Aces of Osea

by Han Shoots First

Alec "Blaze" Aaron was just a kid when his dad died, he grew up with one of his dad's friends, Perci Pheron. Now he's going to flight school and dreams of becoming a fighter pilot just as his father was. There he meets some friends that end up in his squadron, how will they deal with each other? And what happens when war breaks out? Rated T for language. Read and review.

10. First Flight

Chapter 10: First Flight

"From a ripple of change shall the storm rise..."

After we landed, we taxied our planes to the hangar. I smiled to myself slightly at the thought of being an ace. I smiled until I remembered what it took to get here. A war. Dammit did no one learn anything fifteen years ago? I frowned at the thought of what would happen next. I didn't know what would happen, that was the scariest part, I knew what would happen my entire life up to this point but now? I just couldn't imagine what would happen. I needed to distract myself, otherwise I'd just sit here all day. I climbed out of the plane and went over to my plane that had gotten its guns jammed. The ground crews had replaced the guns and cleaned out my engines. I smiled slightly knowing that Pops probably had something to do with it. I walked over toward the maintenance hangar. I saw Pops talking to one of the ground crew members, I walked over and when he saw me Pops greeted me, "Hey, Blaze, is your plane alright?"

"Yeah, actually I just wanted to thank you."

"For what?"

"Just for fixing her, she was in pretty bad shape."

"Nah, she wasn't too beat up she just needed some minor maintenance."

"Well, still. Thanks."

"No problem, Hey, I noticed that there was some calibration error between the belt feed and the firing pin on those guns so we just went ahead and replaced them, but that could still be an issue on the other ones want me to go ahead and check? Just to be safe."

"Yeah, go ahead."

"Alright, we'll go change them now."

I walked off and headed inside, I went to get some rest knowing that we'd probably have to be in the air again soon. I was almost to my room when Captain Hamilton came up to me, "2nd Lieutenant," I stopped and saluted then Hamilton continued to speak, "The Colonel would like to speak with you about the mission. He's in his office."

"Yes sir." I let my arm down and headed off to Perraults office.

As I walked in I saw Perralt set a file down on the desk, "Alright, kid, since you were 'leader' of the squadron during the last battle, you get the debriefing. Lucky you."

Yeah, "lucky". I simply stood there and listened as Perrault spoke, "So, you took command even after 2nd Lieuteant Nagase was ordered to. Congratulations to her, she earned herself a reprimand," Perrault grinned, and had I been younger than 12 it would've scared the shit out of me.

I was slightly lost as to why she got a reprimand, "Sir, may I ask why Lieutenant Nagase recieved a reprimand?"

"Failure to follow orders, kid, this is your first time so I'll go easy on you, besides, once the Lieutenant Colonel gets here I won't have to deal with you anymore. But this is my base, and I'm going to run it the way I want to. Got it?"

I was really starting to hat this guy, "Yes sir."

"Good, dismissed."

I turned and headed out the door. When I left I began to storm down the hall, I made it to my room and burst through the door. I saw Nagase sleeping on her bunk, I climbed up and drifted to sleep.

---

The loud noise of the air raid siren woke me up. I was startled and rolled off the bunk. I hit the floor and scrambled to my feet, I looked up and saw Nagase looking at me, "Uh, are you alright?"

"Huh, yeah I'm fine let's go."

We ran out the door and into the hallway, the other rooms doors were opening and everyone began to run to their respective places. "We need to get into the air, this way!" I yelled over the sound of the others. We ran toward the hangar, we didn't have enough time to grab all of our gear, we just grabbed our helmets and G-suits. When we got to the hangar they were already pulling our planes out to the taxiway. Chopper was climbing into his F-5 when me and Nagase ran and grabbed the ladders to our F-5s. Her plane was in the front and mine was in the back. I got up and began to start the engines, I saw Nagase begin to taxi as I reached up and closed the canopy. The ground crews took the ladder off my plane and I heard over the radio, "Alright that's all the planes, they're good to go."

Then Chopper came over the radio, "Come on, come on, come on! Dammit! My turbines won't start up!"

Just then an enemy fighter took a pass at us, "Dammit, Chopper if you don't get that plane started I'm gonna push you out of the way, because I am NOT dying before I can even get into the air."

"There it is finally. I'm taking off."

Nagase came onto the radio, "The Captain's spare plane is still in the hangar."

"There's no time, once you get into the air climb, don't let the enemy bounce you from above," I heard Pops say.

I pulled onto the runway as soon as Chopper cleared it. I pushed the throttle as far as it would go. I felt the plane start shaking as the afterburner kicked in. The plane rocketed down the runway, as soon as I reached 150 miles per hour I pulled the stick up and retracted the gear.

"This is Base Control to Wardog, destroy the bombers, don't let them attack the runway."

"Alright Base Control, Wardog, engage all bombers, don't attack the fighters unless you have to."

"Roger, Edge engaging."

"Roger, Chopper engaging."

We all split up and found the nearest bomber, I took mine down in a matter of seconds, I hit its left engine and it fell toward the ocean. I pulled off and saw Edge take her bomber down, then I looked for Chopper he was being chased by two enemy fighters, "Hey Kid, mind helping me out here?"

"Edge you find the last bomber and destroy it, I'll take care of Chopper."

"Alright."

Nagase peeled off and I accelerated toward Chopper, I fired a burst from my guns at the lead plane as I came within range. I managed to hit the fuel tank because it exploded into a million pieces. The second plane broke off his attack and I gave chase, I quickly dispatched the fighter when he flew in a straight line. Suddenly a new voice came on the radio, "Sand Island, this is Wardog Leader, Lieutenant Colonel Ford. I'm approaching Sand Island, what is your current status?"

Chopper came on the radio, "Heh. Here comes his highness from the mainland now."

The Tower came over the radio, "This is Base Control. We are under air attack. Repeat. We are under air attack."

"I trust you can hold the runway until we arrive?"

"Sure, we've held it without you this long." I say while I pull on the tail of another bomber.

"Right. Protect it at all costs."

I destroyed the bomber and headed for another one, I shot its wing off and began to attack the remaining fighters when I heard Nagase, "Pops is taking off."

I pulled around and looked at the runway and sure enough Pops was on his way to the mainland, then Chopper came over the radio, "Look at the hangar! Who the hell pulled that out?"

Just then a new voice came over the radio, "This is Grimm. I was in the hangar helping out the mechanics. I'm taking off."

"The hell you are. You're not even out of replacement pilot training, aren't there any other spare pilots?"

"I didn't see any."

"There's no time. Be careful Grimm, I'll cover you," Nagase interrupted.

"I'll try."

I looked west and saw another formation of bombers. I broke off and headed for them. Suddenly Chopper came over the radio, "Kid, Grimm's coming up. I'm not sure if he can handle this. Are we just gonna watch?"

Dammit, "No, Chopper you take care of those bombers, Edge and I will take care of the fighters."

"Right, let's give him a hand."

I turned around and headed back toward the base, I saw a plane start a turn that would put him in position to dive on Grimm, I pushed the throttle forward and felt the afterburners ignite, I pulled in just under the enemy plane and as I passed him I pulled harder on the stick. I passed about 5 feet in front of him, as my plane flew away I looked in my rear-view mirror and saw the enemy plane stumbling toward the water. My jet wash had caused him to lose control, I turned around and let loose wit h my guns, I took him down and found another target. I came up behind him and shot a quick burst into his right engine, it began smoking and he leveled out to head for home, I decided to let him go, I didn't need to shoot down a helpless plane. I heard the chatter on my radio continue until I heard one thing from the enemy, "How come there are all these veteran pilots stationed out here in the middle of no where?"

I smiled when I heard that and continued to fight, the ground crews were yelling over the radio when I heard something about the Barracks being damaged shortly followed by Chopper yelling over the radio, "Ahh! My rock n' roll records, they're in my room! It took me forever to collect all those!"

I actually kind of felt bad for Chopper, I'd seen all the records and there was actually a lot of them. I just had to keep flying and protect the base. Grimm suddenly came over the radio, "This is Grimm, I'm ready for takeoff. Can you see me from up there?"

I pulled around and looked out of the top of my canopy, "I see you, get in the air as fast as you can."

"Roger, I'm taking off."

After a few seconds I heard Grimm again, "I'm airborne."

Chopper immediately siezed the opportunity, "Grimm get over here and cover my six."

"Roger. Tower, this is Airman First Class Grimm, callsign Archer, I will be joining the Wardog Squadron."

"Roger that. Blaze take care of him for us."

"I will tower."

I looked up and saw Grimm flying right on Chopper's wing, he stuck with him through every move, when an enemy plane pulled in on Chopper I saw Grimm perrform a Pugachev's Cobra and shoot the enemy plane down, I was actually amazed by that.

"This is Wardog Leader. Sand Island I'm out of fuel, requesting clearanceto land."

"Negative Lieutenant Cololnel, you can't land, the base is under attack."

"All available aircraft, cover me while I land."

Suddenly Chopper interrupted, "What are you insane?"

"2nd Lieutenant Alvin H. Davenport, is that you?"

"Yes sir," for the first timeever I actually heard a bit of hesitation in Chopper's voice.

"Then I'll be sure to write you up after I la-" The Lieutenant Colonel broke up at the end of his sentence.

"He's trailing fire, the Lieutenant Colonel's gone down."

The tower came back over the radio, "Wardog, next formation of enemy bombers inbound. Take them out."

I burst onto the radio, "Wardog engage all incoming bombers."

We all split up and each of us took on a bomber, I took mine down quickly as did Nagase and Grimm, Chopper took a bit longer but he did take his down, all the fighters began to leave since there wasn't any point in staying. "Mission complete Wardog."

Grimm came on the radio, "Was my flying alright?"

"Yeah Grimm, you did good," really Grimm did amazing but I didn't want him to feel arrogant.

"Thank you. It was because of your support."

I was about to say something when my missile alert came on, "Wardog break!"

I pulled up into a High-G climb, and managed to dodge the missile then I heard a voice over the radio, "Hey, Alec. Your time is up."

How the hell does this guy know my name? That thought disappeared when I saw a Su-33 Flanker behind me. I pulled into a dive and tried to out run him. He kept pace and I had to pull out of my dive. Then I heard Nagase yell over the radio, "Blaze, I'm on my way."

"No!" I yelled back as I pulled into a right turn, "Stay back."

I heard Nagase try to argue but Chopper cut her off, I focused purely on the task at hand, this guy was good, but I couldn't tell why. I reversed my turn and kept him from getting a lock with his missiles, he fired a burst with his guns but all the bullets missed. I pulled up into a wide loop and I checked my mirror, I saw him begin to pull lead so he could get a shot in. I quickly snapped my plane around and performed a Kulbit, the enemy didn't realize I was on his tail until I started to track him for a missile lock, he broke left and I followed, then he reversed turn and accelerated. He out ran me in a matter of seconds and turned around and came straight at me, he launched another missile and I snap rolled right and managed to dodge it. as we passed I turned to the right, he pulled to the left, we were in a flat scissors, all we could do was wait until someone made a mistake. Unfortunately, that person was me. As we kept slowing down trying to get out guns on each other, but I turned too tight and almost stalled, I was forced to slam into the water or add airspeed. I pushed the throttle forward and he pulled in behind me. I kept juking back and forth as he shot with his guns, I heard him come back over the radio, "I flew with your father in the last war, you're just like him. He spent most of his time running too. Did Cipher tell you about what he did, not when he saw the nukes, but before that. Before he betrayed his wingman, he betrayed his own country."

"Shut up, you don't know anything about my father!" I began to move more violently.

"Oh, but I do. You see, I was the first person to shoot your father down, that's right. Cipher wasn't the only one."

"Shut up. Shut up dammit!" I could feel my anger coming out I could barely control it, then, I lost it. My anger escaped, I performed an Immelman turn and then dove straight for the deck, as soon as he followed me I extended the speedbrake and pulled up, I rolled around behind him and fired my guns, I exhausted the last of my ammunition and missed him with it. He pulled into a tight climbing turn and I gave chase, as I pulled tighter I felt my plane start to buckle, I looked over and saw the wing shaking violently. If I didn't stop soon I was going to tear my plane apart. I loosened up on the stick and pulled away, I saw him come up behind me but there was nothing I could do, I braced for the explosion. I heard my plane rattle as he hit it with bullets, but then just a second after it started it stopped. I heard him on the radio, "Dammit. Don't you think this is over kid, you haven't won yet."

I saw him pull off and fly back to the west, "Wardog, report," I said over the radio.

"This is Edge, we're all alright, Blaze. Your plane is smoking though, are you alright?"

"I'm fine, you guys land, I can keep her up for a bit longer."

"You sure Blaze?"

"Yeah, just land so I can get out of this damn plane."

I watched as Grimm, Chopper and Nagase all landed then I came in to lane, there were warning lights going off all throughout my cockpit, as I came in I touched down and breathed a sigh of relief, right as I did that, I felt my plane fall to the right. Then I felt a jolt and heard a horrible scraping sound, I looked to the right and saw sparks trailing after my right wing-tip. The plane was spinning out of control. I soon felt the plane stop, as soon as it did I took the harness off and pushed the canopy away, I jumped out and began to run toward the hangers. I heard sirens as the fire crews were being scrambled to take care of it. As soon as I reached the grass I got down on my stomach and covered my head with my arms. I stayed that way for a few seconds, nothing happened. Maybe it's not going to blo- SHIT! The plane exploded right then, throwing debris everywhere. After that I waited a good ten seconds before I moved. I slowly stood up and checked myself, I wasn't hurt. I began to walk back to the hangers when I saw Nagase and Chopper stand up out of the grass. When Nagase saw me she ran straight for me and hugged me. "Don't you ever scare me like that again."