To keep myself sane, I have to write this down. Maybe then I'll believe its true. My name is Jack "Blaze" Caron, I'm an Osean fighter pilot, I was stationed at Sand Island. I am 19 years old. My country has abandoned me. This, is my story.

September 21st, 2010

5:45 AM

"Finally, I'm done with my training" I remarked over the phone to my old man, who knew exactly how I felt. My father had been a mercenary in the Belkan War in 1995, fighting for Ustio.

"I'm proud of you kid, but I'm gonna have to go. Talk to you in a couple weeks, maybe." My dad hung up. What was that about?

I slid my phone back into the pocket of my flight suit as I walked back to my room after breakfast at Heierlark AFB, in the Osean State of North Osea. If you say that in front of a local, he'll cuss and say, "this is South Belka". Of course, I hated it here. I was from Apito, in Southern Osea. I was used to warm weather, not the Arctic chill I was forced to deal with here. However, it has given me a fair amount of experience in flying in bad weather. I could only hope to be assigned to a nice, Tropical area, like my brother Albert, or Genette, as he liked to be called by his middle name. He was a journalist covering a unique squadron stationed on Sand Island. I had been hearing about how nice and WARM it had been there for weeks. Jackass...

6:14 AM

I had rolled back over after returning to try and get some sleep...not gonna happen. My phone vibrated in my pocket twice, meaning I had a new email. It was from my brother. It read:

"Hey Jack..miss you bro. What do you think of this video clip for my report on Sand Island? Have you talked to dad recently? He won't answer me.

Love you, see you soon

Gennette"

I tapped the reply button and quickly blasted out a reply

"What's up man, miss you too. Haven't watched the video yet, but by lunch I will. I promise. Yeah, I just got off the phone with him but he sounded busy. I guess they're supposed to tell us where we're gonna be stationed today, I'm really hoping for somewhere slightly warmer than this frozen hellhole. If you ever need to talk, just text me or email me or something. Love you brother. Blaze."

Yeah, about my nickname. My best friend Alvin had given it to me back in high school after I had burnt the hair off my arms not once, twice, but three times after being an idiot and spraying carburetor cleaner in the engine then checking for spark. Oh well, it made a nice fireball. I guess he had gotten part of the name from the fact that I was also the leading tight end in the region during senior year...I wasn't exactly slow. We both had gone to a Tech School and entered the military right out of high school. Luckily, the Osean Air Defense Force hasn't realized its a good idea to separate us yet. We joked around just like we did when the teachers let us work together in school. We definitely had a reputation on base, and we were hoping to be sent to the same base. At this moment, the door to our room slammed open and "Chopper" himself bounded in with damn near a full bagel in his mouth.

"Holehh fuuu yuu wot beliee whaa juss hapnt!" he tried speaking

"Kid, swallow your food first, damn. Didn't your momma ever tell you to not even attempt talking with food in your mouth?" I scolded.

"Ahh..better. Anyways, you won't believe what just happened!" he practically yelled.

"I'm not exactly full of suspense, but keep talkin'"

"Snyder just got up from breakfast and beat Cavanaugh down! He put his fork down, calmly got up, and promptly put the beat down on him! He won't say what for, but we know Cavanaugh had been going after Chelsie for a couple weeks. Some'tn tells me ol' TS wasn't too happy"

"Damn, I can't believe I missed it. I was talkin' to my brother. He sent me a video clip, I was just about to watch it"

"Eh, fuck. Lets watch it" Chopper sighed.

I pulled out my phone and double tapped on the video file, pressed menu, email, and sent it to my email. I then pulled out my laptop from under my bed, opened my email, and pulled the file up on my computer.

I heard my brothers voice, narrating over a drop of blood:

"Fifteen years ago, there was a war." as the drop of blood transformed into a map illustrating Belka's failed attempts to invade. I remember watching the news getting updates, and asking my grandparents if the fighting would ever get here. They laughed it off, and my four year old mind just put it off as well. Looking back on it now, I can see they weren't so sure.
"Well, war's broken out here plenty of times before. They've tried to invade the southlands through the northern valley time and time again. Luck was never on their side, though, and their victories didn't last long". Cut to a digital map illustrating the same thing.
"They didn't realize that times had changed. Facing one defeat after another, losing territory and watching their nation dwindle, they built up their industrial strength to unprecedented heights and used it to wage one final battle against the world. That was fifteen years ago." Cut to some pictures from the war.
"They fought ferociously, but were utterly defeated. The Belkans then committed the unthinkable by using nuclear weapons on their own soil." He said this as video played of one of the seven terrible explosions
"Seeing this tragedy unfold before their eyes, the victorious countries vowed to throw down their weapons. The world was once again at peace. And, thanks to them, it seemed it would last forever. On a distant island, far away from civilization, the protectors of the peace take to the skies."

I glanced over at Chopper, whose eyes were wide and mouth open.

"That. Was. Epic" He managed to stutter out, shocked. "Like, legit."

"I completely agree...I'm gonna text him right now."

I pulled out my phone, slid the "Messages" icon into the lock circle, and tapped on the thread with Genette's name and started typing

"Holy shit that video was amazing. Really hit home. Keep up the good work, you friggin genius." I tapped send, slid my phone back into my pocket, and got up to plug my laptop back in and put it back under my bed...as the door flew open. After I had recovered from my initial shock of the door being opened forcefully, I looked up to see one of my more recent friends, Hans Grimm. He had arrived at Heierlark about a month ago, so we were getting out way before he was.

"Heard you guys were supposed to be leaving today. Came to say goodbye." he stammered

"Yeah, thats what we heard too. They haven't exactly informed us where yet though..." I replied.

"Really? Well, when they do, let me know so I can try to get there."

"Oh definitely! Gonna miss you man, just...concentrate on your flying! Hahahaha" Chopper laughed

"Well...training time. Gotta go. See you guys later" Grimm said as he left the room. I sighed as I got up, pulled my suitcase out from under my bed, and dumped all my clothes in. I've never been an organized person, and that wasn't gonna start now. I unplugged my laptop charger, my phone charger, and my Bluetooth speaker charger, rolled them up and tossed them in a side pocket. I put my laptop in, the speaker on top of that, and zipped it shut. I had been dreading packing, but if I dragged my feet any longer I'd miss deployment. Then, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in" I yelled

I glanced up to see the commander of the base walking into the room. I jumped up to attention and saluted, as did Chopper.

"At ease", he said. "You boys have been selected for a very special assignment. You two, as well as Staff Sergeant Kei Nagase, and Airman First Class Brianna Peters have been stationed on Sand Island, in the Ceres Ocean. It is one of our front lines of defense. Also, a very...interesting squad captain is stationed there. And, on top of that, they just lost almost all of their trainees in an unprovoked attack. You leave at 1300 hours. Oh, you are now officially members of the Wardog Squadron." He left the room.

I looked up at Chopper, with a huge grin on my face. "Ho. Ly. Shit. WE'RE GOING TO SAND ISLAND! And Brianna's going too! Hell yeah!"

"What about Nagase?" he asked

"Don't really know her" I replied, knowing full well Chopper had taken a liking to her.

"Well she's friggin amazing, I'm glad she's going. Pretty good pilot too"

"I'll believe it when I see it, lets go I wanna go to the gym before we leave"

"Alright, lets go. Lifting solves stress, I swear."

9:58 AM

I was looking out the window at the runway from the weight room as Brianna walked in with Nagase.

"Dude, close your mouth." Chopper broke my reverie.

"Was it that obvious? Damn man, you know you weren't paying attention either when Nagase walked in" I tried to cover myself but couldn't come up with a story.

"Just a little" Chopper said with a slight laugh "Alright lets bench. How much you feeling, 200?"

"Yeah, 200 seems good. Gotta fly later, don't wanna be too sore." I replied as I settled down on the bench, "You ready?" I asked Chopper.

"Sure am, lets go." Chopper replied as I took the bar off the rack and started my reps, "Keep pushing, two more. Making yourself look good and trust me, she's noticing"

"Jackass" I muttered under my breath, noticing my best friend had caught on.

I racked the weights and got up, wiping the sweat from my chest and face using my shirt. I stole a look at Brianna, who was jogging lightly on a treadmill. Damn, man. I tried to revert my thoughts back to a decent workout. I walked over to an empty bench, grabbed a 45 pound barbell, hugged it to my chest and started doing crunches. I got up to about 45 before I noticed Chopper was over talking to Nagase...big surprise. I put the weight down and went and strategically and "accidentally" interrupted his conversation.

"Hey Jack" Nagase said as I walked over

"What's up" I said with a slight smile

"Not much, but I heard from the Base Commander that we're flying down to Apito in F/A-18Fs...2 seaters. I guess they're in need of good aircraft on Sand Island. Its already been arranged that I'm flying with Chopper, which leaves you with Brianna. That doesn't bother you, does it?"

"Not at all. I'm sure Motormouth over here is happy with that arrangement" I said as I shot a glance at Chopper. "Let's go, its noon. I wanna get to the hangar now to do the preflight checks. Hell, lets all go."

"I'm alright with that, I'll go get Bri...she'll be happy to get going. She hates this place. Too cold" Nagase remarked. "Let's go."

12:11 PM

I sang under my breath as I loaded our specially designed suitcases into the ordnance bay of the aircraft and fastened the safety pins to prevent our stuff from being launched into the Ceres Ocean as we flew.

"So many years ago I chose to leave it all, it's all vivid as I recall faded signs of a fall" I chorused quietly as I went through the checklist.

"Sanctuary? By Daybreak Embrace?" I was startled by the melodic voice behind me

"Hey Bri, you ready? And you know Daybreak Embrace?" I said as she zipped her flight suit. "You wanna fly now or after we stop in Apito?"

"Yeah, they're one of my favorites. Kinda small and not popular, but they sound awesome. I'll fly after Apito. It's shorter. It's not an issue, is it?" she asked

"Nope. As long as you stay awake and talk to me" I said with a laugh.

"I think I can do that" she replied with a smile which gave me an almost electric feeling inside. We chatted as I went through the checklist. After about 20 minutes of meaningless chatter, she asked why I had joined the military.

"Well, my father had been an ace in the war fifteen years ago, so I guess that's what inspired me." I answered, "What about you?"

"My parents said I either join the military or go to engineering college. I think I made the right choice, this is way better." She said jokingly

"Oh yeah, this is way better. Instead of designing the planes, you fly them. Way more fun too. Put your helmet on, its time to go."

12:45 PM

"Blaze, Chopper, you are cleared for takeoff" the Tower Controller squawked in my headset. Chopper had clearly elected for the first leg of the flight as well.

"Roger...see you guys later, I'm goin' home!" I replied. I had called my grandparents and my mom before we left, saying I'd be in Apito for a day tomorrow. It's gonna be so nice to see my family.

1:38 PM

Brianna fell asleep 15 minutes ago. From what I could hear, Nagase was asleep too, from the background snoring I heard when I was talking to Chopper over the radio. I put the plane on autopilot and tried to relax. I shut off the radio, but didn't shut off the intercom. After about 3 minutes of singing one of my favorite songs, 45 by Shinedown, I heard a voice in my ear.

"You sound really good you know" said my sleepy RIO, who didn't have to do much for this flight.

"You're not the first person to have told me that" I replied, chuckling, "That song means a lot to me. It kept me alive through high school. Bad depression, y'know?"

"Yeah...I know that feeling. Relationships gone bad, people who you thought were friends ignoring you like nothing ever happened."

"Exactly...every now and then I look down at my wrist at all the scars and I vow to myself to never go back to being that way. Never."

"My legs are the same way...but thats all behind us now."

"Damn right. I've never been happier, especially when Chopper chose to fly with Nagase. I mean, I love the guy, but sometimes you need a break."

"I'm glad Nagase flew with Alvin. I trust you more anyways"

"If you knew me in high school, you wouldn't be saying that", I laughed so hard the plane shook. "We should start thinking about callsigns...I know what mine is and Chopper's is obvious. What were you thinking?"

"I kinda like Baja...it fits because in my first training flight I overshot the runway and got stuck in the mud. Offroading in a jet isn't a good idea. Jeeps yes, planes no."

I laughed and replied, "I guess that fits. You ever go wheeling?"

"Yeah, thats why I wanna go to Apito. My trail rig is there in my parents garage. Custom built tube frame, 350 Small Block with a Holley 4-barrel. Hauls ass"

"That sounds amazing", I replied, "I've got my truck waiting in my grandfathers barn. 2002 GMC Sierra 2500HD Duramax...I've got her modded pushing almost 700 ponies and 1600 foot pounds of torque. I could probably out-accelerate a plane. She's my baby. Trucks never leave, or break your heart. I never knew you were..ahem..of that sort. Y'know, engines and all. Hard to find a pretty girl thats into that sort of stuff"

"I grew up on a farm, so, its in my blood." She replied with a giggle.

"Thats pretty awesome...now...get some more sleep. You're gonna need it for the second leg of the flight."