Alright, this is another long chapter (about 2200 words). I hope that it is decent and to your liking. If you have any problems or questions, or just simply want to say something, don't hesitate. I would love to hear what you have to say.

Enjoy...

Chapter 13: Valkyrie and Blackbird

The morning came as the sun rose unopposed into the blue-orange skies. No alarms or hostile intentions infiltrated the airbase now known as Harbormaster. Bob's eyes opened to the sight of the barrack ceiling. It was bland and grey as usual. Lazing his way out of bed, Bob made his way to the bathroom to change. Everything he did seemed slow and lethargic. He sighed a little upon exiting the bathroom; he really did feel absolutely bored. Isis was still sleeping soundly, her head buried into her pillow. Physically exhausted from last night, the two pilots had fallen asleep almost instantly after hitting the bed. Bob still felt tired, but he pushed through in case there was an emergency. He fiddled with the TV for a little and read his mail. Finally, Isis awoke. She felt no different than Bob. Rolling out of bed, she followed the same routine that Bob did. Once she was done, she stood aimlessly in the middle of the room rubbing the sleepers out of her eyes.

"Hey, you awake yet?" Bob asked sarcastically.

"Hmm? Yeah, I'm awake." Isis yawned quietly.

"Well...you don't seem awake. Anyway, I wanna go check something out. I saw something last night that caught my eye."

"Okay." Isis replied slowly.

Gathering some energy, she moved her body out the door with Bob. The cool morning air woke her right up. It was a pleasant day, calm and quiet. The base was alive with ground crew running their daily routine, conversing with each other in a laid back demeanor. The two pilots started walking over to the hangar that Bob saw last night. Just as last night, the door was still slightly opened. It was quiet inside, almost eerie. Besides that, it was dark. The light from the outside didn't seem to penetrate the wall of darkness that covered the doorway; it was just too early and the sun was on the wrong side. But, Bob had made up his mind. He made his way in slowly, Isis gripping his arm, in hopes that they wouldn't get lost; both of them looking around curiously. Isis was extremely intrigued with what Bob was leading her to.

Finally, they reached the center of the room. Bob ran into a massive wheel, almost as big as he was. Looking up, he noticed the faint figure of a massive plane. It was white from tail to tip, massive and aggressive. The nose was over ten feet off the ground, with small canards sticking out of the sides. Continuing around, Bob noted the delta wing configuration, the wing tips hinged to allow motion of some sort. In the back were six engines, all in a single line. What is it? Bob thought. Stepping back outside, Bob had some questions to ask.

The two pilots made their way to the base HQ offices. Upon entry, Bob was greeted by one of the secretaries who directed him to William's office.

"Hey, Will...you mind tellin' me what was in Hangar 10?" Bob asked

"Well, good morning to you as well…" William replied "Anyway, there isn't anything in hangar 10 of major importance. It is a 'junk shed' if you will."

"Of no major importance? So that massive plane I saw was just a pile of garbage?"

"Well, no…" William began to get nervous for some reason.

"Then what…"

"Bob, c'mon. Give him a break." Isis interrupted. With that, Bob backed off.

"If you give me a minute, I can explain." William collected his thoughts. "That plane is as old as the E-767 we previously used. It is Ian's pet project, and he is quite secretive about it. I'll just call him in." While William called Ian over an intercom, Bob thought back to what he had seen. In a few minutes time, Ian made his way through the door.

"You rang, sir?" Ian asked

"Yes, I did. I think it is about time you tell these two about your secret project." William responded

"You think so?"

"I do. These two already know it exists. They discovered it this morning."

"I see…well, if you must know..." Ian turned to the two pilots, who were waiting eagerly to hear what Ian had to say. "The plane in that hangar is old...older than you think. You see, about fifty years ago, a project was started to develop a tactical bomber that could outrun any interceptor. The project was supported by many countries. In the end, only one design remained. This was the XB-70, the brainchild of the North Osean Aviation Company. NOAC is now a part of General Resource, by the way. That plane saw service in the Osean Air Defense Force, the Estovakian Air Force, and the Belkan Air Force. The one you saw in the hangar was from the Osean Third Air Force, 56th Bomb Wing, 6th Operations Group. However, the real interesting part is that I have finally gotten it to work. I don't know if it can reach its old top speed of mach three, but that doesn't matter."

"Hold on…" Bob interrupted "Where is this going?"

"If you would let me finish...anyway, I was hoping that you two could test fly it for me. I was going to ask soon anyway."

"That beast? Are you sure?"

"Hey, I worked on it! You will be fine."

"That doesn't sound very reassuring…"

"It's fine, it's fine. C'mon, we can go get ready now!" Ian pushed the two out the door.

He seemed a lot more energetic that he had when he came into the room. When they returned to the hangar, Ian signaled some of the ground crew to assist in preparations. The Valkyrie was ready in about a half hour, with the ground crew working flat out. Isis and Bob were over getting suited up for the mission in the meanwhile. It took some time, but eventually the whole thing was ready to go. A massive staircase was used to let the pilots reach the door. Climbing into the bomber, the two pilots sat down in their seats. There wasn't much space in those seats, as they also acted as the escape pods. Ignoring the cramped space, Bob started up the six engines and moved the massive aircraft out of the hangar. Taxiing to the runway was difficult. Bob had to turn much later than it appeared because the nose of the plane stretched over 20 feet in front of the front landing gear. Finally lining up on the runway, it was time to take off. Bob brought the throttle to full afterburner and accelerated down the runway. The aircraft lifted off the runway with minimal space left. Now in the air, Bob and Isis learned just how heavy the aircraft was. It was very sluggish in comparison to a Falken, but it flew extremely smoothly.

Once he had gotten the hand of the flight dynamics, Bob started to climb to altitude. He was being told what maneuvers and speeds to travel at by Ian, who was dictating the test flight from on the ground. With the flight going smoothly, Ian began to feel proud of his work. Accelerating and decelerating; ascending and descending; banking and yawing: everything was tested and was working. However, a problem arose at the base.

"Attention Valkyrie Test Flight! Situation developing within base airspace. Return to base immediately and return to your fighters." Will's voice came over the radio.

"This is Valkyrie, what is going on?!" Bob responded.

"We have an aircraft hijacking in progress. RTB at once!"

"We don't have time to intercept from our fighters then!"

"What are you planning on doing?"

Bob didn't respond. Bob turned the massive bomber around and returned to Harbormaster. Scanning the skies, Isis noticed a Typhoon EF-2000 flying recklessly over the base.

"Found it!" Isis said with a sense of accomplishment.

"I see it." Bob said as he pulled the controls of the bomber. The nose was now pointing directly at the EF-2000. Bob noted the pilots flying ability. Not bad...not bad at all he thought. Pulling along side the EF-2000, Bob spoke over an open channel.

"Unknown pilot, you are in UPEO property. Your presence here and actions taken are highly illegal. Land this aircraft now or you will be shot down." Bob concluded. Obviously not by me… he thought.

The massive presence of the bomber caused the pilot to become scared. The pilot complied and landed the EF-2000. Bob took a breath, he was happy that was over. Checking his instruments one last time, Bob made his way down to the runway. He taxied back to the hangar and allowed the ground crew to put the aircraft back inside.

As he was leaving, Bob noticed Ian yelling at someone. Is he yelling at that pilot? Bob and Isis went over to investigate. Coming around the corner, the two pilots saw who Ian was yelling at. She was no larger than Isis, maybe a little shorter. Her hair was a dirty-blonde with crystal blue eyes that glimmered in the fading light (unlike Isis who had black hair and silver eyes). She didn't look very old either, no older than 20. Even though Ian was yelling at the top of his lungs, she just stood there with one of those "oops" smiles, scratching at the back of her head. She noticed Bob and Isis as the rounded the corner. Running past Ian, she stopped just in front of Bob.

"What is going on?" Bob asked.

"This girl is the one who was piloting that EF-2000. We need her to be arrested!" Ian replied angrily.

The girl pilot looked up at Bob. Her face had gone from a sarcastic "my bad" to a "please help me!" Does she see something in me? Bob asked himself. However, that question didn't stop him from thinking straight.

"Ian...you need to calm down. From what I saw, she has skill in flying an aircraft, and plenty of potential. I will not allow you to have her arrested, because she is now part of my squadron. I will make sure she doesn't get in trouble any more!"

Ian would have argued, but Bob sounded serious. Besides that, Bob was larger than Ian was, and younger. Ian wouldn't stand a chance. Backing off, Ian left the scene.

"Now then…" Bob turned his attention to the young girl "...who exactly are you?"

"Hehe...I guess I haven't introduced myself. I'm Katja Amsel! I'm 19 and was born in Belka on the fifteenth of August!" She had a lot of energy as she spoke.

"Well, it is nice to meet you…" Isis stepped forward "...My name is Isis!"

"And I am Bob Lankau. Welcome to North Point."

The three started walking back towards the barracks. Not soon after leaving Katja started to yawn.

"I'm tired. Where can I sleep?" Katja asked.

"You can stay with us!" Isis exclaimed happily.

"We only have...I will just go talk to Will about it. You two go on ahead."

"Okay." The two said in unison. With that, Bob separated from the group. Isis and Katja continued walking towards barrack 118 while Bob went off to the HQ to speak with William. Arriving at the barrack the two made their way inside.

"Huh? There is only one bed?" Katja was curious.

"Well, technically there are two beds...they are just pushed together." Isis responded, hesitantly.

"Pushed together?" Katja smirked "...What have you two been doing?"

"No-Nothing...we haven't done anything." Isis responded, her face glowing bright red. The two continued to joke around and talk with each other. Bob and William soon walked in. William stepped forward. Clearing his throat William began to speak.

"Katja Amsel...I am the base commander here. My name is William Thomas. Bob here has told me about you and your actions today. Bob trusts you, so I will not have you arrested. However, you must now serve UPEO and fight alongside us. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir." Katja responded. She didn't seem very upset.

"Good..." William concluded. Two men carried another bed into the barrack. All three of the men left the room, leaving the pilots inside. Katja went into the bathroom to change, and Isis gathered all the bedding material Katja would need from a closet room. Isis turned to Bob.

"Why did you help her back there?" Isis asked

"I don't know. She had good skills, but I'm not sure exactly why I did it." Bob replied. Isis pondered on something.

"We should do something nice for her tomorrow, if we can find the time."

"Sounds good. We could all use a break anyway."

Time passed and all three pilots washed up, ate dinner in the mess hall, and went to sleep after watching some TV. Almost asleep, Bob heard a familiar grinding on the floor of the barrack. Opening his eyes he met those of a young Belkan staring back at him.

"Good night." Katja smiled and closed her eyes. Bob shook his head.

"Oh, boy…" Bob exhaled quietly.

Rolling on his back, Bob went to back to trying to sleep. What tomorrow would bring being the only thing on his mind. Who is going to strike next...and when? Bob could only think of the war, even though he didn't want to. But then he remembered that he wasn't alone. He and Isis were now joined by another pilot. This fact comforted Bob, as he looked to his left and right. Closing his eyes, he awaited the morning and whatever events it brought with it.

A/N: The XB-70 may or may not be used later in the story. I only put it in as a filler to progress the story and add content (or else this chapter would be 1000 words long).

2nd A/N: Katja is pronounced "Cat-Ya" and is a "pet name" form of Katherine. Amsel is a German last name meaning "Blackbird". This is not only a real last name, but a pun on the aviation theme connected with Katja's personality. The Blackbird was the SR-71, the fastest manned plane ever flown. Katja is an energetic young girl who lives a fast changing life (or something like that).

3rd A/N: I am starting to think that the fact that all the beds are pushed together is going to annoy all of you. Want me to change it? Please, do ask. I am only doing it because it adds future plot points (or in theory anyway...)

Well...that's all for now.