It was the day after the court-martial in Oured, and Blaze was just waking up in his crew room at Sand Island Naval Base. As he climbed out of his bunk, he took a look around. Eventually, he saw a piece of paper lying on the bureau that appeared to have words on it. He picked it up and found:

Edward, the seven of us are in the crew room.
When you get dressed, join us.
We have things to discuss.

-Kei

About ten minutes later, Blaze walked into the crew room to find the rest of Wardog Squadron sitting with the four Aces, chatting animatedly about…something.

"Ah, there's the man himself," pointed out Mobius 1. "Come on, man, have a seat." Blaze obliged.

"So what are you guys discussing?" asked Blaze.

"We're trying to think up squadron names in case these guys ever fly with us again," answered Chopper.

"We've already thought up a name for our squadron," put in Yellow 13, indicating himself and the other three Aces.

"I still say Morsus was a better choice," chimed Pixy.

"I don't know about that, Larry," cautioned Altman. "Pain Squadron? That just doesn't sound right."

"In any case, we have decided to call ourselves Exemplar Squadron," informed Mobius 1.

"I like it," approved Blaze. "Good twist on your status as four of the original Aces."

"At present, we're trying to think up names for when two pilots from each squadron fly together," put in Grimm.

"I have an idea for if all eight of us fly together," chimed Nagase.

"Let's hear it," chorused the other seven pilots.

"How about 'The Black Knights'?" ventured Nagase.

"I quite like that name," answered Blaze. "Good, strong title."

"Agreed," concurred Mobius 1. "What do you guys think?" Thumbs flashed up all around.

"OK," said Blaze with a determined sigh, "back to the hybrid squadrons. Don't know why, but for some reason, 'Pegasus' just bounds to the front of my mind, with 'Draco' right behind it."

"I can't think of anything better," admitted Yellow 13. The other pilots agreed.

"OK, let's go register our names," instructed Blaze, already getting up from his seat.

Ten minutes later, it was all done. The four squadrons were registered and ready for service at any time. The eight pilots were back in the crew room, discussing their missions from the previous day when:

"Pegasus Squadron pilots, report to briefing room A," a voice barked over the crackling PA. "Draco pilots, to briefing room B. Repeat, Pegasus to briefing room A, Draco to briefing room B. Immediately."

"OK, let's go," ordered Blaze. "Chopper, Grimm, go with Mobius 1 and Yellow 13 to room A. The rest of us will go to briefing room B."

"Roger that, Kid," acknowledged Chopper. "See you guys if and when you get back."

"No 'if' involved, Chopper," reprimanded Blaze. "But yes, we'll see you later on today."

Chapter 12a: Powder Keg

"I will now brief the details of your mission orders," snapped the Base Commander shortly. "That's all I have to say to you right now, people." He practically spat the last word, then went on:

"If you all really ARE innocent, then I suggest you prove it out there on the battlefield." He then stalked out of the room, and the briefing began.

We have discovered the position of a secret facility in Yuktobania
used to store ammunition.

According to our information, the base is located
deep in the jungles north of Lake Dama.

The facility is massive and contains enough ammunition to supply
a Yuktobanian ground division for a week of combat operations.

Destroy this stockpile and cut off their front-line ammunition supply.

Note that we've been getting a lot of attacks from soldiers
hiding in the dense jungles with shoulder-mounted SAMs.

They are very hard to detect from the air, so stay heads-up for
sudden attacks from these missiles when flying at low altitude.

"Dismissed!" snapped the BC's voice from out in the hall, and the four pilots left for the hangar.

Not too long after that, a tiger-striped Wyvern, a light-blue Raptor, a Yellow Terminator, and an obsidian Black Widow II with red highlights on the vertical stabilizer tips were flying over a lush, mountainous jungle region, keeping an eye out for their target.

"Geez," griped Chopper in the Wyvern, "now they got us turning right back into another battle. And this scenery definitely clashes with my Rock 'n' Roll."

"I'm just glad they're not ordering us to attack a city in retaliation for their retaliation," reminded Grimm.

"You're a real optimist," shot Chopper, "you know that? Sheesh!"

"This is Thunderhead," snapped a very familiar voice. "Cut the chatter."

"Oh," whined Chopper, "I just wish I could fly somewhere where I didn't have to listen to that voice."

"You did until yesterday," noted Grimm.

"You'll be arriving at your target area shortly," informed Thunderhead.

"Well," admitted Chopper, "I don't wanna listen to that interrogation committee at the capital, either!"

"Then let's hurry up and get this over with," put in Mobius 1, squadron leader for this mission. "Pair off and split off. Yellow 13, come with me."

"Copy that," replied Yellow 13. "Are we heading east or west?"

"We're going east," answered Mobius 1. "Chopper, Grimm, you guys head west. Destroy every enemy unit and building in sight. Good luck." With that, the four split off to take care of business.

"The actual armory is located in an underground shelter," relayed Thunderhead. "Fire missiles into the tunnel and destroy it from the inside."

Mobius 1 and Yellow 13 were now just coming up on a bend in the river, and they saw what looked like an aircraft hangar near the water. Yellow 13 took it out with two well-placed missiles.

"Mechanical parts discovered in destroyed enemy facility," reported Thunderhead. "We'll have the ground forces retrieve them later."

Meanwhile, Chopper and Grimm had come upon the first tunnel that led to the armory.

"Remember, Captain," reminded Grimm, "only firing from straight on will work. Otherwise, the missile won't make it all the way down the tunnel."

"I know," replied Chopper. "Cover me while I take the shot." He lined himself up so that the tunnel opening was directly in front of him. As he approached, he descended to an altitude that would give him the best chance of hitting the main ammo dump. But just as he was leveling off, a missile came screaming up at him from out of nowhere. He was only just barely able to evade it.

"Whoa!" cried Chopper as he made the dodge. "What the hell was that?"

"Looked like a shoulder-mounted SAM!" reported Grimm. "Enemy soldiers in the jungle! And for whatever reason, they aren't showing up on my radar!"

"This is Thunderhead," put in Thunderhead. "Our search radar is clean. We can't see the launchers!"

"Man," snarled Chopper, "you're USELESS!"

"I've got you covered, Chopper!" called out Grimm, already lined up and primed to fire.

"Don't tell me about it!" cried Chopper. "Just fire!"

But Grimm had already let a missile loose and it had disappeared into the tunnel.

"Fox Two!" he called out. Next second, there was an enormous explosion almost directly in front of them.

"This is Mobius 1," said pilot chimed in. "I heard that explosion from over here, and we're on the other side of the EZ."

"Who got a hit on a tunnel?" came the voice of Yellow 13.

"That was me, Captain," answered Grimm.

"We'll be there in a few minutes," reported Yellow 13. "James, let's move."

"Hang on to your pockets," agreed Mobius 1, "'cause here come the rockets!"

Meanwhile, Chopper and Grimm were coming up on the next tunnel.

"Take this one, Chopper!" called Grimm. "I'll cover you!"

"Roger!" answered Chopper. Lining himself up, he unleashed a missile that found its mark perfectly.

"Missile hit!" cried a Yuke ground troop on a widecast. "Tunnel 3 is in flames!"

"Room temperature rising! " yelled another one. "The ammo's gonna start going off by itself!"

"Get outta there!" screamed a third one. "You're gonna get fried!"

"The armories in this area have been destroyed," reported Thunderhead. As the pilots watched, they saw an explosion to rival a volcanic eruption in dead center of the EZ.

"Wow," marveled Chopper, "I'll bet that left a crater as big as the ones on the moon."

About five minutes afterward, and another massive explosion later, Chopper mused, "Hey, I didn't think it would blow up like that. Must be pretty bad in there. You thinking the same thing?"

"I am," answered Yellow 13.

Another ten minutes, and it was all over.

"All armories destroyed," confirmed Thunderhead. "Mission complete. Return to base."

"Well, it's over," said Chopper listlessly.

"Mission complete," added Grimm. "Let's go home."

"Grimm…" began Chopper.

"Yes, sir?" responded Grimm.

"You gotta say that with a little more feeling. At least we get to go home again today, right?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"So cheer up a little."

"You too, Captain."

"Yeah, I know…"

Back at Sand Island:

The targeted ammunition stockpile facility was destroyed.

With this operation, we have cut off one of the lifelines
of the Yuktobanian army.

Their ability to conduct operations will be reduced
across the entire nation.

"Good work today, Pegasus," said Mobius 1. "Let's go get some rest. We've all earned it."

A/N: Sorry for the short chap, but I was still a quarter stoned when I wrote out the second half of this. Besides, the other mission in this pair is much more entertaining and much easier to novelize.

Thanks to Sieben Nightwing and mercenaryflyer for suggesting squadron names and volunteering to help a struggling author out.

Special thanks to Patriot-112 for suggesting two of the four names that were used.

Very special thanks to Zan67 for a) suggesting the names for the Aces' squadron and the squadron of all eight pilots, and b) agreeing to be my beta reader for my next two AC stories (or 'sorties', if you will).

TBC…

NEXT: Four Horsemen