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Chapter Quote:
"Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success."
~Henry Ford
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Chapter 16: Commandeer

Blaze

Henri's phone call had shaken me to my core. Where were our kids? What had happened to them at the base? What had happened to Henri? Why had his phone call cut short? So many questions, all of which were unanswered but led to multiple answers, all equally terrifying.

"Who's alive?" Genette asked. He was sitting on the arm of the armchair with Nagase sitting in it beside him.

"He cut out before he could tell me. It has to be someone we know or else he wouldn't have mentioned it," I answered, biting my lip.

"It's not the kids is it?" Chopper queried. He was barely able to hide the worry in his voice. I knew he was trying to stay strong for the rest of us, especially because we all knew what Bartlett and Major were thinking, hoping, for in regards to whom it was Henri was referring to.

"No, he would've said it after he said they weren't on base. No, it's someone different."

"Then where the hell are the kids?" Grimm prodded.

"We can't get in touch with anyone unless our lives are in danger," Cassie said sadly. "Those were our orders."

"Screw orders," Bartlett griped, grabbing his phone.

"Jack, no," Nastasya told him gently, placing her hand on his phone. Turning to us, she declared, "I have no doubt that our children are alive or the president would've gotten in touch with us already if they weren't. I have a feeling no one knows where they are, which means they're safe. At least for now. The best thing we can do for them is to end this silent war."

I sighed. "I hate to admit this, but you're right, we need to focus on this mission so we can focus on helping our children. I also trust them to be safe in what they're doing. But we need to let the president know that Henri is in trouble. I have the number he called me from so if I get that to him, he can have someone look up who it is and go after them to find Henri."

"Why don't you give me the number and I'll go do that now? The faster someone gets to him, the better," Chopper pointed out. I conceded, writing down the number for him. He disappeared into one of the rooms to make the call. We risked blowing the op by calling, but Henri's life was most likely in danger. None of us disagreed on that.

"Okay we should head out soon. We have at least another two or three day drive to our target location. We need to get there sooner rather than later so that we can scope out the true nature of our opponent."

"Do we have any idea of who their leader is yet? We know it's the Gray Men, we know they've been targeting us and the kids, but why? Do we have any lead on that yet?" Grimm questioned.

"They were most likely targeting the kids to get to us. At least in the beginning," Nastasya spoke up. "But when they found out the kids knew more than they were supposed to, they went after them for that."

"So the kids are MIA, Henri is alive but injured and his whereabouts are unknown, and we don't know who the leader of the Gray Men is now? I just want to clarify I know what is going on," Geller said.

"That sounds about right," Snow mused.

I tried not to show what I was feeling in that moment. Between the worry over the kids and worry over Henri's condition, my anxiety was trying to blow through the roof. I wouldn't let it. I needed a clear head to go through with this mission. I also believed in my kids to do the right things to keep themselves safe, to protect themselves. As for Henri, I had to pray and believe he'd found help.

"If they went after the kids to get to us, why? What's the point in that? Why not take us out directly?" Pixy queried.

We were quiet for a moment before Cipher said, "They want to hurt us. They can't do that if we're dead so they go after the thing we love the most. That's the kids. Our legacies."

"If they're wanting to hurt us, then that sounds personal," Cassie stated.

"The list of people who think we've wronged them in some way or another is long, long list. How could we narrow it down?" Nagase asked.

"We start by looking at members of the Gray Men who were killed in action by Razgriz," Geller suggested. "Like Cassie said, this sounds personal if they are trying to hurt you by going after their kids, so most likely it is the death of a loved one that has caused this person to instigate this crusade against us."

"There's quite a few of those but it does narrow down the list a bit," Genette noted. "It's worth a shot."

"I can get working on it now, before we leave," Geller offered.

"Yes, start compiling a list of the dead Gray Men and find out their relatives. That's the best place to start. We can look at close friends if that doesn't shed any light on this."

"Not to change the subject, but Motormouth is taking a while. That phone call shouldn't take that long," Bartlett grumbled, speaking for the first time since our argument yesterday.

"He is taking- Chopper! Speak of the devil," Grimm chuckled. Then, noticing the severely perturbed expression on my husband's face, he added, "What's wrong? Is it the kids? Henri?"

For the first time in years, my husband seemed lost for words. I stood up, lacing my fingers through his. His eyes met mine and I was shocked to see terror in them. I don't think the others saw it, but I did. I'd seen that same look when I'd been going into labor with Shiloh, when there had been an assassination attempt on mine and the others' lives. Something was majorly, terribly wrong.

"Chopper, what's wrong?" I prodded gently.

"The kids... they've been accused of treason by the Base Commander of the Osean Air Force Academy after it was attacked and they escaped from the base. There's severe damage done to the base. No one knows where the kids are but they've been spotted a few times. The twins were surfing on a bus and a taxi before climbing up a rope ladder onto a helicopter that bore Belkan markings..." he explained. I gripped his hand tighter at his words. That seemed to encourage him to continue even though that hadn't been my intention. "The president doesn't believe it to be true. The security tapes have disappeared and there was only one death on the base. I got the name. I recognize it as a current Gray Men member. That's not a coincidence."

"The kids must've known they were being targeted and tried to escape, but the Gray Men tried to stop them, hence the damage to the base," Nagase said.

"That's... that's not all. It's not just the kids," Chopper said.

"Henri?" Geller said.

"No." For about five seconds, my husband would open his mouth as if to say something, but then shut it immediately. It was as if he couldn't find the right words to tell us what he needed to. Finally, he simply said, "Someone stole our planes."
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Shiloh

It took us about a week to finalize and understand and coordinate everything to do with the 'temporary misappropriation' of our parents' planes. The logistics had been incredibly difficult. We were planning on it being difficult, but making sure it was all perfect was tedious and time consuming and no one on the ship involved with the plan really got much free time outside of the planning.

Helena, Axel, Markus, and Liam left before all of us, hopping onto a small boat that would slip unseen to the beach at night. They were heading to Perrault's who would help get them on base without detection. We soon followed in boats of our own with Tybalt, Gilbert, and Leonard driving them. We all snuck over to a safe house established by Roman which ended up just being his apartment. We crashed the moment we found furniture to sleep on because we were going to have a big day ahead of us and nothing could go wrong. We couldn't let it.

"Shi, wake up," I heard a voice whisper. I groggily opened my eyes to find Alec looking down at me. "It's time."

I pushed myself up, running a hand through my hair and avoiding rubbing my eyes so I wouldn't make myself look like the Winter Soldier with my eyeliner.

"Shiloh, Lux, and Isabelle, you three are riding with me," Roman said. "Alec, Charlotte, and Tessa, you're riding with Schulz. Will, Jem, and Henry, you're riding with Hoffman. Richter and Vogel are going to lead another cavalry."

"What do you mean?" Lux demanded, recognizing that that wasn't part of the plan.

"Don't worry. We're not shooting anyone or anything. It's just a distraction that will keep eyes off of you and you can get in those planes with as little trouble as possible," Roman assured. "We want to get out of this alive and unscathed just like you do, so don't worry."

"You should've let us know sooner rather than later... but thank you."

It was dawn by the time we left the apartment, helmets and gear all ready to go. When we got downstairs, there were four guys waiting for us. One had jet black hair, sharp blue eyes, and a leather jacket. But when he smiled at us, it was nothing but warm and friendly. The one on his left was shorter, blonde, and with one blue eye and one brown eye. He looked cocky as hell.

"This black-haired one is Vogel. He'll be gathering the cavalry for the big show. Blondie here is Schulz. He's a sly devil and one of the best drivers I know."

"Richter and Hoffman are outside with the cars keeping an eye out on them. I say we should get going," Vogel said. "I'm ready for some excitement."

"I don't know if excitement is the right word for this," Schulz remarked. "But it's definitely something."

"All right, let's go!" Roman clapped his hands, and we were off. I got in the front seat of his Nissan GTR; Lux and Isabelle got in the backseat. He gave us a cheeky grin and said, "Hold on tight."

With that said, he tore off with the others following closely behind us. I held on for dear life and when I risked a glance over my shoulder, I found Lux and Isabelle doing the same. My sister and I shared a look that clearly said 'We are going to die'. I would much prefer to be going this fast in the air where there's not much for you to crash into rather than on the ground going ninety miles an hour in the city where there was anything and everything to crash into.

"Are you trying to kill us before we even get there?!" Lux groaned. "Shiloh, you better pay him back for this when we escape!"

"Oh believe me, I plan on it!" I replied, sending a death glare to Roman which just seemed to amuse him more. Fortunately, we weren't in the city for long. Unfortunately the open road meant that Roman and the others decided to have a race and that ninety miles per hour went to one hundred twenty miles per hour. I thought being used to going Mach One would've prepared me for this but no. No it did not. At one point there was a sharp bend which Roman simply dragged the back end of the car and made the turn without slowing down. It was impressive but still terrifying.

"Demons, you there?" A familiar voice came over the long-range walkie-talkies we had in the car.

"Hey Rose," I greeted. That was Axel's call sign. Will had thought it was a funny play on words considering the member of a famous band had been called Axl Rose. The call sign stuck and for safety reasons, that's the only way we were calling each other. The kids and I were going by our parents' call signs, or the ones we'd assigned ourselves. "It's Razgriz One. We're about one minute away from the target destination."

"Great. Hey Rome, where's the cavalry?"

"They're going to be about fifteen seconds in front of us, so they'll approach first and we'll be there so close behind them that no one should notice that we're entering the fray," Roman answered. The radio fell silent for about thirty seconds and in the distance I could see a bunch of brightly colored cars moving in the same direction we were. I had a feeling the 'cavalry' had arrived.

Then Axel's voice came over the radio. "All right guys, get ready. We're firing in three... two... one..."

I saw the small explosion of the barred gate. Immediately sirens started going off in the distance.

"This is where the fun begins!" Jem called out of the radio.

"Chill Pixy," Lux said into the radio.

"He's been saying those quotes from the war the entire ride. Help me," Will said.

"Cipher, if you could put up with him then, you can put up with him now," I said.

"You seriously overestimate my patience sometimes."

"No I don't. I know what we can get away with when it comes to you."

"Shut up."

I snickered but became serious when we crossed the bumpy, blown up path where the gate that had once protected people from coming into the Demon's base had been.

"This is crazy," Isabelle remarked, staring open-mouthed at the sight before us. When Roman meant cavalry, he meant about fifty other jacked up, souped-up cars darting to and fro, confusing the hell out of the guards and Osean tanks trying to protect the hangars from unwanted guests, a.k.a. us.

"Okay Razgriz, we're making our way to the hangars. Demons and Heartbreak One, you're in Hangar One. Galm, you're in Hangar Two. Go, go, go!" Axel ordered. Roman swerved to a stop in front of the hangar while Lux, Isabelle and I put on our helmets so we wouldn't be recognized. We then hurried out of the car where we slipped into the hangar through a side door. The moment we were inside, the cacophony outside turned into a hum of car engines.

"Found my plane!" Lux shouted, running to the back of the hangar. Charlotte was soon to follow when realizing that hers was across from Lux's. Alec and Tessa went to their planes in the middle while Nagase and I took the two in the front. I climbed into the plane, sliding into the pilot seat. The plane was much bigger than what I was used to, than the panes I used to train in. But I'd studied the mechanics and workings of this plane inside and out, so I knew exactly what everything did.

"Apollo here," Liam said over the radio, "Rose, Queen, Eagle, and I are all ready to get in the planes when you are."

Queen was Helena, Eagle was Markus. Liam had chosen Apollo after having read a book series that happened on another planet where there was something called Greek gods. Having known what book series he was talking about, I had to admire his taste.

"This is Rome. We've moved the cars out of the way so we're going to the hangars now."

"Rome, you're with me. Schulz, Eagle, Hoffman, and Richter, you're with Razgriz Two, Razgriz Three, Razgriz Four, and Razgriz Five respectively. Apollo, you're with Heartbreak One. Rose, Queen, and Vogel, you're with Galm. Get a move on so we can get out of here ASAP," I ordered. Barely five seconds later, I saw Roman, Liam, Markus, Schulz, Richter, and Hoffman enter the base. I was worried how easily this was going. Surely something was going to go wrong...

"Please don't pay me back for my driving earlier," Roman said as he slipped into the RIO's seat. "And please don't do any loops. I can't handle it."

"I can't make any promises. Better hope they don't send anyone up after us," I told him truthfully. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him crossing his chest in a prayer. "Hold on, I'm lowering the canopy."

"This is Razgriz One, we're ready to leave," I announced.

"Razgriz Two is ready for take-off," Isabelle confirmed.

"Razgriz Three is ready to rock and roll," Alec chirped. Even though I knew he had a voice changer in his helmet, it was still such a huge difference because Isabelle sounded almost exactly like her mother so there hadn't been much change for her voice changer. But Alec didn't really sound like my dad, so to hear him with my dad's voice was bizarre. It was the same with Tessa and Charlotte sounding like Grimm and Snow respectively. Their voices were too deep to what I was used to from them. But by far the funniest was Lux as Bartlett because while their voices were vastly different, their personalities were scarily similar, and she had his mannerisms down to a tee.

"This is Galm One. We're all ready to go."

"Let's get the doors open and onto the runway then," I said. Luckily for us our parent's hangar was extremely high tech so we didn't have to leave the plane to open the hangar doors. The Belkans had installed what was basically a garage door opener in each of our parents' planes.

"To the cavalry, the teams are leaving so watch where you're driving," Axel warned as the gates opened up. The chaos outside hadn't subsided in the least, and I had to say it was nerve-wracking pulling this multi-million dollar plane out of the hangar. But I managed to do it without damage to the plane or anyone or anything else.

"Razgriz, follow me. We need to get to the runway and avoid running over any cars. Cavalry, make a path for us so we don't run you over," I ordered. Just as I finished the command, one of the allies shouted, "There's a tank coming straight for us! Move, move, move!"

I glanced over to my left when I saw the tank they were referring to. It was charging down one of the roads as fast as it could, paying no heed to the obstacles in front of it. I saw one guy, unable to get out of the way in time, jump out of his car seconds before the tank ran directly over it. There was no doubt in my mind that the people in that tank were coming for us, and not to help us escape. They were here to take us down.

I went as fast as I dared in the plane to get to the runway, hitting the thrusters so I could quickly gain speed to take off. My wingmen were quick to follow. Within a few moments we were all up in the air. The moment we were safe, the cavalry started escaping through the front gate.

"Razgriz, Galm, and Heartbreak One, everyone get up okay?" I asked.

"This is Galm One. I can confirm the only one who's never been shot down and the two that have are all up safely," Will said.

"For f- really Cipher?" Jem groaned.

"I now understand your annoyance with him and that joke," Henry remarked.

"Would you three shut up and focus on getting back?" Lux said gruffly.

"This is Blaze," I said. "Let's get back to base. Try not to shoot each other down before that happens. Cipher, Pixy, I'm looking at you two here."

"I'm regretting letting you give him this position of power," Jem stated.

"He does it really well though. And you're the perfect counterbalance," I replied.

"I hate when you're right sometimes."

"You're not the only one."
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Lux

When we landed on the aircraft carrier, Allison was waiting for us, a grin on her face. She congratulated us on our successful first mission. I couldn't quite believe we'd gotten away with it, but I was going to accept it. We had other things to worry about at the moment.

"So what now? I think stealing our parents' planes made, first of all, quite the statement to the Gray Men, and secondly, pretty sure we're considered enemies of the state. Again. I mean us again personally, but the Razgriz," Will stated.

"Yeah, and not to mention it was quite the feat that we actually pulled it off," Alec added.

"Don't encourage him," Jem said. "He already has a big head getting to be Cipher."

"Well, I do have some bad news," Allison said.

"Oh god, what is it?"

"I hacked into the account of one of the Gray Men on board this ship and pretended to be him. I got a response back and according to the respondent, because the 'Razgriz' have escaped and are onto the Gray Men, they're launching two major operations, neither one of which the Razgriz, Galm, or Heartbreak One can miss, nor will they separate for it."

"We're still not experienced enough to handle things on our own. We're better if we all stick together," Charlotte remarked. I glanced over at my sister. She had been the one to come up with the plan to get our parents' planes, and I was sure she was coming up with a plan for this too. Charlotte was right. We weren't experienced enough to actually go out on our own yet. We needed to stick together.

"Shi, what are you thinking?" Alec queried, having figured the same thing I had.

"We don't know anyone else who could pretend to be the aces we know. But we could convince some aces themselves to come help us fight," she answered. "I was thinking Talisman, Shamrock, Mobius One, and Yellow Thirteen? Maybe even some aces from the Belkan War."

"You would trust the Bringer of Death to fight for us?" Henry noted.

"Okay, I was thinking maybe Espada Two and Bernhard Schmidt. I was also thinking about Strigon Two. Unlike the other members of Strigon, he liked my mom and dad. He would help us."

"Great. Any way to get in touch with any of them?"

"I mean we could get in touch with our family members easily. It's Espada Two, Strigon, and Schmidt that would be difficult," I pointed out.

"I can call Bryn. She's on speed dial," Jen said.

"That's great if we could use our cellphones," Will countered. "And Bryn is not exactly one to answer unknown numbers."

"None of our family members are," Isabelle said.

"But we have satellite phones. We can't make it to San Salvacion and back in time flying-wise," Allison remarked, "but we can try and get in touch with them."

"I'll call," Jem offered.

"And I can call Talisman," I told them. "We should get that done as soon as possible. Who should we have call Espada Two, Strigon Two, and Schmidt?"

"I'll call," Shiloh piped up. "I can convince them to help."

"I'll get all their information and then we can start preparing for the next missions," Allison replied. The group dispersed, with Shiloh, Jem, Will, and I went up to the computer room where Allison began pulling the numbers we would need to call. I glanced over at my sister who was intently watching what Allison was doing. I worried about Shiloh. She had shut down after Percy's death and while she was talking and smiling, I could tell her heart was never really in the latter one. Having read what happened to my mom when she thought my dad had died, I was extremely worried that my sister was doing the exact same thing. I'm one to talk, I don't like sharing my emotions when I'm upset, but that's mostly because whenever I'm upset, it's usually over something that is bothering my family as well, and I don't want to add my unhappiness onto their own. I knew they'd want to help, but I could handle it. I was my mother in that sense...

"Okay, here's everyone's information. Have at it Razgriz," Allison said, handing the numbers to us. I took Talisman's number and grabbed a satellite phone. Dialing his number in, I waited impatiently for him to pick up. But unsurprisingly, he didn't. So I called again. And again. And again.

It was on the fifth time I called than he picked up, sounding rather angry when he said, "Hello?"

"Hey Talisman, it's Lux," I greeted.

"Lux? Oh my god, are you okay? I've been watching the news. And the others, are they all safe?" All his anger had dissipated when he realized it was me, and I knew that when I requested him to come out, he was going to say yes.

"Mostly. Percy was killed by the Gray Men, but the rest of us are okay. Listen, I'm calling because we need your help with something."

"Anything. What do you need?"

"We need you to fight again."
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Hope you enjoyed! We have a surprise character who's been kind of MIA the entire story coming in next chapter so it's going to be good ! Reviews would be great!