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Chapter 10 - Handful of Hope
Amidst the eternal waves of time
From a ripple of change shall the storm rise
Out of the Abyss peer the eyes of a demon
Behold the Razgriz, its wings of black sheath
- Briefing Room -
- October 22nd, 2010 1072 hrs -
Blaze had finally been cleared by the doctor to be able to fly again two days prior, right on time for another mission. Even though his injuries were healed, he still winced from small pinpricks of pain from time to time while walking. The bright side was that it was nowhere near what he had to suffer through at the beginning of the recovery process, and he sure got an earful from the doctor for his stunt with flying.
He returned back to reality as he approached the briefing room and opened the door. He was the last to enter and when he sat down, Perrault coughed to get their attention.
"Since we thwarted their invasion, we haven't seen any major offensive by the enemy for several weeks. Almost like we're at peace again eh, people?" asked Perrault with a slight smirk. "Anyway, let's get this briefing started."
"Yuktobanian combat operations have been dormant since their failed large-scale invasion and the loss of their underwater carrier, the Scinfaxi. However, there is still a concern over a possible infiltration by small-scale forces from the ground and air." started the briefer, a top ground gridded image of a place called Akerson Hill appearing on the projector screen.
"You will split into flights of two and carry out patrols in the area from Akerson Hill to the northern coastline. The airspace above the grain fields extending around Akerson is covered by our Osean AA system. The system automatically fires missiles at any hostile aircraft it detects. Patrol the northern coastline of Akerson Hill, which is out of our AA system's range. Dismissed." finished the briefer before the lights were turned back on.
Blaze and Chopper were about to leave with the others until Perrault stopped them.
"Blaze, Davenport, come here." he ordered, the two of them glancing at each other before walking up to him and stood at attention.
"At ease. I wanted to tell you two something." said Perrault, Blaze and Chopper relaxing.
"I wanted to congratulate you two on your battlefield performance, First Lieutenant Alvin H. Davenport, Major Blaze."
Blaze and Chopper both raised their eyebrow as Perrault pulled out a small box, occupied by one silver, rectangular pin and a golden leaf pin. Blaze and Chopper took out the pins and attached them to their uniforms.
"You two are dismissed." said Perrault, the two of them saluting before they exited the briefing room.
- Akerson Hill, Western Osea -
- 07°28'19"N 168°03'23"E -
- October 22nd, 2010 1616 hrs -
Blaze and Nagase were alone at the moment, nearing the coverage area of the Osean AA defense network. They were in minute fifteen of their patrol after Blaze had split up the squadron into two groups to cover more area, the typical pairs being Nagase and him as one, with Chopper and Grimm as the other.
However the silence that the two of them got to enjoy for the past fifteen minutes was brought to an end when Chopper's voice came through on the radio, sounding quite annoyed.
"That stupid geezer Base Commander just won't give us a break, will he?" he asked, huffing a bit at the end of his question.
"He's relying on us, First Lieutenant Chopper. And congratulations on your promotion by the way." said Grimm rather cheerfully. His optimism didn't really help improve Chopper's attitude.
"I don't feel any better…"
"Hey you two, what's your current position?" asked Nagase, breaking up the conversation to return to their mission.
"Three hundred miles south of you." replied Chopper, still somewhat glum.
Blaze and Nagase confirmed his statement and continued on their way towards the coastline, taking a glance at his radar to see the approaching coverage zones for their AA marked by circles, some small, some huge. He looked back up and didn't immediately see it at first, but after squinting he did notice something in the air a little ways away from them.
It didn't take long for Nagase to see it two and without even having to say anything, the two pushed their throttles forward a slight bit to pick up speed, getting closer to the object. As they got closer the unmistakable outline of a plane became clear, but before they could start making guesses the radio started to crackle and pick up broken pieces of speech.
"...damaged, but the damage is light."
"Transmitting aircraft, state your assignment and current status." questioned Nagase, trying to get in contact with the aircraft.
They slowed down once they got close enough and Blaze was surprised that it was an Osean C-5 Galaxy, the largest transport plane the military had on hand. He had no idea why one would be this far out without any escorts, and just what kind of purpose it had to be out here in the first place.
"Oh, finally, a response... This is the Osean Air Defense Force transport plane Mother Goose One. We're flying to the neutral country of North Point... We have the transmitter set to minimum power. Please come in closer so we can hear."
Blaze and Nagase moved their planes closer to the C-5 and waited for another response, and upon doing so Blaze saw a nasty bit of damage under one of its wings along the fuselage, with slight traces of smoke coming from it, but nothing too serious that would ward concern.
"...Ah, I think this is you on our radar. Can you see us? We'd like you to guide us to a safe passage corridor through the AA defenses. We're on a top secret mission and are not transmitting a valid friendly ID signal to the ground-based automatic defense systems. As a result, a friendly surface-to-air missile was mistakenly fired at us. We narrowly avoided a direct hit, but our radar system was destroyed, and we can't fly a safe path through the AA system."
Blaze and Nagase were thrown for a loop when the man on the other hand told them about their purpose, and looking closely at the Galaxy he could clearly see OADF markings, but it's not like ground-based SAM systems could distinguish between an enemy fighter or a friendly transport that wasn't transmitting the correct identification.
So it was no contest that Blaze and Nagase immediately complied and flew out ahead of the Galaxy, flying in an escort formation for the transport.
"Roger Mother Goose One. We'll escort you through the AA defenses." radioed in Blaze, activating the auto-pilot. He would only have it active until they reached the coverage zone, at which he'll turn it off.
"...Uhh, the air defense command just received multiple radar hits on an enemy formation closing on your position. First bad guys we've seen crossing the pond for a while. Warning alarms are goin' off like mad, but we're the only ones near enough to intercept 'em in time." reported Chopper.
From where he and Grimm were farther south he gave a signal to his partner and they pushed the throttles forward, increasing their speed. "Hold on, baby, we're comin' to your rescue."
"Understood, I'm counting on you two." said Nagase as they approached the coverage range, Blaze already mapping out the route through his head.
"Okay, I've got him on my radar." said another voice over the radio, one that all four of them knew all at once who it belong too.
"Just like the intelligence said."
"The radio's picking up the enemy's voice!" whispered Grimm, even though he didn't have to.
"These guys sound as beautiful as Thunderhead. Sweet as a rose, I tell ya." mused Chopper, making Grimm snicker a little and Blaze and Nagase hold back a laugh.
The team was divided up like that, Blaze and Nagase were the all business and no joke attitude types, well mostly Nagase, and Chopper and Grimm were the joke around chatty type. They worked excellent together, despite these differences, and Blaze was happy to be among such unique individuals.
It breathed some life back into his being that, for a while, he had neglected for quite some time. It was nice, having friends around again. He couldn't help but notice how Nagase seemed to be getting closer and closer to him.
"Especially when she hugged me…" he thought.
"Don't let up just because it's a transport plane. If we take out this guy, they won't just give us a medal, they'll build a statue in our honor." said another enemy pilot, sound particularly cocky.
"This cargo's certainly worth that much." said another enemy, adding the total count of known enemy fighter pilots up to four.
That was one full squadron equal to their identified, but Blaze assumed that there was more to be seen, especially when they came within range of their radar. However that was another matter, right now, he had to worry about the approaching AA coverage zones.
"What are they talking about?" asked Nagase, referring to the "Cargo" they mentioned. "Guy? What are you carrying, Mother Goose One?"
"Don't worry about that. We need your escort. We're completely defenseless." said the Transport Captain.
Considering how quickly he responded and how firm he was with said response, Nagase felt that something was a little fishy. Blaze felt the same way, but to pursue it would take their minds away from the mission at hand.
"Well now, this is turnin' out to be a weird little race against the enemy." joked Chopper again. "Don't worry too much Kid, we'll beat 'em."
As soon as he said that, Blaze, Nagase and the C-5 had reached the AA coverage zone, Blaze turning off his jet's auto-pilot. He checked to make sure that Nagase was still on his wing, following close, and that the C-5 was directly behind them in a close formation. On confirmation, he slowed his airspeed down enough to allow for more maneuvering with just yaw right or yaw left, and entered the coverage zone blanket first.
They passed by the first bubble without any difficulties, going straight for now, and Blaze made a habit of checking behind him for the Galaxy as if he were driving a vehicle on a road.
"Any problems on your end?" he asked after a minute or so of flying.
"No, but we'd like to get out of this airspace ASAP." reported the Transport Captain, Blaze chuckling a little.
"If I were in your spot, I would too." he replied before returning his attention to his radar and the sky in front of him. "I would too…"
"Mother Goose One, push to radio frequency one three six megahertz." Nagase said after their last transmission came in a little weakly.
"Roger, switching."
They flew deeper into the AA coverage zones, slowly yawing around the circles so that the Galaxy didn't have to risk any more damage to the airframe by sharp turns. Everything seemed to be going smoothly and the stiff feeling in his spine seemed to go away, the thought that nothing would go wrong becoming more of a reality.
"I never thought the skies over our own country could be so unfriendly."
"Yeah...you never know what will happen, even in your own skies…" said Blaze somewhat ominously, his mind drifting back into some of his older memories.
He had to stop when they arrived at a large left turn and Blaze started to yaw slowly, the C-5 pilot following along in the behemoth of a plane. Nagase was actually impressed by the captain's impressive skill in flying the damaged aircraft with its limitations.
Soon enough they got out of the wide turn and had to risk it a little with a slightly sharp turn, but Blaze was able to skillfully manage it with a well-timed yaw and momentary stop with the air brake, the C-5 captain following his maneuver. After they accomplished the feat though Blaze and Nagase jumped when they heard loud beeps coming through their radios from the transport plane.
"Warning! We have an oil pressure problem on the right engine!" The voice of another person reported in a frantic voice, most likely the co-pilot.
"You take take the controls. I'll check the instruments." said the Captain calmly. The sound of shuffling was heard as the captain got up from his seat to check on the sensors while the co-pilot kept the plane flying steady behind Blaze.
"Mother Goose One, is everything okay?"
"Yes...everything's fine." The co-pilot let out a sigh of relief when he got the a-ok from the captain. "It was just a sensor malfunction."
Nagase and Blaze let out their own sighs after hearing the good news, but their hardships weren't over yet. They still had to make it out of the nest of coverage zones, and then they had an unknown amount of enemy fighters to deal with on the other side too.
It looked like today was going to be another one of those days. Minutes went by like hours as they crawled their way through the maze of coverage zones at a snail's pace, but it worked out in the end.
"We're making a large right turn up ahead, then we'll be out of the coverage system shortly afterwards. We may have to have you bank, is this alright?" asked Blaze with a quick glance back to the C-5.
"Roger, just limit your turns and we may not have to bank." replied the Captain. "If we do, then I'll do my best."
Blaze nod his head and with Nagase they started to turn around the large coverage circle, making sure to not turn to sharp or risk having the plane have to bank right. Thankfully, yawing worked the entire way around and like a breath of fresh air they escaped the maze out into open air, free of the stress from one thing...and going right into the next.
"This is Mother Goose One. We have successfully navigated through the AA system. Thank you, however I'd like to ask for your continued escort." asked the captain as Blaze and Nagase moved back to flank each side of the plane.
"Roger that Mother Goose One, we'll stay with you." replied Blaze. He already had eyes on his radar for any sign of the enemy.
Coincidentally, as soon as he did four signatures marked by triangles on his radar screen appeared with a slight ping. Nagase saw them too and made sure to relay it across their channel with Mother Goose One and their other squadron members as they too appeared from the south.
"Enemy fighters spotted on radar, approaching head-on." said Nagase. "Yuke fighters."
There were four of them, just like Blaze had suspected. But he still kept the card on the table about there being more Yuke fighters out there, in case the first flight couldn't get the job done. Luckily he had Chopper and Grimm back and he gave them both a wave when they flew up next to them, filling the gaps in their squadron once more.
"We're here Kid, we're under your command now." said Chopper. "Let's roast these guys!"
"Mother Goose One, please separate at maximum speed. We'll take care of the enemy fighters." ordered Nagase, the C-5's captain gladly doing so. The huge plane slowly dropped its altitude slightly to disengage, entering a slow dive to get lower to the ground to make it harder to spot.
"Please, I'm counting on you." pleaded the captain.
Two more blips appeared on the radar approaching from the northwest, proving Blaze's hunch about more fighters as correct. The only reason they would reveal their spare fighters would be that they had been detected as well, and not expecting escort fighters they made the call to bring them in.
He took a closer look at the radar and saw how quickly the blips jumped across the screen, catching up to the first squadron rapidly. Making a judgement based off that, Blaze had only one plane in mind that went that fast.
"It's gotta be Foxhounds...fantastic…" he thought bitterly at the thought fighting those, "fighters from hell" he liked to call them, again.
"More enemy planes appearing on radar." said Nagase as a courtesy to inform Mother Goose One.
"Roger... Roger! Agh, dammit!" cursed the captain, loud beeping being heard over the radio.
"Your speed's decreasing. What's the matter?" Nagase glanced over her shoulder
"Mechanical trouble. I'm losing thrust on engine one!"
While they had to leave the Galaxy to its own troubles to meet the enemy fighters, they still couldn't help but worry for it. When they got within view of the enemy fighters, what looked like to be four Su-27 Flankers and two, just like Blaze had called it, MiG-31 Foxhounds, became distinguishable, and Blaze groaned a little.
"Engage the enemy fighters, don't let them get near the transport ship." ordered Blaze as he readied himself. "Be careful of those Foxhounds, those little bastards are quick!"
"Roger, engaging." replied Grimm after Blaze split apart the Yuke squadron like a cue ball would to the grouping of billiard balls. Nagase was lucky to catch one of the Flankers in a bad turn and with a single missile she brought the fighter down in a fireball, the Yuke fighters left getting ancy.
Meanwhile, all things on the C-5 Galaxy weren't going so swell, the crew scrambling to fix what was happening to the craft. "The oil pressure gauge is dropped further!"
"I'll take a look. You take the controls."
Back with the pilots, the two Foxhounds didn't even bother with the wardog pilots and zoomed past Chopper and Grimm, Blaze swearing as he spun his plane around and gave chase after them. If they got through to the transport plane all of the work before hand would have been for nothing, and the people on the plane would perish.
"Transport plane in my sights." said one of the Foxhound pilots as they approached.
"Heh, all he needs is more of a yuke accent and they would sound exactly the same." joked Blaze inside his head. He locked onto the Foxhounds and fired two XLAA missiles that caught up to them quickly, since they had to slow down to get a proper lock on with the Galaxy, but only one got shot down.
The Foxhound who's pilot hadn't spoken yet managed to roll away in the nick of time and avoid getting shot down by the missile, the massive engines on the rocket of a jet taking it away from Blaze in a quick manner. As it did so Blaze was able to look down as he dove to pursue it and carefully analyze it, mainly the design of its pilot's preferred paint job.
It had the area around the cockpit painted black and a single black diamond painted in the center of the fuselage, and by that along Blaze was able to recognize who the pilot was instantly.
"Seems we meet again eh?" he asked the enemy pilot, a chuckle being heard from the other side.
"Ah, it's you. The F-5E pilot from before flying under that F-4G. A pleasure once again." said the pilot as they circled each other while Nagase, Chopper and Grimm shot down the other fighters without Blaze's assistance..
"Captain, are you in trouble?" asked Grimm, Blaze glancing back at him as they approached.
"No, I'm fine. Just meeting up with an old opponent we met near Sand Island the day...he was shot down." said Blaze, knowing discussing *him being shot down still being a touchy subject with Nagase.
"Well, okay then. Ah, dammit! More enemy fighters! Nagase, Grimm, let's get 'em!"
"Right behind you!"
The three turned around to engage the new approaching fighters while Blaze continued to circle with the Yuke pilot, neither of them making any moves on the other. It was like two predators engaged in a stare down, sizing up one another for any weaknesses that they could exploit.
"So, that intelligence ship you guys had there pick you up?" asked Blaze while he continued to circle with the Yuke pilot.
"Yes, and I wanted to get right back up in the air again. I was promoted to First Lieutenant a couple of days ago and given this plane. A little quick isn't it?"
"Yeah, I call em "Planes from Hell"." replied Blaze, the Yuke pilot chuckling at the name.
"It fits well for it. What rank are you I wonder?"
"Got promoted to Major today."
"Very nice. Although, I guess we need to start trying to shoot each other down." said the Yuke pilot before he zoomed after Blaze, launching a missile at him while the latter dodged it, their chase beginning again.
On the transport plane, the problem couldn't be solved so the captain had to resort to beginning to guide the plane with the co-pilot towards the ground. The cockpit door then slowly slid open however and he glanced back over his shoulder, seeing one of the crew stepping inside with a blank expression on his face.
"Hey, get back in your seat. Don't approach the...hey, hey, what're you doing?!"
The man brought his hand out from behind his back, revealing a Beretta M9, and before the captain could do anything he was shot once in the chest, the bang resonating through the radios to the Wardog pilots.
The co-pilot was startled and jumped out of his seat, the man pointing the pistol at him, finger pressing down on the trigger, before he was struck from behind by a briefcase and fell forward. On the way down the hit made him squeeze his finger and fire off another bullet, this one hitting the co-pilot in the shoulder and causing him to collapse from the pain.
"Was that a gunshot?" asked Nagase. "What's going on?"
"Hey! It's Dutch rolling!" Chopper said. True enough the C-5's began to wag back and forth irregularly before it was able to recover, but instead of the voice of either pilot coming through, it was an entirely different one they hadn't heard before.
"Uh, this is transport plane...uh...Mother Goose One. The Captain's been shot."
"What?!"
"There was a spy in the crew, and I managed to knock him out. Uh-oh, two of the engines have shut down." spoke the voice again, two of the jet engines on the plane blowing up and trailing thick smoke.
"Hey! What kinda cargo you got in there? Is it something dangerous?" asked Chopper suspiciously.
After a few seconds of silence, he asked again, "Hey! You there?"
"The Captain's dead and the co-pilot was wounded by a stray bullet. Tommy's holding the stick now, but he's just a secretary...he's never piloted a plane before."
Tommy? Blaze was thrown for a loop by the completely unexpected name, and as he and the Yuke pilot kept dog fighting one another he made quick glances back at the C-5 as it lost more altitude by the second.
"So...who are you?" asked Grimm.
The man was silent for another moment again before answering. "I guess you could call me...the cargo on this plane. Could you tell me how to control this plane? I'll relay everything to him."
Almost as if it was second nature, Nagase, after she, Chopper and Grimm had down the second squadron of Yuke Su-27s sent to shoot down Mother Goose One, started to relay instructions to the man on board. She had a small smile on her face, and felt a sense of happiness take over inside of her as she did.
"Lower your altitude and prepare for an emergency landing. Put your flaps down. That'll lower your airspeed." she said calmly, the lower the tension. "Can you find your flap lever?"
"Flap lever...is that it? No, that on, Tommy. Pull that one."
As Mr. Cargo and whoever the hell Tommy was listened to Nagase's clear and concise instructions, the Yuke pilot fighting Blaze looked at his radar and saw he had no allies left in the air with him, and that staying any longer would only make his downfall more inevitable. With that, he made the command decision and gunned it as fast as he could away from Blaze, using his Foxhound's huge engines to their maximum.
Blaze was tempted to give chase but the safety of Mother Goose One was important, so he allowed the pilot to make his escape, but not before they shared some final words.
"I guess next time it is then." he said with a little chuckle.
"Indeed. What was your name, so that I can commit it to memory?"
"It's Blaze. Blaze is my callsign."
He wasn't able to get much out of the Yuke before he left the area, but what he did get was that the squadron he led was named Kvant, and that his callsign was Czar. It was perfectly Yuke, a Czar the name for the medieval kings that used to rule Yuktobania, and it fit him quite well.
"Wait, an emergency landing?" questioned Chopper. "But the ground's full of those electric generator windmills!"
"Do you think you could clear those out for us?" asked Mr. Cargo, watching through the cockpit windows.
"Let's do it."
With no other option available the four of them got to work using their guns and manual lock-on function to destroy as many windmills that could be in the way of the C-5 as it made its emergency landing as possible. They didn't really know just how many headaches it would cause for those who would have to come out and replace them, but they didn't care either because they had more important matters.
"Are you still there, Ma'am? With the lovely voice? Uh, Miss…"
"First Lieutenant Kei Nagase...Sir."
Blaze raised an eyebrow to Nagase responding so respectfully to the man, and at first he chalked it up to her naturally doing that. But after listening to the man's voice in his head again it all clicked and his eyes widened when he realized the truth, and grinned because of it.
"Ahh, and a lovely name as well."
"And I'm Chopper!"
Blaze and Grimm had to hold back their laughter, considering how innocently and boisterously Chopper had declared his callsign to the man, but they couldn't contain it no matter how hard they tried, and burst out laughing with a force, tears coming to Blaze's eyes.
"That's...a good name, too." replied Mr. Cargo, making an awkward smile as they neared the ground.
"I like you, man." said Chopper with a cheesy grin.
The C-5 was now practically gliding, all of its engines either damage beyond working order or shut off in accordance with Nagase's guidance. The Galaxy was, for all intents and purposes, was now just a huge glider.
"Tommy's going to try landing now. He's doing his best, but he's never done this before. I...I don't know if we'll make it, so I just want to thank you before we go."
"You'll be okay!" Grimm reassured them. "He'll do fine!
Mr. Cargo smiled at his enthusiasm and put his hands on Tommy's shoulders, the younger man shaking nervously but taking a deep breath as he began the final descent. His guide pointed out the broken windmills as their landing strip, and little by little the Galaxy drew closer and closer to the ground.
Blaze joined his squadron higher up to observe the Galaxy finally hit the ground, its belly kicking up dirt all over the place as it roughly slid through the farmland and ended up knowing down a few small trees. But overall, once the plane finally came to a halt and it tipped toward the right, leaning on one of its large wings with smoke still coming from its damaged engines, it seemed to them to be a complete success.
"That's a pretty good emergency landing I'd say." said Chopper as they circled back over, awaiting a response from Mr. Cargo.
"This is Archer, surrounding airspace is clear of enemy aircraft. Everything is A-OK." reported Grimm. "Also, good job on the landing!"
"Are you alright, Mr. Cargo?" asked Nagase, wanting to hear his voice again. "Is everything okay?"
"Uh, yeah, I guess. That was a pretty smooth ride, actually." responded the man calmly. Tommy on the other hand was sweating bullets as he let go of the controls and had to get up to walk off the adrenaline, the wounded co-pilot laughing a little at him.
"Mr. Cargo...I've got a question I'd like to ask you, if that's alright."
"What is it?"
Nagase looked up to the deep blue sky above them, making a small smile as she did. "The Bird of Peace...did you really have to use that beautiful white bird for this war? Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"...Yes, I do."
"I...I wanted to see your bridge of peace...span into outer space." said Nagase, Blaze smiling a little at her respect towards the man.
While Chopper and Grimm were still clueless to the man's identity, at least he and Nagase shared joint knowledge on Mr. Cargo's true identity, and he felt proud to have been here in his time of need.
"It's still possible. Thanks to the bird, we're on even terms now. The reason why I'm trying to get to North Point is because I believe we have a chance."
"To hold talks in neutral territory." added Nagase to finish his thought.
"Right. Communication is vital."
"So, I can still believe in you then?" she asked rather quietly. "I don't want to see any more young men and women lose their lives."
"Me neither."
Chopper then interrupted the tender moment. "Uh-oh, I'm almost out of fuel."
Blaze, Grimm and Nagase checked their fuel gauges as well and found they were nearing the end of their tank's life as well, but with no one to watch over the crashed plane they were at a loss of what to do.
Luckily enough, the four were relieved to see a flight of four friendly jets appear on radar heading their way, the infiltration of the Yuktobanian fighter jets catching the attention of someone else and drew them their way. Once they were close Blaze identified them as grey F-15S/MTDs, and as they flew by the leader got in contact with them.
"This is the Osean Air Force 8492nd Squadron. We observed the emergency landing on our radar." spoke the leader. "You can leave the rest to us. We'll provide support until the transport plane's crew is rescued."
"Roger 8492nd. Take care of them for us." said Nagase before they banked right in formation and retreated from the area.
"Sure thing."
^^^^Debriefing Message^^^^
We received a sitrep from Central command. The crew on board the transport plane you encountered during your patrol has been rescued by the 8492nd Squadron. Currently, that is all the information we have.
- Sand Island -
- October 23rd, 2010 1395 hrs -
After Gennette's article "The Four Wings of Sand Island" was published to wide acclaim, he grew bolder. He managed to steal a quick look of Perrault, the emperor of the base, before Perrault started to glare at him with a rather pissed off expression and he felt a hand wrap around his arm.
"Don't." said Hamilton as he yanked Gennette away from Perrault and some other executive officers and down towards the end of the hallway.
"He's in a bad mood today. If he catches you, he'll have your head."
"What happened?" asked Gennette in confusion while Hamilton walked away, shrugging before turning the corner.
Gennette sighed as he switched off his camera recorder and dropped it off in his room, leaving for the break room afterwards. He found Nagase lying on the couch beside the window, writing in her red book again with sunlight pouring through the blinds on the window onto her face.
He took a seat beside the couch and relaxed a little, Nagase glancing up from her book for a second at him before resuming writing.
"The Arkbird."
"Hm?" asked Gennette, turning towards her.
"The White Bird in outer space. With Yuktobania outclassing us in firepower, it was the President's one trump card in the peace negotiations. And now... it's fallen right out of our hands." said Nagase when she looked up from her book and out the window.
The Arkbird, a super weapon capable of attacking from space, far beyond the reach of the enemy. Its power generator was destroyed by explosives planted inside a supply shipment launched from Earth.
Once again, the balance of power had tipped toward Yuktobania.