When Blaze woke up the day after the invasion of Yuktobania, the first thing he saw was that Nagase was nowhere to be found. He got dressed, and as he was pulling his shirt over his head, he noticed a note on the door to the hallway. He ripped it off the door to read:

Edward. Base entrance. Now.
You'll see why when you get there.

-Kei

Five minutes later, Blaze was walking into the main hallway and sure enough, there was Nagase standing right there with four men who Blaze knew very well by sight. The man who was nearest Blaze began walking toward him, holding out his hand.

"Been a long time, Eddie," he said jovially, as Blaze's face began to resemble the Cheshire Cat. (1)

"Too damned long, James," agreed Blaze, taking the man's hand and pulling him into a hug. "Glad to see you haven't aged a day since Megalith."

"You might not see it outwardly," replied James Carlson, "but on the inside, the once-legendary Mobius 1 is still just a man."

"What do you mean, James?" asked Blaze.

"I have anaplastic large-cell lymphoma, (2) Ed," said Mobius 1 in a voice that was barely above a whisper. "Treatable, and by all means curable, but still..."

(3) "Surely," said Blaze in mild shock, "you can't be serious."

"I'm dead serious, Ed," answered Mobius 1, "and don't call me 'Shirley'." (/3)

As the two men shared a hearty laugh, Nagase cut in.

"So who are the other pilots?" she asked.

"Oh, sorry," chuckled Mobius 1. "Where are my manners? This," he began, indicating the man directly in front of Nagase, "is Larry Foulke, the man they call Solo Wing Pixy, or just Pixy."

"How do you do?" asked Pixy politely.

"Very well, thank you," answered Nagase, shaking Pixy's hand. Pixy then turned towards Blaze, and a smile began to grace his features.

"Now, you have got to be Blaze," he said. "Both Cipher and James here spoke very highly of you."

"And Cipher did likewise of you," replied Blaze, taking Pixy's hand and shaking it. Amazingly, apart from the fact that his hair was now gray, Pixy looked indistinguishable from the man in the picture Cipher had shown Blaze all those years ago.

"I'm surprised," said Pixy. "But that's a story for another time."

"Indeed," agreed Mobius 1. Indicating the man to Pixy's immediate right, he said, "This is Rainer Altman, formerly the #2 pilot of Gelb Squadron in the Belkan Air Force, 5th Air Division, 23rd TFS."

"I've heard of you," said Nagase, as the two shook hands. "Didn't you fight Cipher and Pixy over Directus?"

"You are correct," said Altman slowly. "I'm an author nowadays, but I still love to fly."

"And I'm glad to have the honor of meeting a legendary Belkan Ace," put in Blaze, as he, too, shook Altman's hand.

"No, Mr. Randolph," admonished Altman, "the honor is mine."

"Please, call me Blaze," requested Blaze.

"Fair enough," answered Altman.

"And THIS fine pilot over here," finished Mobius 1 with a flourish, "...well...when you hear his callsign, he'll need no introduction, I guaran-damn-tee it."

Shaking both Nagase and Blaze's hands, the man introduced himself:

"My name is Roger Gaul, from Erusea, but you know me better simply as Yellow 13."

"What?" cried out Blaze and Nagase simultaneously.

"I thought you died at Megalith," stuttered Blaze.

"As did I," concurred Nagase.

"I would have," explained Yellow 13, "if not for two things. The first was the fact that a Raptor got hit by two missiles that were chasing me not ten minutes after the battle began."

Blaze just stared in shock.

"I take it you were the one that launched those missiles?" asked Yellow 13 sympathetically.

"I was," croaked Blaze. "The plane that was hit...was piloted by the woman I was in love with at the time." A few tears began to make their way down Blaze's face.

"You have my sympathies and condolences," said Yellow 13, putting a calming hand on Blaze's shoulder.

"Thanks," answered Blaze, wiping his eyes dry. "But didn't James get you later on in the fight?"

"He did," replied Yellow 13, "and although I managed to bail out in time and make it to the shores of Megalith's island, I was heavily injured. Mobius 1 rescued me himself and brought me to a hospital. We've been friends ever since."

"I respected his piloting ability far too much to let him die that way," explained Mobius 1. "It's a choice I would gladly make again, without a second's thought." Just then, there came a voice on the PA:

"Wardog Squadron, report to the briefing room immediately."

"That's us," said Blaze. "Come on, Kei. Friends, make yourselves at home." With that, Blaze and Nagase made their way to the briefing room.

Chapter 10: Blind Spot

The Base Commander said nothing; he simply let the briefing do the talking.

The Yuktobanian force that defended the Bastok Peninsula
is staging a large-scale withdrawal from the area.

After analyzing the situation, we have determined
that they are pulling back the force to regroup
their defense network and strengthen their
capital defenses.

Yuktobania's southern armies suffered heavy damage
during our landing operation, and their defensive
warpower has weakened considerably.

Their withdrawal is currently proceeding under
the curtain of a set of electronic jamming signals.

The enemy's air force consists primarily of transport planes.

Pursue these planes, destroy them, and halt their retreat.

Within a few hours, Wardog was flying over the Dresdene area looking for the retreating cargo planes when:

"Hey, hey, Kid," called out Chopper. "Did you take a listen to that song?"

"Which one?" asked Blaze. "Oh, Face Of The Coin. I did, now you mention it."

"Yeah," continued Chopper, "it's a great tune, huh?"

"Would you expect anything less from Heaven And Hell?" (4) asked Blaze.

"Point: Kid," conceded Chopper. At that point, the enemy force came into sight.

"Wardog, engage!" ordered Thunderhead through their helmets.

"Engaging!" chorused the pilots.

As they were about to bag their first kill of the day, the radar suddenly filled with about twenty more blips.

"Unbelievable!" cried Nagase.

"We gotta bag ALL these planes?" said a shellshocked Chopper.

"No," answered Blaze. "Remember what the briefing said: There are jammer aircraft in this area. We have to find and take them out first. Edge, come high with me and we'll search for the jammer aircraft. Archer, Chopper, you wait for our signal."

"Roger," answered Grimm. With that, the Raptor and Terminator flew high, searching for any jammer craft. Before long, they came upon an E-767 flying at about 20,000 feet. Wasting no time, Blaze and Nagase opened fire, and within ten seconds, the craft was replaced by a bright vermilion ball.

"The radar blips disappeared!" reported Chopper. "Several of them at once!"

"Do we have permission to fire, Captain?" asked Grimm.

"Patience, Archer," reminded Blaze. "Let us finish off all the jammers and then you may fire."

"Roger, Captain," conceded Grimm. Then they heard on a widecast:

"Damn it! Our cover's blown!"

"You're damned right your cover's blown!" taunted Chopper.

"All jammer aircraft destroyed," reported Blaze. "Fire at will!"

"Roger that, Kid," answered Chopper. Then, to his target:

"Eat magnesium!" Next came an explosion.

"Chopper," asked Blaze, curious, "where did you get the sabot rounds?"

"They came standard with my plane," answered Chopper.

"I'll look into that," noted Blaze. By now, half the transport planes had been destroyed. Now a new voice came in through the helmet speakers:

"We wish to work hand in hand, harmoniously, with the citizens of Yuktobania for this operation. I've instructed our soldiers to follow this wish to the letter." Blaze now recognized the voice as belonging to General Robert Howell of the Osean Army.

"Therefore," continued Howell, "I ask you, citizens of Yuktobania: Do not fear us, but rather join us in..."

"Hey," cut in Chopper, "you think it's gonna be that easy?"

"Hell, no," answered Blaze.

"Me neither," agreed Chopper, destroying the last transport plane. But as Blaze moved to take down the fighter escorts:

"ECCM! Restore communication link!" yelled Thunderhead.

For about another minute, all Blaze could hear was bits and pieces of the other pilots' transmissions, but then something that chilled him to the very marrow...

"This is 8492nd leader Ashley Bernitz. All 8492nd units, proceed as planned."

What the hell? thought Blaze. And then, once the jamming cleared:

"The Osean planes are firing on a school packed with civilians! They're at the engineering college!"

No, we're not, thought a scared and confused Blaze.

"Whoever's violating orders, cease fire immediately!" ordered Thunderhead.

I'll shoot them out of the sky myself! thought Blaze.

"Attention, units operationg in sector Charlie Omega!" yelled Thunderhead. "Attacks on civilians are FORBIDDEN!"

"What the-?" stuttered Grimm. "That's right near us!"

"Hell," moaned Chopper, "that's where WE'RE supposed to be operating. You see those idiots anywhere, Kid?"

"I'm no joy," answered Blaze.

"I don't see a thing," added Grimm, "and my radar's clean, too."

Nagase also reported an empty radar as a Yuke ground troop yelled, "Multiple casualties! Get an ambulance over here, fast!"

"Damn the Osean bastards!" cried another ground troop.

"This is Thunderhead," addressed the AWACS. "Wardog, did you engage in an attack on a civilian facility?"

"No, sir," said Blaze emphatically. "We're not career-suicidal."

"Roger," noted Thunderhead. "So you're sure you didn't do this."

"100 percent certain," asserted Nagase.

"Why would we do that?" cried Chopper. "Weren't you watching from up there?"

"Regardless," interrupted Thunderhead, "last plane confirmed shot down. All enemy transports and jammers in the local airspace have been eliminated. Mission complete. Return to base."

Their debriefing looked like this:

We have succeeded in halting the Yuktobanian army's
airborne withdrawal from the Bastok Peninsula.

However, a Yuktobanian civilian complex,
an engineering university, has been attacked.

This attack occurred in an area within
operating range of the Sand Island Squadron.

Sand Island air crews will report to Central Command HQ
in the Osean capital city of Oured immediately.

"Get to it, Wardog," ordered Perrault. "Your transport is outside."

Outside, Wardog found the four original aces waiting for them.

"Where are you guys going, James?" asked Blaze.

"To Oured," answered Mobius 1, "to serve as your character witnesses. We know you too well to think that it was you guys that attacked that college."

"Thanks, James," said Blaze. "We'll need all the help we can get."

"You got that right," put in Pixy.

"We'll meet you at the HQ building," added Yellow 13. "They can't convict you just on the basis that you were in the area."

"See you there," said Blaze, and with that, he and Wardog got into the transport and left for Oured International Airport, the four aces close behind.

About halfway to Oured, Blaze turned to Nagase and said,

"We'll be all right. It's like Roger said: They can't convict us solely because we were in the area."

"I know," answered Nagase. "Doesn't mean I'm not nervous."

"Be calm," soothed Blaze, putting an arm around Nagase's shoulders. "We have four aces on our side."

"But will their word be enough?" asked Nagase. Just then, they felt the plane touch down and, eventually, come to a stop. Blaze said, as the back ramp began to lower:

"Guess it's time to find out. ..."

A/N: OK, back again! Sorry for the lack of action in this one, but anyone who's played the mission knows there's not a whole lot to mention, action-wise.

1: Lewis Carroll's famous grinning cat.

2: Members of Red Sox Nation should recognize this disease. (For those who don't recognize it, it's a form of cancer. Boston pitcher Jon Lester was diagnosed with it and beat it.)

3: Very funny line, made famous in the movie "Airplane!"

4: The last band to be fronted by the legendary Ronnie James Dio before his tragic, untimely death in May of 2010.

TBC...

Next: Wardog is faced with two missions at once. I want you, the readers, to decide how to split up the four orignal aces. Blaze and Nagase will do 11a, while Chopper and Grimm will take on 11b. But I want you to decide: Which of the original aces will go with who?