Chapter Two

1205 hours, August 26th, 2004, Usea Continent, El Hondo ISAF Airbase

Gavin awoke with a start and looked around him. There was the sound of talking and laughing nearby followed by the distant roar of jet engines. He looked around the barracks and saw the other members of his squadron. Second Lieutenant Veto Mendez layed on the bed beside his, he slept deeply despite the talking done by the soldiers at the end of the barracks. Veto was Gavins wingman and they were always together in the air.

"Did you see how the Captain got those two bandits the other day?"

"Yeah. That move he pulled was amazing, it looked like he just disappeared. I would have liked to have seen the Erusian pilots face when he just up and disappeared."

"Yeah, hey cap'n. How many does that bring you up to?"

Gavin rolled over onto his arm and looked over at Second Liuetenants Mathew Veronda and Jack Hodges. Matt was a taller man with brown hair and eyes. He was built like the average twenty one year old and always seemed to have a smile on his face. Jack had blond hair and green eyes, he was twenty three years old and had been with the squadron for his entire military career.

"I've got sixteen kills now. And the way this wars going, I doubt it'll be the last."

"So when does Operation Sea Lion start?"

Everyone looked at Veto who everyone thought was still asleep. He layed there with his eyes closed breathing in and out slowly. Gavin looked around the room at the other surviving pilots of his squadron, they all looked at him waiting for his response. He breathed in deeply and spoke, "It starts tommorow at two o'clock. Our squadron and five others are to oversee the movement of the ISAF leadership to North Point. We are to protect them, by all and any means we see fit."

The room seemed to go a deathly quiet as everyone digested the information they were given. If the GHQ leadership was moving from the East Coast to the Country of North Point, then the war was going badly. The fighter squadrons were almost useless at this point in the war, they couldn't attack anything within the range of the Giant railguns called Stonehenge. ISAF had tried to destroy the guns with a rapid assualt by twenty four aircraft, every single aircraft was intercepted by the Elite YELLOW squadron. They had killed so many pilots in this war, even his flight lead, Lieutenant Colonel Chris Rogers. His squadron had come up against them once before, they seemed almost inhuman in their manuavers. Out of twenty two aircraft in his squadron, they had shot down twelve of them.

Gavin exhaled and layed back down on the bed as Matt and Jack continued to talk on the far side of the barracks. The fifth and final member of his squadron walked into the room, she sat down on the bed next to him and looked at him. First Lieutenant Samantha Ericson looked down at him as he opened his eyes and saw her. "So when do we start the Operation?"

"Tommorow, at two o'clock. Were escorting three K-17's across the channel, we also get five other squadrons to help us."

"Good, maybe the rest of us can get some kills," she said smiling at him.

"Yeah, maybe."

Gavin closed his eyes and let his thoughts drift back to his home, Los Canas. He could see the bright sun streaming through the clouds and illuminating the city. Gavin could now see Julie, who was at home as usual. A slight smile came across his face as he thought of her, she was so bueatiful. He was a lucky man just to be around her, let alone to have married her. He let sleep take him as he sat thinking about Julie back home in Los Canas.