Note: And here is the penultimate chapter. One more baby...but just so you know, there will be a sequel to this story. There is one direct reference to my previous fanfic, "Confessions of a Belkan Ace". Though it kinda gives away a major twist in it, but it was necessary to the fic. I would recommend reading it, but this fic dwarfs my previous one in terms of detail. Now, keep in mind that there other references peppered throughout this fic, but these two stories are not direct continuations of each other...they're just little homages.

Chapter 29: The Death of Crows

"Are we simply here to destroy each other, destroy our cities, destroy our culture, destroy our souls...all in the name of winning? And for what? That is what war fails to answer...and yet...we still fight it. For some people, the war is merely mental. For so many unlucky ones the shooting war still goes on...even when the official hatred ends." - Sienna Blutarch

Vastos, Versua

January 12, 2017

0800 hrs

Blaze hadn't been the same since meeting that Blutarch fellow. He tried to disbelieve what he heard from him. That couldn't be possible. Why would Lauren, of all people, kill herself, even after the tragedies she suffered? However, that seemed a naive question. After his own digging, he discovered that was in fact the cold truth.

Lauren Weiss had taken her own life.

The truth was that it was never reported to the proper area of the military, not even the Allied publications. That seemed like a case of what Kei called, "absurd negligence". However, that may not have been the entire story. At least it was better than the "mistaken death" incident during the war in Yuktobania where a soldier was killed by friendly fire and it was reported as a KIA from enemy fire. David never forgot the crap storm that created. There were many other apocryphal examples, but that one stood out from the rest.

Kei had wisely given her husband distance at first, but she could hardly leave him to his own grief. Then again, Kei still had the same grief. There were times where she would just think about it for a few seconds and could not stop her own tears for a few minutes. There was a time where she tried to keep strong during these terrible events, after that "incident" when they were just nuggets. The first mission she ever flew on where all those other pilots were killed.

After the encounter with Bartlett, she couldn't keep the hardened look she had when she posed for that picture Albert Genette took. One of the other reserves caught her crying, someone she'd hated since training. Kei had forgotten his name, but he was one of those Alpha-male, annoying, tough guy pilots that made Comorance very tolerable in comparison. But not even Comorance would have said what this man said to her. Kei couldn't even repeat those horrible words in her mind, especially when we called her...a certain part of her anatomy. And he was being kind when he said that; he called her weak; a person not fit for combat.

It was then that a man close to Kei's age came and stopped the issue dead cold. This particular young man wasn't intimidated by this aggressive gentleman, to be polite. The younger, calmer, more imperturbable man resolved the issue with the belligerent, chauvinistic man with one simple wager. Bartlett had made Nagase his wing. He had to pick the two pilots to go with him on patrol the following day.

"You know what? You spend so much time talking about how much you're better than everyone else. I'll bet you twenty bucks that I'm on the next mission and you're not." the man said.

The other man accepted. The other man was not on the mission. The one who stuck up for Kei was on it. Of course, Kei already knew who the winner was. She'd respected him for a long time for his penchant to always show up when it mattered most. That man was Blaze...of course. It was not that moment she fell in love with that man however. It was the first time she realized that he was worth going to mat for, even if it meant death...even more than any other comrade she had.

It was sort of the way she felt now about Sueltana Devia. Even though it wasn't official, this bright Yuke girl was a member of their family now. Wardog was all this girl had now anyway, and there was no one that did not want her company.

"Hi!" she said, coming into their room. Sueltana had reverted back to the raccoon style mascara this time, a sight that made both David and Kei laugh when they saw it. However, David was off walking around the base and judging by the bead or two of sweat that was on her face, as well as her deeper breathing...Kei deduced that she'd been looking for David.

"Hey." Kei said in response.

The girl looked to the right of Kei and saw the painting this woman had given David for a late birthday present. Up until now, the Yuke girl had not seen the picture. She stared at it with an attention unlike anything else. Kei said nothing as she watched the girl stare right at the photo. It didn't seem like she was only interested in the portion of the painting where the girl was represented. She took notice the entire painting in sheer amazement.

"Wow, that's pretty. Did you paint that?" Sueltana asked.

"No, a friend of mine did it for me back home. My husband loved it." said Kei with a smile.

After a long period of looking at the poster, Sueltana asked a different question, which was a unique character quirk she had; the ability to seamlessly change a subject.

"Where do you live...I mean...in Osea or wherever?" the girl asked.

"Oh...we lived in this town called St. Helene. It's a little place with only a few hundred people. It's nice. It's very beautiful with rolling hills and a beautiful river nearby." said Kei. Kei did not need to embellish her place of living for this kid. She knew that St. Helene was a beautiful place.

"I see. Do you hate the city? My mother hated the city. She said it was too loud and dirty, and that's what I remember about it." said the Yuke girl.

"I see. It's not that we hate the city, it's just we don't like a lot of people living around us." Kei quickly replied.

"Do you have a nice house?" said Sueltana.

Kei laughed out loud. Sueltana had a bit of acceptable vanity to her; of course, she was a girl after all.

"Well, it's a small house, but we keep it nice. I just hope its that way when we get home. Someone's supposed to be watching the house, but we don't know who...I think its one of Mr. Jackson's men." said Kei.

Sueltana then brought up an interesting point.

"That other lady, the tan, pretty woman that came from the south...she hates Mr. Jackson. She called him all kinds of curse words to her husband." said Sueltana.

Kei wondered at first, and then knew she was referring to Sasha. Kei arched an eyebrow for a mere second as she wondered what point of contention they had. Kei thought her move to the rear was for the same reasons that Wardog was moved to the rear. She had no idea about the Tenenbaum incident however, nor did she consider that Sasha was keeping her mouth shut for a reason.

"Yeah, she hates him. I don't like him, but I don't hate him." said Kei. But that was a bold faced lie. Nagase hated Jackson as much as Sasha Masson...if not more.

That was one other hope for the end of this war...so she wouldn't have to do deal with that manipulative man again.

"Hey." said a obviously familiar voice. Both girls turned on a dime and saw David walking into the room. He passed Sueltana, rubbing his hand on her hair again. However, this time Sueltana was a bit annoyed as she spent a lot of time combing that black hair of hers. David just cracked a small laugh. He sat down beside Kei and faced her as if he were on a park bench.

"Hey. So...word around the campfire is that the raid's going down at 1200 tonight." said David.

"What's going on?" the Yuke girl asked.

"Well, a bunch of soldiers are going to invade the Casta Alde, where Versua's leaders are and capture them. And that will be all she wrote. The war will be over." said David.

"Really? Wow...just like that?" Sueltana asked in a confused tone.

Sueltana had a point. Wars didn't just end overnight; however, she was not quite cognizant of the idea of figurative sense. It was more of an ideal, a dream...but it was a dream that was plausible. Of course, David had seen just about everything. Flying spaceships, lasers weapons, electromagnetic weapons, airships, falling satellites, flying underground twice...so just about anything was possible.

"I hope. I really do. I've kept hope for a long time in the face of all this craziness. I just hope it holds up."

"So...you're hoping for...hope, right?" Sueltana said while laughing. "That doesn't make any sense!"

"Oh, I think it makes much more sense than you think. You won't understand that until you are an adult...but sometimes we need a little dreaming in our lives." said David.

David thought a lot about that statement. It was good to have a dream...but it would never bring back the people he missed so dearly. Now he found himself being angry at the dead Lauren for the first time. But he quickly dismissed it knowing how futile it was. He'd been indifferent most of the time he was here for the plight all around him...just for the goal of avenging his daughter's death. Now that he'd finished his duty...the only thing he wanted to do was go back to St. Helene and restart the peaceful life he and his wife had worked so hard for...and nearly died for. It was a life so many had given their lives for recently and in the war with Yuktobania. David and Kei vowed during the day they married that they would be eternally in their debt.

Casta van Alde

Clavis, Verusa

January 12, 2016

0800 hrs

The Black Castle had been a silent place for a long while. For the Versuans, the darkest hour of the war had come. They still held onto Ciudad, but the Clavis region was falling to the Allies. Within a few days they would be within striking distance of the castle. With no Dispater to hold them back, it seemed like the end was near. Ignis had requested a meeting with Percival and Teslat in the lower levels of the castle early that morning.

As William Masson did towards the end of his life, Portia Masson was becoming far too unglued. But at this point, a coup would be useless. They'd be delaying the inevitable. The only question was...what would happen?

Percival, Ignis and Teslat met in the bowels of the castle as Portia's insane rambling became almost impossible to deal with. Approaching Portia now was almost suicide as she could have killed anyone she saw. She considered them all incompetent and everything seemed meaningless to her. Portia was lost to everyone now as the last days of the White Crow regime were no doubt here. Percival seemed rather melancholy.

"So I guess the dream is dead after all." said Percival.

"No, not for us...unless you want it too." said Ignis.

"I admired Zorba and Makin for what they did. However, I do not wish to be a martyr." said Percival.

"Well...there is some value in that. But killing ourselves won't solve the problem." replied

"At this point, what can?" Teslat added.

"Well, I do have an idea as to that."

"So we go and forge a new life somewhere in the world where there is always trouble. The only question is how do we do it? There is nowhere we can run easily."

"That fact was not lost on me. Time is the essential factor here...and time is against us." said Ignis.

"The allies are coming for us. With no Dispater to keep them at bay, they'll come on with a vengeance and possibly kill of us." Teslat added with a sense of urgency.

"I'm afraid there is a bigger problem than that. I've received intelligence that Osean Special Forces are only a day or two away from conducting a full scale raid of this place. Their intentions are obvious...to kill or capture us." said Ignis.

"No sense in figuring out how you found out about that...the question is...what did you want to show us General?" said Percival with a cocky demeanor and an arched eyebrow.

Ignis uncovered a tarp with what looked like a large box underneath. As he did, it was in fact a large container covered with bio-hazard symbols.

"This...is our ticket to freedom." said Ignis.

Ignis then opened the massive container...and in it were two, black colored, triangular shaped devices that were the size as the massive doors inside the castle. On the devices were stickers and warning panels and along the side of the two devices were the same word written in blood-red ink: PANDORA-220.

"What the? Are these...what I think they are?!" Teslat shouted.

"Actually, no...they're not nuclear warheads. I give you the Mark 220 Pandora. This weapon was used by a faction of Osean pilots, who after losing many comrades and family during the Belkan invasion of Osea in 1995, went insane and started running amok. They used this weapon against Belkan civilians. In one particular case, an entire city was destroyed this weapon. The members of the faction were killed or captured by a unusual Belkan/Allied alliance. Zorba actually brought these here with her from Grunder Industries. But, most of them were in disrepair. We've been tinkering with these...and we've created a new weapon. A new weapon that countries are already bidding on." said Ignis.

Percival was angry now. Now he knew what Ignis had been doing all this time! He'd been trying to secure his own future and follow his own agenda rather than help the cause!

"You're selling these?! To whom...and what good does that do us?!" Percival shouted, pointing his pistol right at Ignis' face. Ignis didn't panic at all because he knew that Percival wasn't going to shoot him. He simply pushed the pistol out of his face and as expected, Percival calmed down once he heard the news.

"Well, there were some people in Estovakia who were interested in these. I had to trade with them some supplies to finish the Azazael." said Ignis.

"Hmph, fat lot of good that did." said Teslat with a barbed voice.

"But, I imagine those same people are interested in what we can bring to the table." said Ignis.

Ignis did have a point. Percival put the pistol away and thought about it. He fled the Dispater's doom so he could live to fight another day. Was this truly any different?

"What about Portia?" Percival asked.

"To hell with her. That woman's lost her mind since the Dispater went under. We're the ones who need to keep one step ahead of everyone. Besides...I don't think any of us want to face that scene in some High Court in Oured and get life in some maximum security pen...or worse, the electric chair." said Ignis.

"Well then...I guess to ourselves we must be true. But where do we go? Estovakia? Belka? Yuktobania?" asked Teslat.

"We'd be killed in Yuktobania and Belka's still rebuilding. Estovakia is the only possible place we can go." said Ignis.

"Fine then...I guess we'd better learn the language." said Percival. "But how do we get these out of the castle?"

Percival pointed to the Pandora bombs. Ignis shook his head.

"Oh...we don't need to get them out. We're going to use them...as a little surprise gift for the Special Forces coming to kill us..." said Ignis before stopping himself. "Actually, I have aside to that...let's use Portia for this one. It's her they want...it's her they'll get...and a massive present in the form of these Pandoras!"

Bright Hill

Oured, Osea

January 12, 2017

1900 hrs

President Mary Cohen sat in the Oval Office waiting for word from her man in Versua. This powerful woman had accepted all the criticism and thrown it right back at her enemies. At this point, all the critics and their foolish words had become white noise. Cohen was literally on Cloud Nine when she heard the news about the Dispater being destroyed. She was so jazzed up from the news that she nearly danced on top of her desk in the Oval Office had it not been for the fact that she was in a meeting with the Cabinet. Despite whatever apathy she had for the Versuan people, she knew that brave action by Wardog's elite had saved millions of lives on both sides.

Despite that contempt she had for her predecessor, Vincent Harling, she knew he knew that Lovecraft gentleman. That man had a real knack for clutch performances. Lucien's gamble had paid off. He'd sent them to the rear on his personal edict, which was not a bad idea considering they were an insurance policy anyway. Speaking of Jackson...

One major issue was Jackson's handling of the Tenenbaum situation. He'd done his job, but he'd handled it in an extremely poor and unprofessional manner. Cohen gambled that it had something to do with Jacksons's own super-patriotism and his own contempt for the Versuan people. But this was something different. He'd gotten into a spate with Sasha Masson and killed Tenenbaum and his men right in front of her to make a point. Jackson had always done good work. Cohen understood the brutal and deadly work he did for Osea's safety; however, to abandon discipline to make things personal was unacceptable.

Cohen knew that this could be a public relations nightmare if Sasha went public. Then again, Jackson and the men of Section Seven were not beholden to the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice) or the North Point Convention rules regarding prisoners of war. In the era after the Belkan War, the liberals held them accountable for those rules...and Cohen knew that red tape indirectly led to two rather obvious and historically significant wars in 2004 and 2010. Then again, who the hell was Sasha going to run to?

Mary Cohen could not punish Jackson too harshly for his role in the "incident". To do so would have made Cohen a hypocrite. Mary Cohen herself had made the war personal. There was plenty of politics involved and no one could say otherwise who knew the entire story.

Cohen and Section Seven knew what was really going in Versua. There were still plenty of White Crow supporters in Versua. It was one important fact that remained censored from the media. Versua was going to be a hot bed of racial and social tension after the war was over...and that was only if they were lucky enough to avoid full on civil war.

That meant garrisoning in Versua...that mean lower approval ratings...that meant far too much heat from the Madam President's constituents...that meant not getting reelected. That, more importantly, meant letting the liberals take control of Osea. That meant the military going into the tank again. That meant the military being incompetent again. That meant more money for useless environmental projects...

She'd shoot herself in the head before she let that happen again. But, it was a reality, so at least Cohen wanted delaying the inevitable.

But there was one other reason she'd made the decisions she did: the Osean people. The force the Yukes committed were scaling back due to trouble at home. The Sotoan government was historically flaky; that fact did their military a major disservice as they fought extremely hard and took many casualties. The fact that anti-Allied insurgency was more than possible was carefully edited from the news. The last thing this nation needed was for their soldiers to have to fight irregular troops. That meant car bombs, IED-laden booby traps, roadside bombs, suicide attacks...

Mary Cohen's oldest son was fifteen and wanted to join the military when he left high school. She had nightmares of him dying from one of those attacks, garrisoning a meaningless third world country four years from now. She'd shoot herself in the head before she let that happen on her watch.

As the nightmare passed and she shook from the mere thought of it, her "special" cell phone range. It was Lucien.

"Madam President," Jackson said, "Operation Eclipse is go. All we need you to do is pull the trigger."

There was nothing she could do to prevent a civil war at the present time. The only thing she could do was to capture the White Crow's leadership to at least make sure those lunatics were convicted...or killed.

"Do it. Extreme prejudice authorized." said Cohen.

"Gladly. Let's hope for the best...or at least hope the targets don't fly the coop." said Jackson.

"God, I hope not." said Cohen.

The President hung up the phone, got up out of her chair and looked into the distance of Oured's city lights. Thousands of lives had been lost to this war due to the actions of two very different governments. Cohen knew the choices she and her Black Ops teams had made were going to affect millions of lives on all sides. If Versua changed for the better, fine...if not, she at least hoped Osea would not complain if they got their troops back. However, that seemed strange given the fact that so many supported the war. How fickle people can be...

Vastos, Versua

January 12, 2017

1400 hrs

Andrew Fisch was an anomaly in Wardog. Then again, he was an anomaly in any squadron. Though he was less of one than Lillian Izzo was, he was still someone who just didn't seem to belong in a fighter squadron. At least, that was the way that Ammon Kaida pictured him. Fisch was a simple guy with simple desires. He wanted four things: he wanted to fight in combat, he wanted to get drunk, he wanted to gamble, and he wanted get laid every night. He had a hell of a lot less complexities than Izzo had. In a strange way, Kaida thought that Fisch was actually more like Alex Haari in his maverick style of life. Izzo had a Xalia-like quality to her personality.

Kaida had been initially upset at he and his comrades being sent to the rear like prisoners, but that Lucien Jackson fellow claimed it was for security reasons. At least he apologized, which was more than Kaida expected. Sasha thought he was a total prick, which was the most civil thing she said about him. She even shockingly referred to him with a series of certain ten and eleven letter word curse words not even the foul mouthed Jaklyn had ever used. She even called Jackson a word that she invented...a compound word so foul, so horribly acidic that it made everyone cringe. That was the rare, nasty side of Sasha few ever saw. However, most of the time...she'd come up with some witty, intelligence-driven comeback. But her at happiest, she was a joy to be around.

But now, Kaida was not around Sasha. He'd been walking around the base for awhile and found the quarters of Andrew Fisch. He'd wanted to know more about the people of Wardog and peppered them with questions and for the most part, they'd played along very well. Kaida always figured the Osean pilots to be just like the men and women he served with. It was no surprise since Kaida lived in Osea for a time. Then again, he already had the book on Andrew Fisch, short as it was. By comparison, the complex Lillian, Kei and David were novels. But Fisch had actually beckoned Kaida into his room upon seeing him. He was reading some pamphlet at the time.

"Hey! I'm starting up a poker game with some of the officers from the 302nd. Want to play some cards?" asked Fisch.

Kaida shook his head. It wasn't that Kaida hated cards; he was just considered himself a more refined gambler.

"No, I'm more of a craps guy." said Kaida.

"Really? Hell, we should go to Vegas sometime. I know some people there and they can hook us up. I also know where all the really good hotels are, with slots, blackjack, poker, roulette, craps, booking places...the works." said Fisch.

Kaida came into the room and sat down on one of the chairs in the room.

"So what was it like? Being up there while you were fighting us?" Fisch suddenly asked. Kaida was not taken aback as he'd been asked this question a number of times.

"What was it like? It was like...being a phone booth with bees all around you just stinging the crap out of me. Then I'd get out and have a swarm chasing me. No matter where I ran they were all over me. How's that?" said Kaida. Fisch laughed.

"Much less graphic than weeks ago when Lovecraft was telling me about the first time he was in combat. He was making references to slitting his wrists...wait...that's kind of ironic." said Fisch, before trailing off...fully aware of the personal issues going on in the lives of that married couple. There was a long period of silence between the two.

"What are you going to do when this war is over?" asked Kaida. Fisch was not taken aback as he'd been asked this question a number of times.

"Go to Vegas, get some hookers and drop my hazard pay on the blackjack table..." said Fisch. But Kaida cut him off.

"I mean, after-after. I mean...are you going to stay where you're at or...look for new opportunities?" asked Kaida.

Fisch was taken aback this time as most never asked him in-depth questions as they knew Fisch was a one dimensional guy. Fisch never denied it as he never wanted to lie to himself. He liked being one-dimensional...it was so much easier to live.

"Well, I don't want to give up flying. But they rejected my re-app, so that's it for me. I get my full honorable discharge papers two weeks after I get back. But after that's over..." Fisch said, pulling out the brochure he was reading. On it was a name marked "Spade Six".

"What is this?" said Kaida, as he looked at the pamphlet.

"Rather than ask you the same question...I'm showing you this. This company has great opportunities for flying man. I give you...the Spade Six Corporation. A publicly traded mercenary company...that's almost unheard of. From what I've heard they've got a fierce indoc and training regimen...but the pay is out of this world." said Kaida.

"Publicly traded...are you kidding me? You mean...people can buy stock in this company? Are you kidding me?" Kaida said incredulous.

"It's a good solution for you man. Because...let's be honest man, this country's ain't exactly going to be a four star venue when this war ends. Not that it ever was...no offense." Fisch said.

"None taken." Kaida replied.

"You're not seriously thinking of joining them are you?" said a familiar voice.

Fisch and Kaida looked to their right and saw Cormorance standing in the doorway. Cormorance was not too amused by the musings of Fisch as he knew Andrew like an open book. Cormorance thought the entire mercenary act was a wash, but it seemed that Andrew had taken some initiative and backed up his words.

"Well, yeah. I got nothing after this war's over." Fisch added in a dismissive tone.

"...you mean nothing after going to booking places and getting plastered in some bar, trying to hook up with some guy's wife for the seventh time?" added Alou.

"Well, that's what Polly wanted to do...but...nevermind." said Fisch, his tone less than humorous.

Fisch really didn't like talking about Polly dying. Fisch still hadn't forgotten about it, even if his demeanor and his antics said otherwise. In reality, no one had forgotten the dead...they'd just had no time to mourn with all the action.

"Trust me man. If you join one of those merc groups...your reputation is going to take a huge hit. I can already tell you that very few regular air force guys like the mercs." said Cormorance.

"So what? I'll be making all kinds of money. They can't say a thing to affect me when I'm rich." dismissed Fisch.

"Assuming, of course, you survive long enough to get rich." Kaida said.

"Oh come on, we've survived a lot. I mean, these guys get some intense missions...but we've been on some intense missions ourselves...right?" said Fisch, nudging Kaida.

"I guess. I don't know. There may not be much left after this war's over and for all my intellect, flying's the only thing I've done." said Kaida.

"Apart from Jaklyn-I mean...other things?" said Fisch, concluding the Freudian slip with a wink and a smile.

Kaida said nothing, only nodding his head in response; he then turned his gaze down the hall to where he heard laughing. Kaida recognized the sound of Sasha's distinct nasal laughter. He smiled then shook his head. As their own problems, they agreed to let the war end and then finally hash out their marital problem, which was all Kaida's fault anyway.

"What about that girl you're always hanging out with, or your other buddies for that matter; I say we go down to the office and get them signed up." said Fisch.

"No...They wouldn't last six months. Jaklyn maybe, but Mendenhall, Emmanuelle and Othello are liabilities. I've seen them and they're not anything special." said, oddly, Cormorance.

Even more oddly, Kaida didn't object to the open and harsh criticism that Comorance Alou made about his comrades, much less Jaklyn. Kaida didn't know much about Wardog, but he knew that men like Cormorance were highly skilled men...just as Comorance Alou always had been. Kaida never once brought up the association he had with Comorance back in Osea since Alou would more than likely not remember. Then again, it was a non-issue just as the real identities of Lovecraft and Nagase were. Kaida always thought that was a bit of a shocker. Then again, they had other issues to be concerned about...and since they were already a talented group without the remaining members of the Razgriz it was no surprise it became a non-issue. It was amazing to Kaida that this group was so tightly knit considering they'd been cobbled together only weeks before the war.

Meanwhile, Sasha was sitting next to Lillian down the hall in the "designated squadron room". Neither Sasha nor Lillian realized it at the time, but both were about to imitate an encounter just two days ago. They'd already been talking for some time and they were laughing and joking as if they'd been the longest of friends. For Sasha, the death of Xalia had been fresh in her mind. However, her death had not been in vain...which was why she could laugh and joke now. She was not in total mourning. Sasha thought she'd never have to mourn for her sister as long as she died doing something important...the way she wanted to go. Xalia died on her own terms and she died the way she wished as well. Sasha was proud of her sister, and the pain was minimal.

Instead of being sad, she was laughing her head off talking about a rather humorous story involving the late Polly Elbe.

"...so then she says, 'I'll give you something to play with pal!'...and she just throws down, there's this big fight..." began Lillian. By the end of the story, Lillian and Sasha were laughing so hard they almost fell over.

"Oh my god, you fly with these people?" asked a humored Sasha.

"Well, flew but...you know what I mean." said Lillian trailing off, not wanting to talk about Polly.

Both sat near each other in an awkward pause, then for whatever reason, Sasha started laughing again. Lillian found her laughter to be infectious and then Lillian did something very odd. Sasha tried to talk, but she couldn't because she was laughing to the point where she could barely breathe.

"I'll give you something to play..." Sasha struggled to repeat Lillian's words while laughing her head off almost to the point of rolling on the floor and crying.

Lillian leaned over while laughing herself and pulled Sasha's head to her shoulder in some show of friendly affection...but then overcompensated and kissed Sasha on the forehead. It was not some pecking kiss...Lillian held it for a few seconds. The odd thing was that Sasha did not recoil in disgust like some women would. Sasha recoiled in sheer embarrassment and surprise.

"Okay...wow." said Sasha.

Lillian had the "what the hell am I doing" lookon her rather shocked face. She couldn't believe what she did.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry...I got out of control...I didn't mean to do that..." said Lillian. Sasha laughed.

"No, I not mad...I'm just a little taken aback. Are you like this to everyone?" asked Sasha.

"Well...yeah. You don't think I'm a freak now do you?" said Lillian, still a bit embarrassed. However, Sasha laughed it off.

"Well, you are odd, I will admit. But, I'm in no position to judge anyone at this point." said Sasha.

"Well, it's good to know someone else other than these guys likes what I am. Back home, no one else did. That's why I ended up here. No one wanted me around their squad. At first I thought it was because I was woman...yet I showed up and did everything well. Hell, most of the times I did better than everyone else. For two years I just drifted around, no one appreciating my talents." said Lillian, telling her air force story.

"Well, that's not fair! They can't treat you differently because you're unique and do the same thing everyone else does." said Sasha.

"It was unbelievable...every time I kept hearing something like this..." Lillian began before shifting into an uppity, sophisticated sounding voice, "...oh my God, this woman collects spiders. She can't possibly be a good pilot."

"I guess you're lucky you did end up with these people. From what I understand...they found a diamond in the rough. You're stronger than I ever was." said Sasha, fully aware of the words Tenenbaum had said to her long before. Lillian put her hand on her shoulder.

"No, you're strong. You had the chutzpah to pull all of this off. It's too bad it ended the way it did..." said Lillian, almost shaking at the memory of what happened in Carbonne, "Hey...I was just wondering; whatever happened to those resistance guys you were with? Did they go back home or get put into the rear or what?" replied Lillian.

Sasha looked away before realizing she couldn't bear to tell Lillian the truth. Sasha knew that Lillian and Kei had up close and personal encounters with the Looking Glass as well. She didn't want to think about it anymore. There really was nothing she could do about that situation. Maybe Tenenbaum deserved death for his crimes...he never seemed to repent for them. Sasha didn't want to remember that...so then she did something strange.

"I don't know. Well, I'd better go." said Sasha, rather abruptly.

As Sasha prepared to leave, she suddenly put her hand over Lillian's mouth and kissed the back of her own hand where Lillian's lips would have been had the hand not been there. Sasha was beaming and Lillian looked as shocked as Sasha did when Izzo kissed her on the forehead.

"What...the hell was that?" said Lillian laughing.

"A token gesture. See you around." Sasha said putting a hand on her shoulder. As Sasha prepared to leave, Lillian tried to stop her with her hand.

"Hey! Stick around if you can stay up late...the raid's going down tonight. We're going to watch it in the briefing room." said Lillian as Sasha left the room.

"I can't wait for this. I want to meet Portia and wipe that smirk off her face." said Sasha with a grin.

"That's more than what I can say for most people. Most people just want her dead and gone." replied Lillian.

"I wish I had a gun on me just in case I get that chance..." said Sasha, leaving the room.

If only it were that easy; Sasha should have known that Portia never anything easy for anyone.

Vastos, Versua

January 12, 2017

1210 hrs

The command and control room was rather packed. This was all good for David, who'd never seen where all the chess masters that were the Command operated. However in this case, most of the bigwigs were not there. Operation Eclipse was to be a daring capture of Portia Masson, the corrupt ruler of the White Crow regime, and her top generals and staff members. The participating groups would be two companies consisting of the Marine's elite Force Recon, who would raid the Castle, and the Navy's SEAL Team 6, who would raid a secret White Crow held facility that command had found about only days ago. The Navy had been mostly held back due to the Dispater as they were unable to approach the south by sea. Now the Navy could act with impunity. With the Versuan Navy having been wiped out weeks ago, there was no threat as landing operations east of Ciudad began. The dominoes were all falling into place for the White Crow's collapse.

It seemed strange for Wardog as they were not participating in this mission. But a mission withheld was a good mission.This event seemed more like a spectator sport than an official Special Forces raid.Three teams, Bravo, Lima and Juliet surrounded the castle. Juliet had blocked the roads and Bravo and Lima had made the incursion.

Sasha looked forward to this. She wondered what her sister was thinking. No one said a word when the invasion began and soon the members of Wardog were chatting and whispering snide remarks to each other as the raid continued.

"Go, go, go!" said one of the soldiers.

David listed the usual banter of the room clearing exercise that every elite soldier went through on every mission. Sasha Masson had given the Allies architectural plans of the Castle and was assigned to positively identify Portia when the camera-carrying member of Lima team found her. They'd been ordered to take her alive...if possible.

"Clear left!"

"Clear right!"

"Room Three clear!"

"Room Four clear!"

"Hostiles down in Room Five...all clear." said another soldier.

"Any sign of the targets?" asked the commanding officer.

"Negative. We're still searching..."

One could cut the tension with a knife. However, things finally went right once Portia had been ID'd. Sasha got up arms out and pumping her fist and everyone cheered...but that cheering may have been premature.

"Bravo Seven, this Lima Three, we have the primary target cornered in the conference room. We have a positive ID on Portia Masson." said the Commander.

"Roger, move in and restrain her. Juliet 25, call in the birds." Jackson said over the radio.

"Command this is Bravo Seven, we are moving in to capture the primary target, over."

"Roger, use extreme caution. We want her alive...preferably." said George Mason Clarke.

David looked on the camera as he stood behind Sasha. The camera work was rather bad as it was probably interference that was making the picture bad.

"Lima Seven, move in. Drop her if she does anything sneaky." said Bravo Seven.

"What the hell is that?" said one of the soldiers.

"She's got a weapon!" said another one of the soldiers.

Sasha looked at Portia in the second the picture became clear. She felt those cold, piercing eyes staring right at her. She shook a moment then focused on the video again.

"Drop the weapon! NOW!" shouted Lima Seven.

Portia laughed manically on the TV screen. Portia was then staring right at the camera, blowing it a kiss.

"Drop it you say...fine. So be it." she said arrogantly. Suddenly, the sound of something hitting the floor could be heard and the camera on Lima Seven went out.Jackson became worried.

"What's going on?!" said Jackson to one of the operators. "I thought they had Portia contained!"

"The cameras?! What's going on!?" said Clarke.

"Maybe they're slacking off. Isn't a bit too early for the victory cigars?" said Sasha.

Jackson did not look on, but Kei and the others let out a snicker...except David. Despite his internal sadness, David Lovecraft's patience was thin. David was not in the mood for more sardonic comments being thrown around. It was twelve the morning and he was already wishing this would be over and done already. As much as he liked and respected Sasha, he was tired of her acid tongue; much less everyone else's saturnine remarks.

"Sasha, guys please...enough already! Jesus Christ!" David said.

That shut everyone up. David shook his head and turned back towards the screen, satisfied that he'd let his presence be felt. As David watched the screen, there was suddenly a massive blast that filled the satellite image of the castle. Everyone froze. Could it be? Could the White Crow have chosen death to capture...and took so many Allied soldiers with them?!

"What the hell?!" shouted one of the officers in the room.

"Is that an explosion?!" shouted Clarke. Sasha looked horrified and then started tugging violently on Jackson's collar.

"Oh no! The castle was booby trapped the whole time!" shouted Sasha to Jackson. "Pull your men out of the other facility! Now! Pull them out!"

"What's the status on the second raiding group!?" Jackson shouted on the radio. "Charlie 4! Sitrep!"

"This Charlie 4. We're...what the hell?! Get out! Get out! Move, move! There's a bomb..."

And with those words...the radio went silent. Everyone turned to everyone else and exchanged looks of shock and confusion. However it was Lillian Izzo who said it all for everyone else.

"Oh, my god." she said. That kicked off a long sequence of events that could only be summed up in one word: chaos. David compared it to a movie sequence. Had it been a movie sequence, this event would been a series of quick and staggered camera shots.

What's going on?!

We've got gas alerts at the Gorgon's End area!

Chemical weapons? What the hell?! Do they have the proper countermeasures?!

Lima Three?! Anyone on this net respond!

Bravo Fifteen...what's going on out there?!

Romeo 77, what is your position over? Romeo 77! Respond!

This is Juliet 33, we have a massive explosion at the Castle, I'm pulling out the OP team!

Get the wounded out first and give me an update on any KIA and WIA!

The others became frenzied and caught up in the action as they argued and shouted. David merely walked out in a daze, almost in complete disbelief in what he'd just seen. The others were equally confused as they degenerated into their own angry, confused conversations.

Lovecraft was not the smartest person in the world nor did he ever claim to be. Upon entering the air force, like all pilots, he was given an IQ test. David scored a 127. Kei scored 145. Lillian had a 131 and Cormorance had a staggering 160, though Fisch(who amazingly got a 122, despite his reputation of having bad judgment) argued that Alou's test was rigged.

David did not need the extent of his wife's IQ or his own to figure out that the war had ended just as brutally as it began.

For the Allies, the war began when Versua invaded Yuktobania. David's war began on October 1, when his daughter and nearly a thousand others died from a pair of superheated electrical blasts from a gigantic weapon. For David and Kei, the war was over. It seemed fitting that the leaders of the White Crow would immolate themselves rather than be captured and face justice. Perhaps it prepared them for the Hell where they would spend eternity. David felt for all those poor Force Recon soldiers who died in that exploding castle. However, this was the way that every war seemed to end...with death and fire.

David now regretted being back here. He wanted to be out there now. He wanted to help those men. The tragedy was that he could obviously do nothing from the stationary position at the Allied HQ. Surely the men and women inside felt the same. Maybe even Jackson felt the same; even though Jackson was an ass, David knew he was a patriot through and through.

David walked through the halls unmolested and approached one of the balconies. He looked up at the stars in the morning darkness and found the air to be cold and caustic. David took stock of the life he'd been through in just four days. The unity of aces over Carbonne, the subsequent destruction of Carbonne, the death of Grimm, Xalia giving up her life for David and the higher cause of destroying the weapon which took his daughter away from her parents. There was the destruction of the Dispater and the euphoria of victory...only to find out that Lauren killed herself over Grimm's death. A bizarre mixture of happiness and depression, anger and sadness, joy and bitterness, love and hate; they were all churning in David's soul...all of this in four days. It didn't even count the tragedies of weeks before. Snow, Paulo, Polly and Michael dying, corpses drug through the streets of Basra, the attack on Disra...

David thought he was going insane. It all felt like a painful blur in his head and he had to close his eyes to gut out the pain. However, when he opened his eyes after the painful memories...he saw someone.

He blinked and he realized he was looking at a ghostly image. He was staring at the shade of his daughter.

"Catherine?" he said out loud.

"Hi, daddy." the apparition of Catherine said.

The ghostly figure was the exact Catherine he remembered when she died. She was wearing that beautiful white dress that Kei had bought her months earlier. The exact...same...type of dress that Sueltana wore...

Now it all fit together.

"I'd thought I'd never see you again." David said, not even aware of his surroundings. Perhaps he was insane.

The simulacrum of Catherine Lovecraft stretched out her hand and David couldn't stretch out his hand fast enough. He wanted to touch her and hold her one more time. He wanted to tell her he loved her and that he'd always protect her. The ghost was smiling the entire time. It was that beaming smile Catherine always had. But as he reached out to her, the shadow's hand vanished. David clutched his fist closed and dropped his hand back to his side.

Then, David suddenly opened his eyes...unaware that he'd been in own world the entire time and yet it felt so real. His hand was shaking the entire time. A tear rolled down his cheek and he quickly wiped it away; but it was not total sadness he felt. It was redemption.

Catherine's apparition was smiling, not only because it was her natural disposition. She was smiling because she knew he'd done what he'd sworn to do. He knew that he didn't need to do this to validate her life, but to avenge what happened to her. Or perhaps she was smiling because any guilt that David had need not have been; it wasn't his fault after all. However, during all of this terror, there was a voice in the back of his head...a voice of doubt that placed the blame on Lovecraft himself.

Now the doubt was gone; the pain was finally gone.

"Are you alright?" asked an obvious voice.

David turned and looked right in the eyes of Kei Nagase.

"Yes...I'm fine." David replied.

Kei said nothing else as she walked over to where the simulacra of Catherine stood. She reached out her hand to her side, as if she knew that was what David had seen before from the ghost in his head. David's hand was still shaking but he still extended it, although a bit slowly. Kei took his right hand into hers and rubbed her thumb across the top of his hand. David's hand stopped shaking. She then pulled his arm over to her and grabbed his other hand with her left. She finally pulled him closer to her and once again she held him against her own chest, her head along his other shoulder and her free hand softly rubbing along his back. David then remembered this moment from the past. It was the same thing she did six years ago in that night sky, just a day after they plucked her from the snows of Gulbina, Yuktobania.

Nagase savored the moment as she did not think her husband was insane simply because he was talking to himself. She knew what it was...she knew that he was saying his last goodbyes. As Kei did this, she thought about everyone who'd died once again. Now that everything had ended so violently, it didn't surprise her as much. She was just happy that things seemed to be over. She held the hope in her heart that the war would really end with the terrible destruction. But there was always a bit of doubt in the back of her mind. But what else could happen?

Her daughter had been avenged and everything seemed like it was in its right place. It seemed bizarre that none of Wardog was part of the action. Her body shook in the cold air outside, but she knew that the only thing they could do was reconstruct their lives and keep on living. Kei didn't realize it at the time, but the war, in fact, was coming to a close...

Kei and David's role in the vast drama would be a bittersweet one considering everything they'd been through. The story, however, was far from over...

Chapter 30: The Show Must Go On