(October 30, 2012 update: Format change from script to dialogue form. Enjoy the story!)
Chapter 9: Lit Fuse
Chopper
The past ten days had been relatively uneventful since HQ was planning a counterattack on Yuktobania. Because of that, we pilots could just sit back and relax until we were called to fight.
November 1, 2010…
I woke up pretty early, considering how tired I had been the night before. I had been catching up on some much needed sleep. None of us had been on any sorties so that was what we were all doing. I lay back down and tried to fall back asleep when a knocking on my door made my eyes open again. I stood up and walked over to the door and opened it. Blaze was standing there, her hair looking a little bedraggled, which looked perfect to me. Yeah, I'm so whipped by this girl…
"Morning sleepyhead," Blaze yawned.
"Morning beautiful," I greeted her, pulling her into my room. Blaze laughed in delight and I pulled her into a hug. I kissed her on the lips and I could feel her smiling. On a split-second decision, I deepened the kiss and Blaze wrapped her arms around me. We stood there in a peaceful embrace before she reluctantly pulled away.
"Now, I would love to continue this, but unfortunately, we have to be in the briefing room in five minutes," Blaze whispered against my lips.
"Damn," I chuckled.
"I know right?"
I reluctantly let go of her and then put on my flight suit. We walked hand-in-hand to the briefing room where Genette, Nagase, Grimm, and Cassie were already waiting for us. Nagase and Cassie raised their eyebrows and saw Blaze's hands go to her hair.
We sat down, Blaze next to Nagase.
"Good morning?" Nagase grinned.
"Yeah, very good," Blaze replied with a bashful smile and a slight flush of her face.
The Base Commander stepped into the room and cleared his throat. "Our Army is finally ready to conduct a large-scale counter-attack against Yuktobania. If we succeed, we'll never have to face the humiliation of those Yukes trampling on our homeland again. The goal of this operation is simple… to invade and occupy the Yuktobanian mainland," The Base Commander informed. We turned our heads to the computer.
The briefer… do I even need to say what he did? I think by now we know he clears his throat before he begins a briefing. He should really think of sprucing the briefing up one day. "We're going to conduct a large-scale amphibious assault against Yuktobania on the Bastok Peninsula. This mission will be called 'Operation Footprint.' The landing force will be selected from the 1st and 2nd Osean Army Battalions. They will be divided into four companies- A, B, C, and D- and transported to the area via landing craft. Upon landing, each division will fan out and destroy the enemy bases scattered throughout the area, then rendezvous and reform into a single large force unit to assault the final target, the fortress. The Yuktobanian defense positions along the coast are tightly dug in, and we have concluded that air attacks alone will not be enough to destroy them. Therefore, Operation Footprint will be a synchronized air and ground attack to neutralize these positions. It is critical that you follow the specific targeting instructions of the ground commander to maximize the effects of your attacks. We are expecting poor weather conditions and fierce resistance from the Yuktobanian defense forces. The fortress is protected by pillboxes and a defensive wall. Provide close air support for the ground forces, and get as many soldiers as possible inside."
Operation: Footprint
Location: Bastok Peninsula
Date: 2010/11/01
Time: 1100 Hrs.
"I wish you the best of luck in battle," The Base Commander said. We got up and headed to Hangar A. Blaze chose F-14A's for all of us. They were perfect for this mission: quick, maneuverable, and accurate. Plus, Blaze was OCD about order and neatness and she hated when we had to use different planes because she said it didn't look intimidating in the air. She said intimidation had a lot to do when it came to winning a battle.
Anyways, we hopped in and took off.
The ground was a dark green, probably from all the rain that they receive. It was like a jungle down there. We were above the ocean right now, and the rain was falling at a steady rate, making visibility poor. I could see the outline of the enemy bunkers. Man, were they huge!
"Terry. Got something I need to tell you…" An Osean Scout informed.
"The enemy's right in front of us, Scott. Save it for later!" The guy Terry snapped.
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Later, then," Scott replied nonchalantly. For a brief minute, the two of them reminded me of my squadron… well, not my squadron seeing as how it's Blaze's squadron but you know what I mean.
Blaze sped ahead, leaving us in the dust. I chased off after her and she had already started firing on an enemy battery. Her call sign suited her. She was blazing fast in battle.
"The four companies will now land at their designated beach heads. Commence close air support," Thunderhead ordered.
"Commencing close air support. Wardog, engage," Blaze commanded.
"Chopper, engaging."
"Edge, engaging."
"Archer, engaging."
"This is Company D. We're almost at the beach."
"Go. Move forward! You're almost there. That's it! Row! Keep rowing!" I shouted and then muttered to myself, "To hell with this war…"
"I don't know why we're fighting. What caused all this?" Blaze inquired desperately. I agreed with Blaze. I had no idea why we were fighting. I didn't know if it was for land or for pride or because the wife of Yuktobania's Prime Minister left for President Harling (who is single). I wanted to know why we were fighting this damn war.
The ground zipped under my plane and I pulled up to avoid crashing into trees because that would end this day really fast. I had no intentions of crashing, of leaving my squadron, of leaving my family, and of leaving Blaze.
"This is Company A. Landing successful. Deploy the armored vehicles, now!"
When Company A landed, they took an agonizing amount of time getting the armored vehicles to get going, so as encouragement (hope you caught the sarcasm), I yelled, "Move, move! Land already! Hit that beach and start running! There's no time to kiss the ground!
"Are they really storming the beach in this weather?" A Yuke demanded. His voice, for some reason, really creeped me out. I can't explain why; it just did.
"This rain is making it hard to see… Holy crap! There's a plane behind me!" Grimm exclaimed.
"I coming Grimm," Nagase said.
"Pretty good! Keep it up!" The Commander of Company A complimented.
"Commencing fore from range 600," A Yuke announced.
"Landing confirmed. Continue your support. Fly top cover for the armored vehicles," Thunderhead notified. God, so many notifications and information was passing over the mic that I felt like I was a waiter at the busiest restaurant in town.
"This is Company B. Our attack's getting held up by fierce fire from the batteries."
I swerved my plane and went to find the batteries. These batteries were monsters made of steel. The hills were able to protect the batteries if you came in from the wrong way and then you had to circle back around and then shoot, which was a pain. I could see Blaze every once in awhile, zipping dangerously close to the hills. Nagase flew extremely close to a battery, nearly crashing into it. I nearly ran into an enemy helicopter from not paying attention and I swore colorfully.
"Damn! That was too close for my comfort!" I grumped.
"Halt the enemy fire with an airstrike. We'll charge in at the same time!" Company B's Commander instructed.
"Hurry to the designated area and provide close air support. Activate your radar map to check location," Thunderhead said.
"Yes, sir," Blaze answered.
"Is the attack target confirmed, Kid?" I inquired.
"Attack target confirmed."
"Roger. The trick will be to match our timing with the ground forces."
"The enemy is too spread out. We need to disperse to get maximum results."
"I really don't want to Kid, but I guess I will."
"Chopper, listen to Blaze. She knows what she's doing," Nagase assured.
"Captain! Enemy plane on your six! They're firing!" Grimm warned.
"Ah, hell," Blaze mumbled. I whipped my plane around tracked Blaze down, which was pretty hard considering how fast she was moving.
"Chopper! Go help out the ground forces! I'm fine!" Blaze insisted.
"No! I can't lose my captain!"
Not only could I lose my captain, but I couldn't lose the girl I loved.
"The ground forces are advancing! We're doing it!" Grimm said excitedly, almost as if he couldn't believe we were pulling this off. Hell, I couldn't believe we were pulling this off.
"Blaze, break hard left-" Nagase began but Blaze cut her off, swearing colorfully. She had narrowly avoided smashing head on into another plane.
"Blaze!" I shouted.
"I'm fine, I'm okay. Just a little shook up. That'll teach me to pay attention," she joked but I could hear the fear in her voice. Her act didn't work on me.
"Bunkers captured. Thanks for the air support!" One of the Osean Scouts from Company B said cheerfully.
"So the enemy's finally made it to our mainland, huh?" A Yuke growled.
"We've made it to the mainland, surprised?" Blaze countered.
"Show 'em what we're made of!" An Osean Scout of Company A encouraged. But just a few seconds later, the same guy went, "Bunkers opening fire again! Retreat, retreat! We're requesting close air support against the remaining bunkers."
"Grimm, Nagase, go help out the ground forces. Chopper, get this A-hole off of me. He has a freaking damn grudge against me or something."
"Now you're talking Kid. MIG, your butt is so mine! Great balls of fire!" I hollered as I got behind the enemy plane following her. I saw Nagase and Grimm flying low and aiming at the bunkers. They were shooting with deadly accuracy. Managing to get behind the enemy plane trailing Blaze, I shot two missiles at the enemy and hit it.
"Enemy's off your tail Kid," I told her.
"Thanks Motormouth," Blaze replied.
"Thanks- hey!" I objected.
Blaze laughed.
"Where's our orders? Get the Captain!" A Company C Scout insisted.
"Six bunkers remaining," another scout informed.
"Geez, how many bunkers do they have?" Nagase complained.
"Too many," Grimm suggested.
"Amen to that one Grimm," Blaze agreed wholeheartedly.
"All enemies inside the bunkers cleared away! Position secured!" A guy from Company A yelled triumphantly.
"They got us again! They're attacking from the air like last time," A Yuke observed. Wow, wasn't he just a Sherlock Holmes.
"Blaze, air attacks can only silence the bunkers temporarily," Nagase pointed out. "It looks like they can only be destroyed with the aid of the ground forces."
"Looks like it," Blaze concurred.
"This operation is pointless…" I grumbled. It was. I couldn't hold it in anymore. I wondered why of all the bases Osea had, why they chose the Wardog Squadron to execute this mission. "These guys are just gonna storm in, head-on, following orders. That's how war is fought. That's why I hate it."
"How else is there to fight it?" Blaze queried; she sounded sympathetic, as if she knew what was going on through my head. In fact, I'm sure she did. This is Blaze we're talking about. She had me stumped though, so I didn't answer.
"How could the President authorize an escalation of the war like this? This is insane!" I ranted.
"He reduces the defense budget and then escalates the war. It doesn't make any sense," Blaze mused seriously.
"We'll get bogged down in this forever. Hey, that Mr. Cargo guy was the President, right?" I demanded.
"That was the President," Grimm confirmed.
"Man… I thought I could believe in him back then. I had no idea he was such a wuss," I admitted.
"No. He's not," Nagase said firmly.
Silence ensued after that for a while. None of us spoke, all of us thinking about the war in different aspects. Nagase believed in the President and believed that if he had escalated the war like this, he had a good reason. Grimm thought we were missing something. I was missing the whole damn picture. Blaze didn't know why she was fighting. We had never been given a reason on why we were fighting this war and I personally wanted to know. I had a feeling I wasn't the only one who wanted to know either.
"They found us. Fire before they do," A Yuke ordered.
"Damn, it's like they're plowing the ground with bullets!" The guy Terry noted grimly.
"Don't get hit Terry. I still got something I gotta tell you!" The guy Scott reminded.
"I know, I know, messenger boy. You hang in there, too!"
"Be aware of your surroundings, everyone," Company B's Commander said.
"Attention, overhead aircraft, this is the ground forces. Make sure you don't drop any bombs on us!" A Scout admonished, almost in a joking manner.
"I can promise you we won't!" Blaze promised.
"Have faith in us! Geez!" I protested.
"Roger, we trust you."
"A fortress? I didn't learn anything in training about capturing a fortress!" Company C's Commander mulled over.
"I don't think any of us did," Grimm confessed.
"They're going for the pillboxes!" A Yuke warned. "Our communication lines are getting severed at all locations."
"We're going to advance further. We haven't reached the front line yet," Company A's Commander announced.
"We can't penetrate the enemy lines any deeper! It's too dangerous!" A Company A Scout griped.
"Requesting immediate close air support! Take out that large bunker from the air!" A scout from Company D requested.
"Roger, on our way," Blaze responded.
I made my plane go in circles while I tried to find the bunker on my radar. I finally spotted it and turned my plane in that direction. Blaze was already there (no surprise) and Nagase and Grimm were on their way. This bunker was huge! Our ground forces were attempting to blow it up but they weren't having much luck. They needed us. I turned my head and saw Nagase dodge a missile.
"Just shut up! All of you. Get back in your seats!" A commander shouted. I couldn't register which company's it was.
"Someone's getting a little short-tempered," Grimm detected.
"I can hear that," Blaze joked.
"I can't imagine having a captain like that. Can you?" Nagase asked.
"After having Blaze as a Captain, I can't imagine anyone else being my captain. Nor would I want anyone else being my captain," I declared.
"I second that," Grimm said.
"Me too," Nagase said.
"Thanks y'all. I'm glad you guys have faith in me," Blaze told us.
"You don't have faith in yourself?" I queried.
"Honestly? No."
"Well, do have faith in yourself because you've gotten us alive from battle countless of times already so you're doing something right," I praised.
"Thanks Chopper."
"The tables have completely turned," A Yuke muttered.
"Kill the lights! They'll spot us!" An Osean shouted.
"Barrage of gunfire coming from the bunkers! Retreat!" Another Osean yelled.
"First Sergeant, are you familiar with the tactics of capturing fortresses?" The Commander of company C inquired.
"I know you're not talking to me, but hell, I don't think any of us do," I said.
"I certainly don't," Blaze said.
"Maybe we should ask Chuck Norris," I suggested.
"I bet he knows how," Grimm claimed.
"How did Chuck Norris get dragged into all this?" I asked with a laugh.
"Because of the guys and their overactive imaginations. Then again, I wouldn't put it past Chuck Norris to know how to capture a fortress," Blaze acknowledged.
"See! We don't say stuff like that for nothing!" I defended.
"It usually seems that way though," I said.
"Nagase has a point," Blaze agreed.
"Chopper, when I get back to base, I'm going to call up Chuck Norris and ask him how he would capture a fortress," Grimm declared.
"I'll join you," I replied.
"And Blaze and I will film you getting told off by him."
"Sounds like a plan Nagase," Blaze said with a laugh.
"That's just cold you two…" Chopper grunted.
"Are the pilots that sunk the Scinfaxi mixed in there somewhere?" A Yuke inquired angrily. Man if he only knew we were here. I was sort of glad because if the Yukes found out we were here, their efforts to get us out of their territory would be revitalized and that would seriously suck for us.
"Now we're the ones in their crosshairs," Another Yuke noted.
"Yes, we are the pilots that sunk the Scinfaxi, and yes you are in our crosshairs and I know you didn't ask this but yes you're getting on my nerves," Blaze rambled. I laughed because I couldn't agree more with Blaze even though I was really hoping the enemy hadn't heard her because like I said, it would suck for us even though I would be ready to fight (I'm always ready to fight). Her plane was a blur and no one could catch her or stop her. She would be an Ace in the future. I had no doubt in my mind she was going to be an Ace. I just hoped that I would be there to see it.
"Requesting air bombardment!" An Osean shouted fretfully.
"Go, go! You too, Mark!" Company C's Commander barked.
"They're never going to call us losers again!" Company D's Commander shouted with finality.
"Who the hell is he talking about?" Blaze questioned, sounding bored.
"Um, I think he's a bit mental," I suggested.
"Certainly sounds a bit insane," Grimm mused.
"We can't defend this area any longer!" A Yuke yelled.
"We've lost contact with the Captain. Proceed at your own discretion!" A Company C Scout admonished.
"No problem, I wasn't relying on him anyway!" Another C Scout chirped. He sounded way too happy.
"Are we close?" Nagase asked.
"I'm not sure. The visibility plus all the confusing chatter is confusing me!" Grimm groaned.
"Commence counterattack! Don't let anyone get by!" A Yuke growled.
"Don't stop! Keep going, keep going!" Company D's Commander barked.
"Does that idiot Captain realize the bullets don't all come from the front?!" A D Scout demanded sourly. I felt kind of bad for the guys down below. They had some jerk commanders. Those guys kept order by yelling; Blaze kept order by an eerie, calm voice that you knew not to reckon with.
"Uh, this is Company D. I have a favor to ask… could you bomb our monster of a Captain for us?"
Did they really just ask us to bomb their Captain? Blaze hesitated in her answer and I couldn't blame her. "Uh, sorry, but no."
"Hey, I was just kidding…" the guy said cheerfully, although I could hear the embarrassment in his tone. "Psst, Lance! The plan failed! We gotta think of something else!"
"That was a hell of a request," I observed.
"Tell me about it… I hope none of you guys feel that way about me!" Blaze exclaimed.
"Of course we don't! Even if we did, we wouldn't be able to shoot you down anyway," Grimm said.
"Thanks… I think."
"This the Corporal Powers of Company A! Even from above, you can tell we're the best unit, right?!"
"Yeah, of course," Blaze replied. The guy had no idea Blaze was being sarcastic. Why would she be looking at them when she had to worry about enemies from the air and the ground? I wonder how some of these people ever become commanders.
"Yeah! Keep watching, 'cause we're just getting started! Company A, forward!"
"I speak for Company's C and D. The area's secured. Thanks for the air support!"
"No problem, it's our job," Blaze replied nonchalantly.
"It's kinda nice to have friends down below," I admitted.
"Three bunkers remaining," A B scout informed.
"I'm running low on special weapons," Nagase said grimly.
"Me too. Captain, Chopper, how is your special weapons reserves?"
"I've barely used any," I said.
"I have only half of what I started with and Grimm, stop calling me Captain."
"Sorry, it's habit," he apologized sheepishly.
"We can hold our own against their ground forces, but we're helpless against their air support!" A Yuke claimed.
"All right, I'll go first. Follow me!" Company A's Commander barked.
We were almost down. We had downed another bunker. There were two more left. Even from the air, I could see the extensive damage that we had caused. I hoped it wasn't all for nothing. The ground was covered in debris and this time I hoped it wasn't from our Army being blown to smithereens.
"We're advancing? Through that?" A scout from A company said hesitantly.
"What's happening? Report status!" A Yuke ordered harshly.
"We're beating you, that's what's happening!" Blaze piped up.
"It's the enemy! They're closing in on the bunker!" A Yuke replied.
I shot down an enemy I had been trailing for a little while and I yawned. I then realized that I had yawned about ten times in the last minute. I started to see how exhausted I was getting.
"That's a kill!" Thunderhead shouted victoriously.
"I see them. Claymores!" A Yuke ordered.
"Companies C and D will begin their assault after bomb impact from the air strike!"
"Did you know? My older brother's down there," Grimm acknowledged.
"What? You shoulda told me that earlier, you moron! Where is he?" I demanded. I immediately regretted calling him a moron; I hadn't meant to. This war was messing with my temper.
"I don't know. They all look the same."
"Sorry, didn't mean to call you a moron," I apologized.
"Trust me, I know. It's the war. I can't believe some of the stuff I've said the past few missions."
"Yeah, neither can we… I mean like stuff we've all said I mean," Blaze corrected herself.
"Companies A and B currently engaging enemy bunker."
"What's wrong with our Captain? Does he want to get us killed?! Dammit, dammit! That bastard!" The D scout ranted.
"What's happening down there?" Nagase inquired.
"I don't know!" Grimm admitted, angry at the prospect.
"We've eliminated all threats along our route," A Company B notified.
"Roger. We're moving the tanks through," The B Commander responded.
"Whatever you do, don't shoot them down over our forces," A Yuke admonished.
Almost done. We're almost done. It was a mantra now. I kept thinking that, and I could keep continuing to fight. One day, I was going to find out why we were fighting this war.
"Can the Captain see the enemy's position?" A B scout questioned seriously.
"Warning! You're being spiked by enemy radar!" Thunderhead shouted.
"Who is?" I demanded.
"Blaze!"
"Well hell," Blaze grumped.
No way was I going to let them get her! I hit my afterburners and went behind her six. She flipped out for a moment thinking I was an enemy plane but she figured it out soon enough.
"Artillery fire from the bunkers! Move the vehicles back!" An Osean yelled.
"This is the Captain's last campaign before he retires. Let's make it a good one!" A scout from B company encouraged.
"You can count on it!" Grimm assured.
"That's weird, there shouldn't be any enemy forces there," the C commander noted, sounding hesitant; however, I guess that must not have been too much of a problem for his company because a few seconds later he went, "Yes! This is all according to the textbook. We can do it! Good luck!"
"Yeah, thanks. That was encouragement? I think I'm gonna cry…" A C scout retorted.
"He's following the textbooks to a tee. They'll read every move we make!" Another one pointed out angrily.
"That's it. I'm taking over command!" One declared passionately. So, now there was a rebellion going down among one of the companies. If we wanted to take over this land, we couldn't be arguing among ourselves. How stupid could they be?! Morons! I wasn't sorry this time for calling an ally a moron either this time!
"Is this it? You're sure we're on our correct attack route?" The C Company Commander asked dubiously. He really needed to have more faith in his troops.
"Request new orders! No, not from our Captain, from Company B!" A C scout snapped.
"Just do what you are trained to do, and you can win this!" An A Scout urged.
"I'm aware of your situation. I'm sending tanks your way," Company B's Commander assured. God, why couldn't we have more commanders like him?
"Two bunkers remaining," one of our scouts said.
"We still have two bunkers remaining? Damn!" Nagase groaned.
"Whoa, Nagase knows how to cuss? Hell has now frozen over," Blaze joked.
"Oh shush," Nagase snapped airily.
"We'll be all right now. Continue the advance!" D's Commander ordered.
"All enemies inside the bunkers cleared away! Position secured for C and D!" A scout informed.
"Amazing… I don't think I'll ever be as good as Blaze," Nagase mused. I couldn't agree more with Nagase. Blaze had shot down the most planes, destroyed the most bunkers, and destroyed the most in general.
"Nagase, I couldn't agree with you more," I said.
"Same here," Grimm agreed.
"I'm not that good, trust me. If it weren't for you guys, I wouldn't be here," Blaze protested.
"Yeah you would," I said.
"No I wouldn't."
"Yes you would," Nagase said.
"No I wouldn't!"
"Yes you would. And Blaze? Give up now because it's three against one. We're in a democracy. Majority vote wins. The verdict is that you would be here if you didn't have us."
"You could've been a lawyer Grimm," Blaze muttered.
"I actually studied it."
"Really?"
"No. I just watch a lot of Judge Judy," he joked. That got a laugh out of all of us. It felt good to laugh after wanting to cuss out both sides of this war- the enemy for starting the war and our side for having idiot commanders (excluding B's Commander; that guy was actually pretty bright).
"One bunker remaining," a scout said. Thank god!
"What? Break through that line with our current manpower? That's insane!" A scout from Company C exclaimed. "Those are orders? What, you want me to die?"
"Stupid newbie! This isn't some textbook war game!" Another C scout snapped.
"Allied planes, we're moving into position to attack the last bunker," an Osean soldier told us.
"Roger that," Blaze answered, sounding relieved.
"We're requesting close air support against the remaining bunkers. Let's finish this!"
"Enemy amphibious force has begun advancing!" A Yuke barked. "We're getting surrounded! Dammit!"
I flew towards the last bunker and fired two missiles. They hit the bunker, destroying it. I circled around to attack the other one but focused my attention on the tanks attacking the ground forces.
"We'll go first. Time for 'the usual,'" an A scout said mischievously. I had a feeling I would get along famously with that guy. We both seemed to like sounding mischievous because you have to admit, sounding like that makes people wonder what you're up to.
"Yeah, 'the usual.'"
"Blaze, zero missiles left in reserve," Thunderhead informed.
"Yeah, I know," Blaze mumbled.
"Looks like we can flank them from here. Get the Fifth Platoon to go," the B Commander told his soldiers firmly.
"Dammit, they're coming this way!" A Yuke exclaimed bitterly.
"I knew you guys had it in you! Keep it up!" Company D's Commander encouraged.
"Any word from the recon team yet?" An Osean from B Company inquired.
"I just wanna blow this thing up and go home. This is the worst day ever," I groaned.
"You said it Chopper," Blaze agreed tiredly.
I turned my head around to see what was going on behind me. An enemy plane was trailing Grimm but he was pulling some impressive evasive maneuvers that worked amazingly.
"I'm still okay. I'll give it another shot," Grimm said.
"Be careful, this might be some kind of trap," A Yuke admonished.
"I'm retiring after this, so you'd better not overwork me," Company B's Commander said, slightly droll.
"I'm not sure about this… Conrad, what do you think?" Company C's Commander questioned.
"Captain, I've shot down an enemy plane!" Grimm announced.
"Good! Keep it up! You'll be an Ace one day if you keep it up like this Grimm," Blaze complimented. That right there was encouragement. Not whatever the ground captains were telling there "subjects".
Blaze, Nagase, Grimm, and I came in from four different directions. We fired missiles at the bunkers simultaneously. The bunkers blew up instantly.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
"Attention all forces. All bunkers silenced. We've captured the entire fortress!" A scout cheered.
"Did you copy that, Air Force? We really appreciate all your support," another one praised.
"All right, things are a bit calmer now. What's on your mind? Hey, Scott!" Terry called out.
"Chill out… Dad! Congratulations!" Scott chirped.
"…What?" Terry sounded dumbfounded.
"You've got a bouncing baby boy at home! Hurry up and give her a call!" Scott said amiably.
"It turns out we didn't need Chuck Norris," I mused.
"I still say we give him a call," Grimm said.
"Let's do it!"
"Oh god…" Blaze moaned.
On our flight back, after much arguing with Thunderhead, we convinced him to let the briefer do an in-flight debriefing. "After intense fighting, the landing force captured and secured the fortress target. Thanks to the success of Operation Footprint, we have secured the southeastern coast of Yuktobania. We've decided to make the fortress our fast forward base on Yuktobania as we expand our combat operations inside the country. After we complete construction of our defensive positions, our ground forces will continue their advance to the final target: the capital city of Cinigrad."
It was only seven in the evening, but we were all exhausted. However, we were forced to stay up to take care or our planes. Pops wasn't around or else he wouldn't have let us check the planes in our condition. We could barely walk a straight line let alone make sure everything was all right with our planes. I'm sure we looked like literal walking zombies.
"Chopper, I have a question?" Genette came ducking underneath my plane.
"Yeah?" I yawned, forcing myself to keep my eyes open.
"When I listen to the chatter during the fights, you'll call Blaze 'Kid' a lot. Why?"
"If you're dating on base, you can't show it in the air. In those instances I call her Kid, if I called her Blaze, everyone would know just how much I love her and we're not allowed to show how much we love someone because that can get you blackmailed and that can put your significant other in danger. I don't want that to happen," I replied truthfully.
"You really do love her, don't you?"
"More than anything. I would die for her," I said quietly. We guiltily peeked around the plane to make sure Blaze wasn't eavesdropping. We didn't have to worry. She was crashed out in her plane.
"Should we wake her up?" Genette whispered.
"Only when we're done here," I answered.
"Someone's tired," Pops familiar voice came behind us. Genette and I turned around to greet him. He was looking at Blaze.
"We're all like that. We're walking zombies," I chuckled tiredly.
"I can see that. They should know better than to have you check on your planes when you're this tired. Listen, wake her up and then go back to your rooms and get some sleep. I'll check on your planes."
"Thanks, Pops. I owe you one," I said.
"I'll go tell Nagase and Grimm," Genette said, turning around. I walked to Blaze's plane and stepped up the ladder.
"Blaze?" I gently shook her awake. She grunted softly in her sleep. I tried not to laugh. "Blaze, you need to wake up."
"Is she not waking up?" Pops asked. I looked down at Pops and shook my head. "Can you carry her?"
"I don't think she would appreciate it that much."
"I have a couch and a blanket down here. Carry her down and put her on the couch. I'll wake her up before I leave."
"Okay, yeah, let's do that." I looked in the plane, figuring out how I was going to get her out of there. Finally, I decided to step into the plane, lift her up, and then very carefully go down the ladder.
Surprisingly, it worked… almost. I was able to get Blaze out of the plane and down the ladder but I had meant to do it without her waking up. That part didn't work out so well. Her eyes shot open and she was quite disoriented for a few seconds. Her eyes came into focus on me.
"Well this is a good wake-up." She smiled weakly. "Here, set me down. Just make sure I don't fall because my leg's asleep."
I put her down and sure enough, her leg was asleep. I had to catch her from falling down.
"Oh, hi Pops!" Blaze waved.
"Hello Blaze. I see it's quite comfy in the plane?" Pops grinned.
"What?" Blaze looked confused.
"You fell asleep in your plane when you were checking on it," Pops explained. Blaze looked horrified.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to! I was checking the controls and I leaned my head back and I don't even remember falling asleep!" Blaze rambled. Pops laughed.
"It's all right Blaze. Don't worry about it. I thought it was rather funny actually," Pops said. Blaze blushed. "Well, you two go get some sleep. I have a feeling you'll be going on another sortie soon."
Blaze and I nodded and went back to our rooms.
"Good night Blazing Star," I kissed her on the head.
"Blazing Star?" She whispered.
"You're as beautiful and as bright as the blazing stars in the heavens," I smiled.
"Flirt." She smiled. "I like it."
I kissed her one last time on the lips before heading to my room. I shut the door and plopped down on my bed. Blaze was the most amazing girl I had ever met. I was in love with her. Nothing could ever change that.
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