Disqualified From Innocence

Flying with another person in your plane is different. We're all trained in aircraft that are two seater's, but that's a different story. When the person behind you has your life in their hands just as much as you have their life in your hands, it creates an interesting dynamic. It also creates lots of conversation. Petra and I had been on private channels for a majority of our flight over to Yuktobania.

"So, you and Captain Nagase," she began after a short reprieve in our conversation as casually as she could. Which wasn't very casual at all.

"Yup," I said, hoping my terse answer would be enough to show that I still wasn't comfortable sharing details about a relationship that wasn't exactly smiled upon in military settings. It wasn't.

"What's that like?" I cleared my throat, glancing over at Kei's plane. We were still low enough to fly without oxygen masks on so I could see her large grin on her face. It seemed her and Sylvia were also having some private bonding time. I glanced over at Grimm's plane curious to see how that was going. As I peered into the cockpit of my other wing-mates plane, I saw a scene that contrasted perfectly with Kei's plane. Both Grimm and Larry seemed to be dead set on keeping their gazes forward and unflinching. It was like they were having a bearing competition with a statue four yards in front of their plane. "Come on," Petra whined, getting my attention again. "I want some details! Sylvia forced me to leave or sell all my romance novels back when we first met at basic. Something about freeing myself to the real world. It's done things to me. Things I'm not happy with."

"Well," I began, trying to think of a way to satisfy the woman without saying much. "We met when we were training at Heierlark. We made things... official after our hearing in Oured. Well, at least official between us."

"I said details, Caden. Not some generic 'how I met her' story. I gave up my romance novels. Romance. I need a fix." I didn't know what else to tell. Luckily, I didn't have to think about it much longer as we entered the operations area.

"Allied forces in the air, listen to me," the commander we would be working with said.

"Don't think this gets you off the hook," Petra said quickly. "I'll be here, waiting. The. Whole. Trip. Back." I swallowed hard as I tuned back into the ground commander. I was now dreading our return trip more than the mission right in front of us.

"The enemy sent this message to our armies," the commander said as he cleared his voice. "'This fortress will not be captured. Go back to your country.'" I didn't know about the rest of my flight, but all I heard when the message was read was a taunt to do exactly what it said couldn't be done. "All right then," the commander continued. "Let's finish this up quick so we can get home to our families. Fighters, we need you to place top priority on eliminating the threat to our ground forces, wherever it comes from. We're counting on you." As the commander clicked off his communicator, I heard other friendly forces on the ground begin to speak up.

"You know the Sand Island squadron above us? Supposedly, they're the Razgriz we keep hearing about."

"You know, in our training course, you guys got brought up a lot," Petra began during a momentary lapse in conversation among the ground forces.

"What did the instructors have to say about us?" I asked her, my curiosity piqued.

"Oh," she said, a slight chuckle coming through her voice. "It wasn't the instructors who were talking about you."

"Oh. Then what-"

"This is the third attempt," one of the ground forces interrupted. "Remember, there will be no fourth time!"

"No time for chit-chat, Caden. Now we go to work." I rolled my eyes at my CSO who now had me a little curious as to what had been talked about in her training classes. We began by targeting some of the pillboxes that lined the road leading up to the huge fortress. I could see some planes beginning to scramble off the runway that ran through the center of the large structure.

"Archer, looks like they're scrambling some of their fighters. Try to take them out before they cause too much of a hassle. Edge and I will begin to target the anti-armor instillations on the ground.

"Copy that captain."

"Edge," I called out.

"Yes, Blaze?" Kei said as she pulled up to my wingtip.

"You target forces near the perimeter of the fortress. I'll deal with anything that decides to come out and face our ground forces directly."

"Copy that," she said as she broke off to do some damage.

"Wow," one of the ground units began. "They're already further along than any of our previous support." Another one of the ground forces spoke up right after him.

"With them flying this mission, it's like we're the support for them."

"Allied planes," the ground commander began. "This is the Ferdelance Armored Brigade. Requesting orders to penetrate the fortress!"

"This Wardog one. You are cleared to enter. Designate any and all targets for tasking as soon as you're able."

"All right, roger that. Air support is with us! All Ferdelance units, forward!" From my loitering position at 500 feet, I could clearly see a long line of dark vehicles begin to enter the large structure we would be overtaking. As soon as the first vehicle entered the facility, my HUD began to light up with targets.

"Your first twenty targets out of fifty. Make that sixty. Wow, they're going crazy with those designators," Petra muttered as she began to work fiendishly behind me. I began dropping ordinance on the marked targets. Occasional anti-air defenses fired at me but were quickly taken out by Kei as she continued her over watch of the perimeter of the fortress, taking out any instillations that tried to fire at me or Grimm. Suddenly, an enemy transmission broke through.

"This is Wisna one... commence attack."

"Targeting the Razgriz and enemy strike craft."

"Captain!" Grimm spoke up, gaining my attention. "They broke through! They're coming for you and the ground forces! I tried to stop them but-"

"It's okay Archer. Kei? Can we spare a few moments to deal with the airborne threats?"

"Ground forces are cleared enough that we should be able to deal with some enemies in the air for a little while.

"Ferdelance Brigade, we're going to break off and engage airborne hostiles. Call us the moment you need air support again."

"Copy Wardog one. Give them a present from Commander Nelson for me."

"Wilco," I replied as I pulled off. There were three radar signatures coming toward Kei and I and one was twisting around with Grimm.

"What's our air-to-air capability look like Pixy?"

"Two slammers and two sidewinders," she replied quickly. "Which would you like me to arm?"

"The guns," I said, a smile sneaking on my face. I normally don't enjoy shooting down planes. But it had been a long time since we had been on the offensive, or so it felt like. On top of that, I had some pent up emotions that needed letting out.

"Blaze..." Kei began, an edge of danger in her tone.

"Chill, I'm not going to do anything crazy or suicidal," I told my wing-mate as we began to approach the oncoming enemy planes.

"I know," she said, the same unspoken threat in her voice. "You know how I know? Because if you even start to try something mildly idiotic in that plane, I won't hesitate in becoming an extra plane on your tail. And unlike so many of your fallen foes, you won't be able to shake me." A ping on my radio told me Petra was trying to contact me through the private channel. Once I let her on, she wasted no time asking a question.

"Is she serious?"

"Probably," I said as I began to cut the throttle for our engagement. "Okay Edge, you take left, I'll take right. Keep an eye out for that third guy.

"Blaze-" Kei began again but I wasn't going to keep talking with enemies so close.

"I'll be fine, just take out these planes." With a slight hesitation, Kei's plane pulled away from mine and began to pursue the enemy. I began to follow a Gripen that had broken off to the right at breakneck speeds. The small fighter was taking every advantage it could against my large F-15. We began to enter a turning war which I knew wouldn't turn out well for me, so instead, I pushed my throttle to max and began to after-burn towards the sun. The plane didn't know what had happened when I was no longer on his tail and couldn't spot me in the sun when he began to look around. It was simple enough to circle back around and perform a strafing run on the confused target.

"Edge, how are you handling your plane?"

"With finesse, as always. Unfortunately, so is the person following me."

"And you're always worrying about me," I mumbled as I began to head towards her position. I could hear Petra laugh a little and Kei must've heard one of us because she spoke up not a moment later

"What was that?"

"I've got you covered," I told her quickly as I approached her pursuer. "Break right," I called out. Once I had finished the sentence, Kei and I simultaneously executed our tasks with her breaking out of my line of fire and me firing the 20mm cannon at the small plane in front of me. Once it had disintegrated, Kei pulled back to my wing.

"That was close," she said breathing out a sigh.

"Who took out the third one," Sylvia asked suddenly.

"Third one?" I asked before realizing that we had engaged three planes, not two. Suddenly, my missile alert went off and I lost all conscious thought as my body just reacted. My red HUD wasn't a sight I was used to seeing and the color was starting to make me lose my cool. I was at maximum throttle without hitting after-burners. I didn't want to have a giant blaze in the back of my plane that the heat-seeking missile would just track harder. I yanked back on my flight stick as far as it would go and the F-15 responded surprisingly nimbly.

As I was pulled down into my seat, I glanced at the mirrors on the supports of my glass canopy. I could see the smoke trail and the source getting alarmingly close. I began to roll to the left and pulled back down on the flight stick, making the sharpest turn I could without snapping the wings off my plane. The buzzing in my headset was starting to get to me. I had never had a missile on me for this long before and my mind was starting to tell me to brace for impact.

"No offense to your evasive skills, Blaze," Petra grunted out. "But I'm deploying countermeasures."

Oh yeah. We had those. There was a large thumping sound as the plane jettisoned burning magnesium that left bright targets for the missile to track. One second afterwards, there was a deafening explosion behind us. Then without warning a second one sounded off.

"Enemy plane down," Kei said over the radio as she pulled back to my side. I didn't need to see her covered mouth to know she was smiling at our brief reversal of roles.

"Isn't this amazing, Valkyrie!" Petra called out in an awestruck tone. "It's like we're in some kind of action movie!"

"Speak fur yur self," the woman said heatedly. "I can barely look out me canopy without getten sick."

"I never understood why you chose this job," Petra said in a humored tone.

"Cause I like bloody jets!" the other woman yelled out, clearly aggravated.

"Wardog leader, this is Ferdelance," the commander on the ground interrupted mercifully. "We need your air support again. They're starting to pull out all the stops and we can't hold out much longer on our own."

"Copy Ferdelance. Wardog one and two engaging. Archer, are you good now?"

"Yes captain. I'll make sure not to let them break through again."

"Good man," I called back as me and Kei began to descend back down towards the large concrete structure. "I'll deal with units close to our allies," I told Kei when we were close to engagement distance. "You make sure they aren't able to reinforce themselves."

"Copy. And Pixy?"

"Yes?" the surprised woman asked.

"Thanks for keeping him safe," Kei said with genuine gratitude.

"He may be your man, but that doesn't mean I don't like having him around as well," Petra said in a relaxed tone. I didn't know whether to be thankful that the two women wouldn't be worried about each other anymore or upset that I was now Kei's possession. On second thought, maybe that was something to be thankful for as well...

"I've got your ground ordinance armed," Petra said pulling me back to the mission. We've got four JDAM I don't think we'll need for our flight back."

"Well let's get rid of them," I said with a tint of humor as I lined up some release points. After I had solid ground lock on four distinct targets, I released the four bombs simultaneously and surprised the enemy with a fifth kill on a tank with my guns as I strafed the ground.

"These Sand Island Guy's are impressive," one of the friendly ground units said as I looped back around for another strafing pass. As I came back around, I saw Kei's ordinance strike four different positions as well, weakening the enemy to half of their ground unit strength. I was just about to open fire on my next target when the Ferdelance tank commander spoke up rather hastily.

"BLAZE, BREAK ATTACK!" I reacted so quickly to pulling up and avoiding the kill that I heard the airframe of the fighter creak a little.

"What's wrong?" I asked as I returned to a suitable altitude.

"The enemy is surrendering. They're all coming out of their positions with hands held high." There was some indistinct chatter in the background before the commander spoke up again. "Yasmin, what's that guy saying?" More chatter and suddenly a light laugh that seemed out of place to me. Kei had joined up on my side and began to patrol the airspace with me. "The ground forces that are surrendering are saying that they know better than to resist the Razgriz. They want to see their families again. I think your job here is done, Wardog. I'm relieving you of your ground support duties."

"Well," I said after a few moments of silence. That was..."

"Unexpected," Sylvia finished for me.

"Archer," Kei called out. "Come and join back up with us. We're good to head back home now."

"Negative Captain Nagase!" Grimm said in a panicked voice. "The enemy planes are still coming!"

"What?" I asked.

"This is Lancer," Larry said speaking up for the first time since the beginning of the mission. He suddenly entered a more quiet and contemplative tone. "There had been rumors, but I had never thought they were true..."

"Care to share, Larry?" Petra asked.

"Let's just say for now, I've got some old friends here in Yuktobania. They've told me that should any units surrender, other units loyal to Yuktobania should wipe out any traitors."

"That's... How can people be so... STUPID!" Kei said in outrage.

"Crap," Grimm muttered over the radio. "Captain Irving, some of them got through again. I can't hold them all off much longer."

"Keep trying Grimm," I said over the radio. "We're coming as quickly as we can." Kei and I began to fly as quickly as we could towards Grimm's desperate struggle. He had gotten so used to flying with another person to support him, I was amazed he had been able to hold as long as he had. We arrived to find that there was four more Gripen's circling Grimm like a kettle of vultures.

"I'll focus on the ones going after the ground targets," I told Kei as we arrived on scene. "You help out Grimm and keep his six sanitized." I had brief moment of joy and then sorrow as I remembered using the same kind of language with Chopper early on and his reaction to my choice of words. Seeming to sense my change of mood, Kei spoke up quickly.

"Hey, hang in there Blaze. I'll make sure to keep Grimm safe." Then, in an effort to lighten the mood, she added, "You just be sure to not make Petra's job any hard than it has to be." I couldn't help but grin a little as I began to turn towards my first target. It was starting a low egress from the small fur-ball it had been in and was trying to sneak towards the fortress unnoticed. I began to pursue him a quickly as the lumbering F-15 would allow. We began to streak past the ground as I got below two hundred feet.

"Wow, this is fast." Petra said nervously. "And low. This is very fast and low."

"You alright there?" I asked as I began to hone my focus on the small aircraft that had just now noticed I was on its tail.

"I'm fine. Peachy. It's just-" she cut herself off as we entered the middle of the fortress the Gripen flew under the bridge and then pulled up tightly, hoping to lose me with its agility. But I knew how to make my big bird fly. I followed him with the precision of Belken made sports car. Say what you will about their attitudes towards others, but the Belken's knew how to make their performance equipment.

"It's just what?" I asked as we climbed with the Gripen. It was now the one at the disadvantage. I had two large and powerful engines pushing me against gravity while he had only one.

"It's just that, well, I'm a little frightened of heights... and high speeds." If I hadn't been so focused on the plane in front of me, I probably would've stalled out.

"What? Then why-"

"I like bloody jets! And when you're so high that you can't see the ground, it's hard to even tell you're that high or going that fast. Plus, I'm usually just looking at this instrument panel so..."

"And you're confused about Sylvia," I said in a somewhat chastising manner as I got behind the plane in a shooting position. I let loose some of the rounds and the light plane was destroyed by the monster bullets that pelted its frame.

"Blaze," Kei called over the Radio. "One more plane broke from our engagement and is heading your way. Be on the lookout."

"Thanks for the heads up," I said as I began to head back down towards the fortress. "You see him on scope?" I asked Petra.

"Yeah," she said after a moment. "They're coming in low and fast just like the other one. Of course," she added with dismay.

"You can close your eyes if you want," I suggested as I dove down to meet the plane.

"Well," the CSO said with a waiver in her voice as the ground began to rush towards us. "When I was in training, I always pretended it was just a movie and I was able to deal with it that way. Luckily the people teaching us never really caught on, so I was good." I began to pull out of the dive and chase down the plane that would be over allies and non-combatants in moments. "Of course, with your flying, that's both easier and harder to do."

"How do you mean?" I asked as we rushed back into the fortress. The plane in front of me began to weave between pillars that were being used to support a runway that went through and over the large structure.

"You're flying is just like it is in all the movies, fast and extremely precise. But then at the same time, that's what makes it a little scarier for me." The plane in front of me was continuing to go crazy all around the base. It was like he was trying to get a shot off at the ground but couldn't because I was right there on him. "Wow," Petra said suddenly.

"What?" I asked just before I grunted into an intense turn that brought us uncannily close to one of the fortress walls.

"The ground chatter," Petra said after another moment. "They're all... I'll let you hear for yourself." My headset suddenly clicked and was filled with Chanting. At first I didn't catch what the multitudes of voices were yelling but after a few seconds of my continued chase after the plane that was darting everywhere crazily, I understood.

Razgriz, Razgriz, Razgriz.

They were cheering for me. And the accent in some of the yells of the name of a terrifying demon told me it wasn't just Osean soldiers who were chanting the name either. Two peoples united, even if for a moment, in the similar objective of encouraging a protector who didn't care about sides, only about preserving the greatest amount of life. And boy was it encouragement. I decided that I had enough of dancing around. I slammed down the over ride lever for the air brake and pulled my nose up sharply to get an edge on the endless turning struggle we had entered around the fortress. It was beginning to feel like a Coliseum of old, with two gladiators facing each other down before a cheering crowd.

With my nose finally in front of the enemy, I opened fire indiscriminately, rounds impacting the wall in front of the plane before pelting the craft itself. Fuel ignited and a fireball crashed into the wall, no longer able to continue the battle. I pushed my throttle up to keep from stalling and rose back up to a comfortable altitude for both Petra and myself. The chanting had now dissolved into roars and cheers of excitement at the victory of the favored plane.

"That was one hell of a show," the ground commander said after a moment. "Even the Yukes seemed to like that one."

"Captain," Grimm said, pulling me from my warrior high. "We've finished off here. We need fuel though."

"Hey, hey!" someone called over the radio. "Stay where you are or we'll shoot!" There was a tension over the air as we only heard silence for a moment in-between transmission. Finally, a voice came from the ground again. "Sir, one of the soldiers who surrendered said that they can refuel Wardog. Said it would be the least they could do for the squadron that saved them from their own country."

"This war," Kei said solemnly over the channel used for our own flights communication. "It needs to end before we tear ourselves apart."

We landed and re-fueled at the captured base. We even were able to shake hands with a couple of the soldiers who surrendered. One of them asked the innocent question of where the fourth Razgriz was. Things were a lot quieter after that. We were all still in a relatively quiet mood when we began our return flight. Thunderhead seemed to catch on that we needed to talk, but didn't want to. So he started the conversation

"There's an allied squadron to the east of your position. "They'll guide you home for the remainder of the flight. Good work people. We're one step away from the enemy's capital. We can win this as long as you're with us. I can feel it."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence Thunderhead," I told the man as we continued on our heading.

"Those enemy pilots we fought today... I can't imagine how wonderful it would be to fly with them in peacetime." Kei's statement got me thinking. What would it be like? They had made me dance all over the place, even got the jump on me once.

"Wardog, this is the 8492nd Squadron. Can you see us? It'll be an honor for us to escort you heroes. Let's go home."

"Yeah," Grimm said after a moment of thinking. "But I'm still wondering what Captain Chopper was doing when-" Suddenly, there was a large burst of static over to radio and my radar began to fritz out.

"Petra, what's going on?" I asked my back-seater.

"Enemy ECM!" she called out to me.

"Wait a second," Grimm said over the radio, seeming to remember something extremely important. "That escort plane... oh no!"

"The 8492nd Squadron doesn't exist!" Kei said in a panic.

"Someone is trying to lead us into a trap! Just like back at the stadium!" Grimm said as he began to close ranks with Kei and I.

"Thunderhead! Thunderhead, respond!" Sylvia called out in a desperate voice, realizing that if the three experienced pilots were beginning to panic, she should be saying her final prayers.

I was saying prayers alright. But they weren't for me. The squadron in front of us had something to do with Chopper's death. Something. While I would've preferred to know exactly who had their hand in what, I was happy to settle with annihilating every single plane in front of me. Because something disqualified them from innocence. And I had no problem killing the guilty.