Fire

Nostalgia has ways of creeping into someone's life when they lest expect it. I have no idea why, nor did I know what exactly I was remembering as the riff came into my head. It was simple, old, basic, classic, something from an old song I used to play back when I actually played gigs. Hearing it I felt like I knew something warm. Before the Belkan War. I felt almost as though I was talking to someone before I lost all recollection. Before I became Blaze. It put me into my own world for a moment, until I was roused by Chopper's bad jokes. "What are you doin' Kid? Tasting the rainbow?" Very funny. The turbines were fired up and the deafening rocket like roar of the Hornet crashed over me like a tidal wave.

I split the four of us into two flights as ordered by our highness of a base commander. Nagase and I fly the Northern area of Ackerson hill, while Chopper and Grimm took the southern area. It was supposed to be easy, as uneventful as the all the latest patrols we flew up to that point, but it never turned out the way we thought.

"Man, that old geezer of a base commander won't give us a break will he?" I mirrored his sentiments.

"He's relying on us First Lt. Chopper, hey congratulations on your promotion by the way."

"That's weird. I don't feel any better."

Nagase interjected, "Hey you two, what's your current position?"

"Three hundred miles south of ya'."

"Roger."

The transmitter then went silent for a moment, and truly I didn't expect it go off at all, or did I really care. I kept seeing my own past ghost come back to me. I kept hearing the sounds of that old town. I kept smelling the bad stench of the old mattress I had slept one for years at that place. I tried to put it out of my mind, shake my head free and stare into the gorgeous sun as we flew toward the west. Somehow I didn't even notice that the sun was setting. Each time I looked golden radiance would transform itself into the dingy corridor of that grade school, the HUD into the welcoming face or Lars, and the engine sounds into the assuring voices of Thomas.

"Blaze."

That name. Is it really mine?

"Blaze, I'm picking up a transmission."

I choke on my tongue realizing how lost in daydreams I was, pretty dangerous for a fighter pilot. "Roger, I reading it. 86 MHz. I'm getting something.

"…damaged but the damage is light."

"Transmitting aircraft, state your assignment and current status," Nagase said.

"Oh finally a response, this is the Osean Air Force Transport Craft Mother Goose One. We're flying to the natural country of North Point." The signal became in inaudible. "We have the transmitter set to minimum power. Please come in closer so we can hear." I had him at vector 187 about I think, he circling just outside of the AA defenses. It looked much like a goose as we pulled in C-5 Transport, meant for heavy cargo, but this wasn't carrying what we thought it was.

"Ah, I think this you on our radar. Can you see us? We'd like you to guide 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 automatic ground base defenses. 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 navigate through the AA defenses."

"So you need an escort to get through to North Point?" I asked.

"That's right."

"Roger that. This is Wardog. Mother Goose One we'll guide you through the AA defenses."

"Thank you. We appreciate your support."

"Sure thing."

That's it began at least. There wasn't really a completely safe passage corridor through the system. You would only need a quick glance at the coverage area to realize that. There was though an area were the coverage wasn't uniform, a section of Ackerson that had high iron mineral count making the radar coverage full of hole and rips, that if done carefully could squeeze a C-5 through, but it was going to be hard fly for something flies closer to a brick than a bird.

"Mother Goose One, stick close to our six. We'll take you through this real slowly."

"We'll have to keep wide, or else they'll be fired upon," Nagase said.

"Yeah I got that."

It wasn't the only difficult part though.

"…uh the air defense command has just received multiple enemy hits on an enemy formation closing on your position. First bad guys we've seen crossing the pond in a while. Warning alarms are going off like mad but we're the only ones in range to intercept them in time. Hold on baby, we're coming to your rescue."

"Oh joy," I said.

"Understood, I'm counting on you two."

"We'll have to engage him head on when they arrive. Or else they'll blast passed us." I said.

"I know. And Chopper and Grimm might be few minutes behind." She switched frequencies to the Transport craft. "Mother Goose One. Push to radio frequency 136 MHz."

"Roger…switching."

"We're entering the AA coverage area now stick close to us, Mother Goose One."

The analogy of seeing-eye dog came into my mind. N that case, I guess it was more like a seeing-eye hornet. It was fairly easy entering the AA system coverage area. The difficulty that kept looking back and forth between my radar and back at the plane was one area that was going to force me to hook a tight vector change of 180 degrees while simultaneously weaving through the sporadic zones that were covered by the AA defenses. My blood began to pump madly whether it was because of the incoming bogeys or the fact that the lives of that Transport plane was in my hands. It was a feeling I had to get sued to.

"Mother Goose One, decrease your throttle and altitude. It's going to get tight in this corridor."

"Roger that Wardog. We're counting on you."

It was about here that the mission started to become…well let's say more weighted. We started hearing radio interference from the incoming Yuke Squadrons, and not just static.

"Okay I've them on my radar."

"Just like the intelligence," another pilot had said. Then a third voice came on, with a heavy commanding tone.

"Don't let up. We're in enemy territory now. Increase throttle, and set vector straight in my nose," it said. It was barely coming in, much of it distorted, but I knew this was the lead, of whatever squad we went up against that day.

"The radio is picking up the enemies voice," Grimm stated.

"These guys sound as beautiful as Thunderhead. Sweet as a rose I tell ya," Chopper responded.

"Try to ignore it and get here as fast as you can."

"Roger Kid, you didn't have to tell us that," Chopper said back to me.

As much as I tried to focus on guiding the plane through the AA systems coverage area, I couldn't help at times but listen to the Yukes. It wasn't the first time we were able to hear their communications and it wouldn't be the last. I just hoped that they couldn't hear ours.

"Don't let up just because it's a transport plane. If we bag this one, they'll not only give us a medal, they'll build a statue in our honor," the first pilot said.

The second one I think responded, "This cargo's certainly worth that much."

"Is this the enemy speaking, what are they talking about?" Nagase asked, and I was thinking the exact same thing.

"Don't worry about that. We need your escort," the Mother Goose One captain said. It seems slightly ominous now.

"Alright. Edge, you and I better double time this. Mother Goose One, I am going to get you out of this area as soon as I can," I said in an attempt to give everyone some confidence though, but I was nervous as hell going through that coverage area. On the radar it looked like innocuous circles, circles through witch I had to find a safe route through. I tired to keep the images of a SAM exploding and the heavy body of a C-5 come down to the earth in pieces. Nagase didn't say anything, witch said to me that she was feeling the same way. That didn't make me feel any better. The Captain of the C-5 did a good job to ease the silence, witch I'm sure was gripping the "cargo" of that plane in a strangle hold at that moment. Too bad really.

It only took a few minutes to guide the plane out of the coverage area. But was the least of problems I was going to have to deal with.

"This is Osprey 1. I have a fix on there position. Everyone better be me, unless you want to be the first one shot down."

"Roger that." The enemy said. I found myself pressing down on the throttle more.

"Never thought the skies over our own country could be so unfriendly."

"Warning. We're having oil pressure problems on the right engine," one of the crew in the C-5 said.

"I'll take the controls. You check the instruments for me." I felt like I should have said something, but I couldn't thin k of anything helpful, or anything that mattered. "It's okay. It was just a sensor malfunction."

"This going to be memorable," I said to Nagase.

"Don't worry Blaze. I'll keep you six clear. Mother Goose One, we'll be out of the AA coverage area shortly."

"Roger, we appreciate your support."

We came on the edge of the coverage area, watching the radar indication circles disappear into the landscape. At least one of the burdens was gone.

"This is Mother Goose One; we've successfully navigated through the AA coverage system. But if I might asked, Blaze, if would could request your further support," the Captain asked me.

"You have it. We'll keep the fighters off your back. Proceed at full throttle out of the combat area." I looked through the canopy, north, ahead of me, feeling as though a great dragon was coming to get me, some childish nightmare from my lost past. And a dragon this gut was indeed.

"Wait, I see escort fighters!"

"I thought there wasn't going to be any escorts?"

"Did all of you really think the intelligence was correct? That this kind of target would have zero support? I expected more from this group.

"This Osprey 1 to Meteor 2, get you group in a tight finger four formation. The rest of you are on me. And no one is breaking formation! Now remember your training. For the glory of our country!"

"This guy…he sounds like veteran Blaze," Nagase said to me.

"Yeah I figured that."

"Copper team has arrived," she said.

"He kid, we're under your command now. Don't let that tough talk get your nerves up. Let's see how they fight in the air!" Chopper said.

Grimm agreed with him, "That's right Captain. Let's show them what the Four Wings of Sand Island are all about!"

It's hard now to say exactly why, but I suddenly began to laugh, almost uncontrollably. It sounded so much like the "Legion of Superheroes" to me, some pompous line taken from the latest action flick, like the in we used to worship like God back in the Academy. I needed though. I might go as far as to say that I might not bee alive toady if not for the vote of confidence from my friends, my best friends. I had to do it. I had to fly for my fiends!

"Alright looks like eight of them coming in hot. Don't let them take control of the fight. We can beat them when it comes to flying. Wardog Squadron, engaging!" We broke the finger four formations, splitting up into two wings. It wasn't ideal going to on one, but we had to do it, we couldn't let one of them get into firing range of the transport plane. I pushed up the throttle passed mock one, intercepting the first group. I saw the flash of the sunlight of the canopy, and slowly the dense shape of two wings of SU-27 came visible. "Make sure, none of them get passed us, we can't afford to let them get into range."

"Understood. Everyone prep SAAM for firing. We have to take them on long range," Nagase said.

"Yo kid, you really think we'll be able to take them all out with SAAM? What if some of them slip through and go our precious cargo over here?"

"We'll just have to deal with that when it happens. Don't allow any of them start to run," I really had no idea how we ere going to keep all eight of them away from Mother Goose One. If even one starts to run and we turn to fire the SAAM his wingman would come in on our six. I pushed the thoughts from my mind we had just to run with it. We rolled right and pulled in, so we could come in on their right, but that Captain was a step ahead of us.

"Osprey 1 to Meteor 2, deploy now."

"Roger that." The second wave, which I then noticed was comprised of high speed MiG-31's suddenly accelerated at full throttle, toward Mother Goose One. And I suddenly yelled fuck into the radio.

"Edge on me!" I didn't wait for a reply. I pushed the after burner even higher going after them. I got a lock on the SAAM and let one fly after him, being careful to keep him in the targeting ring. It hit and saw one of the wings on the MiG blow off toward the ground.

"What? Meteor 4's been hit!" one go the pilots exclaimed.

"We have two hornets on our tail. Turn to engage!" The element lead and his wingman jinked right, turning their nose toward us, while the third kept flying toward the transport plane.

"Blaze, I'll take care of this one," Nagase said to me.

"Roger, I'll keep these two off your back." Rolled right and pulled the nose up, trying my best to keep and ye on them against the g-forces pushing my head into the back. Like a lead weight attached to my neck, it always feels like, it's something I just had to get used to. I guess they were trying to double time me, one dace with me on his tail while the other chased my six. The only problem was that they didn't know how fast I was. It was probably less than a second before I had one in my HUD, and had missile lock. "Blaze, fox 2!" He didn't have any time to react. The missile detonated and tore through his fuselage, and he was gone.

"WHAT! He already has our tail?"

"Meteor 3, pull out. You'll just get shot down flying like that!"

He jinked left to disengage and turned toward the transport plane to check on Nagase. "Nagase, what's your status?"

"Bandit's down. I'm fine Blaze."

"Aw…shit! Kid, Nagase get over here and give us a hand will ya'?" Chopper said over the radio. They had their hands full, in more ways than one, since it was no ordinary enemy lead we were flying against that day. "Grimm, EVADE! He's right on your six!"

"I'm trying, he's hard to shake."

He was coming out of a split-s, following Grimm as pulled up to rejoin Chopper. I felt that odd sensation again, that same dread I had when I first went up into the air. The fantastic adrenalin rush. I told Nagase to assist Chopper, and pushed my throttle up to come in on his tail, at least that's want I wanted to do.

"Osprey 1, bandit on your six!"

"I know. Stick to your wingman. I'll handle this." He rolled right, inverted his plane and pulled down toward my far left, and I followed. "Look's like you Osean dogs made the wrong the choice."

"Don't count in it." I said into mask, not caring whether he heard me or not. He pushed his throttle up, leading me through a merry-go-round of loops. Straight up, rolling left and pulling a hard turn using his rudder to keep him stabilized, then all of a sudden breaking straight. It was enough to make me dizzy, but not enough to shake me. "I'm not letting you get away." I each time he rolled, pitched any which way, the more determined I became to bag him, my own demon growing inside me. Rolled over left as to turn, and then right. I was coming up, in missile range but with the way he was moving there wasn't much of a chance to get lock on him, Osprey.

"You fired up? C'mon and get me."

"Careful what you wish for."

"Kid, where the hell are you? You keep jumping in and out of radar." I knew I was pursuing him too far. I didn't have unlimited fuel, but I was convinced I could get him.

"I'm fine. Just cover the transport plane."

"You should pay more attention to your friends, buddy. Letting your killing instinct drive you is a sure ay of getting yourself killed." I was getting tired of his condescending attitude.

"Blaze, this is Edge. I coming to assist" I didn't hear her.

"C'mon buddy you've been chasing me for awhile now. Are you ever going to shoot?" I didn't have the angles near good enough to get a sure hit, one to make sure he wasn't getting out.

"Just wait." I pushed up the throttle, just wanting to get close enough to shoot. I didn't realize the whole point of leading me around like that was to get me riled up so I couldn't read t he tide of battle. This flight, this pilot would teach me a lot bout that. He shot up suddenly as if to go into another sharp climb, as he had already done a few times, but that wasn't what he was going for. He put up his flaps, nearly stalling his plane in the rapid deceleration; I imagine his head was spinning because of the negative g-forces. He slowed down and I over shot…majorly.

"It's never smart to fly solo in battle, kid." The cockpit lights went red, all of them I think. I heard the high pitched tone, and the panicked voice of Nagase, and for some reason the only thing I could think of doing was pushing up the throttle and rolling right.

"You can never just fly around shooting kid. You won't hit anything and the other guys will shoot back," Bartlett said to me.

I never liked paying attention to the basic maneuver drills. They always seemed so "no shit Sherlock."

"Keep faith Blaze or you'll just end up on the wrong side of things all the time," Lars said as handed me the tomcat poster.

Why did I always have to isolate myself?

"Why don't you just swallow your damn pride and enjoy your life Blaze?" Thomas said.

"When you get in there, just hold the stick and push on the gas. Physics will take care of the rest."

Who was that?

"Yo kid, did you ever hear of that band called Puddle of Mudd? You haven't. You have to get out more."

Amidst the eternal waves of time…

Why can't I play this? Why is so much harder than everything else I played?

"That was pretty good, kid. You might consider toning it down a little," Lars said.

Ridding a motorcycle in the snow sucks. I always ended up with a bunch of ice on my lips.

The plane hit the water. I saw all the bodies in the waves.

The storm shall rise…

"It's tense I know, but try to relax Blaze. It can make the difference whether you live or bite the dust." Bartlett said.

I overturned the bike on some ice, smacking my head against a tree.

"Ensign Blaze Arré you've been assigned to the Wardog Squadron."

The missile exploded over the cockpit, shredding the pilot to ribbons.

Nagase always was writing something. What was it?

I can't get it. Why is it so hard?

Out of the abyss…

"Blaze, maintain altitude. Keep that plane up! Blaze!"

The wing blew off the flanker's body, almost hitting me.

The air raid alarm went off again. I was trying to sleep.

"Did you hear about that guy Mobius One? Kinda makes you jealous doesn't it?"

Who is that?

"You gotta stop being so introspective. It will just blind you to everything else."

The alarm went off. He had me.

"I'll watch your back, Blaze. I won't lose another flight lead."

I made a hard right. It still was on me.

"Besides what you see in movies kid, when missile alarm goes off in the cockpit you have less time than to blink to evade," Bartlett said again.

I inverted, pulling the nose toward the ground.

"Just go with it. Man you worry too much kid."

Chopper?

The eyes of a demon…

The burst missile exploded. Everything started to fall.

I can't get it! Not like this!

BLAZE!

The blood settled back down, to a point where I could finally think again. I had barely made it. A difference of a second and I would have been dead. I'm not sure how I did it. It seemed like something inside of me had taken over while my mind off in neverland. Even after the fact when we returned to base I was left with an ineffable feeling. Who was that voice? What was that presence inside my head?

"Kid? Are…you alright?" Chopper asked me.

"I'm fine, just kinda blacked out for a moment there."

"The missile didn't hit? Aw damn!" Edge had gotten behind, gripping his tail harder than he preferred. "This is Osprey 1. All planes pull out."

"But sir, we can't just let the transport get…"

"That's an order, we're over matched here. All planes set return vector for the Lazarus now. How did you evade that?"

He pulled a hard right pushed out the same as the attack axis he came in on. "All enemies down or no factor." It dawned on me that I had completely forgotten about the transport plane. "Mother Goose One, what's your status?" There was no answer immediately.

"Hey! It's Dutch rolling!" Chopper said.

"Something's wrong. I'm hearing scuffling over the radio," Grimm said.

"Mother Goose One, what's your status?" Nagase said.

My stomach tightened for a moment. The plane was still on radar. Nagase hadn't let it be shot down. Somehow though, I felt had done something wrong. "This is Transport plane Mother Goose One." Even then we thought the voice was he. "There was a spy in the crew. Uh-oh two of the engines have shut down."

"Hey what kinda cargo you got in there? Is it something dangerous?" There wasn't any answer. "Hey you there?"

"The Captain's dead, and the co-pilot was wounded by a stray bullet. Tommy's holding the stick now. He's doing his beat but he's just a secretary. He's never piloted a plane before," he said.

"So who are you?" Chopper asked.

"Uhh…I guess you could call me the cargo on this plane. Could you tell how to control this? I'll relay everything to him." I wasn't sure what to do; luckily Nagase seemed to make up for all my sort comings that day.

"Lower your altitude. Prepare for an emergency landing." It was the only option. "Put your flaps up. That will lower your air speed. Can you find your flap lever?"

"Flap lever…is that it? No pull that one Tommy," The Cargo said.

"Captain?" Grimm was hailing me over the radio, "Do you think that spy was the reason the Yuke penetrated so far into our airspace?"

"I'd say that's as good of a guess as any."

"An emergency landing, Kid? The ground's full of electro-generator windmills!" Chopper shouted. They were hard to se from the air but he was right.

"Could you shoot those down for us?" Mr. Cargo asked us.

"Let's go it," Nagase replied.

"What?! Nagase you can't be serious."

It wasn't an easy thing to do. Even though the windmills were hundred of feet high, in the air they still don't appear as much of a target. "Alright gang. Everyone have some missiles left."

"Roger Captain. I still have two sidewinders locked and loaded," Grimm responded.

"I have one kid, plus a full load of guns," Chopper said.

"Alright, Mother Goose One just keep descending we'll clear a path for you."

"Okay…just stay clam Tommy."

"This'll be difficult I'll have to aim carefully," Grimm said.

"I'll go first everyone." I only one missile and some guns, so I just dropped in low and blanketed the area. Nagase followed and did the same.

"Okay Tommy those broken windmills will be our guideposts. Are you still there mame. The one with the lovely voice…miss…"

She does have a lovely voice.

"First Lt. Kei Nagase…sir," she said, almost to make a point.

"Aw, and a lovely name as well."

"And I'm Chopper." It sounded almost like a comic relief moment, you read in classic plays.

"That's a good name too," Mr. Cargo said.

"I like you man!" Chopper responded.

"If I might aloes know your name, the lead pilot…"

"I'm…" I was hesitant for some reason. I was becoming more and aware of whom I was talking too. It was one of the few times I felt intimidated in front of a superior. For a moment I was talking to Thomas again. "First Lt. Blaze…sir." Why didn't I give me supposed surname?

"Yes…Tommy's doing his best but I don't know if we'll make it. So before we go I just want to thank you," he's always so apologetic.

"You'll do fine," Grimm reassured.

"Yes…you'll be okay," Nagase echoed and I was hoping nothing more was going to happen.

"Altitude 100 feet. Almost there I think."

"Mother Goose One just keep going!" Nagase said with even more passion.

I suddenly saw myself again, falling into that water.

"That's a pretty good runway there a fine place for a landing," Mr. Cargo said.

I felt a cold on my fingers. The transport was nearly there. Almost done.

Mother Goose One…

"Mother Goose One, landing confirmed," Nagase said and someone left my cockpit.

"Are you alright, Mr. Cargo?"

I had nothing to say to him. Politics of any sort never had an effect on me then. I guess was still proud, even as the leader of Wardog Squadron.

"Uh…Yeah. That was a pretty smooth ride, actually."

"Mr. Cargo. I have question I want to ask you."

"What is it?"

"The bird of peace…did you really have to use that beautiful white bird for this war? Do you understand what I am saying?" Nagase saw it more clearly than I did, at least then.

"Yeah…"

"I wanted to see your…your bridge of peace span into outer space."

"It's still possible. Thanks to the bird, we're on even terms now. I trying to get to North Point because I believe we have a chance."

"To hold talks in neutral territory…" Nagase said.

"Right…communication is vital."

"So I can still believe in you then. I don't want to see any more young men or women lose their lives in this war," it could be said by all.

"Me neither."

The silence that ensued seemed sort of appropriate. Even Chopper couldn't come up with a quick response. Yet he was the next to speak.

"Uh-oh, I'm out of fuel."

"This is the Osean 8492nd squadron we observed the emergency lading on our radar. Can you see us? You can leave the rest to us. We'll provide support till the transport's crew is rescued."

"Roger 8492nd Look after them for us," Nagase replied.

"Sure thing."

I hate it. There was no way to have known. No of us found out the reason that squadron was there. Of course by that time it was much too late.