Galm
Despite all the experience I had before then. I was still nervous as hell when I went up that time.
I was strapped in to a new aircraft. Unlike the nice small MiG-21, they then stuck me in this massive Eagle. F-15 E multi-role fighter, yeah right. When I first approached it, it looked like flying square disk. Well it wasn't the fact that I was in new aircraft that sent waves and waves and waves of epinephrine through my system, though it might have put aturbo charger on the process. It also wasn't the fact that I was going on sortie toengage a massive wing of enemy bombers and air superiority fighters. It was my new wingman that was getting me nervous. He was almost age as me, about the same height, skin complexion, different hair color but we might have been brothers in some other universe. But this guy was one plane sort of becoming an ace.
Ace is what we called a pilot that ahs shot down more than five planes. It doesn't sound like much but trust me if youwant, it is damn hard to shoot down a damn plane! You have to have the position of the shot just right, on his six or twelve, which you never want to be on. If you can't line lit up fast enough you'll have to bail, other wise his wing man will come onto your tail and you'll be going home without an ass. It's damn tough, not to mention the enemy is trying to shoot you down too.
Anyway, my wing man had a total of four kills, one of each of the sortie he's been on and by that sequence he was getting his ace wings that day. Myself, I had only been on two sorties before I came to that base, which was called Valais by the way. The first sortie, I was panicked out of my guts and I had no idea what I was doing, and nearly shot down my own commanding officer. I didn't bag anyone that day. The second time though, I learned to how to leave my fear on the ground, and pulled off three confirmed kills to the praise of my commander and my squad, both prior were sure I was going to be blown out of the sky. While that was great, the down side was that going back we were jumped by one of the Belkan night fighter squadrons, who boasted a fierce red and black paint job. I made it out, but my commander and the rest of my squadron laid in pieces on the ground somewhere in the mountains of Ustio. That's why Iwas transferred to Valais, also it was pretty much the only base the Ustio Military had left.
Anyway again, I had three kills, two away from becoming an ace. My wingman who we called Solo Wing Pixy, had four, and I was nervous because I was sure he was going to beat me at becoming an ace. I tried to assure myself that I was good, but we didn't call him Solo Wing for nothing. He basically proved that name. On one of his prior sorties he had flown out to intercept an incoming attacker wing which was supported by escorts. In the process he got his right wing blown off. Somehow he kept the nerve not to eject. He probably didn't evenknow he had lost his wingm, but despite the lost wing, he scored one kill and still managed to return to base. Because of that he was known among even Belkan pilots as Solo Wing. Quite the reputation.
Well, to say the least I was nervous, and I was following Pixy out to taxi. Despite the competition, I was glad I had landed in the 6th Air Division 66th Air Force Unit with him. I had good feeling as long as he was on my wing; I wasn't going to be shot down.
Solo Wing and I were the only two on the squad, probably because they were running out of people, even mercenaries were getting nervous at the position Ustio was in then. I wasn't really, and Solo Wing definitely wasn't. Our unit was called the Galm Team which I think means dog because our insignia was red dog thrashing about. I thought about it as I closed in the runway, and the more I did the more I liked the idea. I wasnot exactlysurewhy the command put me in as Galm 1, and Pixy as Galm 2, but I have a feeling thatit was becauseSolo Wing opted out of the lead position. He was the kind of pilot that liked to fly, not shout orders. So I was lead and not complaining about it.
We were almost up, the tail of all the aircraft but we weren't in rush. Before we suited up, Pixy even said, "This might be the only time where we fly together." I agreed with him. Inching toward the runway Pixy was ahead and some jerk in an F-16 crashes on take off while I was lining up behind Solo Wing. How he did it I have nodamn clue, but then the runway was blocked and us, the Galm Team, was stuck on the ground while bombers were incoming. That's frustrating.
While they mopped up the scene and the got the pilot another aircraft, my heart jumped as achill came over me, and started to think back to when I became a mercenary.
Since you're so eager to listen I'll tell you in anut shell how it happened, and how I came to Valais on that cold snowy day. Well, let's see. It was years ago. Before the war started, I found myself in Directus, the capital of Ustio. I was sitting bellow the Freedom Bell Tower, by a fountain of Pallas, and I was very depressed. Now I have not been married and don't really plan to be married. As for my sex life, that is not your damn business. But some time before then in home country, I pretty much got drunk one night, day after found myself engaged which lasted a year, was dumped and thrown out a window breaking several bones. The details of that are personal. Suffice it to say after that experience I was finished with women for while. I decided to leave my city, my country and even my continent for new horizons. I traveled around for a while. I went to Osea, Sapin and even Belka but of those countries in that part of the world, Ustio seemed like the right place. I first tried to go with my passion playing piano professionally, that attempt of success failed completely. So, I tired to make money investing in the growing Ustio financial enterprises. That failed even worse, and I had to sell most of what I owned to get out from under the thumb of a pretty nasty "entrepreneur." That's why I was sitting under the freedom bell, thinking about what kind of job I was going to have to take to get myself back on track.
Now why Ustio wanted to recruit mercenaries at that time is still pretty unclear to me. I think it's because of Belka. So you know, Belka is the nation that Ustio once was a part of.But the homeland was suffering from economic strife, and after a long time of wanting, the people of Ustio, who have different ethnic origins than Belka, got their independence. But there werethose in Belka that were still obsessed with the idea of empire. Those people, when the economic strife became so abhorrent, took power and vowed to restore the glory of the Holy Land of Belka. Subtly they made it clear that they wanted Ustio, and moreback by wantever froce was nescessary. Fearing invasion, I guess Ustio wanted to build an army as quickly as possible. And I guess a part of that was recruiting foreign troops and aliens. Thus the mercenary forces were created.
Sitting on the fountain I was confronted buy this old highly decorated war veteran, who I guess was once a Belkan ace, back when Ustio was still apart of Belka. Now he was arrogant, full of pride and cursed everyone that went by, and I loved the guy. How he knew I was an alien, I don't know, or how he knew I lost almost everything I owned and hadn't eaten for a while, I don't know. But he made the most convincing sales pitch in the world, for it had to have been to get me to join the Ustio Air force as Mercenary, which…I did, obviously.
That's how it happened. I have no regrets, just some reservations on some really annoying drill instructors in the Ustio Military. I wonder if any of them survived. Well, that's it, anyway.
My head went back to normal and they finally got the wreckage off the run way, and Solo Wing Pixy and I went back to our only real home, the wide open sky, and theconflict that went along with it.
I don't want to tell you my real name, but they used to call me Cipher. It's a pleasure to meet you.
This will be a seris of sort installments updated as I wirte them. Please read and review.