Angel felt nothing but dread as she watched the live video feed. She could see the Apache helicopters, loaded with SEAL commandos fly over the fence. She saw the gunmounts on the rooftop appear and activate. She saw the tracers streak through them like they were made of paper. She watched one helicopter go down, then two, then three... She heard the order for a retreat and couldn't recall if she had given it but she swore she heard her voice through the feed on the lead Apache's radio. He repeated her order and they began to fall back. Angel was just beginning to breathe a sigh of relief when two of the helicopters made it safely back over the fence. Then all that changed. A lucky hit to his tail rotor and the lead helicopter entered his death spiral. The relief turned to dread. His voice filled her ears. "Mayday! Mayday! I'm hit! I'm hit! I'm going down! Mayday! Mayday!" She was so glued to the screen she couldn't even flinch when he crashed onto the roof, his main rotors spinning him around twice before his gas tanks ignited. Only now did Angel flinch back at the flash of light that filled the screen. It suddenly felt unbearable in here. The tornado of emotions had become a hurricane and she couldn't stand it. She couldn't stand being in this hanger with all these people counting on her, depending on her. When all she had done so far was send them to their deaths.

Once outside she let her frustration show. The trees bore the brunt of her rage as she engaged in a boxing match with them. One truck blasted by engine exhaust, two trunks blown to smithereens, a third toppled over. Angel turned around to strike a forth and pulled her punch last second. The forth trunk wasn't a trunk at all. "What, are you doing here?" She hissed out. Echo shrugged. "I saw you make a run for it. Figured you needed a good vent. And trees are hardly worthy opponents." He said, getting into a fighting stance. She growled and lunged at him. He dodged nimbly to one side, giving her a light swat across the flank as he did so. Snarling she pivoted and came at him again and again he dodged. "You're mind is clouded my daughter." He said. "You can fight twice this good even when you're ill." "Do not call me that!" She snarled. "You have no right to call me that! You never did before. You never even cared!" She slammed their heads together, pushing with all her might to gain some leverage over the male 747. Echo pushed back just enough to hold her in place though he easily could've flipped her. "Perhaps your right. I don't. But you are my child Angel and I care for you just the same." He said through a pant. Angel was strong, nearly as strong as he was and it was taking a lot of effort to keep her from gaining any ground. Thankfully, her anger and therefore her resistance faltered and she collapsed to the tarmac in front of him. He lowered himself down beside her. "You will never forgive yourself. Even when other's forgive you. War is a hard thing and in some ways it is harder on the commanders than those on the ground. For they have to live with the consequences of their choices. You were chosen to be GOAF because we knew you could live with it. It's hard. I know. I cannot claim to understand but I do know. But the Air Force needs its Commander. We need you Angel." Angel looked at him, eyes filled with tears but she hadn't let a single one drop. "That lead helicopter's name was Sanford. I knew him from my days in the Academy. He taught me how to fire my missiles." She said. "I'm sorry." Echo replied, rising to his wheels. She did the same. By the time they had turned their noses to the hanger, the tears in Angel's eyes had vanished and her gaze had hardened. "I don't care why they attacked this country. I don't care how many threats they make. By dawn, they will be dead. I will have seen these bastards to have paid for their every transgression with their own blood."