It's about time I update this story.  Enjoy :)

Chapter Quote:
"While all deception requires secrecy, all secrecy is not meant to deceive."
~Sissela Bok
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Chapter 6: Cross-Reference

I hit a dead end about two weeks into my research of the Iron Cross.  I decided I needed help and from someone none of my friends would suspect I'd go to.  It had to be someone none of us talked to, and I had the perfect candidate.  Her name was Allison Bells.  She was pretty reclusive and didn't talk much to anyone, but when it came to cracking codes, she was an absolute genius.

I knocked on her bedroom door, politely yet anxiously waiting for her to open up.  I didn't want any of my family crossing paths with me because then I'd have to explain why I was at this kid's door and that wouldn't go well.

Thankfully she answered my knocking pretty quickly.  She stared at me curiously and said, "Percy Bartlett, right?"

"That's me.  Allison Bells?" I said.

"Yeah.  What can I do for you?"

"I need your help with something.  It's top secret and I can't have my friends knowing.  I need someone smart and considering you're pretty damn good at codebreaking from what I hear...  I know it's a long shot asking you to do this, but would you be willing to help me out?"

She stared at me. "I will but you owe me something in return."

"What?"

"You tell me exactly why your friends can't know."

"Deal." She moved aside so I could enter.  I sat on the edge of her bed and pulled out my laptop.  She pulled her desk chair up in front of me, taking a seat as well. "Okay, so the night that the terrorists attacked, I pretended to play dead so they wouldn't shoot Shiloh or me.  But I noticed that one of them had an Iron Cross on his gun.  I've been researching it trying to see if any group identifies with it."

Allison snatched my computer off my lap. "No military I know of uses that symbol.  And no current, meaning in the past fifteen years, terrorist organization I know of uses that symbol.  But have you looked into past ones?  Maybe it's an old group trying to make a comeback or something.  I mean they're certainly starting off with a massacre like that."

"My first guess was the Gray Men but I looked into their history and found nothing about the Iron Cross," I said.

"Didn't the Gray Men go down when your godmother shot Grabacr and Ofnir down?"

"That's what I thought, but I just have this... feeling it's them.  But I need proof."

"Give me a few days.  I'll figure it out.  If we want any real information, we'd need to get into some government files."

"Where would we get those?"

"It's the twenty-first century, Bartlett.  There's a thing called the digitalization of files and another thing called 'hacking'.  I can put up a firewall, make it damn near impossible for them to track me.  We'll be fine.  I know you won't be here much longer, so I'll hurry, but if I can't do it before you leave, I'll send you the information via mail.  Can't trust the internet for the exact reason I'm using to try and get the files.  Why aren't you having your friends helping though?  Aren't two of them super-geniuses like me at this stuff too?"

"Isabelle is.  And I'm not telling them because I think they'd think I'm off my rocker.  Maybe not Shiloh but I want definitive proof before I show them anything.  On top of that, my parents acted weird when I told them about the Iron Cross.  They said it was nothing but you know that look parents get when they're hiding something from you?"

"No, I haven't talked to my parents in years.  They kicked me out when I was sixteen."

"Oh..."

"They didn't necessarily agree with my... extracurricular activities."

"What were you doing?  Hacking things?"

"No, dating."

"What's so bad about dating?  Were they super strict or something?"

"They wanted me to date people I had no interest in.  They tried to hook me up with this guy named Josh, another boy named Cody, some guy named Terrell?  I don't remember.  I just know I didn't root for that team."

It took me a second to register what she meant. "I say you should date whatever gender floats your boat.  And hey, look at you now, all kicking ass and hacking into government websites like a badass."

Allison actually smiled a little bit. "You're a good guy Percy.  If only my parents thought the same way you did.  I'll get working on this and I'll let you know when I'm done."

"Thanks Allison." I left her room.  Jet engines caught my attention.  Peering outside, I saw fighter jets flying around.  It was a hop, and there were two teams.  I grinned when I realized it was the girls' time to fly the planes against the Belkans.  I really hoped the girls put them in the Belkans in their place.
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Shiloh

We'd been up and flying for about ten minutes, with neither team making much headway.  We'd been put into groups so naturally it was Oseans versus Belkans.  I was paired with my brothers and Lux.  My sister and I could definitely handle ourselves out there but what was ticking me off was the fact the Belkan pilots were purposefully targeting me and Lux.  They only paid attention to my brothers if Will and Jem were about to get a missile lock on them.  I had two planes following me.  I kept trying to think of an evasive maneuver I hadn't thought of yet.  I'd used every one in the book so it was time to make up my own, or use my mom's famous one the first time she ever went on a mission.

I leveled my plane but kept it going fast to lead them into a false sense of security.  Will came onto the microphone and said, "What are you doing?!"

"I'm bringing them in closer," I replied.

"All right, Maverick, you do that," Jem laughed.

"Thanks for encouragement, Iceman."

"No, I'm Iceman.  I'm the better looking one," Will commented.

There was silence over the radio for a few seconds before Jem remarked, "We are twins.  Identical twins.  We look exactly alike."

"I have better clothes."

"We dress the exact same way."

"I have a better sense of humor."

"You have a stupid sense of humor."

"My point is currently being made."

"Maybe you should be Hollywood, he always did have a stick up his-"

"We have found the Pixy and Cipher of the group," Lux interrupted.

"God help whoever their captain is when they get assigned a base," I said. "All right, who's ready to see some pissed off guys?"

I slammed on my brakes and went up.  The two planes trailing me shot past me.  I leveled off behind them and latched on to the closest one, easily getting a missile lock on them.

"One bandit is down.  Three more to go," I announced.

"Guys, I have an idea.  Keep them occupied," Lux ordered.  My sister broke off from the group, disappearing behind one of the mountains.  Two of the three planes started going after her but they had to break it off when my brothers shot after them.  I held my own against the third plane.  A few seconds later I saw Lux shoot up vertically into the sky.  One of the two planes my brothers had been keeping at bay went after her.  It was having trouble catching up because she'd been going so fast.  Just as she was about to enter the altitude that would make her plane stall, she pulled a 'mom' by slamming on her brakes.  The plane trailing her shot past.  She was already high-tailing it out of there by the time the Belkan was able to flip his plane around.  Will was there to meet him with a missile lock though and that was the second Belkan sent out of commission in the hop.  There were only two more left.

Amusingly enough, one of the pilots was in so much rage from watching what Lux and Will did that he failed to see Jem coming up from underneath him.  My brother got a lock on him and was out.  The last plane put up a good fight but I took care of him simply by not letting him out of my sights and biding my time.  I had no other planes to worry about but I kept my eyes on my surroundings, just in case the instructors didn't like the Oseans kicking their students' asses and sent something up to beat us.  However, no surprises came and I got the last plane out.  My brothers, sisters, and I hollered in victory.  When we landed, we were greeted by our instructors.  For the most part, everyone's faces were stoic, but a few of the younger cadets who'd been watching were grinning.

"Congratulations, you've won this hop," Adler said.  A younger guy was standing next to him, one I had never seen before.  In fact, he looked a lot like Adler, making me wonder if that was his son. "Markus will lead you back to the classrooms."

Once we were out of ear shot from the commanders, Markus said, "You're the Davenports, right?"

"Yes, sir," I replied.

"Axel told me about you.  It's a pleasure to meet you," he told us with a smile.

"You know Axel?"

"Yes, ma'am.  You're Shiloh?"

"Yes.  How do you know him?"

"We're good friends.  I work on the same aircraft carrier as him.  Or will.  We're being reassigned in a few months.  That was some impressive flying.  You're definitely the legacies of the Razgriz," he complimented.

"How is Axel?  I haven't talked to him really since the terrorist attack in the town."

"He's good.  He's been working overtime volunteering and trying to help clean up the city from it."

"Has he always been into volunteering for stuff like that?" Jem queried.

Markus nodded. "I think he wants to give his family name a new meaning, not one that's associated with the horrors of the Gray Men.  I get it."

"So, getting away from that depressing subject of those lunatics, what's up with Adler?  Did we do something to him that we don't know of?  Because I'm getting this feeling he hates us," Will commented.

"He doesn't hate you.  In fact, he thinks you're all brilliant.  But he does have a slight grudge against your parents even though he understands they had no choice and really couldn't help it."

"What did our parents do?" Lux questioned, almost putting it as a challenge.  I nudged her, glaring at her to settle down.

Markus rubbed the back of his head. "Let's just say Axel isn't the only kid of the Gray Men that you've now met."

"You dad was a—"

"Yes.  Ofnir Two.  See, Adler is my grandfather.  He took me in after my dad got imprisoned for life.  That was your parents' doing but he understands that.  In fact he thinks he deserves it.  My grandfather never agreed with the politics and beliefs of the Gray Men.  Then there was my uncle who was actually the complete polar opposite of my dad, more like my grandfather, but he worked for the BAF during the war as well.  He was never as good of a fighter pilot as my dad but you know, he was still the Belkan Air Force.  Anyway, he was assigned to attack your parents when the Belkans attacked them over the Vladimir Mountains.  I don't think any of the pilots thought your parents would turn around a fight.  It caught them off guard.  My uncle survived the crash but his injuries killed him.  My grandfather was always bitter about that.  If it's any consolation, he thinks your dad is hysterical.  And he has a lot of respect for your parents as fighter pilots and people.  He just still has a grudge against them," Markus explained.

"So, say our parents were on base, what would he do if he saw them?" Lux inquired, staring into the distance.

"He'd be polite.  Not friendly, not rude, but polite.  I think."

"I guess we'll find out," she said, nodding towards the distance.  I grinned when I saw my mom and my uncle Genette talking to some of the mechanics.  For being in her forties, my mother still looked like a million bucks; I hoped I aged as gracefully as she did.  She wore a royal blue dress with quarter-length sleeves, black peep toe shoes, and simple gold jewelry.  Her blonde hair tumbled down her back and it still amazes me that she doesn't have more gray hairs, especially considering she raised four kids.  I mean, Lux and I were easy, but my brothers? 

She held a clipboard in her arms.  My uncle wore a polo shirt and black suit pants.  I don't know what he said but my mother punched him in the arm.  He only laughed.  The mechanics were grinning, said something, and dismissed themselves from the conversation.

"What do we have here?" Jem called out. "Are we in trouble?  Did you really believe me and Will and when we said we'd gotten tattoos on our back and came to lecture us?"

"I wouldn't care if you got tattoos.  It's not like I don't have one," she said.  Will and Jem's mouths fell open. "Kidding.  I don't.  But really, I won't mind if you get a tattoo.  As long as it's tasteful.  How are you doing?"

She and my uncle hugged all of us as Lux responded, "We're good.  We just got done with a hop."

"Did you win?"

"Yes.  The Belkans weren't happy about that though.  Especially since they got beaten by two girls," I added.

"Show them what you're made of," my mom encouraged.

"So why are you here?  Did you come to check up on us?" Will questioned.

"While I'm not complaining about having an excuse to come and see you, I did not come here to check on you.  I'm here on business.  Duncan wants to see if the air force academy can be improved in their teaching methods.  Flying-wise they're fine, but when it comes to actual classroom teaching, he questions it.  Genette, Bartlett and I are here, your father, Grimm- god help him because we know Chopper is going to pick on him- and Major are in Yuktobania.  Nagase, Snow, and Geller are in Emmeria.  Henri, Cipher, and Pixy are holding down the fort back in Osea.  I'm afraid your uncle and I have to leave now but we're kidnapping all you kids later to go out to eat.  The base commander already knows of this.  We'll see you later.  We have to find Bartlett, make sure he hasn't taken over teaching a class.  You know he would.  I'll see you later.  If you see the other kids, let them know of tonight's plans.  And Markus, you're very welcome to come," my mother added with a smile at him.

"Thank you, Mrs. Davenport, but I must decline.  I am leaving town tonight to go back to my aircraft carrier," Markus said.

"Very well.  We'll see you later.  Love you!"

"Love you!" My siblings and I said simultaneously.
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Genette

My sister and I walked down the corridors of the main campus in an attempt to find Bartlett, peering briefly into classrooms.  He wasn't responding to our texts so that meant two things: he'd gotten himself into trouble or he had taken over teaching a classroom.  Either scenario was bad.

"Found him," Blaze announced, opening a classroom door.  I followed her.  The class was packed with students, staring intently at Bartlett who was drawing some sort of diagram on the board.  The lecturer was nowhere to be seen so I wondered if my comrade had scared him off.  I saw Percy and Alec sitting next to each other, both laughing, which I soon noticed everyone was laughing.

"Ah!  You two finally found your way," Bartlett said.

"And you finally lost it," I countered.

"What are you doing?" Blaze queried, staring in total confusion at the white board.  I turned my head different ways to see if I could understand what he was drawing.  It didn't help.

"I'm teaching them," Bartlett responded.

"What did you do to the lecturer?" Blaze asked in mock seriousness.  The kids snickered.

"Absolutely nothing.  He saw me, saw the interest the kids had in me and my stories, gave them the day off.  But he also may've been called down to the Base Commander's office so I'm 'teaching' them."

"Exactly what are you teaching them and what is this thing on the board?"

"He's teaching us how to keep up foreign relations!" Percy shouted from the back.  I snorted.

"You mean like this?" Blaze said, flipping off Bartlett.

"This is a classroom.  You can't be doing stuff like that!" Bartlett scolded.

"It's university.  Pretty sure the middle finger isn't the worst they've seen." There was a murmuring of agreement.

"Did you ever keep up foreign relations Aunt Blaze?" Alec yelled.

"I think I may've done it once.  It's your Uncle Chopper who was famous for it.  Repeatedly got compared to Charlie Sheen," she replied.

"Lecturer is coming back!" a student informed hurriedly.  The others quickly put on a stoic face.  Bartlett erased the whiteboard and started speaking about evasive maneuvers.  Just as the lecturer entered the room, Bartlett was saying, "Can anyone tell me what- ah, you're back.  I guess this concludes my part of the lecture.  It's all your Turk."

My comrade motioned for us to leave the lecture room.  We winked at our two kids in the back of the room before leaving.  Once out of there, Blaze said, "Genette, you owe me twenty bucks."

I groaned as I handed my sister the money.  Bartlett stared at us before asking why I owed her money although I'm pretty sure he knew.  I explained telling him Blaze and I bet on where he was.  She had decided he'd taken over the classroom.  I'd thought something had happened to him, probably his cellphone had died.

"Let's head back to the hotel.  The day is almost over and we have four more days to research all this.  We'll get some input from our kids, interview other kids here as well.  And I want to change out of this outfit.  I love looking sharp but I love sweatpants more," Blaze mused.

The three of us left and went back to the hotel.  I had just changed into jeans and a tee shirt when Blaze texted me and Bartlett to come to her room.  We had keys so we just went in.  She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, staring intently at her computer.  Bartlett and I sat on each side of her.  A picture of the soldiers in the Circum-Pacific War took up the entire computer screen.  I noticed it was of enemy soldiers and I wondered why she was looking at it.  Bartlett voiced this opinion as well.

"Look at the guns," she instructed.  There were about twenty of the weapons in the picture so it took me a couple minutes to actually see what she was referring to.  I pointed to it, saying, "The Iron Cross.  The one Percy saw when they were attacked in Parsberg.  It's on that gun.  But why isn't it on the others?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out.  This is a long shot but what if the person in this photograph is linked to the terrorist organization that attacked the town of Parsberg?"

"It's plausible.  We need to find out the name of that soldier.  Hopefully he's still alive.  Because maybe if he is alive, we can ask him what the cross means."

"That's going to be hard to do.  That soldier is definitely Yuktobanian.  Look at the markings on his uniform," Bartlett said.  My sister and I simultaneously groaned.

"The Yuktobanian government may love us overall but they don't love us enough to access their military database to check into this," I pointed out.

Blaze bit her lip. "Maybe we don't have to do it.  Maybe we can have someone else do it for us.  Nikanor said if we ever needed anything, we could ask.  It was in return for saving his life.  We're not going to be able to get see those files ourselves, but maybe Nikanor still has some strings he can pull in their government to send us the information in the files."

"You think he'd be willing to do that?" Bartlett asked.

"It's worth a shot."

"And if he says no or he can't pull it off?" I added.

"That's what Geller is for."

"Are you seriously suggesting we hack into the Yuktobanian military database?"

"I'm willing to do whatever it takes to find the people who massacred eighty people, injured a hundred plus more, and nearly murdered our children," Blaze replied firmly.  I saw the spark in her flare up again.  I hadn't seen her so passionate about capturing someone since the Gray Men had tried to kill us.

"You heard her.  I'll go call Nastasya and see if she'll call Nikanor for us.  You know he's always been a sucker for her," Bartlett laughed.

"I'll call Chopper and Cipher.  Genette, you call Nagase.  We need to update them on everything that's going on," Blaze said.

"Got it," I replied.

"Oh, and Genette?"

"Hmm?"

"Could you call the restaurant to make a reservation?  I forgot..."

I laughed. "Sure thing little sister."

"You know I hate when you call me that."

"And that's why I do."
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Percy 

I was just heading out of the class my dad had so amusingly interrupted when my phone buzzed.  It was a text from Allison telling me that she had the info I requested.  I tried not to show my surprise to Alec who was animatedly talking about... something.

"Hey man, I gotta run.  I'll catch up with you later, okay?" I said, not giving him a chance to respond as I briskly walked off to Allison's room.  She opened the door before I even knocked. "How did you do that so fast?"

"Like you said, you heard I'm good.  I am.  Now sit," she ordered.  She sat next to me with her laptop and pulled up a picture of the trenches. "Tell me what you see on the guns.  My eyes instantly narrowed in on the Iron Cross that was emblazoned on a gun.  Allison nodded and explained, "This picture is from the Circum-Pacific War.  It's the battle that Blaze, Grimm, and Nagase helped the Army storm Cruik Fortress.  That's when the Gray Men were still around.  About a two hundred men were arrested for being in league with the Gray Men.  Analyzing the color and style of the uniform, that soldier with the Iron Cross on his gun is Yuktobanian.  I sharpened the image enough to get the last four letters of the soldier's name.  I then hacked into the Yuktobanian military database and searched for names with those last four letters.  There weren't many.  I then cross-referenced that with who was fighting at Cruik Fortress and I came up with this name: Maxim Zykov.  He was arrested for being linked to the Gray Men.  I went a step further and looked up other names that had been arrested for charges of being with the Gray Men.  I found three more that I found pictures of with their guns, and each one of them has an Iron Cross somewhere on their body.  One man has an Iron Cross ring.  Another had an Iron Cross on his shoe.  The third had an Iron Cross on his gun as well.  I think it's a hidden signal that's been over looked because it's not consistent in where they're wearing them.  Maybe if all the people in the Gray Men had had an Iron Cross on their gun or had all worn an Iron Cross ring, the link may've been found.  But I think you're right.  Whoever attacked Parsberg, they either used to be part of the Gray Men or there's a new leader of the Gray Men throwing out orders."

I clasped my hands together, wrapping my head around the fact that I'd nearly been murdered by the same group that had tried to murder my parents. "But why attack Parsberg?  What was so important there that the Gray Men needed to commit a massacre?"

"I thought about that too.  At first I thought that maybe whoever is leading the Gray Men knew you were in town and wanted revenge against your parents by killing you.  But that was a last minute decision.  And you could've been anywhere in the town."

"So next step is to figure out why they attacked the town," I said. "Allison, you've been a wonderful help.  I don't know how I can repay you."

"By letting me help some more?  I haven't had this much excitement in a long time.  And to think I could possibly help the Razgriz?  Well that's a dream come true for me," she admitted.

"You really want to help?  I mean I would love the help but if the Gray Men really are behind this, and they find out we're onto them, they could come after not only me, but you too, and not to just to chastise us for hacking into stuff."

"We're in the military.  Throwing our life on the line is kind of our job.  Count me in."

"You're the best.  Brainstorm why the Gray Men massacred Parsberg, and if we figure that out, I think we'll be on the right track of figuring out what they want overall."

"You got it Bartlett.  See you soon."

"See you later, genius."
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And the plot thickens.  Review please :)