legends," I observed, dread settling into my bones. "That can't... It can't be!"

"I'm not letting these Yukes take the name of Demon of Razgriz," Blaze said. "We'd have to be scared of them for them to earn it, and we're not."

"Maybe you aren't," a rookie muttered.

All four of us were using the shoot and run tactics Blaze suggested. It seemed to be working. The SAMs targeting us could barely get a lock on us before we were out of range.

"If we can sink it here, you think we'll be able to turn the tide of battle, Captain?" Grimm questioned, going in for another run.

"It'd at least be a big loss for them, although I don't know if it'd change the tide of the war. Plus, it'd hopefully mean no more burst missiles."

"I hope so; we've been on the defensive for a while now."

"They're throwing intense anti-aircraft fire up at us. Watch out!" Chopper cautioned.

"Yeah, I know." Jokingly, Blaze added, "Those people in the sub just love my plane."

"Have you been hit?!"

"No, they just love to shoot at me."

"Speaking of being shot at, can someone get this bandit off my tail?" I requested.

Chopper let out an evil chuckle. "Let's see if I can have some fun with him..."

"What are you going to do?" I asked baffled.

"Don't do it, Chopper," Blaze admonished wearily. "Don't do- you're gonna do it..."

"If he flies in a straight line, it will be all right," Chopper said, more to himself than anybody else. Risking a glance behind me, I saw my comrade flying above the enemy and flipping his plane upside down.

"Greetings!" Chopper exclaimed.

"What the hell are you doing?" I asked, watching in bewilderment as the bandit bugged out. Chopper flipped back over.

"He was keeping up foreign relations," Blaze explained. The realization hit me almost instantly. I should've known he'd pulled a stunt from Top Gun.

"Huh?" Grimm sounded confused.

"The finger, Grimm," I said.

"Ah..."

"I think that might have made him mad, Chopper," Blaze mused.

"Why do you think that?"

"Look behind you."

Looking at my radar, I found a whole squadron chasing after him. I guess he flipped off their captain. Smart move, Chopper. Smart move.

"Shit... well, at least I showed him what I think of him," Chopper said nonchalantly.

"I'm coming in to help," Blaze assured.

"Me too," I added.

"Me three," Grimm said.

"No, go and destroy the Scinfaxi, I'll be fine," Chopper insisted.

"Chopper, do you really believe I would leave you when you have an entire squadron of planes behind you?" Blaze chastised.

"No, I don't, but the Scinfaxi is more important," He replied. "I can evade them for y'all to take the hunk of junk out."

"I'm going to handle these planes. Nagase and Grimm, you continue attacking the Scinfaxi," She commanded. "I've got this."

Reluctantly, Grimm and I agreed, diving towards the Scinfaxi. I simultaneously fired two GPB's and then pulled up before a SAMs could lock onto me.

Blaze was shooting down the planes like a person swats flies. They were too easy for her to take down, and within a couple of minutes, all four were gone.

"Enemy sub launching burst missile. Brace for impact," Blue Hound informed.

"Really? Another one?! Run out of missiles already!" Chopper shouted.

Grimm, ignoring his wingman's comment, said, "So that bird's got its eyes on us from outer space..."

"Yeah. Honestly, it's both comforting and unnerving," Blaze admitted.

"Ten seconds to impact. Eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, impact... now!" Thunderhead informed. The ground below us exploded as the burst missile took its toll. Thankfully, none of us were near the explosion, and we were all safe. "Arkbird, firing laser."

"Direct hit! It ripped a massive hole! The sub appears to have lost the ability to launch additional aircraft," Blue Hound notified excitedly.

"Blast it out of the water!" Thunderhead shouted.

"Let's rock'n'roll!" Chopper encouraged. Blaze instructed us to come at the Scinfaxi from different directions and simultaneously fire as many GPBS are we could. We did as told, 

"How can a submarine that large even exist?!" Grimm sounded incredulous as we pulled away.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

"It may be huge, but it's not invincible. Take that you sons of bitches," Chopper declared. The rookies cheered as it settled in that we'd just destroyed Yuktobania's most powerful submarine. I watched as the Scinfaxi exploded, blasting water into the air well over a hundred feet high.

"Let's get back to base, y'all!" Blaze cheerfully said. With the high of winning the battle, we turned our planes back towards Sand Island.

When we landed, Chopper jogged over to Blaze and lifted her up in an air hug, beaming as he showered her with praise over winning the battle. As he set her down, I heard pounding footsteps behind me. Turning around, I found Genette and Cassie sprinting towards us. I watched Cassie nearly fling herself into Grimm's barely prepared arms, and Genette pulled Blaze into a tight hug.

"Oh, I'm so glad y'all are all right," Genette said, leaving his sister to hug me, much to my surprise. Still, I gladly returned it, feeling giddy at the contact. 

"How are you doing?" I asked before Blaze could even open her mouth to respond.

"Good, good. Closest I've ever been to a ground battle. I definitely prefer being up in the air with y'all."

"Because we're awesome," Chopper declared, slinging his arm around Blaze's shoulders. 

My sister leaned into her boyfriend, smiling adoringly up at him. "As much as I'd like to stay here and chat, we should get going to the debriefing before we give Perrault anymore reason to hate us."

"I dare him to say any stupid shit to us after what we accomplished today."

"Bold of you to assume he's reached his peak dumbass."

"You'll put him in his place if he tries anything stupid. Come on." Our group trekked over to the main building. Chopper removed his arm from Blaze's shoulders before we entered but stuck closely to her. We practically collapsed from exhaustion in our seats.

The briefer cleared his throat the moment we did and began speaking. "The Arkbird was successfully employed over the forward edge of the battle area. The enemy amphibious force attacking Sand Island was repelled, and their invasion plans halted. The underwater carrier Scinfaxi, a lethal enemy threat, was engaged and destroyed by the superior firepower of the Arkbird. Having lost the support of the Scinfaxi, the remaining Yuktobanian forces retreated. Furthermore, we are requesting reinforcements from Central Command to replace our squadron members lost in combat."

"They never should've been sent up in the first place," Blaze said once we were out of the briefing room. We were all shuffling to our rooms, fully intending on crashing into our beds and sleeping until we were forced awake again.

"They weren't ready," I agreed, yawning.

"How many did we lose?" Cassie asked solemnly.

"Four that I know of so far. They're still checking the scene of the battle for those who had to eject."

"Hopefully the families won't have to wait long to find out if their loved one survived. The waiting is the worst part."

We solemnly nodded and agreed. I thought back to how close we'd all been to being shot down, how the idea of losing any single one of my squadron members mortified me. I couldn't imagine flying with anyone else than them. I figured the day would come when we'd get split up, but I prayed the day didn't happen for a long time.

Blaze was the first to reach her room. She stretched and said, "I'm going to shower and take a nap. I'll see y'all at dinner."

"I'll come by after I shower myself," Chopper told her.

Genette wagged a finger at them and warned, "Let me remind you my room is right next door, and I better not hear any hammering coming from your room unless you're nailing some art to the wall."

"I mean-" a broad grin spread across Chopper's face as he looked down at Blaze- "your sister is a work of art."

Blaze beamed at her boyfriend, and a silent understanding passed between them. A silent, mischievous understanding. Poor Genette was about to get pranked, of that, I had no doubt.

"Damn it, Chopper," Genette groaned. "Let me be intimidating."

Blaze patted her brother on the shoulder. "Keep dreaming."

She and Chopper went into their respective rooms, leaving Genette a mixture of amused and irritated. Grimm and Cassie bade us goodbye as they headed to the former's room, leaving me alone with Genette. 

"So I'm sure you want to do the same as everyone else," he began, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets," but I'm going to be working on some more photos and an article if you want to join me."

I nodded. "Give me half an hour."

"Cool. See you soon!" Genette strode off, and I entered my room across from Blaze's, glad to have this chaotic day ending on a good note.