May 22nd 2021
My name is Sadio Katsuragi, newly promoted to Airman of the Italian military or "Aviere", against my will and freedom of choice. I suppose even if I did have my own choice, I'd just do something stupid and be just as miserable as I am now.
Hell if I know why I'm writing this though, maybe I'm masochistic enough to want to permanently remember my own misery. Maybe to the point of having someone else find it.
In case you don't know…four years ago, Third Impact occurred. Nerv failed in their efforts to protect the world from being destroyed, thanks to a number of variables, including SEELE and the pilots of the Evangelions.
Afterwards, there were a few months of little to no movement as virtually every living being in the world was literally liquidated. I say virtually, because no one can confirm whether this is true or not. No electronic equipment could record anything as the explosion sent out massive EMP waves around the world, frying every circuit board and wiping the memory banks of every computer available.
The people started to come back though, little by little, as the liquid reformed their bodies along the coasts of different countries, some were reformed in the same spot, depending on how far inland they were. They were reformed without their clothes, and a great number of religious people and nerds felt their fortunes had turned around. Eventually, the general population reached the numbers before Third Impact.
But life was nowhere near the same. The returns were random it seemed, meaning that the human population rose with no government and no form of order. It was anarchy encompassing the world for the first time and too much happened before control was regained to really be able to write all about it. It left many dead from a number of different causes, innocent and evil.
Eventually, the governments did reform and order was restored with most of the countries, although it didn't last for very long. Many countries, decided to use what they could in a time of relatively equal military strengths to go to war.
The EMP blast wiped away the possibility to use large pieces of heavy armor and complex equipment for war, as well as building such pieces of machinery. Instead, what existed remained as simple hulks of metal and were used as scraps for the next projects. Small arms were mainly in full working order with very few exceptions. Essentially, many of the pieces of equipment that could still be used, such as automatic rifles, machine guns, pistols and simple personal armor became more and more expensive as they each had to be designed and created by hand. The many robotics we depended on to create our weapons, our cars, to drill our oil and help with our farming essentially disappeared and the humans of the 21st century was sent back to the end of the 19th century.
So, with the weapons that were cheap to make and available, mainly hunting rifles with handmade scopes, and larger cannons used for artillery, World War I was recreated and renamed as World War IV (World War III happened just after Second Impact). Nations of troops charged each other, and bled over one another for simple territorial expansion.
Technically, we were fortunate. Although the loss of life was more than any could have expected. The war lasted only a year, and by then the lines were drawn and it became fairly evident what countries had either recovered or taken great advantage of their situation. In the American continent, the United States took full advantage of their situation, as some would say, and expanded their territory to include Canada and Mexico. Even though their actions were looked down upon, most of the expansion was done with very little gun fire, and did nothing more than expand the number of states that made up the United States.
Personally, the United States turned out to look much better than a number of the other countries around the world.
The Southern American and Central American countries found a common goal in defending themselves against any other countries already at war. The American continent then became allies and remained neutral from any further conflicts in the world…why couldn't I be living in one of those countries right about now?
In Africa, the situation became a bit more extreme and never really ended either. The many nations within this massive continent all either started or were pulled into a conflict. At the extreme nature of the war occurring within the continent, all other nations decided to stay out and focus on their own problems, along with the fact that they had no way to transport troops to those locations, save by walking.
The conflict came to an unsteady end, with five nations taking most of the territory offered by conquering other nations. Egypt became the strong country protecting one of the few land crossings into Europe. They made friends all around very quickly.
The European nations fell into unrest, with Great Britain and Germany taking the reigns of war and conquering the lands around them at a sudden rate. It didn't take long for the two to run into each other and buttheads. It was only thanks to the intervention of the Italian powers that the conflict did not escalate any further. Acting as a thin buffer, Italy became a wall to keep the peace between the two large nations. Italy became the official peacekeeper of Europe.
Farther east, Russia, China and India fell into disarray with their supremely large population coming back in sporadic moments. The countries split into smaller city-states practically overnight after people returned, and it wasn't long during the War that other more powerful countries came along and conquered lands for their use.
Russia was safe from Germany thanks to their cold winters and the frigid boundary separating themselves from each other. China quickly lost much of their coastal and eastern territories to Japan as they created an invasive force faster than the world could have anticipated. Admittedly, this was as far as Japan needed to and wished to go. As I understand it, their intentions were purely for survival in which they needed to secure land in which they could make their own food instead of being forced to trade and depend on others.
Many Russian and Chinese city-states remain in effect, just united with each other tentatively against any other invasive force. India on the other hand was absorbed by many of the middle-eastern countries and Indonesian countries, before Australia created a Unified Organization of Nations (UON for short) in which all of the island nations of the South Pacific, including Australia united as allies against any other invaders. Since then their navy has grown quickly in order to patrol the long line of islands, and it certainly isn't anything to sneeze at.
Anyways, after the war was over and the lines were drawn along several maps for this new world, the governments decided on what they would do in order to restart their economies and survive once more. Money seemed to be a stupid idea at this point, especially since everything was bound to have skyrocketed in price if it remained in the hands of private entrepreneurs. All things considered, they needed to make money too. So the government got rid of money, and got rid of some of the profit monger positions many companies saw before.
The system is simple, surprisingly. A credit line is established in the names of each individual, at the age of 18, allowing for a monthly buying rate. The line goes up according to needs, such as family, or services rendered. Someone with a job would have a better credit line than a simple homeless man, although the homeless man can still somehow go into a store and buy himself a few essentials.
Countries have jobs that need to be filled, including scientists for weapon research (A very tiring process what with the EMP discharge still affecting us) and soldiers for the "defense" of our lands. I didn't really fall for a tag line or anything, but most countries were quick to instill a few years of military service as a prerequisite for receiving and upgrading the credit line to a livable one, including the purchase of a small house or apartment. Even protestors had to fall into the military this way.
Some of the hardcore pacifists and non-militants continued protesting till they starved but…well, let's just say that eating matters a great deal more at the moment and that even I can understand why the government would want to keep a military, even four years after the war's end (five or six after Third Impact if you care to know).
I've been in the military now for two years, in which I spent most of my time fulfilling basic training. Honestly, I wanted to be a cook. I didn't care if the food wasn't going to be restaurant quality, but instead I was labeled a pilot and shipped out for flight training. Apparently cook and pilot are relatively similar to each other. But I have to eat somehow, and even though my parents and I lived here, the records disappeared so the house is not under my name. They died, and since I was too young to fight in the Fourth World War, I lived.
Today, I was assigned to a squadron and shipped to a base on the southern islands of Italy. The base is just a simple small island with the essential concrete buildings, and would be paradise if it weren't for the fact that there's a fairly obvious runway strip running along the land, and several metal hangars and planes hanging out along the side of it, with the control tower not far off.
We all received our promotions to Airmen from…well trainees I guess, and our barrack assignments as soon as we landed, all three of us. That is, three including me. So really, just two. I'll admit that flying can be interesting, but I'm usually ordered to focus most of the time, so I can't really enjoy it. Then there's the fact that combat flying is jarring for the body and most of the time you're focused on surviving the turn you just made instead of getting shot down by your mock opponent.
But I digress. This base is one of three island air bases meant to make short and quick patrols over the water. Since we're on the middle island furthest South of the Italian tip, we get to patrol the Southern waters in case of an…African air and sea attack. It sounds kinda rude, but I think our command is just being excessively paranoid. The African countries have several other issues and not enough money.
After the promotion, each of us were given a journal and taken on a quick tour of the base and then sent to the barracks to rest up for the early day tomorrow. I thought I'd take the time to write out as much as I needed to before I died tomorrow thanks to some random engine problem.
Hmm, maybe I shouldn't jinx myself…
The base now has a full squadron of eight pilots, including us new recruits. Generally, I think we're supposed to fly four planes per patrol, and they rarely make all pilots fly at the same time. We have a supply of 12 planes of the same make and type but in varying conditions of disarray and maintenance. The paint jobs on each plane have faded with time (and salt water) but they don't even seem to look the same. It's almost as if they took planes from different countries and nearly sanded the paint off of the planes themselves. Too much money to put any actual paint over them apparently.
Hmm, I think that's it.
It's a new day tomorrow in which I'll be meeting my flight captain and start flying patrols. Time to pray for a boring four years.
Which is sad, since I don't really believe in God anyways.
"Good day gentlemen!" the radio cracked in Sadio's ears over the buzz of the propeller of his aircraft, "Today we'll teach you about the lovely aircraft now carrying you over our beautiful Mediterranean sea. If you survive the lecture in the air, you'll be welcomed into our modest squadron."
The air within the cockpit was not as stale as Sadio had first expected it to be as small cracks and imperfections in the plane allowed air to seep in and out. Strangely, it kept the cockpit somewhat fresh, but it was also loud and difficult to listen to the radio. High-altitude flying was also very difficult without a mask, which was already attached to his flight suit; the hose attached to an oxygen canister under his seat.
Sadio was surprised he could hear his Captain with the humming engine but also with his focus solely on his control stick and the instruments on his deck. He had never flown an aircraft with such a sensitive control stick before, and he felt the plane bob and sway with each twitch running through his nerves to the ends of his fingers. He wasn't sure, but he thought he was covered in a thick sheet of sweat, and if he had not been wearing his goggles already, he might not have been able to see anything.
"Aviere Katsuragi eh?" He heard suddenly through the radio, "You're too nervous on that stick figlio (son), stop treating that plane like a tool. Treat it like your body and relax!"
Sadio almost scoffed at the strange idea, and would have had he not been more focused on staying alive and in the air. He needed to think of something calming, but nothing came to mind immediately. As he looked from the dashboard over to the nose and the whirring propellers, several thoughts and images suddenly flashed in his mind. They stopped at the sight of a girl with dark auburn hair, almost to the point of being violet. An old memory, soothing and happy.
"Good! Whatever you're feeling there Aviere, you need to remember that feeling!" Sadio heard and looked over himself. Nothing had changed. He was still in the air. He still felt nervous as hell, but apparently something was somehow different.
"Now then signori, as I was saying. You are all sitting in the pride of Italy back in World War II. Don't be too depressed by the news however, there is little that you can do to fix the technology of today. Just wait for Nerv to find something better to make and we'll all be riding that when the time comes. Until then, become familiar with your Folgores, the Macci 202s (two-oh-twos) are good enough to handle anything the world may have to throw at you, should they feel the need to throw something at all. Anything from a dogfight, to a strafe and bombing run over the waters, this plane can do it in properly trained hands."
Sadio felt his hands tense up as the air inside the cockpit somehow felt stale, he turned his head from side to side, relaxing his shoulders a bit although his fingers were beginning to turn pale. What if an attack happened now, would they be forced to do battle against such an experienced enemy? Or would they be forced to retreat in shame, not knowing what would happen to their new comrades and the only teachers available?
Laughter suddenly began to blare out through the speakers in Sadio's headset, "Mi scusi Capitano, you'll scare the boys!" The man laughed a bit before he resumed, "Rilassare children, relax, you'll never come into contact with the enemy on your first flight, or even your first three!"
"Never say never sergente, you may live to regret your words," said a deeper voice over the radio, serene although it pulled Sadio into a state of slight fear and depression. It was strange to him, but familiar although he tried to shake away such memories as quickly as he could.
"Basta, enough! We have to train these pilots, not frighten them to stay on the ground. Now then, let us begin…" The day wore on with the Captain giving small details and lecturing about the capabilities of the plane with two experienced squad members pulling away from time to time to demonstrate. At some points, the Captain would give quick tests, to try and garner a fast and accurate reaction from each trainee depending on the situation. Sadio felt his head spin when his turn suddenly came, and he tensed so much that his plane began to lift as he had pulled back on the stick in an effort to try and become much smaller. The laughter on the radio seemed to grate his ears, but Sadio felt much more relaxed and even cracked a smile at times.
The day finally came to a close with one of the more difficult tests for each pilot to accomplish, although they had done so multiple times before during basic pilot training. Once his plane landed roughly on the ground, the last to arrive from the six-man flight, Sadio, suddenly felt the strain of the day fall on his shoulders and his chest; even though none of the pilots had done anything strenuous on their bodies, such as tight turning, or even complex maneuvers like the S-split or even a high yo-yo.
The engine puttered out as the propeller sluggishly stopped, and a jeep came along to start pulling the plane towards the hangars. Sadio quickly unlatched the cockpit canopy and pulled it back as he started to climb out and down to the wing, before hopping on the runway. He gave a wave to the driver before walking over towards the command structure next to the flight tower, where he figured a debriefing would be held not too long from then. He could still see some of the newer pilots walking along towards the building, but Sadio remained at his pace seeing no reason to catch up. He wondered if he would even learn their names, probably so. Two years was too long to be alone.
Once at the room where the debriefing was being held, he knocked and entered. Sadio's first response to the sight before him was wide eyes and a step back as he watched the five pilots smiling and drinking from a poorly hidden bottle of wine covered by a thin flight jacket. The Captain, an olive-skinned man with a thin mustache grinned as he sauntered over to Sadio with an extra glass of wine. "To all our newest pilots, our Avieri, we give welcome," he then turned to all the others, "Welcome to a relaxing position in the warm coast, where every patrol comes with a fabulous view in the name of protecting our country."
Sadio raised his glass after the others did so in return. He took a sip, cringing slightly at the bitter taste of the alcohol. The second sip came with a less cringing and finding some subtle flavor within it. He looked down with an approving glance as he continued to drink, a content smile on his face as he got to know the squadron.
May 24th, 2021
Last night was my first time patrolling without someone teaching me what to do. It was kinda relaxing actually. Besides the fact that I'm in a cramped seat for over five hours slowly turning and making sure I haven't missed anything in the sky that might look like a tiny speck in the distance. That being said, I had to clean and re-clean my canopy after I landed. I nearly freaked out into the radio until I realized there was a smudge on the outside of the canopy, that won't be happening again if I can help it.
I was stuck in a holding pattern and had the chance to look at the base itself while I flew around. It's surprisingly well defended, making me wonder why they even need patrols of any sort, though I keep that thought to myself. I'd rather not piss someone off by questioning the orders of command. There are AA and Flak Cannons placed on the top of each major building, including the control tower. There are also some placed at each corner of the island, making the runway the only place that's relatively undefended.
I'm not sure what it would take to tear this place apart, but I sure hope I never get to see it. I feel like no one else does either, or maybe they just don't think it will ever happen. The Captain has a strange calm to him, either because he's tired or because he just doesn't care all that much. A rumor has gone around that he'd fought before Third Impact in some lighter skirmishes as a fighter pilot, and then had done some ground combat during the Fourth World War. But he never answers or confirms anything we've asked, he just gives us a grin and goes back to his wine.
Capitano Alonso Verti. I wonder…if a war sprung up and I somehow made it through, would I turn out like him? Calm and uncaring, almost cool or maybe even bored with peaceful life? It's hard to imagine myself surviving a war to begin with honestly…
I'm pretty sure our scheduled patrol tomorrow is going to be a little bumpy if we go through with it. Stormy weather, but it might make for an interesting experience.
Lightning flashed followed by the dull rumble of thunder, though it was almost droned out by the whirr of the propeller on Sadio's Folgore. The rain fell hard on his cockpit but rolled back along the glass at the speed Sadio flew under the cloud cover. He looked over his shoulder several times, wondering if he would ever lose sight of his companions and his Captain. Earlier, six of the eight pilots had taken off from the runway, bringing along the three green rookies along. The squadron then split into two separate three-wing flights in order to complete the patrol as quickly as possible under the strain of heavy weather.
Captain Verti led them along in a diagonal formation, with Verti leading the way, Sadio in the middle and the third pilot, Adrian, in the rear. The wind blew up and down against Sadio's plane, but somehow he kept the plane moving in a straight line alongside his captain. The three had been flying for an hour, feeling disoriented after being pushed off course a few times by strong gales.
"All right, basta. I doubt we would even see an enemy plane in this mess, we're pulling up!" The captain said and began to climb up through the rain and the lightning, until he disappeared into the cloud ceiling. Sadio climbed up after him not long after, forgetting to look behind him to make sure the third man could follow, and flinched as he flew into the wall of smoke and vapor.
For a few seconds, Sadio felt as if he were in limbo as his plane flew surrounded by only the dark grey mist of the cloud, too thick for Sadio or any pilot to see through. Suddenly, the Folgore burst through the top edge of the clouds and into a clear blue sky with the sun high in the air. Sadio pushed down on the stick quickly to level out, feeling the blood rush up into his head a bit. He shook it quickly as he focused on his Captain's plane and trailed behind.
"Three planes, very good!" The Captain shouted as his plane rolled on its side and began to turn towards the east, back towards the base. "Another good day, even with the rough wind and rain. You're both turning into very capable piloti."
"Capitano," Adrian spoke through the radio, "how are we going to land on the runway through such a storm?" Sadio did not want to admit it, but he had been wondering the same thing.
"Patience aviere, pazienzia. There is no need to make yourself nervous before we even reach the runway si? Just relax for now."
"Si Capitano," Adrian said and the radio clicked silent. Sadio reached up to his collar, pulling it away from him to air out the sweat and humidity beginning to stifle him inside of his flight suit. With the rain, the air that came into the cockpit tended to be wet and mostly cold, though his flight jacket kept him warm. The flight jacket did nothing to fight off the humidity however. He had been told that it was acceptable to open up the canopy a bit once they flew above the rain clouds, to let some fresh air inside, but Sadio had laughed the thought off nervously.
He looked through the glass of the cockpit and swore under his breath as he raised his hand to try to wipe a black speck that had somehow missed his notice during the cleaning that day. After he had wiped against the glass with his gloved thumb, he pulled his hand back to see that the glass was cleaner, but the speck had moved only slightly. His eyes widened a bit as he tried to wipe it away again, but found the speck to remain. He then brought his hand back to the stick.
"Capitano!" He yelled into his radio.
"Easy there Sadio, why are you all excited?"
"9 o'clock, from the South! I see something!" Sadio shouted again and was responded with utter silence in his ears. A silence of deliberation and thought, one that Sadio felt he had heard many times in his youth filled with another emotion, fear.
"I see it Sadio," Captain Verti said, much to the disappointment of Sadio, "strange that there is only one." Sadio watched as the Captain's plane began to roll and pull towards the South in a fluid motion, quicker than Sadio had ever seen the plane move before. "All right, both of you turn after me and head under the clouds. The storm should cover you!"
"Capitano?" Sadio asked but was cut off quickly.
"Do not respond until I say 'over.' I will call for you or dive with you if I come across any trouble. Pull up through the clouds if you find other planes waiting for you. And make sure your cannons are ready to fire, understand? Over."
"Si Capitano."
"Si…Capitano." Sadio responded slower.
"Don't be nervous, and do not forget your training at this crucial time. Over, and out." The Captain's plane began to speed along towards the distant enemy, and Sadio watched with almost sad eyes before he sluggishly rolled his plane to the side and banked into the clouds spanning across the earth below him.
His Folgore burst through, and he leveled out underneath the clouds and into the rain. The waves far below him crashed roughly against each other in a show of water and foam. And the flash of lightning quickly became a roar of thunder that vibrated the entire plane down to Sadio's feet. Sadio and Adrian flew next to each other, with Adrian trailing behind slightly, and Sadio began to wonder if Adrian felt as nervous as he. It would be their first time to witness combat, and perhaps even take part, and he felt ill prepared. Sadio took a few deep breaths as he looked over the dashboard of his cockpit, his mind focused on the meticulous details in airspeed, altimeter and fuel gages. He also made sure that his guns were primed and ready to fire if the need came, and scanned the air around his cockpit consistently for any sign of enemy planes, though it was difficult to see anything through the oncoming and crashing rain.
His propeller chopped through the raindrops as he waited, which streaked across the glass of his cockpit quick enough to make it seem clear. He clenched and released his right hand repeatedly, holding the plane steady with his left hand. His ears listened as the noise of the rain began to overcome the drone of the engine, splattering against the cockpit and the rest of the plane in pits and pats. His right hand slowed down and he let out a sigh as he relaxed his tension a bit.
The radio in Sadio's ear crackled suddenly, and Captain Verti's voice faintly broke through, "Wa…out!" the radio said weakly and with static everywhere.
"What did he say?" Adrian asked through the radio, which Sadio could hear only slightly better.
Suddenly, a burning husk of metal, smoke and flames punched through the clouds above them and fell straight down towards the water. Sadio watched if fall with focused eyes, his mouth dropping agape slightly as it passed by him several feet away. "I think he said 'watch out,'" he then said into the radio.
Another plane flew through the surface of the clouds, with white hot tracers coming around behind it and a second plane following close, a more familiar plane. "Avieres," The captain's voice exploded into their ears, "return to base and make sure they know what is happening!"
"What?" Sadio began.
"Capitano, we can't just leave you here" Adrian finished for his comrade.
"Enough talk. Follow orders and return to base!"
Sadio and Adrian stayed silent for a while as they watched their Captain chase after the plane with guns blazing, peppering the enemy's wings every now and again. Suddenly, another plane flew down through the clouds, and followed after the Captain's plane.
"Sadio! Are we really going to do this?"
Sadio watched the combat ensue in front of him, his eyes focused on the Captain's plane. He suddenly felt the urge to run, his arm tensed up on the stick. He began to hope that the wavering of his plane was only due to the fact that the wind and rain were beating against his wings. "Sadio!" Adrian yelled.
He pulled back on the stick instinctively, thinking back on his options and his training. A radio would never make it through the storm, and there was no certainty that Sadio and Adrian would defeat an unknown number of unknown enemies. 'Uncertainty in combat means death' he remembered hearing from an instructor at one time. He rolled his plane over and pulled towards the East, "We have to follow orders!"
"But we'll be leaving the Capitano behind! He could be killed!"
"If we don't tell the home base that there are enemy planes over our waters, then we could be caught unprepared as an invasion force comes up from behind. We…we just have to go." Sadio said sternly. He swallowed the shame he felt in the back of his throat as he forced the throttle forward and pushed gas into the engine. The propeller sped up and the Folgore flew through the air and water like a knife. A quick look over his shoulder showed that Adrian had done the same, though he remained silent on the radio.
The rain and thunder and lightning continued as Sadio led the way back towards the base, following his compass and charts to the best of his abilities. Another roll of thunder shook him and his plane from above, and he looked up in reflex. He thought he saw something from within the clouds, but after a while could see nothing more.
Less than an hour later, the two could finally see the island base a few miles away from them, to which Sadio quickly flipped on his radio. "Base command, Base command," He started, "this is aviere Katsuragi. Please respond, over."
The radio responded with static for a few moments and Sadio wondered if the storm was so strong that they could not see him either. Then the radio static crackled suddenly and Sadio heard a young man's voice come through, "Aviere Katsuragi, we hear you loud and clear, but we do not see you. You are back early, over?"
"We came across unknown enemies, and Capitano Verti remained behind in combat. An alert should be issued before we return to the Capitano's aid."
"Negativo aviere, you must land and refuel, and the Comandante needs to decide your orders. Confirm?"
"Aviere Dazer confirms," Adrian said over the radio and pulled away from behind Sadio, starting to move quickly towards the runway, "Please advise on our first wet landing command."
Sadio watched silently as Adrian's plane pushed against wind and rain, lowering itself over the rocky waters. The plane's landing gear lowered and Adrian flew it closer and closer. Sadio watched as he compensated for the wind direction and strength by flying a bit off the middle line of the runway. A sudden burst of wind then nudged the plane back onto the middle line as Adrian's gear touched the wet asphalt. "Very good aviere," Command said, "Now Sadio, it is your turn."
Sadio did not respond, focusing on the decision he had made that might have cost someone's life when he could have attempted something different. He could have broken orders, right? At least tried to help out the Captain. Or would it have ended horrifically, as the Captain had most likely already foreseen? He had already flown past the other end of the island by the time command tried to speak to him again.
"Aviere Katsuragi, start your turn and throttle your engine back for a landing."
Another flash of lightning and thunder followed, as Sadio pushed the stick. His 202 rolled to the side and he pulled up for a moment, until the radio blared again, "Wha-Break off! Break off!" the controller yelled through the radio.
At that moment, yellow lights, like tennis balls on fire, shot past Sadio's cockpit and in a quick decision based purely on reflex Sadio pulled harder on the roll, twisting his plane upside down and began to pull away towards the ocean surface. He took a deep breath through his teeth as he leveled-out a few feet over the ocean surface.
"What was that!" Sadio yelled looking out through the framed glass of his canopy. But he could not see anything more than the grey overcast of the clouds. "Command, respond!"
"An unknown aircraft flew over the base and back up into the clouds. Turn around and follow after it Aviere. I cannot clear you to land until this threat is cleared."
Sadio began to clench and unclench his fist once more as his nerves began to overtake him, thinking that Adrian was the lucky one to be on the ground. And now he was sent to chase after whatever had the advantage against him. "What about reinforcements?"
"This storm has everyone grounded unless we deem it necessary to risk the danger." The controller paused for a moment, while Sadio felt the weight on his chest as he made a sharper turn than he had intended. He leveled-out to find himself still alive and still afraid, but less tense, "The rest of your wing should be on their way. At most, you must keep the rest of the enemy occupied and make sure you give us the exact numbers. From now on, do not forget to use your squad name and number, is that understood?"
There was a pause in the radio transmission, "Mattone Cinque (Brick five), understood." Sadio glumly responded. He grabbed the mask on his face, checking the straps and seals before breathing in deep and pulling up on the stick. He felt the engine vibrate hard as he pushed the throttle up and forced more gas into the engine for a quick boost. He felt his arms tremble again, or at least he thought it was his arms.
His plane flew through the cloud cover, into the clear sky above it and Sadio swiveled his head for any sign of the plane. It did not take long to find it as he spotted a plane passing by and under the sun in the middle of a turn. It began to level out as it flew towards Sadio's plane.
Sadio found himself almost at a loss at the sight of the enemy and expected it to start firing instantly, cutting through his wings, his engine, and perhaps the cockpit and his own body. The quick end to a rookie pilot.
Flashes appeared on the planes wings and Sadio barely blinked before he held his breath and twisted into a roll that sent him swerving under the passing plane. "Never turn away from an enemy," he whispered the rule to himself, "Instead, turn and face him." Sadio immediately banked hard towards his left, and the sky righted itself in front of his eyes. He then looked above him, catching the streams of white trailing from the wings of the enemy as it began to do a similar motion, a tight turn cutting through the air. Sadio twisted the plane onto its side once more, and began to feel the full brunt of several gravitational forces pushing against his chest as he tried to pull harder on the stick. The two then spiraled around each other, chasing after each other like dogs nipping at each others tails with snarling teeth. A classic battle spinning through the air. A dogfight.
The two planes spun around, tightening their circle little by little and losing altitude as well. They neared the surface of the grey clouds, at which Sadio felt a bit nervous and hesitant. If they fell through, they would lose sight of each other, this much he knew already. His mind raced, trying to think of an idea. He could not break away from the turn too early, otherwise the enemy pilot would find an advantage. Break too late, and Sadio might come out of the clouds unable to find his foe in the rain, and once again be in a delicate position of Cat and Mouse.
The clouds came nearer, and Sadio returned his focus to the enemy plane chasing after him, getting closer faster than Sadio could force his plane to turn. They hit the cloud surface, practically at the same time, and the grey clouds blocked out most of the sunlight. Sadio gripped the stick and pulled to the right, rolling his plane around and turning away in the opposite direction. He leveled out, continuing to fly blind within the cloud cover. He then pulled back on the throttle and spun the 202 upside down, using the measure on his dashboard until he was certain his cockpit was facing the ground.
He pulled the stick back, slowly edging the plane towards the bottom of the clouds. Finally, he looked down the top of the framed canopy and viewed a lighter thickness of cloud vapors, enough for him to look through it. He pulled towards the ground farther and finally got a better view of the ocean surface, the base, and the rest of the rainy air.
He turned his head from side to side, watching the rain fall from the sky. The view of the island seemed far and foggy, and he could not see the plane. Instead, he found a strange and ghostly shape cutting through the air and the rain, moving below him towards the airbase. "He thinks I'm running away…" He whispered to himself with surprise and a light smile.
He pulled hard on the stick, ignoring the pressure he felt on his chest, and pulling his plane down towards the warped air. He sped towards the ground, aiming himself to cross the path of the enemy plane. His 202 came closer to the warped air, and Sadio watched it form into the vague shape of an aeroplane and becoming more detailed as the seconds ticked away. Sadio then began to steady his dive and leaned forward to the bullseye on top of his dashboard. He came closer, and closer, watching the outline of the enemy become full and colored. He could see a faint outline of the insignia on the tail of the plane out of the corner of his eye. Finally, when he was close enough that he could have seen the silhouette of the pilot in the cockpit, his finger squeezed the trigger.
The Folgore shook as the cannons banged and blazed, loud enough for Sadio to easily hear over the whirr of his propeller and the fall of the rain. The tracer rounds fell fast, and the enemy plane flew right through the path of the bullets. Bolts of hot lead smashed into the metal plating protecting the engine and several bullet holes ran along the body of the plane, down to the tail.
Sadio tried to watch the enemy plane as they passed by each other, but could only watch it disappear into the rain. Finally, he saw a ball of flame clearly within the rain begin to fall and twist towards the surface of the ocean.
"This is Mattone Cinque, I've just shot down the unknown enemy. It's fireballing to the water." Sadio exclaimed through the radio a bit breathless. He could scarcely believe he was still alive and the victor to the short duel between planes. He watched as the fireball continued to fall, reminded suddenly of the Captain and the kill that had passed close to he and Adrian an hour before. A loud smash, muffled by the rain, shook the air. Sadio turned to see if it had been a lightning strike but spotted vague form of a tall spout of water in the ocean. He circled around, watching the water fall back and seeing that all traces of the smoke and flames had been quenched.
"Good job aviere," the controller said as the radio in Sadio's ear sparked to life, "Were you able to get a look at its insignia? Did you see any other planes? over."
"No other planes control. I think I got a decent view of the insignia but it flew by very quickly, over."
"That'll be enough for now. Get on the runway before you get bounced, over and out."
My first kill, and it's barely been more than a few hours. It looks like nighttime, but it's only maybe 6 pm. The rest of the flight finally arrived, or rather what's left of it.
Two planes came back with a little damage, carrying the 2nd Lieutenant and the sergeant. Josef, the third rookie and an Israeli who had transferred to Italy, was shot down but we know he's still alive. It makes me feel better, but we may never see him again. A military vessel flying allied colors picked him up, though I've heard rumors that it wasn't supposed to be there. No one would tell me or Adrian more, and I doubt even the 2nd Lieutenant knows either. It's possible that the ship was a spy from the enemy, which would mean that Josef was as good as dead and that we've practically been compromised already.
But it could also be an ally on a classified mission, which would mean that Josef would be barred from any outside contact in order to keep that mission secret. Why they would be conducting a mission there and now however, is anyone's guess. It could mean a lot of things worse than having an invasion force coming here if you have a decent enough imagination. I'd rather not think about it.
It doesn't help that the Captain never returned. They're labeling him MIA right now…
The Brick squadron, or "Mattone" squadron, is down to six active pilots. The base is on full alert, and we're about to start discussing our new defensive patrols and formations, which should come into effect tomorrow. It's anyone's guess on what will come next...
