Hey y’all!  Okay, it’s finally here :( my least favorite chapter of this whole freaking story.  Y’all know why most likely.  There is a little bit of cussing so if you don’t like cussing, I’m sorry but this chapter kind of needed it.

Okay, here’s the chapter.

Quote of the Chapter:

“Some people are like slinkys… they’re really good for nothing… but they still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs.”

~Adarian Malachai from the Dark Hunters Series

____________________________________

Journey Home

November 26, 2010…

Blaze 

Headaches suck.  Period.  I can’t describe the pain my pounding headache was causing me.  I had my eyes closed and I gently massaged my temple.  Why wasn’t it going away?  I didn’t even know what caused it.  The damn thing just slammed into me like a stampeding bull. I needed Tylenol or Advil or Aleve or something that would get rid of this headache.  I stood up.  Unfortunately, I stood up too quickly because when I was upright, my world looked like I was in a washing machine.  Steadying myself, I walked out of my room towards the infirmary where I had the oh-so pleasant pleasure of running into Bailey Cohen… quite literally might I add.

“Watch it,” Bailey warned.

“Je ne parle pas stupides,” I replied with a smirk.

“Watch it blondie.  Now get out of my way,” Bailey muttered.

“I was going to say the same to you because people that are in my way usually don’t last long,” I pointed out.

“Shove off.” Bailey pushed past me as I started walking down the hall laughing.

When I reached the infirmary, Genette was there.

“You okay Genette?” I asked curiously.

“Yeah.  I came here to get some Tums.  That lunch did not agree with my digestive system,” Genette answered while rubbing his stomach.

“I see,” I said warily.

“Are you okay?”

“Headache… which just got worse thanks to Bailey Cohen,” I grumbled.

“What happened?”

“Oh, you know, just being her usual, annoying self.”  I sat down next to Genette.

“It’s not like the headaches from a few weeks ago… is it?” Genette inquired seriously.  I knew what he was thinking.  I’m not sure if you remember a few weeks ago when I had those nightmares about Chopper crashing, but those nightmares caused me massive headaches.  Well, unfortunately for me, they were back, and at full force.  Of course, then I realized that’s why I had a headache because I had been thinking about the dreams… stupid me…

“Nah,” I lied easily.  Living with Genette made me really good at lying because Genette had some weird sixth sense about being able to sense when people were lying.  I wasn’t that good at it still after living with him practically my whole life but there were times that I could slip past his annoying telepathic senses.  Today was not one of those days.

“If it isn’t that bad, then why are you getting some pain relievers?” Genette countered.

“Because it’s been lasting a while and I’m sick of it,” I replied.  It was the truth… just not all of it.

“Are you ever going to tell me what that dream was about?”

“Don’t get your hopes up, Ginny,” I replied with a smirk.

“Don’t call me Ginny!” Genette snapped.

“Ooh, someone didn’t eat his wheaties.”  I just grinned while my brother rolled his eyes at me.

“Hello Blaze.  What can I do for you?” Dr. Gibson inquired cheerfully.

“I was wondering if I could take some Ibuprofen or Aleve because I have a big butt headache right now,” I told him with a tired sigh.

“Hang on.” Dr. Gibson headed over to the medicine cabinet.  He searched through what had to be hundreds of pill bottles before he pulled out some Aleve.  He handed me two pills, which I swallowed quickly, no water or anything.

“I don’t know how you do that,” Genette said, looking at me like I was nuts.

“Just like that,” I laughed. “I’ll see you later.”

I headed out of the infirmary, the Aleve already starting to take effect much to my pleasure.

“Blaze!” Chopper shouted.  I turned around to see Chopper bounding towards me.

“Hey Chopper.” Chopper stopped in front of me.

“Guess what?!” Chopper put both his hands on my shoulders.

“What?”

“Melissa’s pregnant!”

“What?!” I shouted. “When did this happen?!”

“She just found out an hour ago,” Chopper replied.

“Oh my god!  I have to go call her!” I bolted towards my room with Chopper on my heels.  I practically busted my door open because I couldn’t get to my phone quick enough.  I dialed the number with shaking hands.  Melissa picked up on the first ring.

“Hello?” She answered.

“Congratulations Melissa!  Chopper just told me!” I yelled gleefully into the phone.

“Thank you so much!”

“How far along are you?”

“Around two months.  I knew something was wrong when I wasn’t eating much but I was still gaining wait so I went to see the doctor and voila!  I’m pregnant!” Melissa laughed.

“That’s great!  I’m so happy for you!” I gushed.

“I can’t believe it!  I’m in shock!  The doctor just came in and told me I better get another nursery ready.”

“Haha, wow, way to break the news,” I chuckled.

“Seriously.  Listen, thank you so much for calling!  I have to go though because, uh, I still need to tell Jeff…”

“You haven’t told him yet?” I asked incredulously.

“No…” She sounded sheepish

“I’ll let you go so you can tell Jeff.  Bye!”

“Bye!  Tell Chopper I say hi and that I love and miss him!”

“Will do.”  I hung up and collapsed onto my couch.

“I take it she was happy to hear from you?” Chopper sat down next to me on the couch.

“She was ecstatic.  She still hasn’t told Jeff,” I replied, leaning my head on Chopper’s shoulder.

“You’re kidding,” Chopper chuckled.

“Nope, that’s why we hung up.”

“Blaze?”

“Hmm?”

“Did you ever tell your parents we were engaged?” I nodded.

“They were ecstatic.  My mom was screaming and my dad was speechless.”

“Okay, I just didn’t remember you telling me that you told them.”

“Sorry, it’s been a rough few weeks,” I whispered.

“I know.” Chopper kissed my temple as I snuggled up closer to him.  I didn’t want to let go.  Chopper didn’t seem to have any intentions of leaving so I took that as a sign that I could take a small cat nap.

____________________________________

Chopper 

Blaze had fallen asleep pretty quickly.  I didn’t want to move her, nor did I feel like moving anyways so I just sat there motionless, making sure I didn’t wake her up because she didn’t get near enough sleep as it was.

Slowly I nodded off as well, once in a while adjusting so that Blaze wouldn’t suddenly slump into my lap and wake up from the impact.

It was finally five thirty when Blaze stirred.  Her eyes opened immediately.  They didn’t open slowly, nor did they shoot open, they just opened.

“You okay?” I yawned.

“Yeah, bad dream…” Blaze mumbled.  I looked at her curiously, but her expression showed that any questions in that direction would be unwelcome.  I unwillingly dropped the subject.

We got up to head off to dinner.

Dinner was… interesting to put it mildly.  The gang and I were sitting down, eating our dinner, having a civil conversation, when a guy named Aaron, whose callsign was Cupid, burst through the dining room doors… in a tutu.  Not a little pink fluff, I mean fully decked out in the tights, corset, the skirt, and the shoes (how he got his feet into those shoes I’ll never know because he doesn’t have the smallest feet in the world).

“What. The. Hell?” I said.  Everyone just stared wide-eyed at him as he ran between all the tables then out through the doors again.  My question was why did he have a tutu on and where did he get it?  Blaze was the first one to start laughing.  Soon everyone in the cafeteria was laughing their heads off.

Once everyone had caught their breath from laughing, we continued eating.

“Hey Blaze?” I asked as we were walking out of the dining hall.

“Yeah?” Blaze yawned.

“Do you want to sleep in my room tonight?” I inquired kind of quietly.  Blaze’s cheeks flushed but she nodded with a heart-melting smile.

“I’d love to.  Let me just get my jammies on and brush my teeth and then I’ll head on over,” She told me.

“No problem.” I walked her to her room like a gentleman before heading off to my room.

Blaze came to my room about half an hour later.

“Good night,” She said as she snuggled up underneath the covers.

“Good night Blazing Star,” I whispered, kissing her on the cheek.  Blaze’s lips turned into a smile as she fell asleep beside me.

November 28, 2010…

“Lieutenants, report to the Commander.  He has a job for you,” Hamilton instructed us.  When he walked away, I groaned.

“What does that geezer want now?” I muttered as Blaze and I headed to the Base Commander’s room from the crew room.  I opened the door for Blaze as we walked in.  We stood at attention as we waited for the Commander to start on what he had called us down for.  I heard the pounding of steps and risked a glance behind me.  Nagase was next to Blaze while Grimm appeared next to me.

“Lieutenants, you have been requested to do a fly-by above November International Stadium as a pre-speech show.  I want you up in the air and practicing until I order you to come down.  Understood?” The Commander glared at us.

“Sir, yes, sir!” We said.  We saluted him before heading to the hangar.

“What planes do you want to fly in?” Pops inquired.

“I think we will fly in the F-15C’s,” Blaze decided.  Pops nodded and pointed us to the hangar that the planes were in.  None of us wasted any time getting into the planes and taking off.  We really didn’t want to get yelled at by the Base Commander even though we didn’t give jack about what he said.  But, since this was kind of an honor to be doing a fly-by over the stadium, we were going to hold our tongues and actually listen for once.

“Nagase, you lead the formation.  I can’t remember jack about that fly-by we learned in school and I know you aced that thing,” Blaze ordered.

“Are you sure?” Nagase inquired.

“Yeah, I’m sure.”

“Okay…” Nagase sounded hesitant.

____________________________________

Hamilton 

I watched as the Wardog Squadron flew in perfect formation.  They were good.  Almost too good.  They were a threat to any enemy that crossed their path.  It was interesting to say the least.

I had dug up some videos of the Demon Lord and the similarity of flying between Blaze and the Demon Lord was uncanny.  They pulled the same maneuvers, they pulled strategies.  The only difference was Blaze seemed to be more unpredictable.  She would pull out of a straight dive without any warning.  She did everything without warning.  Not just in the air either.  She was unpredictable on the ground.  You never knew what her schedule was. One day she would be in the crew room and the next she’d be in the hangar where Pops was and then the next day she would be asleep in her room (or Chopper’s room).

They executed the end of the fly-by perfectly with Nagase and Blaze going up into a loop and Chopper and Grimm splitting off and regrouping for one more pass above the pretend stadium which we were using markers on the ground to mimic the stadium’s size.

The practice went on for a grueling four hours of the same movements.  No matter what they did, the Commander always found something wrong with it.  One of them was too far away or one was going too slow.  Near the end, Blaze and Chopper started singing- very off-key might I add- I’ll Make A Man Out of You again.  Nagase and Grimm jumped in.  I think the Base Commander couldn’t take the singing anymore because he ordered them to land immediately.

They did so without any argument or hesitation leading me to the conclusion that they had purposefully sang to annoy the Base Commander.  They didn’t sing it just once, oh no.  They sang it six times in a row, never once missing a word or beat.

When the Wardog Squad landed, they bolted inside, far away from all of us ‘top brass.’

____________________________________

November 29, 2010…

Grimm 

It was the day of the fly-by.  Blaze, Chopper, Nagase, Cassie, Genette and I were all pretty stoked about it for two reasons.  One reason was because we were being given a great honor.  Second reason was Genette and Cassie were being allowed to come fly with us.  Genette was given permission to take pictures while we did the fly-by so he was super excited about that part.

The six of us walked to the briefing room with our excitement bubbling to near overload.  Sitting down, we could barely stop fidgeting.

The briefer walked in with a stern look on his face.  He turned to face the room, which turned out to be just us six.  Orson Perrault walked in a few seconds later, looking like he had had some more donuts.  One day, I was going to find that stash he hid because I swear he did.  Of course, Chopper’s the one that gave me the idea in the first place.

The Base Commander cleared his throat to get our attention.

“We’re holding a peace ceremony at a stadium in November City.  Our Vice President will be giving a speech to rally the citizens.  Now… uh… you’ve been asked to do a fly-by above the ceremony.  Don’t screw this up!” The Base Commander yelled.

Chopper grumbled something indecipherable loud enough for just me and the gang to hear it.  I couldn’t understand jack what he said but Blaze got it because she masked her laughing by having a coughing fit.

The Base Commander continued. “You should consider this an honor, and do your part to boost citizen morale!  This is the Vice President we’re dealing with here, so consider this a guard detail as well and be prepared for anything out there.

Taking his cue, the briefer began his briefing. “Your mission this time takes place above November International Stadium—a gigantic, 70,000-seat arena located in the center of the city of November, on the southern coastline of Osea.  Vice President Appelrouth is giving a speech there, and you will be conducting a fly-by above the stadium as part of the production.  You can return to base as 1730 hours, the time the speech is scheduled to end.  After the fly-by, remain in formation and conduct a combat air patrol in and around the stadium until that time.  This is a ceremonial flight, but you will be fully armed in case of an emergency.  Don’t forget to patrol the airspace surrounding the stadium too.”

Operation: Supercircus

Location: November City

Date:  29/11/2010

Time: 1030 Hours

            I had kind of blanked out during that whole briefing because I was thinking about that guy Cupid running around in a tutu in my mind.  He wouldn’t tell anyone why he did it but he suddenly had a ton of cash during a poker game we held which didn’t make sense because Chopper had wiped him clean of money.  Needless to say, he was broke again due to Chopper a little while later.

            The six of us got up and headed towards the hangar.  None of us thought that this would actually turn into a battle.  Enemy planes would be spotted if they came that far inland.  There was no way they could come.

            Our spirits were high.  Chopper was carrying Blaze fireman-style to the hangar.  Blaze was laughing as she attempted to get him to put her down.  No such luck there.

            Finally, he put her down so she could assign us our planes.  Of course, she had had the planes picked out for a while: the F-15Cs.  I liked the plane.  It was easy to maneuver, great at air combat, and had a decent speed.

            I hopped into my plane; Cassie was going to be my RIO.  Genette was going to ride with Chopper but Nagase convinced the Base Commander to let Genette fly with her.  Blaze and Chopper were flying solo in their planes, which I kind of felt bad about.

            We took off as soon as we could, because we were on a tight schedule with no margin for error.

____________________________________

November City…

November City appeared on the horizon.  I could just see the outline of the buildings.  Mainly I could see the searchlight from the stadium going every which way in the sky.

“Let’s do this!” Blaze exclaimed.

“I’m proud to be able to fly like this,” I said.  Never in my mind had I ever thought I would be asked to do a fly-by, especially not a fly-by as honorary as this.

“This is a ceremonial flight.  Watch you manners, Kid,” Chopper teased.

“Me?  Watch my manners?  Why whatever are you talking about?  It’s not like I insult the top brass or bug our AWACS or disobey orders once in a while,” Blaze replied, acting innocent.

“Oh no, not at all.  That’s Nagase,” Chopper laughed.

“Hey!  You two are the ones that are-” Nagase started.

“It was a joke Nagase.  Geez!  This leading the flight thing has got you really flustered,” Chopper pointed out.

“Well, we’re kind of doing this for the Vice President and I really don’t want to screw up,” Nagase said bluntly.

“Do you want me to do it Nagase?” Blaze inquired.  I knew she hated leading honorary stuff.  I wasn’t exactly sure why but I just knew she did.

“No, I can do this,” Nagase assured her.

“Alright, let me know if you need to change positions sooner than later though okay?”

“Got it.”

The four of us flew in a few seconds of silence before Nagase started speaking again.

“Everyone, form up and don’t stray apart from each other.  Okay, Blaze?” Nagase questioned seriously.

“I’ll be fine.  It’s Chopper you should worry about.  He’s been weaving all over the place,” Blaze chuckled.

“Great.  Let’s begin.”  We formed up perfectly… or as perfectly as we could get it.  We were in a tight formation.

“It’s time.  Begin your ceremonial flight,” Thunderhead informed us as if we didn’t know already.  That guy seriously needed to work on his timing.

We flew straight before heading up at a steep angle towards the sky to about seven thousand feet before we started heading back down again.  When we had leveled out at about two thousand feet, we went back up again.  I don’t know who had planned this flight path but it was kind of erratic.

None of us were speaking.  Even Motormouth Chopper wasn’t because we were all too worried that we would screw up and the Base Commander would have our heads if that happened.

We leveled out at around six thousand feet.  Then, once more, we headed back towards the ground at a semi-steep angle.

“Nice, Kid.  We look great,” Chopper commented.

“Thanks.  Let’s keep this up so we can fly casually and show off to the spectators,” Blaze chirped.

“I like showing off,” Chopper agreed.

“Yeah, we know you do,” I joked.

“Shut up, Grimm,” Chopper muttered but I knew he was smiling.

We were barely a thousand feet above the ground when we leveled out once more.  The buildings below me zipped past my plane.  It didn’t feel like I was going that fast but I knew I was.  Maybe it was because I was so used to flying that it felt like a really, really fast car although how a car and a plane are similar I’m not sure.

The next move was where Chopper would turn his plane sideways to the left, I would turn my plane sideways to the right, and Nagase and Blaze would turn their planes upside down, rolling the opposite way in the process.

When we righted back up, I could clearly see the stadium right in front of me, its searchlights waving in the sky like those balloon men with the crazy flailing arms.

Our next maneuver was for all of us to do what Chopper and I had done.  Blaze and Chopper would turn their planes horizontally in the air towards the right while Nagase and I did it the left.  We flew like that above the stadium before righting up into a tight formation that we had managed to hold together flawlessly.

“We’re doing awesome!” Chopper shouted.

“We were born this way!” Blaze laughed.

“I.  Hate.  That.  Song,” Nagase said through what I knew was gritted teeth.  I heard Blaze giggling over the mic.  Cassie was laughing too at our antics.

“I didn’t know you guys were so chit-chatty,” Cassie told me.

“We’re just getting started,” I grinned.

“We’re keeping this formation pretty tight,” I said.

“That’s good.  It looks better the tighter it is.  It also looks more complex which is the effect we’re going for,” Blaze answered. 

For the final part of our fly-by, Nagase and Blaze went up into a loop where Nagase went in a tighter loop while Blaze went in a wider one so that she would end up in front, Nagase would end up in the back.  Chopper and I split sideways.  We ended up in perfect formation as we did a 360 turn above the stadium.  After that, we got in standard formation, Nagase on Blaze’s left, Chopper on Blaze’s right, and I on her six.

“This marks the end of your flight.  Good work, Wardog,” Thunderhead announced.

“Thanks Thunderhead,” Blaze said.

“You wouldn’t expect any less from this group.  We were really smooth up there,” Chopper pointed out.

“We’re always smooth,” Nagase acknowledged.

“Oh my god!  I just realized something!” Chopper gawped.

“What?” Blaze asked.

“Thunderhead actually gave us a compliment,” Chopper told us.

“You’re right!  He did!” I agreed.

“Don’t make me regret it,” Thunderhead muttered.

“Whatever gave you that idea?” Chopper inquired innocently.

“You really expect me to answer that?” Thunderhead countered.

“No, I just want to bug you,” Chopper replied simply.

“Well you’re doing a fantastic job,” Thunderhead remarked and I could just see the eye roll he was giving Chopper.

“Stay in formation.  The V.P’s speech is about to start,” Blaze ordered.  We stopped our ongoing conversation and waited for the speech.  We listened for the broadcast impatiently.  As I waited for the speech to begin, I saw the flashing lights of cameras from photographers and citizens.  It looked like a lot of white Christmas lights blinking.  Christmas was just a few weeks away.  It made me wonder if this war was going to be over by then so I could be home with my family.  My train of thought was interrupted by the Vice President’s speech beginning.

“People of Osea…” The V.P. began. “Please lend an ear to this broadcast.  As your Vice President, I stand here on behalf of the President of Osea.  Listen to your fellow countrymen cheering before me.  They are filled with anger against Yuktobania, and they swear that they will not drop their weapons until Yuktobania has surrendered.  Now, I ask you to listen.  Listen to their cheers!”

“Aw, great,” Chopper muttered. “Here comes the thunderous applause.”

I waited for the applause to come… but it never did.  Instead, it sounded more like singing… it was singing.  I tried to decipher what the song was.  Finally, I figured it out.  It was Journey Home, personally, one of the best songs ever made.  However, I don’t think that was the reaction the Vice President was hoping for.

“Wait, that song…” The Vice President stammered. “Citizens, please, stop this…”

“Thoughts endless in flight, day turns to night…” Chopper started singing along and very off-key might I add.

“That’s not exactly Rock n’ Roll, you know,” I felt compelled to point out.

“Who cares?” Chopper retorted. “Hey, they wanna get along with the enemy too, right?  Man, this song’s got soul!”

“Amen!” Blaze agreed.

Mission Update

“This is Thunderhead.  Approaching enemy formation confirmed.  Wardog, engage them,” Thunderhead ordered.

“Whoa, what?!” Blaze practically shouted. “Why the hell are there enemy planes?!”

“I don’t know.  They shouldn’t have gotten so far inland without being spotted,” Nagase though aloud.

“Stadium in sight,” A Yuke said.  Damn, they were going after the stadium.  But why?

“Secure the airspace until the Gorizont Squadron arrives,” Another Yuke replied.

“Tally ho!  Enemy fighters,” I announced solemnly.

“Wardog, engage them,” Blaze ordered. “Chopper, stick to my tail.  Grimm, Nagase, cover each other.  Whatever you do, don’t fight them one on one.”

“You got it Blaze,” Chopper replied without hesitation.

Blaze sounded… off…  I don’t know why but something about her tone of voice was off.  It unnerved me.

“Are we… the only allies here?” Nagase asked quietly.  Crap, I hadn’t thought about that.

Blaze had already shot down two aircraft that she had gone head-on with.  She was trailing another plane with Chopper at her tail like a dutiful dog.  Maybe he sensed something was off with Blaze too because he answered her immediately, completely serious, no joking tone in his voice at all.  Cassie was instructing me on where enemy planes were… which was all around us pretty much.

Nagase was in front while I covered her tail.  She was heading towards an enemy aircraft near the stadium that had slipped past Blaze unnoticed.  Actually, I think Blaze knew it was there, she was just letting us get it.

“McNealy Air Force Base tried to scramble fighters, but the runway was blocked after someone crashed on takeoff,” Thunderhead revealed.

“How the hell do you crash on takeoff?” Chopper sounded appalled.  I had to agree with him.  Takeoff is one of the easiest things to do.  I mean, seriously?  Takeoff?  Landing I can understand because that is a complete pain but takeoff?  Eesh…

Nagase started firing at the enemy plane that was just beyond her gun point but she was closing in fast on it so shooting now was helping her get aim I guess.

Blaze had shot down the plane she had been after; Chopper hadn’t strayed five feet from Blaze’s plane in the meantime.

“I’m calling for reinforcements now.  It’ll be six minutes before the nearest squadron arrives,” Thunderhead told us grimly.

“Roger that,” Nagase replied.

“So we’re on our own until then?” I asked wearily.

“Looks like it,” Blaze mumbled.  I suddenly realized there were three times as many planes as from when we started.  I counted nine planes total but I knew more were on their way.

“This is not good,” Blaze said. “We’re completely outnumbered.”

“That’s never stopped us before,” Chopper pointed out.

“This feels different,” Blaze countered.

“Like what?” Chopper inquired curiously.  It didn’t seem like he wanted to make fun of Blaze, he wanted to know what was wrong.

“I don’t know… there’s something off about this whole thing,” Blaze replied carefully.  So that’s why she had sounded so weird in the beginning of the mission.

“…Hey, wait a minute,” Chopper said suddenly.

“What?” Blaze asked quickly.

“Whoa, they’re still singing.  Why aren’t they evacuating the stadium?  Where’s the air-raid siren?” Chopper practically shouted.  I listened over all the chatter and static on the mic and sure enough, I heard the ongoing singing from the citizens down below.

“Are you saying the enemy’s invaded this far inland?” A stadium personnel guy questioned in shock.

“Yes!  Now sound that damn alarm!” Blaze ordered.  Ooh, someone was ticked off.  But honestly, if you see planes shooting at each other, I think that’s a pretty good indication to sound the air-raid siren, don’t you think?

“Are you sure those planes are headed for this stadium?” Another stadium personnel guy asked.

“Dammit!  Sound the alarm!” Blaze shouted.

“Captain Blaze, calm yourself!” Thunderhead ordered.

“I would if they would sound that freaking alarm!  There’s a damn air-raid,” Blaze ranted.

“Thunderhead, I’m agreeing with Blaze on this one,” Chopper said.

“You always agree with Blaze,” Thunderhead retorted.

“That’s because she’s always right unlike some people I know,” Chopper pointed out.  I heard Chopper say Thunderhead when he coughed and I laughed, knowing full well that Thunderhead heard it.

“For your information, I’m right on many things,” Thunderhead objected.

“Yeah, when we already know it,” Chopper countered.

“Leave it Chopper.  You can’t win with the top brass.  They think they know it all,” Blaze laughed.

“Very true,” Chopper agreed.

“How could they time this so well?  Were they listening to the speech, too?” A stadium personnel wondered aloud.

“Or they have really good timing,” Nagase suggested.

“Or both,” Blaze grumbled.

“Knowing our luck, it’s the latter of the two,” Chopper said.

“See, you always agree with Blaze,” Thunderhead pointed out.

“And see, you think you know everything,” Chopper countered.

“Is this the Yukes’ way of expressing their opinion of the speech?” One of the stadium personnel suggested.

Nagase and I strayed a bit apart from each other going after two planes that were flying next to each other.  After firing two missiles at Blaze which missed her by a long shot, the enemy plane I was trailing went into a loop.  I followed closely, making sure I didn’t lose it.  There was no way I was letting the enemy take over November City.

Nagase had strayed farther away from me chasing after another enemy place.  Once I had shot down the one I was after, I went to her trail position again, protecting her.

I could see Genette’s head swiveling to find enemy planes.  Turning around, I saw Cassie doing the same.

“Your objective is to keep civilian casualties as low as you possibly can,” Thunderhead said.

“Well if the stadium picks up the pace with the evacuation, that will be easy,” Blaze retorted.

“Someone’s in a bad mood,” Nagase commented.

“Something’s off about this mission and it’s bugging me, that’s all,” Blaze replied.

“What is it?” Chopper inquired.

“If I knew that, I would tell you,” Blaze snapped.

“Whoa, easy tiger.  I was just wondering,” Chopper defended.

“I know.  All the stress is getting to me,” Blaze apologized.

“Well, you’re kind of the captain of one of the most well-known squadrons in the war.  I can’t imagine the pressure you’re under right now,” Chopper consoled.  Blaze laughed tiredly.

“Just stick close to me, okay?”

“Okay,” Chopper replied without hesitation.

Blaze shot past me with Chopper barely a second behind her.  Nagase and I still had no clue how Chopper managed to follow Blaze’s mercurial flight paths.  They were headed after an enemy that had been circling the stadium relentlessly.  What it was trying to do, I wasn’t sure, but Blaze obviously didn’t like the constant circling so she decided that she was going to make clean work of it.  She did too.  Barely a minute went by before that enemy plane was falling in a heap towards the ground.

“Grimm, behind you!” Cassie warned quickly.

“Aaah, missile!” I exclaimed suddenly.  I realized there were two enemy planes behind me.  God, they need rearview mirrors on these planes so that I can see and so can Cassie.  We’re not flies and can see all over the freaking place.

“Get out of their Grimm!  You too Nagase!” Blaze ordered.

I didn’t need to be told twice.  Nagase and I split and grouped up with Blaze and Chopper while Blaze went head- on with an enemy plane.

I swear to god I heard Blaze growl at the enemy plane.  I felt compelled to ask her about it.

“Blaze, did you just growl?” I queried.

“Yes, and I have no shame in it either,” Blaze replied.

“Awesome, my fiancée is a werewolf.  That’s grrrreat!” Chopper laughed good-naturedly.

“Really Chopper?” Nagase mused.

“Did you forget your own philosophy Nagase?  Always expect the unexpected from Chopper,” I repeated.

“How could I forget?” Nagase chuckled.  She told Chopper, “I’m still amazed you haven’t been suspended for all the insults you imply for the top brass.”

“I like to think it’s because of my stunning good looks,” Chopper replied.

“What?” Nagase sounded confused.

“Not your perky nipples like Dean Winchester?” Blaze laughed.

“That too,” Chopper added.

“Oh god,” Cassie laughed.

“The enemy’s targeting a public rally!” Nagase said in frustration. “What are they thinking?!  This breaks every engagement rule in the book!”

“No kidding!” Blaze agreed.

“They’re singing the song for solidarity with Yuktobania down there!  Why now?” Nagase inquired.

“They’re sick of losing the people they love,” Blaze answered.  I thought about that.  Would my parents be down there as well, singing for harmony with Yuktobania if I or my brother had died in combat?  Blaze had a good point… I just wondered where she got it from.

My train of thought was stopped when Blaze did a rolling turn over me.  That girl had some serious skill.  Then I realized she had been avoiding a missile and had rolled to avoid the missile and me.

“Blaze, do you want me and Grimm to split up?  We’ll be more successful in shooting them down,” Nagase pointed out.

“No,” Blaze said firmly. “Stay in pairs.  None of us are going to fight them one on one.  This time, we always have back up.”

I wasn’t sure what Blaze was so upset about on this mission.  She seemed nervous, scared.  I couldn’t quite place it.

“Our allied planes will deal with the unknown aircraft.  Start escorting the crowd,” A stadium personnel guy ordered.

“No shi-” Blaze began but Thunderhead cut her off.

“Captain Blaze!  Watch your language!” Thunderhead warned.

“Screw you,” Blaze muttered.  I heard Chopper cough from surprise at what Blaze had said.  Blaze was known to mouth off a little to the top brass but never had she actually told them to go screw themselves.

“Oh wait,” Blaze added. “You already have.”

Chopper howled with laughter as I felt my mouth drop open.  Nagase slowly said “Holy crap” while Thunderhead sputtered from shock.

“How dare you insult me like that!” Thunderhead roared.

“Save it Thunderhead.  I’m a little bitchy right now because I’m really pissed off at Yuktobania, I’m in a damn freaking air battle with no allied planes and mix those two together, and I get seriously pissed off by people who think they’re so high and mighty when really it’s the ones that are in the lower ranks doing all the damn work.  So if I offended you, I’d say I’m sorry, but I’m not.”

Thunderhead was speechless by Blaze’s sudden tirade.  I knew she had no love of the top brass but to insult them like that… she was going to get an earful when we got back to base.

Thunderhead smartly dropped the subject as Blaze sighed in moodily. 

“Calm down, Blaze.  You can punch him when we get back to base,” Chopper assured her.

“Don’t tell me that or I will,” Blaze replied bluntly.  Cassie was cracking up.

“She has guts,” Cassie declared.

“You have no idea,” I laughed.

“We’ll evacuate the Vice President through the boiler room on the eastern side,” A stadium personnel announced.

“Open the entrance gates.  Get the people on the first floor out that way,” Another one said.

“Once they’re out, get them as far away as possible,” Someone else shouted.

Nagase and I went into a loop to follow two enemies trailing Blaze and Chopper who were trailing two other enemy planes.  I’m sure it looked weird to the people down below to see eight planes lined up with each other.

“…All right.  Let’s think about our priorities here,” A stadium personnel guy said.  These guys were not that bright… at all.  They should’ve been thinking about their priorities at the beginning, not in the middle of the freaking air battle.  Sheesh!  And I thought Blaze and Chopper were blonde.  These stadium personnel people made us look like super-geniuses.

“Evacuation has begun,” Thunderhead informed us.

“Well it’s about freaking time!” Blaze muttered.

“Well, yeah, but they can’t get out that fast,” I pointed out.

“That’s why I’ve been freaking out that they didn’t evacuate sooner,” Blaze said.

“Why’d the Vice President have to assemble so many people here?” Chopper inquired. “Geez, what a moron.”

“Captain Davenport, shut your mouth and take out those enemies,” Thunderhead told Chopper fiercely.

“Aye, aye, Sir.  Now you’re talkin’,” Chopper said.  I could just see the Cheshire cat grin Chopper had on his face.

Blaze and Chopper flew down low through the buildings to lose some enemy planes that had been trailing them.  It worked.  Their planes blended in with the slate colored buildings, making it almost impossible for the enemy to see them.

 “We’re being pushed back,” Nagase announced worriedly.

“How’s Genette?” Blaze inquired fretfully.

“He’s doing good.  Hasn’t passed out yet which is a good sign,” Nagase answered with a hint of amusement in her voice.

“How’s Cassie?”

“Great.  She’s been laughing at our conversations this whole time.  She loved you telling off Thunderhead,” I announced with a grin.

“Heh,” Blaze laughed sheepishly.

“Oh now she’s embarrassed,” Chopper commented.

Blaze and Chopper shot up from the buildings between two enemy planes.  I think Blaze and Chopper scared the hell out of those enemies because they jerked away when it happened, plus it took them a few seconds to realize it was Blaze and Chopper.  Then the enemies made the mistake of going head on with them.  Word of advice, never go head on with Blaze and Chopper… you won’t win…

“Kvant Eight shot down!  Damn Razgriz!” A Yuke announced.

“It’s his fault he didn’t move fast enough,” Blaze retorted.

“Or maybe it’s because you shot him down,” Chopper said.

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“No one escapes when you go after them.”

“Yeah they do, it’s just not often,” Blaze said.

“You know what I mean,” Chopper answered.

“Four minutes until reinforcements arrive,” Thunderhead told us.

I headed after an enemy plane that had zipped too close to the stadium.  Nothing was going to happen to that stadium as long as I was here.  Rolling my plane to the right, I kept low to the ground at first, then I slowly started making my way up to the plane, staying right underneath it, in its blind spot.  I got within ten feet below it before decreasing my speed just enough that it could get in front of me and I could get a clean shot.  It worked.  Barely a second had gone by before I locked onto the target and had fired a missile straight at its middle.  The plane didn’t even have time to react before it got hit.

“Nice shot Grimm,” Cassie praised.

“Thank you sweetie,” I said.

“Just as we briefed, there’s only four of them,” A Yuke said, sounding confident.

“That may be enough.  These are the Razgriz, after all,” Another Yuke replied a little hesitantly.

“Thunderhead, when are those reinforcements going to get here?  We are completely surrounded!” Blaze sounded frazzled; the pressure she was under must’ve been incredible.

“Just hold on for a couple more minutes!” Thunderhead sounded exasperated.

“I feel like we’re being sent to die as some sacrifice!” Nagase exclaimed.

“Don’t say that!” Blaze said sharply… she never spoke sharply to us.  What was wrong?  What in the hell had put Blaze so over the edge? “No one’s dying.  Not today.  Not tomorrow.  Not a week after today.  No one is this squadron is dying.”

None of us really knew how to reply to that, so we didn’t.

“Somebody go up to the front of the line and guide everyone out,” A stadium personnel guy shouted.  The evacuation still wasn’t done?  Good god we have such idiots on the ground.  I hate to sound mean but we do, I’m sorry.

Blaze and Chopper were coming head on with us; I realized why after my missile alert went off.  Blaze lifted her plane just a little bit before firing her guns at the enemy plane.  With Chopper’s help, the plane exploded into a massive fire ball.  Blaze jerked her plane up to fire at the enemy plane that had been trailing her and Chopper for some time.

“Can you evacuate the VIP boxes first?” A stadium personnel guy asked.

“Divert the enemy’s attention over here!” Chopper suggested, flying east of the stadium.  Blaze followed him, not letting him out of her sight. “Get out of there, everyone!  I’ll buy you as much time as I can!”

“We are going to buy y’all as much time as we can,” Blaze corrected.

“Grimm, that enemy plane is still behind you,” Cassie informed me.

“Damn, he won’t give up!” I grunted with annoyance.  That enemy plane trailing me for a while and it looked like he wasn’t giving up any time soon.

“Like hell he’s getting you,” Blaze muttered.

“I got it Blaze,” Nagase assured her.  Nagase got behind the plane, attempting to get a missile lock on it.  It was no good.  The enemy kept weaving from side to side, not allowing her to get a missile lock.

“Dammit, stay still!” Nagase ordered the plane.  I turned around to see where the plane was… and it wasn’t there anymore.  Well, it was but it was on fire and falling towards the ground.

“Nice shot Nagase,” I complimented.

“That wasn’t me,” Nagase replied.

“Then who was it?”

“Blaze,” Nagase replied simply.  I looked behind me.  Blaze wasn’t there.  Looking around, she was coming perpendicular to where Nagase and I were.

“You shot that down Blaze?” I asked in amazement.

“It wasn’t leaving you alone and it was pissing me off,” Blaze answered bashfully.

“Wow, a real dogfight.  I kind of wish I could stay and watch,” A stadium personnel said thoughtfully.

“Three more minutes,” Thunderhead announced.

“Thank god,” Blaze murmured.  I had barely heard her but it was definitely her.

“What’s the point of this mission?” A Yuke muttered.  I couldn’t agree more with the guy (never thought I’d say I agreed with a damn Yuke) because for one, they shouldn’t be here and two, I wasn’t in the mood to have the top brass yelling at us to get our asses moving when all they did was sit down and do jack except give us orders.  Yeah, and we need to move our asses.  Pfft!

“Kvant Six, watch yourself.  Don’t let your Captain hear that,” Another Yuke warned.

Chopper and Blaze were attacking a new enemy formation that had appeared on the horizon on top of all the other squadrons that were here.  We were outnumbered four to one; we still had two minutes before our chance of surviving this ordeal increased by having reinforcements backing us up.

The two of them went head on using their special weapons to attack from a longer distance.  The each fired two missiles, one at each plane, before going into a complete nosedive towards the ground.  Three of the four planes went down while the fourth one that had been smart enough to get out of the missiles way was seeking revenge on Blaze and Chopper by going after them.  He didn’t last long when Nagase and I got behind him.

“You can thank those damn warmongers for all this,” A stadium personnel guy muttered.

“I can assure you that I and my squadron are no warmongers,” Blaze shot back.

“If you’re going to attack, attack the Vice President.  The rest of us just want peace,” Another personnel guy said.  I had to say, that logic wasn’t half as cocked as it sounded.  Most of us, obviously excluding the Vice President, wanted peace.  Hell, everyone on base (excluding the Base Commander because he’s a greedy, selfish warmonger) wanted peace too.

“I guess we just took a step back on the road to peace…” The same personnel guy said.

“Kid, this is Chopper.  Are the reinforcements close?”

“We have a little over two minutes to go.  Just hang in there,” Blaze replied tiredly.  Chopper wasn’t the one that needed to be told to hang in there.  It sounded more like it was Blaze that needed to hang in there.

“Roger.  I’ll hang on a little longer,” Chopper assured.

“Please, miss!” Nagase whispered as she avoided a missile fired at her.  I wondered how Genette was holding up with almost dying so many times.  That guy had guts if he was flying with Nagase because Nagase was kind of a crazy flyer too.  Genette should be glad he wasn’t flying with Blaze or Chopper because those two would make Genette black out in five seconds flat.

With the help of Cassie, we spotted the airplane that was after Nagase.  It had been in my blind spot.  I slowed down a little bit so that I could get behind the plane and get a clean shot.  Unfortunately, this fighter was actually kind of smart and bailed out on Nagase before I could get a missile lock on them.  I followed the plane closely with Nagase right behind me.  It finally made the mistake of trying to fight Chopper head on and that’s when the enemy got shot down.  How many times have I said never go head to head with Chopper or Blaze?  The odds of you winning are almost impossible.

“Too many, too many, there’s too many!” Chopper yelled in frustration.

“We can’t let them take control of the airspace!” Nagase said.

“We’re not going to let them,” Blaze answered with determination.  She sounded so confident right then and there that I believed her.  We weren’t going to let them take over.  Not on my watch… or Blaze’s for that matter.

“Captain Davenport, how much longer do you think we can hold them off?!” I asked.  I wasn’t really thinking about how that sounded because my mind was on massive overload with everything going on.  The last thing my brain needed was for us to lose this battle or for one of us to get shot down.

“Til the very end, you idiot!  We’ve got to protect these people!” Chopper replied sharply.  I knew he hadn’t meant to call me an idiot, but I had deserved it because that really was a stupid question I had asked.

By now, I wasn’t thinking when I flew.  I flew as it came to me, I acted on instinct.  Screw the stuff we learned in school, the proper way to shoot down or evade an enemy.  The only rule out here is to survive and to survive, you have to do what you have to do and not think about what you’re supposed to do.

“Good god, what is with all these planes?  This isn’t normal!” I exclaimed.

“How the hell did the enemy planes get this far inland without being spotted?  That’s my question!” Blaze exclaimed.

“And I thought I was sneaky,” Chopper joked, obviously trying to lighten the mood, although you could tell his heart wasn’t in the joke.

“Please, I’m sneakier than you,” Blaze replied with a small laugh.

“Oh really?” Chopper countered.

“Yeah, don’t you remember Thanksgiving when we were playing hide and seek in the dark with my little cousins and I had on dark jeans and a black shirt and I hid under a shelf and it took y’all five rounds of hide and go seek to find me even after y’all shined the flashlight on me?”

“No…” Chopper said unconvincingly.

“Sure you don’t,” Blaze said and I knew she was smirking.

“Fine, you win, I do remember it,” Chopper grumbled in defeat.

“Ha!” Blaze declared triumphantly. “I knew it!”

“You’re as bad as Chris Tucker in Rush Hour when you’re right about something,” Chopper joked.

“No, I’m Jackie Chan, you’re Chris Tucker because you’re the funny one,” Blaze pointed out.

“True,” Chopper agreed.

“And you’re always checking out women,” I added.

“Do not!” Chopper exclaimed.

“Well then you used to before you got completely whipped by Blaze,” I corrected.

“Remind we to kick your ass when we get back to base,” Chopper threatened lightly.

“Yeah, yeah, I know you will,” I replied, completely unworried.

Right after I said that, an enemy plane came dangerously close behind me and started firing at me.  I rolled my plane to the left, to the right, but no matter what I did, the plane wouldn’t leave me.

“We can’t make it.  There’s too many of them!” I announced as I pulled into a steep incline. “Get this bastard off of me!”

“I’m coming!” Nagase told me.

“Hang in there.  Two minutes until allied reinforcements arrive,” Thunderhead tried to calm us down but there was nothing that could stop my overloaded brain now except two things: the first being this mission ending in success and we could go home or two, this mission ended in disaster and we all got shot down.  I was hoping it would be the former one.

“Okay, I’ll get ready to pass the baton!” Chopper replied cheerfully.

“Two minutes my butt!  Do see how many damn fighters we’re up against?!” Blaze asked incredulously.

“Yes, I do, but freaking out won’t help,” Thunderhead said.

“I’m not freaking out, I’m stressed out.  You would be too if you were fighting all these enemies but you’re not so don’t tell me to calm down bucko!” Blaze warned.  Thunderhead sighed because he knew Blaze wasn’t going to calm down.

“Blaze, did you eat today?” Chopper inquired.

“Yeah, why?” Blaze answered as she shot down an enemy plane.

“Because you get cranky when you haven’t eaten.  Do you need a Snickers bar?”

“Oh very funny.  I’m not Betty White,” Blaze retorted.

“Yeah, you need a Snickers bar,” Chopper decided with finality.

“I do not need a Snickers bar!” Blaze defended.

“I’m agreeing with Chopper, Blaze.  You need a Snickers bar,” Nagase said.

“Y’all shut up,” Blaze mumbled.  Chopper and Nagase laughed.

“Attention, all units approaching November City.  I guess they had us going, too…” A voice said over the mic.  I recognized the voice but I couldn’t place who it was, which was driving me even more insane.  It was deep and firm, making it obvious he held power over someone or something.

“What?  Who is this?” Thunderhead questioned with confusion.  How come Thunderhead didn’t know who this person was?  Thunderhead knew everybody.

“That was a pretty good drill they got going.  Anyway, drill is over.  Return to base,” The voice ordered.

“Wait!  What are you talking about?” Thunderhead ordered.  Nothing happened. “ECCM!  Restore communication link!”

“What the hell is happening?!” Blaze demanded.  She didn’t understand what just happened, I did though in a sense.

“The allied planes aren’t coming!” I explained fearfully. “What’s going on?!”

For one of the rare times in my life, I was actually scared.  Not scared, but terrified.  We were completely outnumbered.  I had a very little inkling that we might actually get out of this alive but it was going to take a major miracle for it to happen.

“Reinforcements are on their way!  Just hang in there!” Thunderhead consoled.

“No… they’re not… they would’ve been here by now.” Blaze spoke quietly with an eerie calmness.  I had a feeling she had known that reinforcements weren’t coming.

“Don’t say that Blaze,” Chopper told her.

“It’s true Chopper.  They’re not coming,” Blaze said with defeat prominent in her voice.

“How do you know that?” Chopper asked.

“You don’t want to know…” Blaze muttered.

“Dammit, none of the bases are responding to me!” Thunderhead sounded aggravated.

Blaze and Chopper were chasing an enemy plane that had been evading them for some time now.  Blaze was pissed off and upset, Chopper was pissed off and confused, Nagase was pissed off and thoughtful, and I was pissed off and clueless.  Leave it to me to not know what the hell was going on.  Chopper pulled ahead and shot a missile at the plane.  The missile hit the plane square in the engine.

“Great balls of fire!” Chopper exclaimed.

“What don’t you understand?  There’s an air battle above the stadium!” Thunderhead explained exasperatedly. “Warning!  Enemy radar is tracking your every move!”

“It might help if you tell us who it’s tracking,” Blaze told him with a sigh.

“They’re tracking all of you, especially you Blaze,” Thunderhead warned.

“Like hell they’re getting to my fiancée.  I’ll die before I let that happen,” Chopper vowed.

“Don’t say that!” Blaze shrieked, making me jerk my plane from the surprise of her reaction.

“Whoa, Blaze, easy.  I’m not going anywhere,” Chopper assured her.

“The Vice President has already left the stadium!” A personnel guy informed.  Well at least the moron was safe because unfortunately, we needed him seeing as how our President was nowhere to be seen or heard.

“There’s still people in the general admissions seats.  Who’s evacuating them?!” Another one yelled.

“What the hell are people still doing in the stadium?!” Nagase asked with a mad edge to her voice.

“I was just about to lose it, man,” Chopper said.

“Why?” I asked.

“Someone was shooting at Blaze,” Chopper replied.  If Blaze wasn’t our captain, I would point out to Chopper that he was whipped by this girl but it’s our job to protect our captain and it’s her job to try and stop us from doing that but she knows she’ll never win.

“Our air defense system is a wet paper bag!  How could the enemy penetrate so far inland?!” I inquired seriously.

“The only way that could’ve happened is with the help of an inside person but I can’t believe that an Osean would help the Yukes attack our homeland,” Blaze said as she got behind an enemy plane.

“Bandit at six o’clock.  Shake him off,” A Yuke warned.  I turned to see which one of us was at the enemy plane’s six, just to see who it was.  I had a feeling it was Blaze… I was right.

“We aren’t in a good position here!” Nagase exclaimed as she rolled out of a missiles path.

“No we’re not.  Where the hell are those reinforcements?!” Blaze demanded furiously.

“This is Edge!  I shot one down!”

“Damn, I forgot to keep track of how many planes I shot down,” Chopper observed.

“Hey, Nagase, how many planes have you shot down?” I inquired as I fired at an enemy plane with a barrage of gunfire.

“I don’t know; I lost count after thirteen,” Nagase replied.

“Emergency exits, escape slides… we’re using everything!” A personnel man commanded.

“New enemy formation detected.  It’s a flight of enemy stealth fighters,” Thunderhead announced gravely.

“Are they inbound to the stadium?” I questioned, dodging some enemy gunfire.

“They’re dead set on crushing us both physically and politically,” Chopper grumbled.  He had had many close calls with enemy gunfire.  Missiles were easy to avoid because they were relatively large and kind of had a mind of their own.  Gunfire on the other hand was being controlled by the enemy so in my opinion, gunfire was worse… unless you got hit by a missile, then missiles were worse.

“They’re not getting their way on either,” Blaze said defiantly.

“Not with you around,” Chopper laughed.

“Gorizont One, the sky isn’t sanitized yet but go ahead and begin your attack,” A Yuke commanded.

“Roger, Kvant.  Commencing attack on the stadium,” Another Yuke responded obediently.

“Chopper, come with me to fight the- Chopper?  Where’d you go?!” Blaze asked seriously.

“I’m coming Blaze I was getting a fighter off of Grimm’s tail that he didn’t know about,” Chopper replied calmly.  He hit his afterburners to catch up with Blaze… and that’s when I saw it.  The enemy plane, I mean.  I didn’t even have time to say anything because the plane had already hit Chopper.

“Damn!” Chopper exclaimed.

“Are you all right?  You’ve been hit,” I said.

“Ahh, it’s nothing big.  I’m not wounded.  I oughta be able to keep this plane in the air a little longer,” Chopper replied cooly.

“Chopper!  I told you to stick to my tail!” Blaze scolded harshly.

“Relax, it’s nothing serious.  If I hadn’t, Grimm might not be here,” Chopper pointed out.  I knew Blaze wanted to argue; I knew she was biting her lip to stop herself. “Besides, planes are expendable.  Right, Kid?”

“No, they’re not,” Blaze answered quietly.

“I know, I know.  This plane and I are both comin’ back.  Don’t worry so much,” Chopper reassured her.

“Chopper, we’re completely outnumbered, you’re hit, you’re my wingman, you’re my fiancée, I think I’m going to be a little worried you got hit because the enemy is going to try and shoot you down even more now,” Blaze pointed out.

“They won’t get me,” Chopper chuckled.

“Right behind you, heads up!” A Yuke shouted.

“Approaching release point.  We’re counting on your escort until we reach the target,” A Yuke fighter replied.

“I can’t confirm their position from here.  You’ll have to detect them visually!” Thunderhead informed us gravely.

“I hate stealth fighters,” Nagase mumbled.

“They’re called stealth for a reason,” Chopper said with a laugh.

“Yeah, I know.  I still hate them,” Nagase retorted.

“I’m just messing with you Nagase.  I hate them too.”

“I see them!  They’re over there!” I announced as I turned my plane towards the north.  Nagase followed closely behind me.

“How much time has the lead strike force wasted against those four planes?” A Yuke stealth fighter inquired aggravated.

“Captain, I’ll hit the fighters first,” Nagase said.

“You and Grimm do that while Chopper and I take on the stealth fighters,” Blaze replied.  Her voice sounded strained.

“We’ve got to keep the stadium from being bombed!” Nagase pointed out. “Let Grimm and I help you and Chopper!”

“No!  Keep those enemy fighters away from me and Chopper.  Chopper’s already hit.  He can’t be hit anymore,” Blaze ordered.  I didn’t like it but Blaze had a point.  The fewer fighters there were, the less of a chance that Chopper had of being shot at and being hit because he really couldn’t afford to be hit again.

“We’ve got to protect the area until the evacuation is complete!” I told everyone.

“That’s what we’ve been doing,” Chopper replied. “Don’t make me classify your intelligence with the people on the ground because they’re idiots down there.”

“Oh shut up!” I said.  How could Chopper be making jokes when he was in horrible danger of being shot down?

“Is anyone in contact with the fighters overhead?” A personnel guy asked.  Weren’t there any girls working at the stadium?  All I ever heard was men, men, and more men.

“Just four planes?  Can they defend us until the evacuation’s complete?” Another personnel guy inquired.

“We’ve been doing it since y’all started the evacuation,” Blaze growled.

“Calm down.  We’ll just have to trust the Air Force,” Someone consoled.

“We can’t defend the area with just four planes!” I sighed in frustration.  There was no way we could keep this up, but we had to.  We couldn’t let anything happen to those people down below.

“The evacuation isn’t done yet?” Nagase questioned.

“The evacuation was supposed to be done a while ago!  What is wrong with the people on the ground?!” Blaze roared.

“Captain, the enemy fighters are going after the stadium!” I told Blaze worriedly.  Not only were the stealth fighters going after the stadium, but so were the regular fighters.

“Well don’t let them!” Blaze fired.

“Damn, my plane isn’t holding up like I thought it would,” Chopper observed, seeming kind of surprised.

“Chopper, can you bail out?” Nagase questioned.

“Well, that’s kinda difficult right now,” Chopper replied hesitantly.

“Bail out, Chopper, please, bail out,” Blaze begged.

“I’m fine, I swear, it’s just getting a little hard to control, that’s all,” Chopper assured her, but there was something in his voice that scared me.  I couldn’t place it and I didn’t like that.

“Go back to base.  We’ll protect you,” Blaze suggested, although to me it sounded more like an order.

“All airborne aircraft, do not return to base!  November City is still under attack.  This is not a drill.  Repeat…” Thunderhead notified us.

“Screw you Thunderhead.  There’s no way in hell I’m letting the enemy get to Chopper,” Blaze spat. “Chopper, bail out and get to safety.”

“There’s nothing but houses down below.  I can’t leave this plane yet,” Chopper pointed out. “Kid, do you see any place where I can drop this plane?”

“Y-yes,” Blaze stammered.  That’s when I was able to place the tone in Blaze’s voice that I had been hearing since the enemy planes came: fear.  Hearing that in her voice was one of the scariest things I had ever heard because Blaze was never scared during flight.  Never.

“The stadium, Chopper.  Can you hear me?” Nagase inquired seriously. “Drop it into the center of the stadium and bail out.  Do you understand?”

“Roger.  Good idea… gives me some hope that I might just make it.  I’d better wait for the crowd to evacuate some more, though.”  Chopper didn’t sound scared at all, not like Blaze had.  The fear I think she felt was enough fear for all of Osea, hell, probably Yuktobania too.

“Chopper, please, bail out, just bail out!” Blaze pleaded.

“I’m fine Blaze, trust me, its okay,” Chopper assured her.

“No!  It’s not okay!  I don’t want to lose you Chopper!”

“You’re not going to,” Chopper promised.

“Look, one of the Razgriz planes is trailing smoke,” A Yuke sneered in triumph.  Damn, the enemy had noticed that Chopper was impaired.

“Are they done evacuating yet?” Chopper questioned curiously. “Dammit, my cockpit’s emergency alarm won’t shut up.”

“Screw the evacuation Chopper!  Dammit, just bail out!” Blaze commanded.

“No, I have to wait,” Chopper argued lightly.

“Aim for that plane!  Now’s our chance to take out the demon!” A Yuke yelled.

“Don’t you dare go after him you sons of bitches!” Blaze growled.  Blaze was furious, she was scared, and that made her deadly.  Those planes weren’t going to stand a chance against her if she went after them.  As if to prove my point, Blaze got behind an enemy plane heading for her and Chopper and fired at it immediately.  Her position wasn’t the ideal spot for her to shoot but she took the shot and it hit the enemy stealth fighter.  I went after another one but Nagase had gotten it.  We were on a roll.  I think we were all realizing that Chopper might not be coming back with us so we were doing everything we could to make sure he was going to.  Blaze was impossible to find with how fast she was going.  She was like an electron you know where you can’t find the exact location of an electron but when you see an enemy plane going down and no one is near it, you can assume that’s where Blaze was.

“Don’t let him get away. We’ll get a medal for bagging this one,” A Yuke encouraged.

“Chopper, I’ll cover you!” Nagase told him.

“Grimm, is Chopper going to be all right?” Cassie inquired nervously.

“I don’t know,” I replied truthfully.

“Me too!  There’s no way we’re letting you…” I couldn’t finish the sentence because the realization that we might lose Chopper struck home with me.  That fired me up to shoot every single one of these sons of bitches down.

“Take down the enemy first,” Chopper argued. “And Blaze, those were their mothers you insulted.”

“No.  You’re more important Chopper,” Blaze cut in. “And I don’t care that I insulted their mothers.”

“Captain Davenport, please bail out!” I told him furiously.

“Just a little more.  Just let me keep flying until the evacuation’s over,” Chopper urged.

“All enemy stealth fighters confirmed destroyed,” Thunderhead notified.

“Yeehaw!” Chopper laughed.

“We’ve called back the allied fighters,” Thunderhead notified.

“It’s about damn time,” Blaze retorted.

“A little too late, man.  There goes my radar.  My circuits are toast,” Chopper notified grimly.  No, no, no. This couldn’t be happening.

“Chopper!  Please, bail out!  Please!” Blaze cried.  She was completely panicked.

“Look, forget about it, Chopper, just bail out.  Please, bail out!” Nagase begged.

“Okay.  Guess now’s the time,” Chopper acknowledged.

I turned my head to find Chopper.  Cassie spotted him first and pointed him out to me.  He was thankfully headed towards the stadium.

“This is Thunderhead.  Captain Davenport, are you all right?”

“Hey, Thunderhead has feelings!  Who knew?!” Chopper cracked up.  Only Chopper would laugh in the face of death. “There’s the stadium.  I’m dropping the plane over there.”

“Roger.  Now, get out,” Nagase ordered.

“Chopper, please,” Blaze begged. “Bail.  Out.”

“I can’t,” Chopper replied solemnly.  Those words drove a knife in my heart.  This was my best friend.  I couldn’t imagine what was happening to Blaze right now. “The electrical system’s all messed up.  The canopy won’t blow.  The ejection seat’s probably not working either.”

“No!” Blaze cried.

“Don’t give up, Chopper!  Keep trying!  Chopper!” Thunderhead roared.

“Heh heh… I’m going to miss that voice,” Chopper chuckled. “I love you Blaze.”

Chopper had laughed.  He knew he was going to die… and he’d laughed.

“I-I love you Chopper,” Blaze sobbed.  I looked at Blaze’s plane as she shot down towards the stadium.

Don’t torture yourself Blaze.  I thought.  Then I saw Chopper’s plane plummeting towards the stadium with a trail of thick, black smoke trailing behind him.  I tried to shut my eyes, but I couldn’t.  They were frozen in shock at the sight of Chopper going down.

____________________________________

Chopper 

My heart was racing, but I was strangely calm.  I wasn’t scared but I was nervous, if that makes sense.  I wasn’t going to go down without fighting.  I kept pushing every single damn button in that plane.  I pounded on the canopy.  Nothing worked but I didn’t give up.  That’s when I realized that my canopy had opened.

____________________________________

Grimm 

Chopper’s plane exploded into a malignant orange flame.

“CHOPPER!”Blaze screamed.

“Chopper!” Nagase cried.

“NO!” I shouted.

Mission Update

“… Dammit…” Thunderhead murmured. “I hate to say this now, but there’s a second enemy wave approaching.  All units, engage.”

“Yes, sir,” Nagase said, her voice cracking a little.  Blaze was in so much shock she couldn’t say anything.

“These guys are no demons!  We can take them!” A Yuke declared.

“You.  Wish,” Blaze said menacingly.  That was all I needed to hear.  Blaze was out for revenge and she was going to make sure she got it.

“All right, engage the remaining enemy fighters,” A Yuke ordered.

“Urrrgh!” I growled.

“Unngh!” Nagase whimpered, trying to stop herself from crying.  I shot after an enemy plane but I was too late.  Blaze was already there and it was already gone.

“What’s going on?  They’re maneuvering even better than before?” A Yuke sounded confused as he asked the question.

“So this is what the demons are really like!” A Yuke observed.  We could be so much worse…

“It’s like they’re different pilots.  Did the demons take them over?” Another Yuke inquired, sounding fearful.  He should be fearful with Blaze on the loose.

“You’re the demons,” Blaze said through gritted teeth. “If you didn’t want us to be demons, then you shouldn’t have come and shot my fiancé down.”

“We’re no match for them after all!” A Yuke shouted as Blaze trailed him relentlessly.  Blaze laughed… which shook me to my core.  Blaze never laughed when she was shooting someone down… not like that… not like she had lost it… and this laugh sounded like someone who didn’t care anymore, like someone who didn’t care that whether she was going to live or not… like someone who had lost all their sanity.  She sounded hollow, empty.

“Enemy reinforcements inbound.  We should separate from the fight soon,” A Yuke acknowledged.

Blaze zipped past me and Nagase and shot down the enemy we had been trailing with so much ease and grace and accuracy it was frightening.

Mission Accomplished 

“… Wardog…” Thunderhead began. “Thanks for holding out for us.  The reinforcements are here.  Enemy planes retreating.”

“It’s too late,” Blaze whispered raggedly.  The three of us… god that sounded so weird… the three of us got into formation: Blaze in front, Nagase on the left, I on Blaze’s right.

“We just got word from the ground…” Thunderhead explained. “Except for a few injuries in the confusion following the evacuation, there were no civilian casualties in the stadium.  He… he was a model fighter pilot to the end.  Join me in saluting Captain Davenport!”

A reinforcement plane flew at a high speed above us as we flew above the stadium in salute; we dipped our wings slightly as a sign of respect.

Blaze’s plane wavered the whole way home, never once being completely still.  When we reached the base, Blaze was last to land.  Nagase was first, then me, then Blaze.  We pulled up slowly to the hangar.  Genette leaped out of Nagase’s plane so he could run to Blaze’s plane.  He helped Nagase out first though.  I could just see his eyes and how bloodshot they were from crying as he ran past me.  Then I realized my face had dried up tears on it as well.  I hadn’t even known I had cried.

Blaze gripped the ladder tightly as she stepped down but the moment she set her foot on the ground, she collapsed.  Genette caught her.  I helped Cassie out of the plane.  She was trembling.  However, when I reached Blaze, I swear the earth was shaking from Blaze’s tremulous, violent shaking.  My whole body quaked just from supporting her.  Genette and I held Blaze by her waist while we supported Nagase and Cassie as well, for they weren’t faring that well either.

We entered the briefing room and sat down, exhausted.  Blaze was hyperventilating so much that Dr. Gibson had to come and bring her to the infirmary to give her something so she wouldn’t have a heart attack.  Genette had to help and after giving Nagase a quick kiss, he helped Dr. Gibson with Blaze, who stumbled the whole way out of the briefing room.  The briefer actually looked upset.  I never thought he had any emotion in him at all.

“Vice President Appelrouth escaped from the stadium in his personal vehicle.  Despite the late arrival of reinforcements, civilian casualties were kept to a bare minimum.  The Yuktobanian fighters’ ingress route is currently under investigation.  Captain Alvin H. Davenport, who lost his life in the battle, is no longer with the team,” The briefer said almost solemnly.  I cringed while at the same time, I was furious.  Of course Chopper wasn’t with the team anymore!  He was dead for crying out loud!  I swallowed the urge to shout at the briefer, at everyone in this room (excluding Nagase and Cassie) but I had to stay strong for Nagase and Cassie.  I couldn’t lose it in front of them. “He has been granted a posthumous two-rank promotion.”

Nagase, Cassie, and I stood up.  I wrapped my arms around their shoulders as we headed out of the briefing room.  Both of them were crying on my shoulder.  The people we passed in the hall moved to the side, allowing us to walk without any obstructions.  All of them saluted us.

We headed to the infirmary to check on Blaze.  When we got there, Blaze was unconscious.  Genette was sitting in a chair next to her, tears falling down his face, but he wasn’t crying.  He smiled weakly at us when we came in.

“Hey y’all,” He said quietly.  The three of us pulled up chairs so we could sit down. “Dr. Gibson had to give her anesthesia she was so bad.  He was worried she was going to have a heart attack.”

We nodded.

“How long is she going to be out?” I inquired.

“For a while.  He drugged her up pretty well,” Genette replied with a grimace.

We sat there in silence.  Nagase and Cassie were still crying quietly, Cassie crying my shoulder, Nagase crying on Genette’s.  Genette and I cried too.  We had all lost our best friend.  Blaze had it the worst.  Not only had Chopper been her best friend, but he had also been her fiancé and seeing her unconscious because she had to be knocked out because of how bad she was taking his death showed the extent of her grief.  I was worried about her.  I was worried that she would become reclusive, depressed, and never come out of it.

No one understood what we had been through.  We had watched our best friend die right before our eyes.  You can’t imagine what that’s like.  I had this empty feeling inside of me because I felt like it was my fault.  I could’ve protected Chopper.  He was my wingman; it was my job to protect him, Nagase, and Blaze.  I failed all of them.

But for that time being, I pushed my guilt away because I had to be there for Cassie, for Nagase, for Genette, and especially for Blaze.

____________________________________

*Big Sigh* I absolutely hated writing this chapter.  It sucked.  I’m sorry but I’m saying that this chapter sucks.  Mainly because my favorites character died :´(