Legendary Aces: The Legend of Razgriz
Chapter 35: Time Flies
When history witnesses a great change, Razgriz reveals itself, first as a dark demon.
As a demon, it uses its power to rain death upon the land, and then it dies.
However, after a period of slumber, Razgriz returns, this time, as a great hero.
After it restores peace, Razgriz departs, living only in memory as a legend.
-Excerpts-
Excerpts from "Aces, Demons, and Ghosts: Mysterious Heroes of the Belkan Conflict."
OBH Journal, July 2012 Special Issue
Speculations abound over the true identity of the "Aces of Razgriz," a small squadron of fighter pilots which played a key role in resolving the Circum-Pacific War (Belkan Conflict), and has since disappeared without a trace.
Some still firmly believe that this squadron was in fact the Sand Island detachment of the Osean Air Force 108th Tactical Fighter Squadron, better known as the Sand Island Squadron.
Feared among Yuktobanian troops as the "Demons of Razgriz," the ferocity of this squadron's combat power is said to have weakened the resolve to fight among many in the front lines.
To date, very little information has been obtained regarding the Sand Island Squadron itself.
The last recorded account from the war is a report dated December 7, 2010, stating that all planes from the Sand Island Squadron had been shot down over the Ceres Ocean. No records about them were found until they returned to Sand Island, almost three months after the war ended. They were cleared of any suspicion of being traitors to Osea.
The Sand Island Squadron still denies any connection to the Demons of Razgriz. There are, however, numerous similarities that connect the Sand Island Squadron to the "Demons of Razgriz."
Whatever the truth may be, the memory of this mysterious squadron, hailed both as aces and demons -and, at one point, as ghosts- still lives among us.
Vincent Harling, 48th President of the Osean Federation, announced at the 2011 Osean Federation Council Meeting that in the year 2013, the government will release to the public all records from every department pertaining to the Belkan Conflict.
In a speech following his announcement, President Harling declared the following: "We must let time shed light on the truth behind this conflict. In the meantime, the world has already begun to head down a new path. And this path shall go on, as long as the blaze of fire that shines through the darkness is not extinguished."
-Gennette-
Peace has once again spread across the world. The "Aces of Razgriz" never flew in the skies of battle again.
Above the clouds, there was only a clear blue sky, no longer in need of heroes. And perhaps, that's exactly what they were hoping for all this time. They could finally fly, in peace, in the sky they loved so much.
In the months following the announcement of the Razgriz, more and more rookie pilots were sent to Sand Island to learn under those legendary aces. Even Captain Bartlett, who had been promoted to Lieutenant Colonel at the end of the war, took on students. Everyone wanted to learn under the man who taught the Ace of Aces how to fly.
-Blaze-
Yami's House in Gracemeria, Emmeria
1205hrs. 1 September 2014
"Happy Birthday, Rei!" A young blond haired girl from the neighbor's house ran up to and hugged Rei.
"Matilda, you forgot something!" The girl's mother said. She held a small gift wrapped package. I could tell it was a CD of some sort. Melissa always made sure Matilda had a birthday gift for Rei ever since we met in early 2011 while Yami was pregnant with Yuko.
"Thanks, mommy." Matilda gave the package to Rei as soon as she took it from her mother. "Open it!"
Rei tore the package open. Her eyes grew bigger as soon as she figured what it was. "It's a two disk collection of classical music performed by the Gracemeria Philharmonic Orchestra. Oh thanks, Matilda, Miss Melissa!"
"Nope, it was all Matilda's idea." Melissa corrected.
"But I know you paid for it!" Rei said.
Melissa just laughed. "Guilty."
"Hey, Matilda! Melissa! Come on in! You're gonna miss the fun!" Yami called from the door. She didn't see me at first, but ran out screaming my name like it was bloody murder as soon as she did. "Kye!"
As with her usual greeting, she tackled me to the ground in a big hug. "Yami... come on, do you have to attack me every time I come to visit? Jeez, you're more of a kid than the kids." I had to tickle her to get her off, and earned a giggle from a certain white haired little girl standing in her door.
"Hey, sis. Where's Chopper and the twins?"
I pointed at the car behind me. "He's getting the girls."
"Oh, I get to meet the twins?" Melissa asked.
"Yeah. I finally convinced my mom to let me bring them over. I tell you, when she decides something, there's no arguing it." I said.
"That's Mom for you. Have you heard from Zen?" Yami asked.
"He's on a mission. He can't make it. What are you looking at?"
Yami was looking up at a plane. "Somebody just jumped out!"
I recognized who it was the instant he jumped out. "Maybe not." It was Zen.
"Zen!" Yami hollered up as he floated down into the yard and covered everyone with his parachute.
"Hey, sisters." He said as he pulled the parachute off and tossed it to the side.
"Well that was quite the entrance." I said.
"Yeah, yeah, I gotta do something to catch up to you, Miss Ace of Aces."
"Heh. I don't think I've been referred to with my real name since the reveal last December, and rarely Blaze. The damn news just calls me the Ace of Aces."
"If only Paragon didn't reveal itself to the world when the Razgriz was declassified, eh?"
"Tell me about it. I haven't been able to go on a Paragon mission since then."
"Hey, Kid! Here come the girls. I'll be there in a sec, I just need to get our bags."
"Okay, honey."
"Hold up, Chopper, I'll help." Zen ran over.
"Thanks, man. Here, you take the girls' bags. I got mine and Kid's already."
"Aunt Yami!" My redheaded twin daughters, Kaylie and Layla, born on October 2nd, 2011, ran over to Yami. In another month, they were due to turn three.
Yami's daughter, Yuko, ended up being born on Rei's seventh birthday, September 1st, 2011. Rei was ten years old now, and Yuko was three.
"Aunt Kye!" Yuko ran over to me. "Hey, kiddo. You're growing like a weed!"
"Hey, Melissa, where's your husband? Can't he come today?"
"He's dancing with his angels."
"Hmm, well damn. I thought I could get him out of work today, but I guess the base commander had other plans." Yami pouted. "Oh well. Come on, everyone. Let's move this party inside! The guys can catch up."
President Harling was reelected for another term, so on the 31st of December 2013, he held a press conference. There were many things revealed. The identity of Razgriz and the fact that four of its members were in fact the Sand Island Squadron, and still are. Galm Team was revealed as well, meaning that the fact that Layla Bartlett, wife of the famous Zen Akari, was alive and well. My brother, Zen, got his name from my father. The two called each other Senior and Junior until the former died.
In addition to revealing the Razgriz and Galm Team, the leader of Paragon, Liliana Venturi, who was only one year older than me, announced the existence of Paragon to the world. At first I thought she was being bold, but I knew she wouldn't reveal such a thing without good reason. After all, I've known Lily since we were toddlers.
She said that revealing Paragon to the world was an order from her grandfather, the previous leader of Paragon, who had died in 2012. Lily's father was supposed to be the next leader in line, but both he and Lily's mother died in early November 2010 when the Yukes attacked Apito International Airport. I was in the sky that night. That was when Lily started training to learn how to run Paragon.
In short, it was a large reveal. After Paragon's existence was revealed, Lily called me back out and gave me a medal. She was standing there, together with her five commanders, each a General one of the world's militaries. One of which was my grandfather, General Charles Bartlett of the Osean Air Defense Force, and another being my aunt, Brigadier General Allison Bartlett of the Independent States Allied forces.
That was when I was formally named Paragon's Ace of Aces, finally taking the title from Aunt Allison. Ever since then, it's been hard to move around in public without the paparazzi following me. Thankfully, they weren't allowed to come to Sand Island, but I'm sure that was because of Captain Bartlett... or rather Colonel Bartlett, since he is now the Base Commander of Sand Island, after Colonel Perrault retired. I'll always call him Captain, though.
After the announcement, everyone who knew us suddenly started calling and asking questions. It got so bad that the Captain had to restrict calls coming to the base to a certain time of day. Even then, he didn't like it, and neither did the rest of us, but it eventually died down enough to tolerate. The majority of the problem was everyone on base. They could just walk up to any of us and start their barrage of questions. Thankfully, they stopped soon than the phone calls since we held a meeting in the base's auditorium. Everyone asked their questions, and we answered them.
Life returned to normal, save the occasional phone calls, though going out in public was still a nuisance. Arranging a birthday party was difficult, so we tried to cover as many birthdays in one party as possible. It was almost like a second Christmas. Rei, Yuko, and the twins were all born within two months of each other, so we celebrated on one day for them. We even celebrated for Melissa and Matilda, Yami's neighbors, since this was the only time we came to Emmeria for birthdays.
Melissa and her husband had a little saying, "Go dance with an angel", and it caught on with us pretty fast. Apparently I was the best dancer, since I held the title Ace of Aces, according to Yami at least. The kids really liked the phrase. Rei commonly would tell me that she wanted to dance with the angels when she grew up.
I could see it in her eyes. She looked at the sky exactly as I did when I was her age. She even took a liking to swordplay, so I gave her lessons every so often. She liked classical music as much as I did, but picked a different instrument. Instead of the violin, she preferred the piano, though I imagine she'll expand her horizons eventually. Rei is so much like me it's scary.
The twins loved to listen to Rei play the piano, and occasionally tried to help her. It was amusing. Rei would get frustrated when they played the wrong note, which was pretty much every note they played. It was all in good fun, though. The twins could already play some basic songs, though Rei had already advanced to a professional level. She was only ten years old and has been requested by several orchestras in Osea, and a few spread out between Emmeria, Yuktobania, and North Point.
Seryozha Viktorovich Nikanor was still the Prime Minister of Yuktobania. A few months ago, he held a party of sorts in Cinigrad, which all of the old gang was invited to, including President Harling, Captain Andersen, Captain Snow, and even Pixy! Those of us that played musical instruments played a private concert for the party. Rei and Nagase played a few ensembles together, and I joined in with the violin on a few songs. Rei even played the Toccata and Fugue in D Minor by Bach on Piano. She impressed everyone with her performance, and I couldn't be more proud.
While we were in Gracemeria celebrating birthdays, we had an unexpected visitor. Apparently, the Gracemeria Philharmonic Orchestra, which Rei idolized, had contacted Grandpa, or General Bartlett, and requested Rei and I to play in a concert with them. Their conductor visited Yami's house to make the request in person. Rei's eyes lit up like stars. The concert ended up being that night. Rei and I had to rehearse for several hours with the conductor and a few of the musicians to learn the necessary pieces.
After the performance, the entire orchestra played a rendition of the happy birthday song for Rei. She was as happy as could be, until they offered her a spot in the orchestra for when she comes of age. They knew she couldn't join the orchestra at her age since both her parents were on active duty, so the offer was for after she grew up and went through college. She was happy with the offer, and told them that she would love to take the offer. However, she had already made up her mind that she was going to fly one day, just like her mother. The orchestra respected that, and told her that if she ever changed her mind, the offer would stand for a lifetime.
They did invite us to play again next year on Rei's eleventh birthday. I had to make sure everyone could come to that performance. A full year passed, but that performance never happened. On August 30th, 2015, Estovakia invaded Emmeria and occupied Gracemeria.
(A/N) We had a little bit of a timeskip here! Just one chapter to go. The final chapter of Legendary Aces and the first chapter of Legendary Aces 2 will be released in tandem. One will lead straight into the next.
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