Our World, Our War…Our Destiny!
It all started as one of "those" days…you know, the one's where you can just feel in your heart, in your bones…in your very soul that today: September 29th 2037 would be the day you got your ass handed to you on a bright silver platter… and it wasn't even a Monday.
Today was my 42nd birthday and I had some really big plans. Was going to go to work and test out the new modifications my best friend and boss (kinda) had put on my personal fighter jet before heading out on a patrol and then a night on the town with my friends and family. I got dressed in my usual cargo camo pants, black T-shirt, black leather jacket and riding gloves and headed out to my second pride and joy: a 2027 Harley Davidson iron 883 that I've kept in the best condition possible. The sky was clear and cloudless, the wind crisp and clean, the day was perfect…too perfect for and ace pilot reaching the end of his rope and still bogged down in a war. The ride in to sand island air base was quiet and free of cars which was to be expected with how early I left. I got to base, parked and changed into my flight suit before my best friend and founder/CEO of Van Spronsen Robotics, Logan Van Spronsen, met me at my jet.
"you know that we could always do these tests after your morning flight, right?" he says to me while not looking up from his laptop which was plugged in to a small port on the dashboard of my cockpit. "yeah but then that would give you time to refuse to work on my baby here" I replied with a big grin "coffee?" I offer while handing him a hot cup of fresh coffee. "thanks. I'm just finishing up the last few tweaks to the 'foundry system' we installed a few months back, there shouldn't be any more problems with the missiles jamming as they will be loaded right into the cradles BUT that doesn't mean you can spam them because the foundry still has to build new missiles. The build time was also cut down to 20 seconds as opposed to the original 30" he says as he sips his coffee in between sentences. "whoa dude, slow down! Your gonna lose me if you keep doing that!" I say while I chuckle lightly "but seriously, 20 seconds is the best you can do? 5 is all it takes for a missile to lock and launch" I tell him, my voice dropping to a grim tone showing how well I knew that specific statistic. "I'm sorry James but that's the best we can do for now. Brennan is working on mock-ups of better systems but until then 20 is the best we can do" he sighs, knowing how touchy this subject is for the both of us.
I just pat him on the shoulder and tell him to go to the tower and do his geek thing, we share a laugh before he heads toward the air traffic control tower. After a successful test flight and follow up diagnostics check it's time for my regular patrol of sand island and the area around the Russian cosmodrome seeing as how VSR had a contract with the neutral zone the cosmodrome rests in. Taking off from sand island…my base…my home…little did I know that it would be the last time I would see my home in a long time to come.
My patrol was going well and undisturbed until I entered the neutral airspace of the cosmodrome…that's when all hell broke loose. "Cosmodrome control, this is Razgriz 1 requesting patrol route over" I say for what seems like the thousandth time, I here static for a little while until the tower connects and the controller's panicked voice filters into my helmet "Razgriz 1 thank god you're here! The red army has attacked our border patrols and we have pulled all forces back to defend the Cosmodrome!" 'Shit! Looks like my plans are going on hold.' I think to myself "Cosmodrome tower I read you loud and clear, I'll radio back to sand island and then provide close air support for your ground troops". After connecting to sand island and getting confirmation of reinforcements being sent in an hour I prepare for a long battle of attrition with the forces of the red army.
"Logan! I'm low on missiles and these bastards keep coming! I need more ammo NOW!" I yell into my radio as I dodge yet another shoulder-launched-SAM and swing around to spray the area with heavy machine gun fire. "there's nothing we can do right now James! There's a reason your 'foundry' can only make so many and that's because the battery wears out from excessive use like RIGHT NOW!" he yells back, more than likely pissed at himself for missing something so obvious before now than he is at me. "look, just hold on for a few more minutes and the reinforcements will be able to take the heat off of you for a while" he says while I hear him furiously typing away on his ever present laptop, likely putting together small scale blueprints to fix this issue. "glad I drag your ass out of bed at such 'ungodly hours' now?" I snipe back to him as I maneuver around the large battlefield lending support in the form of air strikes and suppressive fire where needed. "you owe me for thi- SHIT!" *KRA-BAM!* the radio is then flooded with some static and enough cursing to make a sailor blush. Logan listens on worriedly and when a break presents itself he gets my attention. "James! What happened?! Are you okay?" there is a pause of static and then *sigh* "son of a bitch got me with a shoulder SAM, not too bad but whatever he hit me with is messing up my plane bad. I've lost connection to the foundry which means no missiles but I've still got plenty of ammo in my guns. My electronics are acting up though, gonna have to bail soon…" a sudden beeping catches my attention "…fantastic, make that now. Just lost everything...whatever they hit me with has almost literally gutted my plane". As I speak Logan's face gets paler and paler to the point he looks white as a sheet. "James, you need to bail out right now! We can build a new plane for you easily but you need to get out now!" the whole tower has gone quiet now as Logan attempts to get through to my damaged craft. "not sure if you can hear me dude but I need you to do me a favor…tell my family I'm sorry I can't make it to dinner tonight." I say with a small grin as I see the dropships carrying not only the Reinforcements for the Cosmodrome but my best friend for the last 22 years. I look up to the clear blue, cloudless sky one least time before darkness claims my vision for the last time.
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Eyes up guardian!
Important AN:
I am in no way abandoning "The Veiled Secret of Remnant" but I've been stuck on a few things and my work schedule is erratic at best. I will be doing my best and hopefully have something for you guys soon with my friends helping me not only with this story but with TVSoR as well. I appreciate your patience and apologize for taking so long.
PS. I don't own anything except...well myself. all ownership goes to Bungie (destiny) and whoever owns Ace Combat 5: unsung war.