Hey y’all.  Sorry for the long wait.  I had an AP final exam and I’m pretty sure I failed the thing.  Anyway, hope y’all are enjoying the story!  I can’t believe it’s almost over!

Quote of the Chapter:

“The worst situation for a pilot is to run out of airspeed, altitude, and ideas all at the same time.”

~Unknown

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White Bird Part II

Blaze

December 19, 2010, 0700 Hrs… 

Genette rudely woke me up by tickling me.  I had not appreciated it in the least; but on the bright side, he had the imprint of my hand on his face from me accidentally slapping him.  You can imagine that didn’t settle well with him but I expected him to know by now that you never wake me up by tickling me or any other unconventional way.  I will fight back whether I know it or not.  For example, my friend threw a pillow at me to wake me up, which it did.  I picked it up and chucked the pillow right back at her, having perfect aim.  It was very satisfying.

However, Genette had a good reason for waking me up.  We had another sortie.

Groggily, I stumbled my way to the briefing room where everyone was already there, waiting for me as usual.  The briefer began immediately after I sat down, committing murder on my eyes from dimming the bright white lights to nearly pitch black with a brightly lit screen.  If you don’t think that hurts, you’re crazy.

“The intelligence vessel Andromeda has picked up another encrypted transmission in Belkan.  They have changed the code, so it took a little longer to decipher the message.  The content is as follows: ‘N attack by A-Sat on Okchabursk to commence at 1400 hours.’  Apparently, efforts to secretly repair the sabotaged Arkbird are now complete.  We confirmed this by observing its orbit from the ground.  We believe that a Belkan nuke has already been loaded onto the Arkbird.  In order for the Arkbird to attack the city of Okchabursk in Yuktobania at 1400 hours, it must make one major correction to its orbital trajectory.  To do this, it must first drop into the upper atmosphere and use air friction to lower its speed.  We have already calculated the time and location in which this maneuver will occur.  Your mission is to destroy the Arkbird.  You will only have one chance to stop it.  Destroy it before it withdraws from the battle zone.”

Operation: Game Bird

Location: Ceres Ocean

Date: 2010/12/19

Time: 1006 HRS

We got up and headed to the hangar where I immediately chose our planes.  I wanted to take the F-14A but the special weapons weren’t ideal for what I guessed we were going to be shooting at.  Since I had decided I wanted the XLAA (Advanced Long-Range Air-to-Air Missile) as my special weapon early on, I went for the SU-35.  The take-off was short and I was in the air faster than I thought was possible.

_________________________________________

We flew for a few hours before we were in the combat area.  The only thing you could see was ocean all around you.  The only thing that broke it was the tiny island of Ponderosa.

“We were so close… I feel like the Belkans are always one step ahead,” Grimm acknowledged. “Don’t you, Captain?”

“Usually, yes,” I admitted.

“Still, Blaze, we can’t give up now.  We haven’t run out of luck just yet.  Let’s go!” Snow encouraged.

“I’m way ahead of you!” I chirped, hitting my afterburners. “And Grimm, why do you insist on calling me Captain?”

“I don’t know; maybe because you are my captain?” Grimm countered.

“I know I am but… you make me feel old when you call me that.”

“That might be because you have one of the biggest responsibilities in the military along with leading the most feared squadron in the entire war and also the most skilled,” Snow observed.

“Thank you for pointing all that out.  It’s not as if it freaked me out enough already,” Blaze grumbled.

“Sorry, just stating the facts.”

We lapsed into silence as we flew as fast as we could to the Arkbird’s location.  Part of me was ready to destroy the bird, to destroy the threat.  Another part of me dreaded destroying the beautiful bird that had been a symbol of peace between Osea and Yuktobania.

“I can see it now, Nagase,” Grimm said gently.  I looked ahead and saw the small white shape in the distance.  It was blending in with the clouds.

“Yeah…” murmured Nagase.  I knew this was killing Nagase to carry out this mission.  She had been in love with the Arkbird.

“It’ll be tough reaching that altitude… hey, is everything okay?” Grimm asked.

“What do you mean?” Nagase sounded nonchalant but I knew better. “Wait, the Arkbird!”

We had almost reached the massive white bird.  It was three or four times bigger than my plane.  It glistened in the small sunlight there was; it looked absolutely beautiful.  Something caught the sunlight, reflecting it perfectly in my eyes.  Thankfully, it wasn’t extremely bright but I did have to squint.  The thing had come from the Arkbird.  I wondered what it could possibly be.

“It just jettisoned something,” Nagase pointed out.

“It’s an escape capsule,” announced Snow.

That’s when we received enemy communications from none other than the Arkbird.

“Adler to Schenze.  He got away.”

“The Osean astronaut?”

“Yeah.”

“It’s all right, we don’t need him anymore…”

“Oh, damn it.  He must’ve done something to the control system before he got away… Turn off that switch!” Adler barked. “Damn, we’re slowing down.  We’re gonna dive deep into the atmosphere.”

We only had a few more seconds before we would be flying right next to the Arkbird when I realized something was off.  Grimm was the one who knew exactly what was off.

“Captain, this is Archer,” Grimm said, a hint of teasing in his voice. “Doesn’t the Arkbird’s approach path seem too deep?”

“Thank you!  That’s what was off!” I exclaimed.

“Its altitude is too low for an orbit change,” Grimm noted.

“I see what you mean…” Snow said.

“That white bird was a symbol of hope for Captain Nagase,” Grimm said.

“And now she must try to shoot it down,” Snow added.

“I would appreciate it if you would act like I’m not here,” Nagase snapped lightly.  Grimm and Snow apologized sheepishly. “I’m in attack position.  Awaiting orders.”

“Stay behind me; I’m going to take the first shot,” I said.  I leveled out so that I was at the same altitude as the Arkbird.  Its upturned wings reminded me of a white dove, as if frozen in flight.  My heart felt heavy as I fired my guns at my first target.

“Adler to Schenze.  We’re under attack!”

“What?” Schenze roared. “The Osean Army’s supposed to be wrapped around our finger.  Who the hell…?”

“Black bodies, that emblem…” Adler trailed off. “It’s them!  The ‘Ghosts of Razgriz!’  The survivors from the Ofnir Squadron told me about ‘em!”

“Launch the Vogels,” Schenze growled. “Get rid of them!”

The two launchers on the Arkbird appeared on my radar as targets.  I dipped my plane so I was just enough below it that I could fire missiles without them hitting the wrong part of the bird.  Vogels were already coming out.  They are fast little boogers…

“That launch port wasn’t in the original design!” Nagase exclaimed.

“The Belkans modified it?!” Grimm demanded.

“They must’ve.  Damn Belkans.  They’re too smart for their own good sometimes,” I grumbled as I fired missile after missile at the launchers, which seemed to be refusing to be destroyed.

“I’m engaging the smaller aircraft deployed from the Arkbird.  Blaze, permission to separate?” Nagase requested.

“Go on ahead.  Keep those blasted things away from me.  Snow, help her out.  Grimm, stay with me.  Be careful; I have a feeling the Belkans have more improvements on the Arkbird.”

“Could you say ‘improvements’ more venomously?” Nagase asked, faking curiosity.

“Want to bet?” I said mischievously.

“I was kidding. Sheesh!  You would- Holy crap!” Nagase yelped.  I whipped my head around to see what was wrong and saw her trying to evade a laser beam coming from none other than the Arkbird.

“Son of a… gun,” I said, correcting myself.  I hated to cuss, even in life and death situations.

“You wouldn’t cuss in this type of situation.” Grimm laughed.

“Shut up,” I mumbled.

“Schenze to Adler.  Do whatever it takes to gain altitude!”

“Counting down to ignition of boosters!” Adler announced.  There was no way in hell I was going to let the Arkbird get away, even if it meant destroying it which I hated to think about, let alone carry it out; but it was what had to be done.  I let out a bombardment of missiles against the laser but it was well-protected.

“I know all about the Arkbird.  I was in love with it… I used to stare at the blueprints all the time,” Nagase admitted bashfully.

“If you only you had been able to study the ones of this model,” Grimm said.

“That would’ve been quite nice but it seems like the odds are never with us,” Snow commented.

“May the odds be ever in your favor!” I exclaimed out of the blue.

“What?” Snow asked in confusion.

“She’s quoting the Hunger Games,” Nagase explained with a sigh.

“I’m sorry, but y’all made that really easy,” I replied as I fired another pair of missiles at the laser.  Amazingly, there was a small explosion and I realized at that moment that the laser was gone. “Yeehaw!”

“Thank god that blasted laser is gone,” Grimm said with relief.  Unexpectedly, I giggled. “What’s so funny, Blaze?”

“That ‘blasted laser’?” I repeated.  Grimm still didn’t get it, but Nagase and Snow figured it out.

“She sees the ‘blasted laser’ as a pun,” Snow informed.

“Why?” Grimm questioned, completely serious.

“You honestly don’t understand it?” I inquired in amusement.

“No!” declared Grimm vehemently.

“Well, you blast a laser into space; a laser blasts things into oblivion… get where I’m going with this?” I asked.  Finally, Grimm got the gist of it.

“You would notice that,” He said with a chuckle as he aimed for the second launcher of which we had yet to destroy (unfortunately).

I rolled to the side as my missile alert went off.  Two of those stupid Vogels had slipped past Snow and Nagase and had gotten behind me and Grimm.

“Damn Vogels…” Grimm muttered, pulling an evasive maneuver as well.  I went up into a loop, going so high that my plane stalled.

“Blaze!” Nagase shouted, hurting my ears with her loudness.

“Ouch, woman!  I’m fine!” I assured, as my plane gained enough speed again.  I went into a straight dive and fired my guns at a Vogel behind Grimm.  It exploded into a fireball, vaguely reminding me of the Hunger Games and how everything dealt with fire and deceit.  It strangely enough reminded me of our current predicament.  I felt like Katniss, being sent as a Tribute in the war; how I practically had no choice in becoming captain; how I pretty much had no choice but to run away from Sand Island, the place I had always thought I’d stay permanently; how I, Nagase, Snow, and Grimm, had become symbols of hope to some people that this war would end, and threats to the people trying to keep this war going like the Capitol citizens wanted to keep the Hunger Games going.  Maybe my mind was just imagining things but it made sense to me.

My thoughts were broken when Nagase said, “That big engine in the middle is a booster designed to give it enough speed to escape the atmosphere.”

“Like hell it’s getting away from us,” I growled.

“If we destroy that, it’ll never make it into space again,” Nagase added solemnly.  I knew this had to be torture for her, destroying this magnificent white bird that she had lionized so much.

“Copy that,” Snow responded, his voice also tinged with sadness.

“We’re gonna destroy the Arkbird… Are you sure about this?” Grimm queried hesitantly.

Nagase paused before answering. “When we’re at peace again, the President will build another one for us.”

I fired two missiles at the launcher but it did nothing but possibly leave a dent in the metal protecting it.

“Five, four, three, two, one… ignition!” Adler shouted.

“Damn!” I exclaimed.  Angrily, I fired two more missiles and was satisfied when I saw the launcher explode. “Sucker.”

I watched as two more targets appeared on my radar.  They were two engines, easily seen on the Arkbird since they had a purplish fire jetting out from them. How many dang things did we have to destroy?!

Nagase and Snow had somehow been able to destroy all the Vogels that had been released.  That was no simple feat, something I praised them on.

I aimed my gun at the engine and started firing.  I felt like the bullets would do more damage since they were smaller and could maybe inflict more damage.  However, with how frazzled my mind was, you could tell me that pigs can fly and I would’ve believed you.

“Thrust increasing!” Adler announced, sounding perturbed.  He should be seeing as how the four of us are dead set on ending the war.

“The Arkbird’s ascending again!” Nagase cried out.  I studied the Arkbird succinctly, and sure enough, it was on its way towards space.  Well, hell.

I hadn’t stopped firing my guns at the engine and in what seemed like no time at all, the engine was gone.

“Way to go, Blaze!” Snow praised.

“Thank you.  It’s only because you and Nagase destroyed those stupid Vogels because then I didn’t have to worry about getting shot down.”

“Please don’t get shot down.  We have had enough of people getting shot down,” Nagase said tiredly.  Naturally, my first thought went to Chopper.  Everything related to him, I just had gotten better at not saying or showing something reminded me of him.  It was hard to hide my feelings from everyone, but I needed to be strong for them.  If they saw me lose it, I was afraid that our squadron would crumble, that it would fall down like the Berlin Wall in Belka during its Cold War after the war fifteen years ago.  I knew Genette was worried as hell about me; I could see it in his eyes every time he looked at me.  I was pretty sure, actually, that everyone knew I was bottling everything up, that I wasn’t letting them know everything that was going on in my head.  I was afraid that if I said one tiny thing relating to Chopper and how he was dead, I would fall apart completely and not be able to stop crying.  I hate crying, even in front of family and friends.  It’s just not my nature.

“Blaze?  Earth to Blaze?” Nagase was yelling my name.

“Sorry…” I apologized sheepishly.

“Why weren’t you answering me?”

“I got lost in thought.  What were you saying?”

“What were you thinking of?” Nagase asked softly with an edge of suspicion.

“How much I would love to be sleeping right now,” I lied. “I have not been able to fall asleep lately.  Anyways, what were you asking me?”

“No, I forgot now.  Thanks a lot,” Nagase said in a huffy tone.

“Sorry…”  I continued shooting at the second engine.  The Arkbird was listing to the left, the side that the first engine had been destroyed.

“I heard Ofnir was destroyed by those guys,” Adler said warily.

“Don’t worry, the Arkbird is invincible,” Schenze assured, but I could hear the slight qualm in his voice.  It filled me with pleasure; they were scared of us.  Aces of the Belkan military were scared of us.  Having my morale boosted immensely by this thought, I destroyed the second engine with no trouble.

“If the Razgriz should manage to shoot us down…” Adler hesitated.

“It’s not going to happen, so there’s no need to think about it,” Schenze snapped, but it was obvious now that he wasn’t so sure of himself anymore.

“Anyone else hear the doubt in his voice?” I queried.

“I couldn’t at first but now I most certainly can,” Snow answered.

“Rocket boosters destroyed!” Nagase announced.

“A little late on that, Nagase,” I told her with a chuckle.

“Yeah, yeah…”

The four of us flew into standard formation, trailing the Arkbird.  I wondered what we looked like from the view of the soldiers on the Arkbird, if we looked intimidating; having black planes, having destroyed so much of the white bird already, they should be intimidated.

“Damn it, we’re falling again!” Adler sounded completely agitated.

“Adler, you are aware of the backup plan, right?”

There was a pause.  Something told me the backup plan was something even Adler didn’t want to do.

When Adler did speak, just the tone of his voice told me my premonition had been right. “I know.  We’ll head for nearby Osean territory and set off the nuke.”

“Your sacrifice will never be forgotten.”

My blood went cold, my vision started to become hazy.  Involuntarily, I gasped.

“Blaze?  Is everything all right?” Nagase asked, concerned.

“No!  Did you not just hear that?!”

“No.”

“The Arkbird has a backup plan!”

“You don’t mean they’re going-” Grimm started.

“To set off the nuke?” I finished. “Yeah, that’s exactly what they’re going to do.”

“Damn it!” Grimm shouted.

“How did y’all not hear that transmission?”

“I don’t know.  Maybe since you’re closer, yours picked it up,” Snow suggested.

“But y’all weren’t that far behind me.”

“I think Snow is right.  Distance is everything,” Nagase said.

“It changed bearings.  It’s heading south now,” Grimm informed.  Sure enough, the Arkbird was making a sharp turn, heading towards Osea.  Like hell they were going to get away from us.

“What are they thinking?” Snow demanded.

“Where are they… are they heading for Osean territory?!” Nagase squeaked.

“That’s exactly where they’re heading and Nagase, keep up with the conversation here,” I said.

“If it penetrates Osean airspace and self-destructs, it’ll be a catastrophe!” Grimm exclaimed in horror.

“The rear engine!  Destroy the rear engine on its back!” Snow suggested, although it sounded more like an order.

“I know we are in a precarious predicament right now but you sounded strangely like a mouse when you said that, Nagase,” I said.

“Precarious predicament?” Grimm inquired.

“Like a mouse?” Nagase demanded.

“I love how we’re in an intense battle and we’re talking about Nagase sounding like a mouse,” Snow acknowledged in amusement.

“Well, you have to admit you were thinking it,” I said.

“I don’t, actually.  I would rather not be killed by Nagase,” Snow countered.

“Smart move,” Nagase praised gruffly.

“Grimm?”

“Yeah, Blaze?”

“What do you think?”

“I think I’m going to side with you Blaze because someone’s going to have to watch your back in this argument.”

“Thank you, Grimm.”

“I’m not sure Blaze needs her back to be watched.  I’m sure she could kick all of our asses with her hands tied behind her back, blindfolded, and be in Yuktobania,” said Snow.

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Grimm agreed with a laugh.

I grinned as I shot at the engine.  I was amazed the Arkbird was still going strong… well, maybe not as strong as before but it was still going.

The four of us had elapsed into a silence.  I wondered if other squadrons talked as much as we did, and if they did, did they have moments of silence?  Were those moments of silence awkward or not?  Ours weren’t.  I think it was because we understood each other so well without having to say a word.  Sometimes, though, the pressure of the mission was so intense that we needed assurance that there were other people with us, just to know we weren’t completely alone in our planes.

“I think they made the worst decision possible,” Snow said softly. “It’s hard to fathom their desire to spread war this far… Can you believe it, Blaze?”

“Honestly?  I can,” I admitted, with a slight twinge of guilt.  I hated thinking humans could do this to other humans but I knew it wasn’t past them.

“The fruit of their deep-rooted hatred, I suppose.  But it’s still hard to swallow.”

“I know.”

I switched to special weapons and locked onto the laser that was sending laser shots at us, and three other targets that I couldn’t quite see what they were.  I fired the four XLAA and dipped just beneath the Arkbird where the laser couldn’t shoot at me, which it had tried earlier and failed… almost.  It had nearly hit me but some quick maneuvering saved my butt.  I fell back enough distance where I would be mostly safe from the laser and fired more special weapons at the targets.  It destroyed everything but the laser, which seemed determined to try and shoot me specifically out of the sky.  So I only had that and the two engines.  It could be worse.

“Our cause will live on, to be taken up by others that follow,” Adler declared.

I snorted. “What cause?  The cause to destroy Belka?  Because if you keep waging war with your neighbors, then that’s the way it’s going to end up.”

“Blaze?  Who are you talking to?” Nagase queried.

“Adler.  I’m not sure if he can hear me but I can hear him.  He said something about how their cause will live and taken up by others, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.”

Nagase harrumphed.

“Ready all cannons.  We’re going out in a blaze of glory,” Adler said malevolently.  His tone sent chills down my spine.

“We’ll take the Razgriz down with us,” Adler snarled.

“I wish you the best of luck in your mission,” I said, saluting them even though they couldn’t see me.

“Did you just salute us?” Adler questioned.

“Stalker.  How can you see me in my plane and how are just now able to contact me?”

“I am not a stalker!  I-”

“Really?  Could’ve fooled me.  I’m not the one looking into another person’s cockpit.”

“Shut up, Razgriz.  While we go down in a blaze of glory, you’ll be going down with us ending up in the fires of hell.  I hope you enjoy the ride!”

“Dude, I’ve been in hell ever since you idiots decided you would try to outsmart Osea and Yuktobania by pitting them against each other.  Well, might I point out, you failed… epically.”

“You wouldn’t be saying that if you were scared.”

I snorted… again. “You think I’m scared?  Wow.  How thick can you get?”

“I am not thick!  I am smarter than any of you will ever be!”

“You keep on thinking that.  I’m leaving this conversation.  It’s boring.”

I stopped talking with a satisfactory grin upon my face and listened to Adler rant about the nerve I had to speak to him like that.  It was completely entertaining.  Of course, I can’t tell you half the stuff he said because it is seriously inappropriate.

“It’s still got some tricks up its sleeve!” Nagase pointed out.

“Wings, Nagase, wings.  It has some tricks up its wings,” I corrected.

“Oh shut up.”

“Hang on… I just realized something.  Did y’all hear anything of the conversation I just had with Adler?” Not to my surprise, the answer was no.

“We were on a different radio frequency because ours went haywire so we switched but went back when we realized you didn’t know we switched,” Nagase explained.

“Leave it to y’all to leave when I have a conversation with the enemy.  How does that always happen?” I chuckled.

“What were you saying?” Grimm asked.

“Just telling them they are the biggest morons on the planet and whatnot.  Anyways, have any of y’all destroyed anything else on the Arkbird?  When I was having my little convo with Arkbird, I didn’t do anything but fly around.”

“No, that laser won’t let us do anything,” Snow replied wearily.

“Its defenses are still tight!  I can’t get near it!” Grimm grumbled.

I had been flying just below the Arkbird, just enough below it where I was out of the firing range for the laser.  Testing my luck, I shifted my plane enough to be above the Arkbird and fire at the laser and one of the engines.  Unfortunately, I had used most of my special weapons and had only two XLAAs left.  The two missiles hit the laser and engine as I dipped below the Arkbird, avoiding the persistent laser bolts aimed at me.  I narrowly avoided having one of them hitting my cockpit windshield.

“They’re firing those lasers relentlessly!” Snow sounded annoyed.

With one final attempt (mainly for my sanity), I locked on to the laser and fired two missiles.  The laser blew up and disappeared as a target on the radar.  My comrades congratulated me.  However, our happiness was short-lived because we had come nowhere near stopping the damn thing.

“It’s not slowing down at all,” noted Grimm.

“But they’re pissed at us,” I added.

“And that has what to do with the conversation?” Nagase inquired.

“Well, while Snow and Grimm were giving negatives about the Arkbird, I gave a positive.”

“All righty then…”

“The Razgriz and their legend ends here, now,” growled Adler.

“Dear god, please tell me you heard that!” I exclaimed.

“I did, and I have news for them: we have no intentions of going anywhere anytime soon,” Grimm claimed.  Nagase and Snow added in their agreements.  I waited expectantly for Chopper’s answer.  I almost asked him where he was in this conversation before my mind told me that he wasn’t here.  My stomach did a flip flop; my heart contracted.

“Blaze?” Nagase asked.

“Yeah?” I managed to respond in an almost normal voice.  Unfortunately, Nagase heard the underlying pain in my tone.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.  My stomach cramped on me really badly,” I lied.  Thankfully, Nagase bought it.

“Is it one of your old stomachaches?”

“Yeah.” I should probably explain what she meant.  When I was younger about nine, ten years old, I had these really painful stomachaches.  We went to the doctors and none of them could figure out what was wrong.  We tried all sorts of different medicines but nothing made a significant effect.  The stomachaches would literally bring me to my knees.  And then one day, poof!  I never had them again… at least not on a regular basis.  Once in a while, they would hit me full force at random times of the day.  It was hard to keep a poker face when it felt like someone was stabbing the inside of your stomach with a knife.  Yeah, that’s what it felt like, no joke.

“Are you going to be okay?” Nagase asked worriedly as she fired two regular missiles at one of the Arkbird’s engines.  It disappeared with a small explosion.  One had been destroyed.  The Arkbird listed to the right.

“I’ll be fine.”

“Die, damn it, die!” Adler yelled in anger.

To my surprise, Nagase responded to them, her voice barely containing her pent up rage. “Your mission was distorted by human treachery.  Your days in the air are over!”

I flew upside down as I trailed the Arkbird.  Now that there was no laser firing at me, there was really nothing to avoid and I needed something to clear my head.  My stomach was still doing flip flops as I reminded myself that Chopper was dead, he was gone, he wasn’t going to ever say something to me again.  It was still a concept I was struggling to accept.

“Blaze, why are you flying upside down?” Grimm asked curiously.

“Eh, for some God only knows reason, it’s helping my stomach.” It actually wasn’t a lie.  Flying upside down gave me something other to think about than Chopper and my ignoring the flip flops in my stomach made them slowly start to stop but they were replaced by a headache, probably from the blood rushing to my head…

“Altitude decreasing.  We can attack it from above now,” Grimm announced.

“Finally, luck is on our side,” I muttered as I fired two missiles at the remaining engine.  They hit but did only a little damage.

“I’m aiming for the combined cycle engine at the top of the craft,” Nagase informed.

“I think that’s the only thing to be aiming at right now anyways,” Snow said.

“… I knew that…” Nagase said.

“Sure you did, Nagase.  Sure you did,” Grim told her, laughing.

“Oh shut it, both of you.”

“Snow, you can have the honor of destroying the last engine.  You should be able to now,” I told him.

“With pleasure.”  He fired two missiles at the engine, the second one more as a backup in case for some reason the first one missed.  They both hit and the engine was destroyed. “We’re almost done…”

The Arkbird was gliding now.  It was a beautiful and horrifying sight at the same time.

“We won’t let anyone stop us,” Adler said.

“Really?  Then what are we doing right now?” I asked, not sure if he could hear me or not.

“You’re merely slowing us down.  The Arkbird is invincible!”

“Yeah, they said the Titanic was unsinkable.  Look what happened there,” I pointed out with a snort.

“Who are you?”

“You may call me Dr. Evil!” I exclaimed, just to mess with them.  I was pretty sure I had lost my complete sanity right then and there. “If you’re trying to imagine what I look like, don’t forget to have my pinky at the corner of my mouth.”

“What is your problem?” Adler questioned, incensed.

“I just like to mess with you because honestly, I don’t think even Thunderhead was this easy to infuriate.”

“You have issues.”

“All because of y’all,” I chirped.

“Blaze, I’m not sure if you’re a genius or just plain mad,” Snow said thoughtfully.

“I would prefer the former but the latter makes for a better excuse,” I replied.

“Yes… yes it does,” Snow agreed.

“See this thing through to the very last moment,” Adler barked.  The Arkbird was plummeting towards the ocean now.  Somehow, the crew was still able to control it.

“It’s still flying… are we going to make it in time?” Grimm queried.

“We will.  It has to run out of backup plans sooner or later,” I said.

“Roger.  It should be hurting pretty badly at this point…”

We flew around, trying to find a target on the Arkbird to fire at, but none appeared on radar.

“Carrying out the backup plan may be impossible under these conditions,” mumbled Adler. “Altitude dropping.  Controls malfunctioning.”

“Arkbird still descending,” Nagase informed.

“What a pitiful sight,” Snow said.

“Yes.  And humans are responsible for it,” Grimm agreed solemnly.

I flew behind the Arkbird, trying to memorize its beauty, trying to remember the Arkbird as it was before it was taken by the Belkans and turned into a monster.  Black smoke started rising up from it but I couldn’t pinpoint the location that the smoke originated from.

“Look at that smoke.  It’s in its death throes,” Snow said.

“Is it finally out of surprises?” I asked no one in particular.

“Impossible… dammit, how can this be?!” demanded Adler. “Hurry!  We can’t go down yet!  We must regroup.  We can still do this.  We’re seeing this through to the end!  Switch to auxiliary engines!”

It amazed me how determined Adler was but at the same time, most Belkans were like this.  Most had an amazing amount of determination in them.

Then I realized Adler had said to fire up the auxiliary engines.  That bird had too many engines…

“The Arkbird’s fired up its last engine!” Nagase announced.

“Fighting with its last breath, huh?  That thing will not quit!” Grimm muttered.

I fell back a few feet as the Arkbird went vertical, heading towards space.  It was barely over one thousand feet above the ocean.  With the engine it was using, it wouldn’t be close to the ocean for long if we didn’t do something.  I locked onto the engine and fired two missiles.  They hit but did little damage.

“It’s barely holding itself together.  What a terrible sight,” Grimm said sadly.

“Now it’s just an ordinary, oversized plane,” Snow said as I fired two more missiles, adding my guns to the mix.  I had underestimated how much damage my first two missiles had done because the engine was destroyed.  I stared, my shock numbing me.  I hadn’t known that destroying the Arkbird was going to affect me like this.  I felt hollow, like I had just lost part of me.  It was strange.  I had no real interest in the Arkbird, that was Nagase, but I felt like I was betraying my country for destroying it.  Perhaps it was because although the Belkans had control of the Arkbird, it was made by Osea, therefore it still seemed like it was Osean property to me and how was I helping my country if I was destroying its masterpieces?

_________________________________________

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED

“… Damn you, Razgriz…” Adler snarled.

We were silent as we watched miniature explosions start up on the Arkbird as it fell towards the ocean.  I think all of us had some degree of the feeling that what we had just done was wrong, even if we had prevented the Arkbird from nuking Osean territory.  I don’t know, but it felt wrong destroying something made by our country; it didn’t help that it was so beautiful and graceful in appearance.

I was flying low to the ocean, near where the Arkbird was rapidly disappearing into the ocean; probably not the smartest thing to do.  My stupidity was rewarded with my plane getting sprayed with salt water from the underwater explosion of the Arkbird.  It wasn’t a lot of water but enough to tell me to fly higher up to dry the water off my windshield.  The explosion itself rocketed water up at least five hundred feet.  It was some explosion which didn’t help the horrible feeling in my stomach.

“… Nagase?” Grimm asked quietly. “You okay?”

“I’ve had better days,” She replied quietly.  We left it at that and headed home in a stunned, depressed silence.

I think Pops must’ve guessed we were shaken up by the whole ordeal because he had the briefer state what had happened while we were flying back to the Kestrel.

“We succeeded in halting the Arkbird’s nuclear attack on the city of Okchabursk in Yuktobania.  The Arkbird crashed into the middle of the Ceres Ocean after attempting to detonate the nuke above Osea.  Miraculously, there were no ships near the area of the crash site.  According to our investigation team, there is currently no evidence of radiation fallout in the area.”

When we landed Genette, Cassie, Pops, Andersen, and to my complete surprise, Geller, were there to greet us, although the greeting was pretty solemn.

“It had to be done,” Pops told us gently.

Geller shifted uncomfortably before he quietly said, “I know it is not my position to say this being that I am a Belkan, your sworn enemy at the moment, but I feel your loss… the bird was beautiful and Belkans have always fancied beautiful objects.”

“Thank you, Geller,” I said softly.  He gave me a sympathetic half-smile.

“You all need to get some rest.  What you did was no easy task,” Anderson ordered, not unkindly.  All of us were too tired to argue so we headed to our rooms.  I escorted Geller back to his room with guards in front and behind us.  He might have convinced Pops and Andersen he wasn’t going to try and escape (because honestly, where was he going to go?  We were in the middle of the Arctic surrounded by freezing cold water) but he was still a threat.

“Will you be all right, Miss Blaze?” Geller asked before he entered his room.

“I’ll be fine once I get some rest.  I’ll talk to you tomorrow, I promise.”  Geller nodded and I headed to my room.

I plopped on my bed.

Everyone else was already asleep.  The only sound I could hear was the water gently hitting the sides of the boat.  In that moment, everything started to catch up with me: the exhaustion, the pressure, the tension, the loss of Chopper.

A tear rolled down my face before I could even try and stop myself.

It was the first time in nine years.

I cried.

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Okay that took a way longer time to update than I had anticipated!  But that’s what I get for going out of the country and not bringing my laptop with me.  I’m sorry about that.  For some reason this chapter was a pain to write.  Anyways, now that I’m on summer vacation, the updates should be coming quicker.  Hope you enjoyed!  Oh, although this is a long ways off, I was thinking of having an interview with the Razgriz as the very last chapter but I need questions and I suck at creating them so if you have any questions for any of the Razgriz (Chopper included, whether he lives or dies in this story), message them to me.  Okay, bye!  No review= no update!