Fire

It was like a lot of the battles were, brutal costly stupid…I don't understand the cause of animosity and hatred. I don't understand why they thought it was in their interests to construct those missiles. It might just well have been nuclear weapons. Well, it had the same effect.

We had expended so much fuel during the air battle that we had insufficient amounts to make it back to Sand Island. And for whatever arbitrary reason Thunderhead, and command, couldn't get a tanker craft out to us. So he issued us auxiliary orders.

"Wardog we can't get tanker craft out to you. Proceed North to Hierlark base. Land and refuel," he said to us.

"Hierlark?"

"You wouldn't know Grimm, but that's where we all were trained before we all came to Sand Island, by some miracle," Chopper said.

"The three of you were all trained at the same base?"

"We went to academy together, though I don't recall seeing you anywhere around there Blaze?" Chopper asked.

"I was very busy when I was at the academy."

"No kidding. I heard Bartlett talking about you one day, didn't you earn something around…oh I don't know…tree majors?"

"Something like that."

"Man your something."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I demanded.

"I just mean Blaze here is a damn genius at almost anything he does."

"Yeah, at least compared to you he is."

Grimm laughed and Chopper went into frenzy of chatter and insults before we finally got some peace when Blaze told him to shut up, to our relief.

I have a lot of memories about that place, Hierlark. Well to you it might just be another flight base. I spent two years flying planes over it and it became more familiar than my own birth place.

Somewhat ridiculous but I haven't home in long time. And it looks like I won't get to go home for an even longer time. Harling won't stay president for long, and who's to say that the new president elect will be open to our, coming form the dead I suppose. With what happened to Osea during the President's peace policies the people might fell it necessary for a more hard-line politician to go into Oured. That politician will probably have some resentment about us, especially if he happened to be one of our old commanders in Central. Frustrating but we'll just to roll with it. Except Snow, he was never officially declared KIA, and he wasn't branded as a traitor. In fact he is credited for shooting us down after our escape form Sand Island. Ironic isn't it?

Hierlark is almost invisible if it decided to go dark. A strong reason Osea pushed so strong to get into that territory during the Belkan Conflict fifteen years ago. It's in the center of mountain range and is covered by snow year round, not the most hospitable of places but it's still very beautiful, especially in the spring time. The golden come down the over the Easter Ranges and reflects off the packed snow, making it incredibly bright. It's rumored you can blind if you stayed outside and entire day. No one ever tired it. I remember a small space, a sort of dip in the rock that faced east to West. When early dawn came, the light would hit the top Oden, which is the East Mountain in the region and reflect into the second year trainee's room, which blinded us all into consciousness. I told most of this to you already, but it was good time on that base. Sort of like the Academy.

It was pretty late when landed. The days lasted a bit longer than hey do now and it was well past dark when we touched down. The blackness was added to by the over cast which blotted out the moon and the stars. It would have been close to trying to drive a car at night in heavy fog with your light out. Well, we just stuck close to Blaze and landed softly.

"God, Blaze do you have night vision or something?' Chopper asked.

"You landed it just as well, and no have the same visual acuity rating."

"What…how would you know we have the visual acuity rating?"

"It's complicated."

"Bullshit…"

"This is control tower. Lieutenant we appreciate some propriety over the radio," the tower said to Chopper's surprise.

He stuttered, at a slight loss for words, this didn't usually happen. "Sorr…ry sir."

I pulled my plane silently into the hangar and my mind was filled with a memory when I was still a cadet there. I had once been caught outside as a result of someone forgetting to unchain the door when I was to sortie and my hand nearly to my helmet. I don't like the cold. Besides it beauty there is nothing wonderful about it.

After a dash to the barracks we spent the next few hours surrounded by junior cadets. Genett, the journalist, had written an article that received much acclaim, to his credit. But it made tit here faster than we did. The picture he uses for it was rather surprising. I remover Blaze seethed in quiet laughter while Chopper boasted all over the junior cadets faces. "You see this. Here you see center frame and our brave captain is pushed so far behind me his face is block out! But then as you see since he has barely said to words to anyone beside his lovely wife here, his is quite the shy type and doesn't socialize well, with those of his side, with the enemy…ooohoho, he will give more language they handle in the form of hell fire." I kept quiet mostly during these story telling's of his. I would sometimes exchange comments with Blaze on the validity of his statements the exponential growth of his ego. Blaze was most cynical about everything, but then he seemed to be of a lighter heat. Chopper had that way with all people I suppose. Even Blaze found him entertaining often. Chopper then directed several comments to me about our kill score and I gave an estimated number which Chopper immediately spins into only the number of confirmed kills. "Why I've seen Nagase here kill at least a dozen more than that number. It should be well noted by you nuggets that our commanding officer as great dislike for the Squadron and a big hatred for me. So it's no wonder our records aren't exactly accurate." It's curious even now. Somewhere along the line, completely unintentionally we became the most experience pilots in the entire war. So much so that those cadets were fascinated by us to the point where Chopper's odious and condescending, pompous speech became nothing more than murmur.

My thoughts drifted about Captain Bartlett. Whether it was depression, guilt, or just aggravation from the g-forces my mind kept repeating his name over and over. Every time I thought of that missile coming at me, every time I say the red lights flash in mind, every time I recreated Bartlett's hornet flying across my nose taking the missile with him, every time I reheard the explosion and sound of the ejection releasing, my heart seemed to grow bitter to Chopper, and Blaze, and the cadets for their admiration of us. It was like I furious because they didn't talk about him, because they didn't mention a word of his capture or his flying. II was over it quickly though. I'm smart enough to realize the folly of all my apprehensions. You see if you go into the air with those thoughts, you'll surely come crashing down.

The little gathering took a while to end. The junior seemed like they were struck with awe that they took to leaving to their quarters one by one. Once the last one paid his respects and scurried away we were all left to really fend for ourselves on a place to sleep. Hierlark was overrun with transfers and actually I think for the first time in its Osean history that it was over capacity. So we stayed in the crew room for what seemed like very ling time. Chopper hand begun to go over with Grimm the basics of "one to one" air combat tactics, so he called them, and the conversation demand all of our input and attention. However once that topics were finished we moved on to other flight strategies, titles of which varied and varied even to the put we were on the topic on the ground forces role in a naval beach head assault, until we somehow found ourselves back on the topic of "one to one" air combat tactic which I think was altered into "man to man." We talked and talked until it became so dreary that Choppers hands became Osean military air superiority craft while Blaze's hands became Yuktobanian Su-series. They engage treat and engage with Chopper's planes always emerging the victor as he narrated the transactions that proceeded as the manual aircraft pursued each other. Occasionally Grimm would get up and place his hands horizontally with one directly behind the other, this represented some unknown class of bomber which Blaze and Chopper's manacles (now representing Wardog Squadron) would shoot down. I would have laughed in not for exhaustion at this curious seen and watched it until my eyes couldn't stay awake anymore, and I drifted off into sleep.

I sort of remember what I dreamed about, it if was even a dream. It seemed like silent flashes of sky. It was as though I was a white bird flying with out noise or engines around the Earth. Bellow me I saw oceans, mountains and even cities. My dream self flew on and on until I came to face with my enemy. Or at least I'm assuming it was my enemy. For I felt much disdains and contempt for it was. I had a large black wings and red tail and flew faster than I could which made me fearful. I dived and rolled in my dream till I was so exhausted I could stay a head. Then like demon from the old stories it attacked and that is where I found my vision blurring in to the Hierlark crew room.

The room was almost as dark as the mountains themselves with lights off. Save for the runway and outer lights of the base it was just blackness in the base. Because of this I had no concept of what time of the day it was. I'd thought about getting up and perhaps finding water or something to help get me back to sleep. But I could not make a move like the chair I was awkwardly sitting ion willed me stay for a while. It was some minutes of my eyes scanning the dark that they became enough to notice the specter that had been awake all the while I was.

"Blaze?" I murmured softly into the darkness in case it was someone else.

I could his head turn to me revealing enough to know it indeed was him and then he returned to starring out the window on his left. I felt a diabolical combination of curiosity and anger then that compelled me to ask a question, "Have you even slept a minute since all of us fell asleep?"

He didn't move that time or even made any gestures that were visible to me until he began to speak. "Insomnia is said to a very common symptom of stress."

"Are you stressed?" I asked almost making it sound like an outrageous joke. Then the explosions and flashes of the air battles came back. I then saw him. The body of his plane move nearly flawlessly. I saw his precisely timed missile and gun attacks. I heard his voice come back over the radio giving me cool calm command even when we were in the center of the dogfight. More and more it seemed greatly out of the question for him to even feel stress. Then simultaneously to the flashes of battle I saw him riding alone on his bike at the academy as he had done. I saw his focused mind furiously writing down notes for a composition that had entered his head. I then saw him vividly resent any attention for the more party type of cadets there. Then I felt ashamed for having those thoughts I felt it demeaned him. Then I thought of all I didn't know about him. His past his parents, his family, his old friend for childhood I never knew them. I felt so attached to part of him, but more and more of his mind I didn't know.

It felt as though I had come from a long journey when his words finally reached my ears. "I would've asked you that you're waking up only after few hours of sleep."

"Yeah, but at least I slept." His ghostly face turned toward mine and seemed to smile though I could not see his expression. He then continued whatever thought he had until I spoke again, "You seem preoccupied."

"I am. I can't help but think about the near future and the progression of this war. It's not going to be sort from I can see. Then again I'm not that high up." A moment passed and sighed with great burden that I then began to see warp around him like an unwanted serpent. His seemed to looking for a way around and obstacle, as through he was flying through a dog fight. "While all of you fell into your slumber high commanded wired a communication to his base. It was specifically addressed to me. It confirmed that am now in command of Wardog Squadron and will remain so as "they see fit." They were very deliberate in implying that we are going to be under watch. Alco it conveyed that there was another raid on the Western Coastline by enemy bombers. All of the planes in Sand Island were sent to intercept. None of them came back, Kei." It was numbing sensation of a narcaudic come over me. I couldn't really comprehend it; or rather I didn't want with all my heart to comprehend it. "Central command has also reported that we will be using the military power of the Arkbird to counteract the missiles that attacked the carriers. They apparently were sub-launched from a new super-submarine-carrier called Schinfaxi. And to top off all the surprises, we are directed to take all the pilots in this base, Hierlark, and take them to Sand Island. They are going to war."

I still sort of numb to what he was saying as I'm sure he felt similar, judging from his disposition. It was like my body's immune system was trying to protect me from my own anger and frustration. It soon passed I found that I had nothing to say in comment. "We should tell them," was all I could think to say.

"They already know."

I instantly felt surprised and incredibly stupid at the same time as a lamp was suddenly turned on to reveal the smirking face of Chopper, giving a most condescending grin at me. "Why to spoil to it, Captain. I was rather comfortable right there. I wish I could have seen your face, Nagase. You must have been the palest pilot in the air force. "

"Still better than you at flying," Blaze advocated for me.

"It's horrible." Grimm had seemed like he had just experienced a great loss. He starred at the floor much the same way Blaze was starring out the window. "I mean what's this going to accomplish, sending all these rookie pilots into flight they can barely kept their planes in the air."

"You did very well so I remember," Chopper said.

"Try to be indifferent to it Grimm, you can't go in the air with anxieties like that," said Blaze.

"But Sir… how can anyone just shrug it off…I mean just I can't stop thinking there all going to be shot down."

"I didn't say you can, just try to be. I don't want you to get shot down."

Grimm didn't argue he knew the truth to it and wouldn't dispute it. He looked like it was some unjust thing he had to do. His had an expression of anger and despair fight for supremacy. I'm unsure, but I think I suggested he stay angry if he had the choice. Anger, it may be destructive it may have been what caused that war, but it is in all truth the most healthy of emotions.

Chopper made suggestion that he and Grimm go wash down the new orders with something to eat, for I think all of us had Blaze's insomnia then. They both left me and Blaze alone. He continued what he was doing in the dark for sometime, the light making no difference in his facial expression. I stayed silent trying to imagine what his past was like, he didn't seem to have the personality that drove most to the military, and I was trying to deductively find out what that was, to no avail.

"God," I whispered after some moments had passed.

"God, indeed." I think I will never forget that. I used to think that he was affirming my use of it. Now, I'm not so sure.

It wasn't going to be an easy flight back to Sand Island, by saying easy I mean sort. The nuggets had barely gotten through basic flight and by result just had tenuous grasp of flying, much less mid air refueling. So had to land at every base along the way, which entailed taking detour off our flight path. While it was dangerous for them it was more stressing on us and especially Blaze. His command suddenly went from four planes to over two dozen, all of which he had to direct when landing. A few times we had to go on emergency fuel so all the nuggets could get their feet on the ground. By mid morning we were nearly at Sand Island, refueling at Mc'Neily Air Force Base while our planes.

At the base I found all of us staying out in the hangar near an old F-14 while the planes refueled and the trainees found some rest and relaxing in the crew room, which must have been impacted. I remember Blaze leaned on the fighter like defeated gladiator mortally wounded. Chopper did the same thing and then sank lower and lower till he was sitting on the ground near the intake. "Just think after this we can all go back t our usual duties back at base. Man this is just plain mean."

"We're almost at base surely we'll be allowed some rest when we get there," Grimm said.

"Maybe in your world yes Grimm. But on planet earth we are the dust in Perraut's eyes, the stink at his meals, and the thorn in his side. He's going to be so happy that were back he's going to double or shifts or give us latrine duty," Chopper lamented.

"You can get some rest here. I'm, taking them up again till they've all gotten some rest."

"That's best decision you've made, kid."

Walked beside Grimm and the Tomcat and followed Chopper's example shrinking to the ground and propping my head against the aircraft.

"If I could I would steal this F-14 fly over the Southern boarder to some tropical paradise where there are nice women and a beach to relax from this heat," Chopper said while zipping down his flight suit a bit. It was unusually hot for that time of year. After only a few minutes of landing Blaze's hair was jet black with seat. Chopper looked no better, and while they didn't really notice I was reeking from perspiration. Grimm was casting anxiously looks towards the Tower and the crew quarters which surely must have been air conditioned. This made us all give degrading remarks about the nuggets. "Damn it, we were just freezing our asses off only a little over four hour or six hours ago. And now we have to put with this."

"Stop complaining. I have enough worry complaints to deal with when we are in the air," Blaze talked low and seeming depression not bothering to pick his head up from the cool hull of the F-14 Tomcat. Chopper didn't argue or make a smart comment to him. The heat was weighing in on us. That combined with the heat must have made more docile, temporarily. We sat there like we didn't know each other, gazing like dazed zombies into the blurred area of the superheated runway. My mind became dazed rather quickly.

I found myself flying again, flying over great mountains of snow and ice. I could see cities built close together, thriving with life. There masses upon masses of people everywhere, overcrowding the streets and yelling loud chants as though they were in a grand celebration. I felt elated at that, joyous of all the splendor from the millions below, all inhabitants locked in the fabulous wave of grandeur. Soon I felt envious and I swooped a down to join in it, flying between the buildings. Closer and closer I went till I was almost in the celebration myself. I flew about them to their cheers, danced over them in great show and they all held out their hands in applause shouting brilliance at my display. I was completely consumed then, mixed with adrenalin and dopamine driving me to go lower and nearly touch them as I flew about spreading my glorious white wings before them and as I did so their cheers became ever the louder. I decided then to give them an insurmountable trick. A dive! I rose up high and proceed down arcing my wings high above my head for stability. I approached them fast cycling down and down until I heard it, a gun shot. I saw the bullet flying slowly from the pistol and fly straight into my heart as I was right above them.

My energy left me then as though it were rushed away by a flying fighter jet. I beat my wings as hard as I could and made it to the top of a small building collapsing immediately falling onto my hands and knees. I was in shock I didn't know why they shout why they attacked me. I looked over with my dying stregnthed at them and saw a different city. It was panicked place, so much so that they were nearly killing each other over escape. They all poured in a huge huddled mass to escape. the confinds of their own home. It was a celebration, it was fear. They were all reduced to their most primitive states. They were nothing but animals because death so much. I watched them till my dying eyes could not keep open. Laying on my back I starred into the beautiful sky and saw the fighter coming and large bomb carried beneath its wings. As I died I heard the massive exposion, and so silent it was.

After that dream I felt like I really was dead for moment. Eventually I became aware of someone saying "Mamm, mamm," over and over. Then there came a gentle for someone trying to wake me. I opened my eyes to find that I had fallen asleep on Grimm's soldier who was no sitting by me. He was blushing red with an extreme look of anxiety. "Sorry, Grimm," I said and he told me it was all right.

"That says something about the heat. It's the first I've ever every seen an officer fall asleep against an aircraft in a hangar," Chopper said.

"That's because you never spend time in the hangar," Blaze said.

"I'm not a natural mechanic like you are, Kid. I like to relax whenever possible. Hey you looked you pretty relaxed on his shoulder Nagase. Having some naughty dreams are we?"

"Shut up, Chopper."

"If she was you'd be the farthest person from them. You and that pop-music of yours," Blaze said.

"Fuck you, you think you'd have any better chance then me?'

"Well, from what I've observed against this fighter, is that Grimm has best chance of us three," as I scoffed at him for saying that Grimm look as though he had dropped something immensely valuable and failing to find anything to say. We exchange a few insult back and forth before we ran the subject to the ground. As we became more sullen and silent the heat seemed to grow with ever more power, and all of us four seemed to be dosing into a light sleep.

I was there for sometime, not really asleep or dreaming, but in a sort of daze while the world passed before my feet. I tried not to think of the strange dreams of the previous night or the daydream a few minutes before. I just focused on myself, lying against he plane, letting the perspiration run down my then drenched torso, listening to my breathing slow go slower and slower as I neared sleep. It was most serene moment, being one in the world with no war and no hate, but I soon remembered those sitting beside me and woke to find a young sergent talking to Blaze and handing him new orders.

As of that moment or mission to take the raw pilots to Sand Island for deployment and additional instruction became scrap. Yuktobania had entered Osean Air Space with a large air born invasion force, directed to capture the mass driver, and as it seems like a cliché then and now, we were to defend it from attack

I hope this wasn't too boring. I just thought I'd try something a bit different.

-Stonehenge