Hey y’all, sorry it has taken so long for me to update but I’ve had no time between my homework, life, and my AP teacher that refuses to give me a grade higher than a C on a test. But anyways, I won’t stall any longer. Here’s the next chapter!
Quote of the Chapter:
“Wars teach us not to love our enemies, but to hate our allies.”
~W.L. George
_________________________________
Closure
Snow
December 12, 2010…
I woke up rather early. It was five in the morning. Of course, I can go to bed at twelve and wake up at five no problem and be full of energy all day. My friends call me weird… and I agree with them.
Sitting up, I stared out my window. It was still pitch black. We would only have sun for a few hours before it went to being black again. It wasn’t fun living on an aircraft carrier that only witnessed a few hours of sunlight a day. I couldn’t wait to be back home although it would probably be a while. Even after this war is over (and assuming I’m alive), I bet I will still be caught up in the aftermath of it, particularly the politics.
Unable to fall back asleep, I got up and headed to the crew room to brew myself a nice, steaming, warm cup of coffee. One cup and I was alert the rest of the day.
I flipped on the TV, wondering if we had any reception out here; thankfully, we did. Of course, we got two channels and two channels only, the history channel (which isn’t too bad usually) and the news. Deciding neither channel sounded even remotely interesting, I shut the TV off and headed up to the bridge. I could see everything from up here.
“Captain Snow? What are you doing up here?” Captain Andersen asked. I turned around to face my superior.
“I couldn’t sleep, sir. I decided to roam around a bit.” Andersen nodded and came to stand next to me.
“We have a mission for the squadron. Thanks to Blaze’s reconnaissance, we were able to determine that there were most definitely nukes hidden under that rock bed. The briefing isn’t for another hour because Pops is still getting some final details ready.”
“Sir, since there are nukes there, what if the enemy is planning or already transporting them?” I inquired, sipping some coffee.
“If the first case, let us hope we can get there before it begins. If the second, let us hope they back out of using them and/or are not able to transport all of them.”
We stood in silence until a crew member, his name was Josh I think, came and told Andersen that Pops needed him in the briefing room.
“The captain needs a word with you and Pops,” Josh said.
“Captain?” Andersen questioned.
“The captain of the Razgriz, sir. She wouldn’t say anything until you were there but she says it’s important.”
“I’m on my way,” Andersen said. “Captain Snow.”
“Sir,” I said, saluting him.
_________________________________
Blaze
I waited impatiently for Andersen to come down to the briefing room. Pops was watching me pace back and forth. I wasn’t sure if I should be creeped out by it or not. He was probably trying to figure out what I was going to say.
“Pops, Blaze,” Andersen greeted, walking into the briefing room and shutting the door.
“Hello,” Pops and I replied.
“So what’s this meeting about, hmm?”
“Thank you for coming Captain Andersen. What I wanted to talk about was Geller.”
“Geller? What about him?” Pops inquired.
“I want to try a different tactic on getting him to tell us what the Belkans are going to do with the nukes.”
Pops and Andersen stared at me before Pops asked, “What do you suggest?”
“He acts all high and mighty in the interrogation room so I was thinking I could talk to him in his room. I was thinking that I could go in and just start talking to him.”
“Talk to him about what?” Andersen inquired.
“I don’t know, just stuff. I won’t say anything about our plans but I want to try it.”
“I don’t know Blaze…” Pops hesitated. “Are you going in armed?”
“No.”
“He might attack you.”
“I’m perfectly capable of handling him myself,” I said.
After some more, calm arguing, I convinced Pops and Andersen to let me talk to him privately. I had no idea what I was going to say but I would figure it out. I always did. I had thirty minutes before the briefing was supposed to happen so I headed straight to Geller’s room. It was locked from the outside and had four guards stationed on the outside. Thankfully, the room was almost sound-proof so the guards wouldn’t know what we were talking about.
I nodded to the guards before walking in. I had been given clearance as a captain to talk to the prisoner whenever I wanted, even if it was two in the morning or something absurd like that.
When I walked in, Geller was lying on his bed. He scowled when he saw me.
“Hello,” I said cheerfully. “How are you this fine morning?”
Geller just stared at me so I continued.
“It’s not much of a morning yet since it is pitch-black outside and it is freezing. And it’s morning, so that’s a downside too. I’ve never been much of a morning person; why I’m up right now is a mystery to me. I think it had something to do with me dreaming about Vader dying in Star Wars or something like that. Whatever it was, it was weird, and I couldn’t fall back asleep afterwards so I went to get some tea and I put lots and lots of sugar and cream in it. Next time I come here, would you like me to bring you some tea or coffee? It’s surprisingly good here,” I rambled. Geller was looking at me curiously but he didn’t say anything. “Anything? I only have ten minutes left but I can still bring you some.”
Geller smiled just a tad, much to my surprise.
“At least tell me if you want coffee or tea,” I urged. “You must want something to drink besides boring old water. It’s not bad at first but when you have it over and over and over and over again, it gets annoying and old and yucky. How the water on this ship can taste yucky, I’m not exactly sure, especially since water really has no taste in the first place.”
“You’re not going to be quiet until I tell you coffee or tea, are you?” Geller asked quietly.
“No, I’m not. When you tell me whether you want coffee or tea and what you want in it, I’ll go get it and leave you alone.”
“But you won’t leave me alone permanently, will you?”
“Don’t count on it.”
“Fine. Coffee. Plain,” Geller muttered.
“See? That wasn’t so hard, now was it? I’ll bring you back your coffee and then I’ll leave.” I got up and left the room. I passed a few crewmen, all who greeted me with a cheery hello which I returned. I made the coffee just as Geller had asked, brought it back to him, said goodbye, and left, just like I had promised. It was almost six by the time I got to the briefing room. Pops and Andersen were there but no one else.
“Have you talked to him?” Pops asked casually.
“Yes, sir.”
“Did he say anything?”
“Nothing of importance,” I said. Pops seemed to think my answer was sufficient because he dropped the subject.
The squad, along with Genette and Cassie, came into the room right at six. They were all pretty surprised to see me since I wasn’t much of a morning person.
“Morning y’all,” I greeted.
“Well ain’t this a surprise,” Genette laughed. “I never thought I would see the day that Blaze would be up before me.”
“Oh shut it,” I mumbled with a grin. I sat down in a vacant chair. Snow sat on my left, Genette on my right. The rest of the squad sat on the other side of Genette.
_________________________________
Snow
While we waited for the briefing to start, my mind wandered to what Blaze had wanted to talk to Pops and Andersen about. Nothing seemed to have changed between them but I was still curious to know what had been so urgent.
But whatever thought was about to follow, it was stopped when the lights dimmed and the briefer started telling us about our mission.
“Analysis of the surveillance photos taken on the previous mission revealed tactical nuclear weapons of the same type used by Belka in the war fifteen years ago. These weapons, hidden in the mine, are about to be retrieved and deployed to the two aggressor squadrons in Osea and Yuktobania,” The Briefer explained. “The President has made his decision. Destroy the entrance to the mine before the next nuclear weapon is removed from the shaft, and bury those weapons of evil inside for good. This mission will be carried out with the usual four-ship formation. You’ll need powerful and numerous weapons on target to destroy the rock face above the entrance.”
Operation: Deepsix
Location: Mt. Schirm
Date: 2010/12/12
Time: 0615 hrs.
We got up and went to get our planes. Blaze assigned us the Tornado-GR.1. Its Bomblet Dispenser would be useful for the mission.
“Alright, who is ready to go and stop some bloody Belkans in their tracks?” Blaze chirped. We chuckled at her readiness for the mission.
We got into our planes and headed towards Belka to stop those nukes once and for all.
_________________________________
Mt. Schirm, Belka, 1312 hrs, December 12, 2010…
It was about midday when we reached the area surrounding Mt. Schirm. We followed the river that Blaze had followed. The radar was out, so we were lucky in the sense that there was no radar to worry about.
“Today will be easy since we don’t have to worry about any radar. Right, Captain?” Grimm asked cheerfully.
“Yes, sir, it will. That radar was pain in my butt yesterday,” Blaze said.
“Blaze, Archer, don’t get too cocky,” Nagase warned.
“We’re not getting cocky, we’re just looking on the bright side of life,” Blaze replied.
“Don’t tell me you’ve been listening to Monty Python’s Always Look on the Bright Side of Life song…” Nagase groaned.
“Of course not. I left my IPod back at Sand Island. I bet those idiots are trying to break into to see if there’s any ‘traitor plans’ in there or something like that. They’re going to have a hell of a time figuring out the password!” Blaze laughed.
“Why?”
“Because it’s so long. They’ve probably locked it for eternity,” Blaze said with a sigh. “Which is a shame because I was hoping to listen to it when I got it back after this war ends but alas, I don’t think I will.”
“Oh god,” Nagase muttered.
Blaze dipped her plane into a shallow dive; we followed likewise. She leveled out just above the trees and had her plane aimed at a watch tower. The trees were mainly evergreens I noticed, although I was going so fast I couldn’t tell what type. Everything was a dark green but the light blue sky made it less depressing to look at.
When Blaze was a few hundred feet away from the tower, she fired her guns and destroyed it with little to no effort whatsoever.
“I can’t believe the Captain flew around this place all by herself…” Grimm said in awe.
“Grimm, don’t talk like I’m not here,” Blaze ordered light-heartedly. “Why can’t you believe it?”
“Just thinking about those nukes that are buried up ahead give me goose-bumps. What if one of the nukes had blown up when you were here all by yourself?”
“Then that would’ve ended my day really quickly,” Blaze said. It seemed strange to me that Blaze seemed so… I don’t know, casual in her response.
“Those nukes are exactly why the Belkans have lowered themselves to sneaking around, pitting two countries against each other. You give a man enough weapons, he’ll start to think he’s more powerful than he really is,” I declared. “Of course, it’s beyond me how these people can delude themselves into thinking they can control the very weapon which wiped out their own cities.”
“Yeah. With all that sneaking around, it makes me wonder whatever happened to glory and honor and pride that Belkans always claimed they fought for. I don’t think sneaking around like this will gain them any glory or honor and it’s certainly not showing their pride,” Blaze pointed out.
“The intelligence of the Belkans is deteriorating,” Grimm said.
“Or they are producing too many blondes,” Nagase suggested.
“Hey!” Blaze snapped. We laughed as Blaze sighed in annoyance.
Three planes appeared on my radar. I looked up and Blaze was already halfway there, with Grimm and Nagase attempting to catch up to her. I followed in suit and by the time Nagase, Grimm, I got within shooting range of one of the enemy planes, Blaze had destroyed two of three. That girl had skills.
“I’m sick of seeing all this hatred everywhere we go,” Nagase announced solemnly.
“Me, too. And it won’t stop. No matter who wins this war, Belka will still hate us, and we will still hate them,” Blaze said softly.
“We can’t let those nukes reach the battlefield and fuel more hate. I won’t let it happen.”
“None of us will, Nagase. You, Snow, Grimm, and I are going to be the reason that those nukes won’t reach the battlefield and we will be the reason this war ends because we figured Belka out and they know it; so now, they’re going to be rushing to get things done early, and they’re going to make mistakes. We’re going to exploit these mistakes and use them to our advantage and that’s how we’re going to win this.”
“You certainly thought that out,” I said.
“I most certainly did.”
“How you doing, Blaze?” Pops asked. “I tell you, nothing beats flying in perfect formation with your comrades.”
“Amen to that one, sir,” Blaze said.
“In the past, I flew alone, to do battle against my own country. But look at you. You’ve got all your friends here. Don’t you think so?”
“…Yes, sir,” Blaze replied quietly.
“Yup. It’s a great feeling to know that you can count on each other.”
I wondered why Blaze hesitated in her answer but if it was of any significance, Pops didn’t say anything about it. Although I had a hunch it had something to do with flying with all her friends up here. Not all of her friends were… and it was a vital friend that was missing.
“They’re carrying an emblem I’ve never seen before,” A Belkan said worriedly.
I rolled to the right and got behind an enemy plane. I fired at it the second I got a missile lock on it. The missile hit the plane in the right engine, making it explode.
“Enemy planes spotted. All units, prepare for air-to-air combat,” A Belkan shouted.
“Roger Meteor Two. I see them over here, too.”
“Send out a warning to vessels docked at the port,” A Belkan commanded severely. “Drop the moorings, or they’ll all be sunk together.”
Blaze flew dangerously low to the river. Her black plane was a blur. She was damn near impossible to see against the dark blue river. She went after an unsuspecting plane that was chasing after Nagase. Blaze waited until she was underneath the plane before pulling up, completely vertical, and firing at the plane. The unsuspecting enemy was destroyed with no idea that the plane that had shot them down had been below them. It was an unusual place to shoot someone down from.
“To tell you the truth, the thought of nuclear weapons just terrifies me,” Grimm admitted.
“You’re not the only one,” Blaze agreed.
“Do you think they’ve already carried out nuclear weapons?” Grimm questioned nervously.
“Honestly, yes,” Blaze replied grimly.
“Blaze, it’s too soon to give up. There may still be something we can do,” Nagase argued.
“At what point did I ever say I was giving up? I haven’t given up. I’m just saying that they probably have already carried out some weapons because they’ve had a lot of time on their hands and they’d be stupid if they kept the nukes in the same place for too long,” Blaze defended. “Everyone, regroup and head towards the mountain.”
We followed orders and headed towards Mt. Schirm. We had detoured chasing enemy planes and destroying ground installments. We followed the river and along the way, destroyed any watch towers, barracks, and AA guns that we met. Blaze was well ahead of us.
“Is that the same guy from yesterday?” A Belkan inquired.
“It is a SHE, people! Get it right!” Blaze shouted.
“Blaze, they can’t hear you…” Nagase pointed out.
“I know, but it makes me feel better,” Blaze said.
“That’s… actually pretty understandable. And you’re one of the most mysterious people I know,” Nagase laughed.
“I’m not sure of that’s a compliment or an insult.”
“It’s a mixture.”
“Stay sharp. They aren’t here to spy on us this time,” Another Belka warned.
“Wow, so they are somewhat smart,” Grimm laughed.
“Shocking, right?” Blaze chuckled.
“So why did you never tell us you could speak Belkan? And fluently, might I add,” Grimm asked.
“Didn’t think it was that important,” Blaze answered simply.
“I swear… you and Genette share an unknown telepathy. He said the same exact thing when we asked him.”
“We wouldn’t be a kick-ass team if we didn’t have that awesome, unknown telepathy going on,” Blaze pointed out.
“Point made,” Nagase agreed.
“Grimm, come with me. We’re going to go head on over to Mt. Schirm. Nagase, Snow, you take out those fighters,” Blaze ordered calmly. That girl had a way with words because I wanted to protest but when I found myself unconsciously gravitating towards the enemy planes, so I decided to go along with what she said.
I went head-on with two enemy planes while Nagase went after the third. I fired a missile at the one of enemy planes and I hit it dead center of the cockpit. An empty feeling settled deep into my stomach, unwilling to unknot. I swallowed down the truth that I had killed the pilot. I had been doing this for a long time but for some reason, this pilot’s death shook me. I realized it was because it had been too easy. Before, it had taken me about ten minutes to shoot an enemy plane down, and I had felt like I had deserved shooting that plane it down. This time, it took no effort at all… I just fired and I hit him… it didn’t feel right.
Forcing myself to stop thinking, I trailed the other enemy plane. It went up, so did I; it went into a loop, and so did I. I followed the plane, mirroring its exact movements. Finally, after many loops and whatnot, I gained a missile lock and fired at it. I fired two missiles; the first one missed while the second one hit square in the engine. The plane fell to the ground ablaze.
Nagase was down below me, dealing with the third enemy plane. She was muttering something unintelligible over the mic and it was very faint. Even when it was loud enough for us to hear her as if she were next to us, it was still hard to understand her. Blaze, on the other hand, seemed to understand Nagase perfectly and chuckled at something she said every now and then. Geez! And girls think that we’re hard to understand? This world is messed up.
Nagase finally shot the plane down after a few more minutes of flying and grumbling.
Sirens were going off in the distance as Nagase and I flew towards the river so we could blend in until we reached Blaze. The area we had been in was sanitized of enemy planes but we didn’t know what to expect once we reached the target area.
“The Grabacr are already gone,” Grimm announced solemnly.
“Bastards…” Blaze muttered. It was almost good that they weren’t here because Blaze was out for blood. She wouldn’t care what the mission was. All she wanted was to shoot the Grabacr down.
“They must have already taken away some of the nukes,” Nagase added.
“Maybe we’re too late… Let’s destroy the mine entrance anyway,” Pops decided.
“Let me go after Grabacr! I can stop them!” Blaze declared heatedly.
“No! Blaze, listen to me, you will not go after them! Not yet. Trust me, the time will come when you will face them but that is not today,” Pops said firmly and gently. There was silence over the radio. “Blaze?”
“Yes, sir…” Blaze’s answer was a relief to us all. It was tinged with anger, submission, but most of all, sadness, devastation. I never knew a pilot so dead set on shooting down one squadron.
Deciding to change the subject, I said, “You see that rock bed above the entrance? Shoot at that.”
Pops seemed relieved at the change of subject and said, “You probably won’t be able to bring it down with one shot. Keep on attacking until it crumbles. Understand?”
“Yes, sir,” Blaze replied, her earlier demeanor completely gone.
“Good, I’m counting on you, Blaze. The bedrock looks to be very thick. Focus your attack and keep at it,” Pops commanded.
“The planes have black bodies. Origin unknown,” A Belkan yelled.
“Ha! Suckers!” Blaze laughed triumphantly. “I’m glad you know what it feels like to be ignorant of what’s happening!”
“These guys managed to shake off the Grabacr planes. Be careful,” Another Belkan warned.
“Damn right you better be careful,” Blaze agreed.
“I see the rock bed! Damn it’s massive!” Grimm exclaimed.
“No kidding,” Blaze said with an agreeing “harrumph.”
“Captain, I’ll fire on the rock bed up above,” Nagase said.
“Go! Now! Get that blasted rock bed crumbling. I’m joining you! Snow, Grimm, sanitize the area.”
Blaze and Nagase revved their engines and headed towards the ominous hill… even though it’s called Mount Schirm… it is not a bloody mountain!
“Uh… the nukes won’t blow up if we shoot them, right?” Grimm asked worriedly. Hell, I hadn’t even thought about that.
“No, the Belkans would be stupid to have fully assembled nukes in that tunnel. My guess is that they’re in parts and they are assembled when they reach their destination point,” Blaze said.
“Your guess?” Nagase prodded.
“Fine, I have no idea if they will or not. I’m just trying to be optimistic.”
“So, the nuclear weapons have been lying dormant for fifteen years,” Grimm said, talking more to himself.
“Yep, pretty much,” Blaze said bluntly.
“Well ain’t that a cheery thought?” Nagase grumbled.
“It’s those black planes up there. Be careful!” A Belkan soldier told his comrades.
“Did the Grabacr guys manage to leave the area?” Another Belkan asked. I really wished they would stop talking about Grabacr. It was hard enough for Blaze to know that they were in the vicinity. Add to the fact that they’re probably transporting dangerous cargo, well Blaze would be even more willing to shoot their pathetic asses down. Grabacr plus dangerous cargo on board the Grabacr plus a hatred of the Grabacr equals a field day for Blaze.
“They better be out of this area,” Blaze growled.
“Focus Blaze,” Grimm said softly. Out of everyone on the squad, Grimm was always the one who could get Blaze to listen… other than Chopper that is… was…
“I’m okay Grimm. Those bastards will pay though, mark my words…”
“We know. And we’ll be right along with you to help kick their ass,” Grimm chirped. Blaze laughed and she fired two special weapon missiles at the rock bed. They exploded over the rock bed, dropping tiny bomblets which proceeded to damage the rock bed. Nagase followed suit. Grimm and I started shooting at the silos and other facilities surrounding the rock bed. There was a lot more than we had anticipated. I only hoped we had enough missiles.
“That mountain looks a lot more ominous than in the photograph,” Grimm observed. I agreed. The ‘mountain’ was bigger up close and now I could understand why it was called a mountain. The foliage was a greenish-gray which made it all the more spooky to be around.
“It’s also a pain in my fighter pilot arse,” Blaze said.
“That sounded really tough… until you said arse,” Nagase said.
“I’ve already cussed a fair amount today so I’m trying to stop,” Blaze replied.
“Well, considering the current circumstances, I can understand your desire to cuss. I would too.” Grimm: always the mediator.
“Grimm, I’ve only ever heard about three, possibly four cuss words ever leave your mouth,” Nagase pointed out. “And damn is not really that bad of a cuss word so it doesn’t count!”
“I would like to remind you that you’re the same way,” Grimm countered. I could just see his smirk.
Laughing, I said, “Listen to you! You’re bickering like toddlers!”
“That’s what we do best! What do you think has kept us sane through all these insane battles?” Blaze giggled. It was a sweet sound and it made all of us join in. Blaze has that laugh that can be contagious.
Finally, regaining my composure, I said, “If we destroy this mine, we’ll keep them from smuggling out any more nukes.”
“Until the Belkans think up of yet another ingenious invention and dig them out for the next war which hopefully won’t happen for a while,” Blaze said.
“Way to break the hope Blaze,” Nagase chuckled.
“Just stating the obvious.”
“Obviously.”
A missile to my right made me become serious as I realized that a SAM had fired a missile at me. I hadn’t even noticed that my missile alert had been going off I had been so busy talking with my teammates. It kind of… I don’t know, I guess somewhat disturbed me that I had been distracted so easily?
I turned my plane around and locked onto the SAM that had fired the missile at me. It was an easy target and I quickly disposed of it. Naturally, another one took its place. So I fired at that one too. It was quickly gone.
“Don’t get hit by our own AA guns. Climb and gain altitude,” A Belkan squad leader commanded.
“Dude, if you get hit by your own fire, you should not be flying in the first place,” Grimm retorted.
“Seriously, and if the people controlling the AA guns make it easy for their pilots to get hit by them, they shouldn’t be manning the things,” Nagase added.
“Seems our military isn’t the only one run by idiots,” Blaze observed. We laughed because it was true. It seemed that the people that were the ‘top brass’ in our military and in the Belkan military were all idiots and naïve.
We lapsed into silence as Grimm and I went around the perimeter of the mountain, destroying everything in sight. I couldn’t believe we were the ones that were sealing in the nukes though.
“Even I remember the horror of those nuclear explosions fifteen years ago. How can they still do this?” I demanded quietly. I remembered those explosions. I had been nineteen and even though that was practically half my lifetime ago, I still remember it. The seven mushroom clouds towering over everything in fiery hell. It had shaken me, especially because I had been there in one of the cities that had been evaporated just a couple days before. What if I had stayed just two days longer? I wouldn’t be here right now. It made me think that it hadn’t been my time to go, and that Fate might actually exist. I hadn’t been supposed to go that day.
“I was nine when it happened, Genette was eleven. I may have been young, but I knew it was bad and I remember how the whole city went into lockdown because they were afraid the Belkans had more nuclear weapons and were going to drop them over Osea as well,” Blaze added.
“I was the same age as Blaze but I don’t remember much except seeing it on the news,” Nagase admitted. “Although, I do remember my city going into lockdown as well.”
“I was ten and my parents were petrified that another one was coming because we lived near the border. When that happened, my parents decided to move,” Grimm added. “Anyways, I can’t imagine why the Belkans are protecting this place,” Grimm said, shooting at some gas tanks.
“I guess Belka isn’t a thing of the past, huh?” I said.
“Not anymore it’s not. The idiots decided to try for world domination again. When will they realize that there are actually some smart people in the world and that they will always be figured out? I mean, seriously, if you don’t know about something, just blame it on the Belkans. It’s almost always their fault in this part of the world.”
“No time to be brooding over that right now, we’ve got a mission to carry out,” I said.
“Agreed; besides, it’s rather depressing,” Blaze said. We agreed.
“Blaze! Stay alert! They have you on radar,” Nagase warned.
“Oh, don’t worry Nagase, they can’t catch me. I’m going too damn fast for them to even see me!”
I went into a loop to go after the enemy plane trailing Blaze… or attempting to trail Blaze. Blaze had been right, she was going too fast for them to even catch up to her, let alone fire at her. She was releasing bomblet missile after bomblet missile at the rock bed and it was hardly fazing it. We were going to have to all drop bomblets on the rock bed for it to collapse.
“Watch it! The enemy’s got you locked on radar!” I shouted at Grimm. Grimm swerved to the side as a missile was launched at him. Blaze was shooting at the SAM that had fired it. It didn’t take long for the SAM to be destroyed.
I went up after a plane that was high above us, just waiting to go in for a kill. When I neared the plane, I started firing my guns at it. Not expecting me, the plane didn’t have time to evade before it burst into flames.
Grimm had joined Blaze in the attempt to collapse the rock bed, but that S.O.B. was tough and was refusing to crumble. Nagase had switched with Grimm and was helping me with the planes.
She was going after a SU-47, and with her guns, destroying it in one swift swoop. I realized that was the last of the enemy planes (for now) and went to help Blaze and Grimm.
“Are the nukes still in the mine?” Grimm inquired.
“They gotta be, seeing as how the enemy is still trying to protect it!” I pointed out.
“Don’t get strung out chasing them needlessly. Just repel their attacks,” A Belkan said. I heard Blaze snort at that.
“Don’t count on doing a good job of it,” Blaze said.
Nagase and I headed east to destroy two gunboats that were docked and two cranes near them. We each fired a missile at a gunboat and at a crane an in a matter of seconds, nothing was left.
“Where did they take the nukes they brought out of there?” Grimm questioned seriously.
“That’s what we need to find out. I wonder if our P.O.W. knows anything. He must be trusted if he was watching President Harling and Pixy. They were two key components to the Belkans: Harling for his power and Pixy… I have no idea why they had Pixy but he obviously meant something to them or else they wouldn’t have kidnapped him,” Blaze answered.
“We’ll take care of that later! Right now, we have to seal off that nest of nukes,” I said as I destroyed a SAM on top of Mt. Schirm. I turned around and headed for two storage facilities that had appeared on radar and I quickly destroyed them. I was leaving nothing for the enemy, even something as simple as a storage facility, because who knows what they’re hiding in there?
“Falke Eleven, watch your tail! Your tail!” A Belkan pilot yelled. I turned around to see what enemy plane was being chased. Apparently I had missed one but Blaze took it upon herself to shoot the plane down. It was no competition. The plane was a fiery mass as Blaze took a shot at it.
Looking at my radar, I saw some hangars and a control tower that needed to be taken care of… and by taken care of, I mean blown up into oblivion, which of course, is exactly what I did. Using two of my special weapons, I destroyed the hangars and control tower in one blow.
All of us, including Blaze, had stopped aiming at the rock bed and were destroying everything surrounding it. We wanted this place to be a ghost town with nothing left but the ashes of its buildings.
“I can’t get shot down here!” Grimm exclaimed.
“You won’t. For one, I won’t let you, two, Nagase won’t let you, three, Snow won’t let you, and four, you’re too damn good of a pilot to get shot down.”
“Thanks Blaze.”
“Just trying to keep everyone in high spirits.”
“Want me to be in high spirits? Give me damn ice cream! I’ve been craving it for some reason!” Nagase said.
“You and I both! When we get back on the Kestrel, that’s the first place we’re going. I don’t care that it’s ten degrees outside. We’re eating ice cream!” Blaze declared.
“With lots and lots of chocolate syrup!” Nagase added.
“And sprinkles if they have them,” Blaze chirped.
“I doubt they have sprinkles, Blaze,” I said.
“Don’t dash my hopes!” Blaze snapped lightheartedly. I grinned.
Finally, Grimm destroyed the last SAM, and also the last target besides the rock bed. Now we could focus solely on the monster itself.
Blaze was already there. She released her fourth special weapon on it. It hit the target precisely.
“Direct hit on the rock bed. But we still need a few more hits to succeed, Captain,” Nagase said.
“Well then let’s blow this thing up and get on home,” Blaze replied, going in for another attack.
“They’re aiming at the bedrock. Are they trying to make it collapse?” A Belkan asked.
“No, we’re attacking it for fun,” Blaze said sarcastically.
“Don’t worry. The Grabacr flight has already airlifted the cargo,” Another Belkan said. Blaze growled at the name but didn’t say anything.
“The enemy planes are attacking the storage facility,” A Belkan announced.
“Well no crap Sherlock,” Grimm retorted as he fired two special weapons missiles at the target.
“Beautiful language Grimm,” Blaze praised.
“Why thank you.”
“Why, you’re welcome.”
“That thing’s solid. Let’s turn back and hit it one more time,” I said.
“That thing’s gotta be close to collapsing now!” Nagase exclaimed exasperatedly as Blaze sent yet another bomblet missile at the bedrock.
“Direct hit, Blaze. We need to attack it again, though,” Nagase said.
“I’m aware of that Nagase,” Blaze replied with a chuckle.
“Evacuate all personnel,” A Belkan ordered grimly. “This place is history. Retreat.”
“… Roger, retreat.”
Nagase, Grimm, Blaze and I each fired a special weapon at the bedrock, Blaze coming down, I coming head on, Nagase coming from the west, and Grimm coming from the east. Our missiles hit and with two more regular missiles fired by Blaze, the bedrock finally collapsed.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
“Rock bed destroyed. That cave will never be opened again,” Nagase declared triumphantly, her voice tinged with relief.
“Unless Blaze is right about the Belkans creating a new machine to open it again,” Grimm piped up.
“Grimm, don’t ruin the moment,” Nagase laughed.
“Sorry,” Grimm apologized sheepishly.
“You’re perfectly rational Grimm, but I say let us bask in the glory of sealing in those remaining nukes!” Blaze said.
“We finally sealed in those nukes,” Grimm practically repeated what Blaze said. I think he was in so much shock that we had actually accomplished it. Hell, I was right along with him!
“But there are more Belkan nukes out there,” I pointed out grimly.
“On that cheery note, I say we head back and relax. Who’s with me?” Blaze asked, heading in the direction of the Kestrel. None of us disagreed with her so we followed Blaze back to the Kestrel.
During our flight back, the briefer came on to give an overview of what had happened (not that we really needed it).
“Mission accomplished,” the briefer said. “Thanks to that rock avalanche, the mine entrance is now sealed off, and the tactical nukes have been removed as a threat to the world. Intel has lost track of the nukes they have already removed, but it is certain that the weapons sealed in the mine shaft will never be deployed.”
The four of us sighed in relief, glad the mine would never be opened
Upon landing on the Kestrel, Blaze disappeared the minute she got out of her plane. We had no idea where she went but Genette told us not to worry. He said that she had seemed in good spirits and was most likely going to sleep or something like that.
_________________________________
Blaze
I slipped out of the hangar practically unnoticed when we landed and headed to Geller’s room. On the way there, I picked up some more coffee for him and even though he had told me earlier that he wanted it plain, I still brought him packets of sugar and some of the little plastic cream holders. I’m not exactly sure what they’re called.
I walked in to his room. Geller was reading a magazine. He looked up at me and I smiled. He didn’t return it. Geller just gave me a steely gaze.
“I brought you some more coffee… obviously…” I said, feeling somewhat awkward. Then I realized that he was pretty much under my command and I really didn’t have to care what he thought of me. Setting the coffee down on his nightstand along with the packets of sugar and cream and sitting down in a vacant chair opposite him, I continued talking. “So did you sleep well last night? I hope you don’t get seasick easily. I don’t. I find the rocking of the boat soothing. I’ve always loved the water. When I was younger, my brother and I would pretend we were gods and usually he was Apollo and I was Artemis but sometimes I would pretend to be a demigod that was a daughter of Poseidon. That was when our grandparents’ pool wasn’t covered up for the winter but still. It was really fun. My grandparents lived on something like forty acres in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and my brother and I would run through the forest that was in the backyard. The pool was in the back too. What were your grandparents like?”
Geller didn’t respond…
“You know, talking isn’t going to kill you. It’s not like you’re going to melt like the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz,” I told him with a slight smirk.
Geller looked at me and I could just see the slightest, almost invisible smile. But just as quickly as it had come, it vanished, and his stony expression was back.
“You want to smile. I know you do. It’s hard not to when you have a girl rambling about nothing in particular and nothing that’s important. When I ramble, I tend to mess things up, or at least they sound wrong when I say them. For example, I run into poles pretty much habitually, and it’s not on purpose, but anyway, so I was talking to my friends –this was in high school- and I was telling them about the time I had been distracted by two guys coming down the hall. Well, I said it was a metal pole and they started making jokes about poles and I told them that there were different types of poles: metal, concrete, brick, etc. So, when I had finished saying the metal, concrete, and brick, you know what I said? I said I know my poles. Of course, them being smart, immature, high school students, they immediately thought something nasty. I really watch my mouth now when I say things but even that’s not a one hundred percent foolproof plan.”
Geller’s eyes flashed with amusement. I was making progress… I think…
“I heard jet engines earlier… after you came,” Geller said quietly.
“Oh my god! He talks! And he didn’t melt!” I exclaimed with a laugh. Geller looked uncomfortable.
“Where did you go?” He asked. I looked at him curiously.
“Mt. Schirm. We sealed of the mine entrance where they were keeping some nukes. They got some of them away though. That’s what we’re trying to figure out now… and without much luck. The mission was annoying. That was one elaborate network y’all had set up. Kudos to you. All those SAMs were dead set at shooting us down and that was one solid rock bed. How on earth did you ever find such a place? My wingmen and I were going crazy. I think our conversations can warrant that.”
“How did they get away with the nukes?”
I hesitated before answering and Geller noticed it.
“Listen, I just want to know what my country is doing. They have been messing up lately…” Geller admitted quickly, and I could tell he was being sincere. I looked at him, stunned. While what he had said had been one of the reasons I had hesitated, I also didn’t want to say the name of the squadron that had taken away the nukes. They pissed me off too much.
“I know that very well… and the answer is they had a squadron carry them out. That’s all I know right now.”
“It was Grabacr, was it not?”
“Yeah,” I grumbled.
“You do not like them, do you?”
“That would be a severe understatement,” I muttered.
“Why?”
“Let’s just say that they made my hatred for them personal. So what part of Belka are you from?”
“Could you not just pull that from my records?” Geller sneered.
“No, we can’t; we don’t have access to them… yet. But honestly, we don’t care about where you come from and whatnot. We just want to know what you know about the Belkans and their plans with the nukes. So tell me, where are you from?”
“I am from northern Belka.”
“What was it like?”
“Cold.”
I could see I was getting nowhere with this so I decided to take a different tactic. “Thank you for explaining so fully. If you’re not going to go into detail about your life, then you get to hear about mine. Take your pick.”
I could see the conflict on Geller’s face.
“Fine,” Geller muttered. “I’m from Munich.”
“I’ve heard it’s a pretty place to visit.”
“Yes… you?”
“I’m from Aurora but now I live in Osea Springs. My wingmen and I all live in nearby towns ironically. You’d like my wingmen if we weren’t in the current, awkward, Belkan pilots versus Osean pilots situation. I kind of think of us like a pack of wolves. I’m the alpha female… which I find ironic because I’m the youngest. Nagase is pretty much like my second in command, or my beta, I think it’s called. Cassie is the one that keeps us on our toes. Chopper… he was the alpha male but he died in combat about two weeks ago,” I explained, feeling that familiar knot in my throat rising. I moved on quickly. “So now Genette, my brother, he’s the alpha. Grimm is second because he’s been a part of the squadron longer than Captain Snow has. Grimm keeps me grounded. It used to be Chopper who kept me grounded but Grimm took his place for the job. Snow just joined the squadron. He is one hell of a fighter. We bicker and mess with each other all the time. One time, on Sand Island, Cassie, Nagase, and I dumped a whole bucket of water on Chopper, Genette, and Grimm. It was hysterical!”
“You were close with this Chopper guy?”
“You’re freakishly close to being a mind reader,” I joked.
“I was trained to read peoples’ faces and emotions and I can tell that this guy was more than just your wingman.”
The door opened and one of the guards informed me that dinner was ready. My stomach growled at the announcement. I stood up and as I was about to walk out when I turned to Geller and said, “I’ll tell you more tomorrow… if you’d like.”
“I am actually starting to enjoy your visits.”
“Then I’ll see you tomorrow, coffee and everything. Good night Jens Geller.”
“Good night, Miss Blaze.”
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Alright! I’m finished! Sorry it took so long! YouTube was being stupid and freezing up all the time and then our router broke so my dad had to go get a new one (this was on top of everything else that happened in my beginning author’s note). I hope y’all enjoyed and please review! No review=no update.