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Legendary Aces

Chapter 33: Conference


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.


-Cipher-

Oured, The White House
0800hrs 31 December 2010

"Yes, I think you and the Supreme Commander should be here," I said over the phone. "It's that important."

"Very well. Inform President Harling that we'll be there by this afternoon," Hatsumi said.

After hanging up and laying the phone on the table, I leaned back in the chair. I was still sitting in the conference room, though only Allison, Harling, and I remained at this point. I looked over at Harling and said, "President Akari, Supreme Commander Venturi, and likely Venturi's aide are coming. Now comes the difficult phone call."

"You say that as if the one you just made wasn't," Allison said.

"Touché."

I sighed and picked up the phone again. I struggled to dial this one. I hung the phone up three times before finally managing to dial the number.

"Is this line secure?" a familiar male voice asked.

"Very."

"How urgent is this?"

"Extremely."

"Importance?"

"World level."

"What do you need?"

"You and her if possible. My location."

"Understood. I'll be there."

He hung up. I laid the phone down.

"He said he'll be here, but what about the other one?" Harling asked.

"That means she'll be here as well," I replied.

"You okay?" Allison asked.

"You're asking *that*?"

"You're shaking."

She was right. "Oh. Well... Just a little excited."

She smirked and glared at me.

"Well, then is that everyone?" Harling asked.

"That's everyone," I said. "You'll want to make proper preparations for the Pandora leadership, but don't mention the other guests."

"Right. Well, you two are welcome to do as you please. There are rooms prepared for you."

"Thank you."

He left the room, leaving Allison and I alone.

"Not bad," Allison said. "He's taking this well."

"Just wait until he learns about you-know-where."

"Heh."


-Blaze-

Oured, The White House
1500hrs. 31 December 2010

"It's already fifteen hundred?" I muttered after looking at the clock on the wall. I had just stirred awake. Doran was already gone. I jumped out of bed and checked on the kids. They were still asleep. I couldn't help but stare at them for a little bit. I quietly closed their door, got dressed, and headed out.

I wasn't expecting my team to be waiting outside my room when I opened the door. They were bickering amongst themselves about who would have the misfortune of trying to wake me up.

"Hey, guys," I said. "What's up?"

"Oh, you're awake." Nagase said. "We were just... uh..."

I gave them the evil eye, expecting answers. "You were just..."

"Well..."

"Chopper?" I turned to him.

He only held his hand to the back of his head and gave me a cheesy laugh. "Well, we didn't get to meet them properly."

"Not right now. They're still asleep."

Chopper pointed behind me. "I'm not so sure about that."

The kid's door was open and two heads were poking through. I gestured at them to come to me. "Go on."

"I'm Rei Akari, eleven years old."

"I'm Akira Akari, eight years old."

"And we know who all of you are!" Rei added. "What's it like having my Mom for a Captain? Is she hard on you? She's hard on us."

"Umm..." Chopper mumbled.

"Go get your stubborn sister," I said. They ran back into the other room and caused a ruckus my team could hear. I waved them in.

Rei and Akira all but dragged Joey out. "Stop torturing me, I want to sleep more."

I snapped my fingers and the blonde girl jumped. She swung around and got into fighting stance. I smirked

"Oh. Hello."

"Hey," I said. "Do it right."

She sighed. "I'm Joey Maya, eleven years old." She glared at me the whole time.

"Bring it."

She jumped at me, but I grabbed her and pulled her into a backwards hug.

"Isn't she cute?" I said.

"Lemme go!"

"You're a million years too early to take me on, Missy."

"You just wait until I finish growing!"

I released her. "Yeah, yeah. You want a shake?"

She got quiet and nodded.

"Okay, well you three stay here and behave. When I get back, we'll go get shakes with Dad."

"We haven't gone out, all five of us, in a long time," Rei said.

"Well, unless he left for Nordennavic already... But, he always leaves a note if he disappears like that, and no note."

"If he's gone, then you're taking us home for shakes!" Joey said.

"Deal," I said. "Now you three behave and don't give the agents trouble."

They nodded.

"We leave for five minutes and come back to a gathering!" Yami called over from the door. Doran was standing next to her.

"Aunt Yami!" Rei ran over to her and jumped into her arms.

"Hey, Kiddo. Do you like your Momma's friends?"

"Yes! They are all nice."

"I hate to cut this off, but we should go meet up with the others," I said. "Kids, we'll be back soon. Yami, you should come as well."

"Yeah, Mom filled me in."

"Let's go."


We didn't have to wait long after arriving at the conference room.

*Everyone's here for this one... Harling, Mom, Grandpa, Allison, Jack, York. Even Hatsumi, Liliana, and Aliana are here.*

"Before we get into the other topic, we have something else to discuss first," Mom said. She gestured to Harling.

"I'm sure you already know this much, but your missions under the name Razgriz Air Command Squadron are classified as black ops," Harling said. "No documentation will be made. Do you understand what this means?"

"Everything must be kept secret," Nagase said.

"Right. I have decided that in the future, the Razgriz Air Command Squadron will be declassified. This will happen in 2013 if I am reelected for another term as President of Osea, or 2012 if I am not. I don't want to wait too long, but we need some time for everything to settle. What I need to know is... do you want your names left out when this is declassified?"

"I don't really care if my name is released," I said. "But sometimes, a hero doesn't need a name. It would probably be better to leave it as just *The Razgriz*. It would be quite a mess explaining how four of us are alive. I died in my crash in November City and everyone else, save Captain Snow, died after being shot down in the ocean... by Captain Snow."

"That is a valid point," Harling said.

"I'm more worried about my family," Grimm said. "If our enemies find out who the Razgriz are, they could hire an assassin to come after us or our families."

"That possibility is slim," Mom said. "Anyone who would want you dead already knows you are alive and who you are."

"Actually, I'll have to take my part back," I said. "We supposedly died, but I'm not going to return to normal life under an assumed identity. Well *I* will probably never return to a normal life."

"We will have to come up with a story about how you survived," Harling said.

I sighed. "That'll be a headache. My case is a bit easier. I ejected at the last second and miraculously survived."

"That's good, but what about the others?" Harling asked.

"My story wasn't just good, it's what actually happened." I glanced around to my team. "Your fake deaths, your stories."

"I say just tell them the truth," Chopper said. "Tell the public exactly what happened to us starting from November City to now. Kid here singlehandedly turned the tide of this war. Our enemies will think twice about messing with us."

"You know what, I agree with that," Grimm said.

Snow nodded as well.

"You know, our story is a lot like the storybook character our name was taken from," Nagase said. "We are the Razgriz. I say go for it. Tell them everything."

"And there you have it, President Harling," I added. "Screw the secrets."

He was shocked. "Are you all sure?"

Everyone gave him a nod as he looked around to double check.

"The only part that you will need to modify is the base we worked from," I said. "Instead of the Paragon Base, it'll have to be the base at Kirwin Island."

"Of course," Harling said. "Now I have another question for all of you. Now that this war is over, what do you want to do now? The four of you from Sand Island still have a few years of service, but I can pull strings for you if you want an early retirement."

"You know... I wouldn't mind going back to Sand Island," I said. I felt a smile extend across my face as I closed my eyes and thought about the good times we had there.

"I have bad news in that case. The Sand Island Base is in the process of being shut down."

"What? Why?" Not only I, but everyone was surprised to hear that.

"Without the *Four Wings of Sand Island*, the base has no pilots left. You can understand the problem of an Air Force base with no pilots."

"Then keep it open! It will have pilots again! I'll even teach rookies! And I'm sure my hardass of an uncle will go, too. He taught me everything." I glanced over at him. He was taken aback, but said nothing and nodded.

Harling was surprised again. He gave off a small laugh and a smile. "Well, all right then. The staff at the base has not been reassigned yet, so I'm sure they'll be happy to hear Sand Island will not be shut down."

"I wonder if Pops will go back with us, too."

"But until the events of this war and the actions of Razgriz are declassified, we will have to make up a story about your survival, and I have an idea." Harling explained. "Captain Akari will have recovered in a military hospital from her crash in November City, despite being pronounced dead, and the remaining members of the Sand Island Squadron, along with the others that were present with you during your escape, will have been rescued by a passing fishing boat before the rescue team arrived. Due to the suspicions and fearing for your lives, you laid low afterward. You will be officially cleared of any suspicion of being traitors."

"That sounds like a good plan to me," I said. "What about the rest of you?"

"I would like to return to Sand Island," Grimm said. Nagase and Chopper quickly agreed.

"What about you, Captain Snow?" I asked. "Without the Kestrel..."

"I don't know. With the Kestrel sunk, I don't have a ship to return to."

"I know you're Navy and all, but maybe you could come to Sand Island with us as a liaison?"

"Actually, I talked with General Bartlett about the Kestrel sinking," Harling said. "There's an available aircraft carrier that the entire Kestrel crew can transfer to. I don't know where it came from, but he was serious."

"That'll be the ship he ordered for the previously mentioned Paragon base," Liliana said. "What do you think, President?"

"It was originally meant to be a joint vessel for Pandora and Osea, but this is fine," Hatsumi said. "Those sailors need a ship, and it can still serve the former purpose even so. We can discuss the particulars later."

"Thank you, President Akari and Supreme Commander Venturi," Harling said. "In light of Wardog returning to Sand Island, I will have this new aircraft carrier stationed nearby for joint exercises between the air force and navy."

"We could even train rookie pilots in both branches in joint flight training," I suggested.

"I like the joint training idea. We'll have to discuss these joint operation ideas more in detail later, both Navy and Air Force," he glanced to Hatsumi, "and those particulars you mentioned."

Hatsumi nodded

"Captain Snow, do you want to go to the new aircraft carrier with the rest of the Kestrel crew?"

"I'd like that, especially if we'll be stationed near Sand Island."

"What about my liaison idea?" I asked. "It sounds like one would be a good idea for this joint stuff."

"I support the idea," Harling said. "Captain Snow?"

"I'd be honored," Snow answered.

"This will be great," I said.

"Now that we have all of that out of the way..." Harling gestured to Mom.

"Right, the main point of the conference. I believe our guests are here. They should have entered the room with the rest of us..." She glanced around.

"...what are-" Harling began.

"Hello!" came a familiar female voice from near the door. I knew who it was without even looking. I smiled as our eyes met. Standing next to her was none other than my father.

"Greetings, President Harling," he said.

"Wh... how?" Harling was having trouble with his words. "The door didn't open, and you weren't here before."

"That'll be thanks to one of my toys," the woman said. "Without getting into the particulars, I have a cloaking device that renders us invisible and intangible."

"Then how do you not fall through the floor?" I asked.

"Always the one with the right questions. How are you, Kye?"

"A little exhausted from war, happy that it's over, enjoying seeing my kids again. You know."

"Indeed."

"I take it you know each other?" Harling asked.

"Right," I said. "We should do introductions."

"I'll go first," Father said. "Former President of Paragon, Zen Akari Sr., callsign King."

"Aka, the King of the Sky," I added.

"That's really an unnecessary title."

"No it isn't," Mom and Allison said at the same time.

"You should give yourself proper credit, Zen," the woman said. "My turn. Although I came without my sisters, I'll at least introduce them. Which name should I start with?" She looked at me.

"Kari."

"Okay. Kari is the nickname Kye gave me during her youth while I was taking care of her and her siblings."

"She was our nanny, basically."

"Rude. Close enough, though. Her family, as well as a handful others, are associated with mine, not that you or most of the world would know who we are."

She paused a moment. She took out a small device and pressed a button on it. The walls, ceiling, and floor of the room glowed briefly. The room had suddenly become one of the most secure locations on the planet.

"Have you ever heard of the lost city of Atlantis?"

"It's a common enough story," Harling said.

"What if I said Atlantis is real?" Harling said nothing and waited for her to continue. "I am Astraia Atlantis, Second Cardinal Princess of the Empire of Atlantis. I have two older sisters, Astarte Atlantis the First Cardinal Princess and Her Majesty... Queen Atalante Atlantis. Keeping up?"

Harling nodded.

"I'm already aware of the conversation you and the others had with the Grey Ghost. The reason I am here is we believe the Grey Ghost is Atlantean."

On the same device, she pressed another button which enabled a manipulable hologram in the room.

"This is a holographic image of southern Osea looking out over the ocean." She walked through the holographic ocean and reached up into the sky. She acted as if she were grabbing something, and an island appeared floating in the sky. The island was enormous. "This is Atlantis Island, home of our capitol city and the majority of our population. The very same technology that rendered us invisible and intangible is used to hide the island away from the world below. You can fly right through and never know it's there."

"Incredible."

"Again, without getting into the particulars, the Empire of Atlantis is very old, over one hundred thousand years, and our technology is so far beyond the world below that a comparison would be something akin to savage natives suddenly being taken from their jungles and introduced to technology such as television, mobile phones, air planes, et cetera. Despite our technology, we do not know the identity of the Grey Ghost. We have suspicions, of course, but nothing connects."

"Several years ago, between 1991 and 2005, the leaders of Kyomu, Pandora, and Atlantis were working together to catch the Grey Ghost," Father said. "The closest we got were during the A World With No Boundaries situation in 1995 and between the destructions of Stonehenge and Megalith in 2005. The trail went cold shortly after Avalon Dam and Megalith, respectively."

"But now, it's getting hot again?" I said. "The man seems interested in me specifically. Any ideas on that?"

"None, at the moment," Hatsumi said.

"No," Kari said.

"Also, no," Father said.

"What matters is the Grey Ghost has surfaced again," Mom said, "and this time is different."

"What's different?"

She pointed at me. "To our knowledge, he didn't have a target before and communication was scarce. Only scant, encoded messages, ranging from Morse to a playfair cipher. Which the keyword for that was my callsign, Cipher. He never specified a target, only challenged Pandora and Kyomu. He also never mentioned Atlantis, but during our conversation with him earlier... he directly referenced the Atlantean gene while mentioning how Allison and I haven't aged."

"Which means he has seen us without our disguises," Allison said.

"Disguises?" Harling asked.

"We have disguises on even right now," Mom said. "I'm forty four years old, and I look it right now. Zen?"

Father pulled out a picture of the family from before the Belkan War. "This was taken in 1993 when we celebrated Kye, Zen Jr., and Yami's birthdays. Kye was ten there and Layla was twenty seven." He flipped the picture over, revealing a second picture on the back. "This one is from 1986, taken on Kye's third birthday. Seven years and Layla looks identical. Without her disguise-"

"-which is just makeup and contacts-" Mom added.

"-she would appear the same now as in both of these pictures," he continued. "Notice how I look the same now and in both pictures?"

Harling looked back and forth between them and Father's face. "Now that you mention it."

"Now isn't the time to explain the details of the gene, so I'll give the short version," Hatsumi said. "I, the other Paragon founders, the Void founders, as well as Drakon Maya were all working together on a serum to extend human lifespan. We didn't know about the Atlanteans back then, but they found us, gave us our blessing, and some advice. It took a while, but we succeeded." Hatsumi reached toward her face and pulled off the prosthetic mask she was wearing. Harling's jaw dropped. "I hate that goddamn thing." She stood up and started taking her clothes off. She kept her pants and bra, but it was enough to show the disparity between her physical and actual age.

"Was that necessary?" Father asked with a sigh.

"Were all adults here, keep it professional," Hatsumi said without the slightest hint of changing the tone of her voice. "Now, do I look *ninety*-three or *twenty*-three?"

"Point taken," Harling said.

Hatsumi put her clothes back on and continued, "Long story short, there's a lot going on behind the scenes and there are several longer conversations we need to have." She looked at the prosthetic mask and shuddered. "I hate that goddamn thing." She looked around for a moment. "I'll put it back on when we're done."

"So, all that in a nutshell, the Pandora, Kyomu, and Maya families have freakishly long lifespans, Atlantis exists and is a super advanced civilization hiding in the sky, and the Grey Ghost is a worldwide menace who may be Atlantean," Chopper summed up.

"Correct," Kari said.

I glanced over at Doran and saw him looking at Chopper with a smirk. "I like this guy," was written all over his face.

"Okay, the foundations of our future conversations are laid," Kari said. "I need to return to Atlantis and discuss everything with my sisters. Hatsumi, would you brief the Paragon founders? I'll contact James later and brief him." She looked at Doran for a moment. "Would you mind briefing Drayon, Hœnir, and Drakon?"

"Drakon is a maybe," he said. "He seems to have lost interest in the world and only has only come to visit once a year on New Year's Day since he passed the throne to Drayon. Drangan has since taken the third seat."

"That explains why his messages have been reduced to that very same schedule. Very well. Don't bother Drakon then when he does come in unless he asks. If Drangan is the third seat now, then it's his responsibility now."

"Will do."

"President Harling, I thank you for your hospitality." Kari bowed slightly. "We will be in contact and will set up our next meeting through Hatsumi."

"I look forward to it."

"Before we go, I'd like a few minutes," Father said to Kari.

"Of course."

"Why don't the rest of us take a short break?" Harling said.

Hatsumi reluctantly put her mask back on and everyone except Mom, Father, Kari, Yami, Zen, and I left the room.

"It's been a long time since we were all together like this," Father said. "I know, of course, what you've been doing, but *how* have you been?"

"Well, I miss sex," Mom said with a shrug, earning a sigh from my brother and a giggle from my sister and I.

"You can come to Atlantis whenever you want, you know that," Kari said.

"Yeah, just too busy most days. We *should* take a vacation sometime though."

"Why not bring the kids and grandkids to Atlantis for a week?" Father said.

"Sounds fun to me," I said.

"I'll take care of the arrangements, just let me know the timeframe," Kari said.

"What about you three?" Father asked.

"Things have been fine with me," I said. "Never mind that big change I went through during the war. Seeing my kids again made everything worth it."

"I know the feeling."

I smiled at him.

"I'm bored most days," Zen said, "but Ren and Kenji keep things interesting. They're starting to ask questions about their mother, though. I don't know how to talk about that." He was looking away, but I could still see a single tear go down his cheek.

"I'm sorry, Son," Father said. "You should tell them the truth. Your grandmother died giving birth to me, and my father told me nothing about her until I asked. He told me everything about her in front of her grave when I was seven. Take them to her grave, just the three of you."

He nodded and Father looked to Yami.

"Uhm... well, I was getting married, then when I got the phone call about Kye... I kinda... ran out on him," Yami said, earning a shocked glare from the rest of us, barring Zen, who was still thinking about his deceased girlfriend. "Once I realized what I did, I called him, but he didn't and still hasn't answered."

"You need to go talk to that boy, face to face," Mom said.

"Well, I did reach his Mom. She said he's gone. They haven't heard from him since the day after I left. And I'm starting to get stressed out because we had unprotected sex, and now I've missed a period, and I think I'm pregnant!"

"Hundred bucks," Mom said straight faced.

"It's not funny! I messed up and now-" she kept going, getting more and more frantic.

I slapped her. "Chill."

"But, Kye..."

"If you are pregnant, you do right by who's in there-" I pointed at her belly "first, *then* you fix everything else. Worry about Takeshi later. No freaking out, no stressing out, that's bad for the baby."

Mom clapped her hands and said, "Here, here."

"Our family got bigger," Father said with a grin.

"Well, I'm probably following her," I said. "Doran and I did the naughty this morning and it's *not* a safe day."

Father glanced at Mom.

"Already collected from them," she said.


We spent more time sharing small talk, but after a while, Kari stood up and told Father it was time for them to go. Mom opened the door to let them out after they turned invisible. After a bit, everyone else came back from their break.

I breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back in my chair, my eyes moving to the ceiling.

"Something on your mind?" Chopper asked.

"I was just thinking about something," I said.

"What's that?"

"I was afraid that after all of this was said and done, that we would all be going our separate ways and wouldn't be able to stay in touch. I'm just relieved that we get to stay together."

"I'm almost insulted you would think that, Captain," Grimm said. "We've been through so much. Even if we couldn't stay in the same unit, we'd at least stay in contact."

"Of course we would stay in touch!" Nagase said.

"It's as simple as calling each other or sending letters. I came into this worried that we would have to assume identities or that our communications would be limited. I know you guys would want to keep in touch, that wasn't even a thing. I was worried that it wouldn't be possible."

"That would be a problem," Chopper said. "But if that was the case, I'd just yell into the sky since I'm Motormouth Chopper. Everyone would hear me."

"They sure would," Captain Bartlett said. "You have a knack for talkin'."

"Yeah, yeah," Chopper said. "So what's going on now?"

"We've already discussed quite a bit," I said. "What next?" I glanced between Harling, Hatsumi, and the General.

The General cleared his throat. "Stand when I call your names. Captain Marcus Snow of the Osean Maritime Defense Force."

"Sir," Snow responded instantly and stood up.

"Captain Hanns Grimm of the Osean Air Defense Force."

"Sir," Grimm responded just as Snow did.

"Captain Alvin H. Davenport of the Osean Air Defense Force."

"Sir."

"Captain Kei Nagase of the Osean Air Defense Force."

"Sir."

"The four of you are invited to join the International Paragon Forces. Should you accept, you should know that the IPF is a worldwide agency with operatives in and from nearly every country in the world. Should you accept, you should know that you are being invited as full members, not just contacts, and will be expected to perform at a standard much higher than any ordinary force, just as you have done in the war that just ended."

"You're gonna scare them, old man," the Captain said. He turned to us. "The old man here isn't very good at explainin', so let me have a crack at it. The IPF is an organization that takes only the best, and you lot are some of the best pilots in the world. In fact, your fearless leader there is a contender for the title Ace of Aces. If it's not self-explanatory enough, that means you have proven yourself to be the number one pilot in Paragon." He paused for a moment and looked straight into my eyes. "You've come a long way, Kid. I never thought I'd see the day that there'd be another pilot as good as her." He gestured his head to his left. "Or your old man."

The rest of my team all looked at my mother.

"One person over." Mom pointed to her left, too, at Aunt Allison, who gave no reaction.

"Yeah, that one," Captain Bartlett said.

"Yes, Colonel Allison Bartlett currently holds the title Ace of Aces," the General said.

"Anyway, you lot are getting invited to Paragon. You better take the offer, 'cause the old man here will bug you 'till you do. If you need any encouragement, just ask your leader there."

The General shot Captain Bartlett a sour look.

"It's a good idea," I said. I turned to my team. "I already serve joint duty with the Osean Air Defense Force and the Pandoran Air Force. Like the rest of the misfits here, I have dual citizenship. You would be offered joint duty as well, but you don't have that dual citizenship, but that's the purpose of the IPF."

"This isn't the first time I've heard the name "Paragon" and I'm curious," Nagase said. "Kye, when it was mentioned, referred to Pandora as Paragon."

"Oh, that," I said. "So-"

Hatsumi interrupted, "Paragon was the research division I and the other founders were a part of. Pandora was founded by the leading members of Paragon, and it's somewhat synonymous to some of us."

"Yeah, I have a habit of calling the nation by the old name, but I guess I should kick that habit since you repurposed it."

"Basically, the original Paragon founded Pandora, which more recently founded an international organization we also named Paragon."

"Anyway," I said, turning back to my team. "You don't have to answer right away, nor should you. Joining Paragon is a big step. It's not public knowledge. It's something like an international black ops unit. Think military plus federal agents."

"Yes," Liliana said. "That's basically what Paragon is... a secret organization that only the highest officers of the various militaries around the world are aware of. The IPF answers to me and cooperates at the highest level between world powers."

"If you do decide to join, the full briefing and introduction will take a full week," Mom said. "As of now, we've told you all we can. Think it over and let us know when you make a decision. We will not accept any decisions made in less than a week."

"Why isn't Kid being invited to this thing?" Chopper asked.

"I don't need to be," I answered. "My joint duty includes it already."

"That's right," the Captain said. "Anyway, you four give it some thought, but keep it to yourselves. Secret organizations can't be secret if you blab about it. Got it? Good. Hey, old man, are we done here?"

"Yes."

"I'm going to do something else, then."

"Before you go, Captain Bartlett, I have one more thing to say, and this pertains to you and Wardog," Harling said.

"Sir?"

"The Wardog Squadron hasn't been disbanded, and since you, Captain Akari, and the others are going back to Sand Island, it won't be. Due to injuries sustained on September 27th, Lieutenant Colonel Ford will be receiving a medical discharge. To take his place, I'm granting you a promotion."

"There's another thing I never thought I'd see the day for," the Captain said.

"You'll be promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and will be given command of Wardog. Captain Akari will continue serving as the squadron leader."

"Heh, well how 'bout that," the Captain looked at me. "Think you can still work under your old Captain?" We exchanged glances. He smirked and I smiled.

"You'll always be my Captain," I said. "And I wouldn't have it any other way."