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Legendary Aces

Chapter 38: Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum

-Remember the Fallen and Those Left Behind-

-Talisman-

The skies were on fire. How could this have happened? Why did the beautiful Gracemeria come under attack? Why did the Estovakians invade?

Those were questions I couldn't answer.

I could only think about my sister, niece, and friends that were left behind. Kye, Rei, Melissa, Matilda...

Melissa's husband was a fighter pilot, too. Maybe he escaped Gracemeria. I had to find out.

-Melissa-

I walk on.

I am unable to think.

All I can do is follow the others. Ever since we came to the twisted remains of my daughter's school bus, my soul has left me.

I am empty.

-Shamrock-

Ever since the attack, I could only think about my wife and daughter. I had no way of knowing if they were okay. I couldn't stand it. Just the thought of either being hurt tore at me.

We had to regroup before we could start a counterattack. I had no idea when we would start fighting back, but when we did... I would be there.

I was lucky. My leader was Talisman. I've known her for a while now. She's probably the best pilot Emmeria's got. She was trained by the legendary aces Mobius One of ISAF and Cipher of the Ustio Air Force and has flown alongside the legendary ace Blaze of the Osean Air Defense Force. What's more is she is close family with them, and all of them are from Pandora and part of Paragon.

If anyone could make a difference, it was her. With her as my lead, I had no doubt that we could retake Emmeria and save my wife and daughter.

-Melissa-

Some of our tanks are parked at the approach to the bridge.

"Move! Move! Let's pick up the pace people! There's a train still runnin' on the other side of the river! She goes all the way out to the edge of the border! We've gotta blast this bridge before the enemy gets a hold of it! So move it or lose it, people!"

Here I see the wreckage of a jet that was shot down. On what's left of the nose... I can make out some writing... "Melissa."

It's my name.

What a cruel twist of fate for me to see this. My pilot husband, who had left for work that day with the same loving look on his face as always...

He had painted my name on his angel.

I go into the crowd on the train, and endure two weeks of pure hell, before finally ending up at a refugee camp at the border.

I don't know any of the names on the list.

My compatriots, who have now become refugees, gather around a single radio to listen to the broadcast.

Even though the station is broadcasting out of Gracemeria, occupying forces have taken complete control of the airwaves. The enemy must have completely overtaken our capital, Gracemeria.

"...And although newer parts of the city have suffered considerable damage, the castle and a significant section of the old quarter have escaped relatively unscathed..."

However, the announcer went on to say that our castle was robbed of countless antiquities that once were elaborately displayed in our castle, stripped bare.

"As the Estovakian military, it is our sword duty to govern this crumbling nation, and get it back on its feet, starting right here in Gracemeria. I've found a group of street children in front of the Central Station here, where the area has literally been reduced to a slum. Step on up here little girl. What do you have to say about all this?"

"Go dance with the angels, mister!"

My ears were not deceiving me. That voice belonged to my daughter, Matilda.

-Talisman-

There I was, laying in my bed... it was an unfamiliar bed, but a bed none the less. We had retreated all the way to Khesed Island while the higher ups worked to figure out what to do.

My request to see the list of everyone who escaped and of the casualties was granted. Most of my friends had been killed in the attack. I had no idea if Melissa or Matilda was okay, but I did find Lieutenant Herman's name on the Killed in Action list.

My heart sank. Melissa was a good friend, and she had lost her husband. I had been neighbors with her ever since I moved to Emmeria back in 2004, shortly after my father passed away. I found out later he faked his death, but not for years. Melissa was a good friend when I was grieving, believing it true.

I was just a kid then, only fifteen years old. Melissa was a bit older, having already gotten married. Matilda wasn't born yet, but the two already had plans on it.

I wanted to see them. I wanted to see my sister and niece. I couldn't stand not knowing if they were okay or not.

Kye told me to retreat, and that she would be okay, but the Estovakians completely seized the capital. Kye was resourceful. She participated in the most infamous Black Op in history, but she wasn't in a fighter jet this time. She was on the ground.

I knew she could take on just about anyone so long as she didn't have to dodge bullets, but I couldn't help but worrying. She was the badass who was said to have singlehandedly turned the tide of the war almost five years ago, but she was also my big sister.

I almost lost her once. She took a direct hit from a missile to keep it from hitting the stadium in November City. I couldn't bear the thought of going through that again.

Aunt Miko, who I had been living with in Gracemeria since I moved here, was out of the country. She had left a week before the attack and took my daughter, Yuko, to visit my mother. I was happy they weren't in danger.

My mind flashed to my grandfather, the great General Charles Bartlett, Commander of the Osean Sect of Paragon, and Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff in Osea. In terms of military, only the Secretary of Defense and the President of Osea were his superiors, though neither of them would argue against his decisions.

Grandpa was sixty eight years old, and was overdue for retirement, but he adamantly refused to do so. He was such a good commander that exceptions were made to allow him to stay in service, not that it would have mattered. Once the old man made up his mind, there was no arguing.

Then another thought hit me. If he knew Kye was trapped in Gracemeria, maybe he would send a team to get her out of there.

I immediately jumped up and ran out of the barracks. I sprinted across the base, swerving around and dodging people as necessary, leaving confused expressions on their faces. I didn't stop until I reached the radio building.

They were surprised to see me. "Can you put me through to somebody? This is important."

"Sure, who do you need?"

I grabbed my wallet out of my pocket. I always got ridiculed because I carried a wallet like a man, but I didn't care. It was more convenient, and I hated purses. I took a slip of paper out and handed it to the radioman.

"General Charles Bartlett? Do you mean the Chairman of Osea's Joint Chiefs of Staff?"

"Yes."

"We can't just connect you to somebody like him without going through the proper channels."

"He's also my grandfather. I don't need proper channels to contact him."

"I see. Understood, Captain."

"Yami Akari."

"Wait, you're..."

"Garuda 1, call sign Talisman. Not important right now, please, just patch me through."

"Yes, ma'am."

The radioman set his radio to the proper frequency and tried to contact the other side. An Osean soldier responded, but would not let us speak to the General, even after giving him my name.

I got angry and took the radio receiver from the radioman. "You listen here. You are going to go get the General, and you are going to do it now. This is a matter of utmost importance. If you do not, you will likely be court marshalled by order of the General himself. Lieutenant Colonel Kye Akari of the Osean Air Defense Force is trapped in Gracemeria, which is under Estovakian control right now. Go get the General NOW!"

The Osean soldier probably pissed his pants when he heard me yell at him. He only responded with the typical "Yes, Ma'am." though he sounded frantic. The radio was silent for a few minutes after that.

"This is General Charles Bartlett speaking. Who am I speaking to?"

"Hi, Grandpa."

"Yami?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, Grandpa, I'm fine. I made it out safely with several of my fellow pilots. We're on Khesed Island."

"What about your sister? I haven't heard a word from her since the attack."

"She's trapped in Gracemeria, and Rei is with her. She said she'd be okay, but I can't help but worry about her."

"You are right to worry, but she's been in difficult places before."

"Is there any way you can get her out of there? Can you send a team or something?"

"I can't outright send a rescue team. From the intelligence I have received, Gracemeria is fortified now. It would take a large scale offensive just to get a rescue team into Gracemeria to retrieve her."

"What can you do then?"

"It's tricky. I could contact Estovakia and ask to have Kye and Rei transported out of Emmeria, but that might cause problems. They probably don't know that she's there. If they find out, they may use her for ransom if they find her. We'll have to leave her there for now. There's nothing we can do for her without having Osea join the war. And if we do that, it could cause more problems than it would solve."

"World war."

"Right. There is something I can do to help, not as a General of Osea, but as a Commander of Paragon. Supreme Commander Venturi is worried about you, Kye, and Rei. I can't authorize anything as far as sending supplies, but she can."

"Get the F-15P over here, two of them."

"Two?"

"One for me, and one for my wingman."

"Who is your..."

"Lieutenant Marcus Lampert. He's good. He was able to keep up with me pretty well in the Gracemeria battle. And that's not the first time he's flown with me. We've done training exercises together, too. His records should speak for themselves, but I can personally vouch for him. I couldn't ask for a better wingman."

"I see. I'll talk to Liliana and see what we can do. All we can do at this point is equip you for the war. The faster you take back Emmeria, the faster you save your sister."

"I hate that this is our only option."

"I do, too, Yami. I do, too."

"Thanks, Grandpa."

-Blaze-

After the chaos of the attack, I found refugees inside the old castle Rei and I were visiting. Several kids, including Melissa's daughter, Matilda, were hiding out here, too. There was a secret underground passage in the castle.

The kids commonly went out to steal supplies. I hated that they were reduced to street urchins, but it was a difficult time. I wasn't in any better shape.

I had to be very careful when I went up to the surface. If I didn't disguise myself, I would be recognized. That was the pain of being world famous.

If you had asked me five years ago where I would be today, I'd have probably said that I'd still be Captain Bartlett's nugget. He was a Colonel now and Base Commander of Sand Island, and I was a Lieutenant Colonel and pretty much the second in command. I was more than that though. Thanks to the Razgriz announcement, every military in the world knew me. Being famous definitely wasn't what it was cracked up to be.

Luckily, I had plenty of money on me, so bartering for food and water wasn't too difficult. I was able to keep the children fed at least.

I was glad Matilda was with us. I knew at least she was safe, for now. I wondered about her mother. If she was alive, she would be worried.

I know I would.

When the Estovakians attacked Gracemeria, Rei and I were visiting the old castle. The only things we had were a backpack each, and my heirloom katana. At first, the children were frightened by my sword, but they grew used to it fairly quick. I practiced in an empty room in the underground passages we were hiding out in.

After the war between Osea, Yuktobania, and Belka ended a few years ago, Rei started staying with me. Joey and Akira continuing staying with Doran in Nordennavic. I always carried my sword around, and she grew interested quickly, so I gave her lessons. Her body was still developing of course, but she was old enough now that she could somewhat spar with me. It would still be another couple years before we could have proper spars, though.

Rei was like me in a lot of ways, maybe even worse in some. She was very stubborn and wouldn't give up until she succeeded. I wondered how much I was like that when I was her age.

-Liliana-

"I understand, General," I said. "It will become my top priority." I hung up the phone and glanced out of my window.

Sometimes I felt trapped, confined to this island country, Isle Pandora. It was the greatest country in the world and held the General Headquarters for Paragon. In reality, I could do anything I wanted, being the Supreme Commander of Pandora and Director of Paragon. Only the President of Paragon outranked me.

The country was a democracy, but it felt more like a dictatorship than anything.

I was deeply worried about my Princess. We grew up together. She was now trapped in Gracemeria. With Pandora's might, I could easily wipe Estovakia off the face of the planet, but what would happen after that?

"I hate politics," I said softly.

My Princess was trapped, and my second Princess was fighting to save her. Standing here while they were out there... I couldn't tolerate it. I've always been a "get it done" type of woman.

I remembered one time when we were all little. It was just before Master Layla, Master Allison, and Master Jack went off to fight in the Belkan War. Princess Kye, Prince Zen, and Princess Yami were all younger than me, by one, five, and six years respectively. They were at the playground with Master Zen, their father. My mother sat down with Master Zen while I went over to play with the three.

Some bigger kid was bullying Princess Yami. Prince Zen got angry and tried to fight the kid, but he couldn't do it alone. Princess Kye tried to defend them, but even she couldn't do it yet. The bully was older. She only had swordplay lessons at the time.

I was still a short distance away, but a quick sprint closed it quickly. The kid was a year or so older than me, but that didn't matter. He was just a bully, and I had martial arts training. He couldn't lay a hand on me.

"Lily, you were so cool!" Princess Kye said after the bully ran off. None of them got hurt, thankfully, but I made all three of them promise to take martial arts lessons in addition to their swordplay.

They made me learn the sword in exchange.

Nine years later, roughly one year before Master Zen passed away, all three of us had advanced to the point where we could spar with each other. Princess Yami was six years younger than me, but she still did well.

"Lily?" a voice called from behind me. It belonged to another from our shared childhood. She was a rather quiet girl, and the same age as Kye, almost down to the same day. She is my sister, Aliana Venturi. She's technically only my aide, ranked at Captain, but she has virtually the same authority as me. She is my sister, my best friend, and the shadow to my light.

"Shadow," I said. She joined me at the window. "We have to help them."

"I will go anywhere to help our Princesses."

Shadow became her nickname at a young age, and became her military call sign. She prefers to go by that, similar to how Princess Kye's friend prefers to go by Chopper.

"Once they are finished, we will go."

"The F-15P should be complete within two weeks. The X-04 is still in the experimental stages, but is projected to be completed in November. Barring successful flight testing, an additional month should be all that's required before it can be released for combat."

"The X-04 is going to be incredible. We went back to the F-22 design and enhanced it greatly. The design changes are astounding. Master Allison and Master Layla outdid themselves on this design. It will outperform even the X-03 Dragon, and will be roughly the same size as the F-22. The aircraft is smaller than the X-03, yet has greater performance. I look forward to flying one myself."

"As do I."

-Grey Ghost-

Osea, a beach near Bana City

After the grand debut on August 30th, the Emmerians lost ground quickly. The Estovakians followed instructions well. The Garuda girl hadn't seen war, not like the others, but she would still have been able to turn the tide back in Emmeria's favor had Estovakia not invaded correctly. With a pilot of her caliber, overwhelming numbers and force was necessary. Naturally, Estovakia would not be able to maintain their invasion force indefinitely, but they only needed to push Emmeria far enough that it wouldn't matter.

"Drink, My Lord?"

"Yes, thank you." I looked up from the report I had been reading. "Girl, how old are you now?"

"Twenty-five, My Lord."

"You've been in my service for how long now?"

"Twenty years, My Lord."

"You were quite cute as a child."

"Yes, My Lord, I remember receiving your praise many times for my appearance over the years."

"Have you ever had thoughts of leaving my service to start a life of your own? You grew from a cute child to a beautiful young woman. I can't imagine you would have a difficult time settling down."

"You tease, My Lord. I know you would not allow me to leave."

"Yes, but if I did? Speak your mind, girl."

"If it was my choice, I would remain in My Lord's service."

"Why?"

"I am fatally attracted to you, My Lord, and wish to do anything I can to be of service."

"You wish to be more than my maid? Perhaps a concubine?"

"I only dream of that, My Lord, and would only choose that if I may remain your personal maid as well. However, I know My Lord isn't interested."

"Interested, perhaps not, but amused. You may attempt to seduce me, but you shall not be open with it. Be very subtle. If at any time I feel you are trying openly, your punishment will be suspension the following day."

"You are devilish, My Lord." I looked up to see the girl smirking at me. I could see the lust in her eyes.

"On to another topic. What do you think of the conflict on Anea?"

"Estovakia is doing quite well, especially considering that they contend with one of Pandora's dogs."

"Yes, even the Demon Lord or Grim Reaper would be hard pressed in this situation."

"The Razgriz girl, too?"

"I wonder. Give the order to send additional support to Estovakia. That one boy should prove a fair match against the Garuda girl, but I would have their arsenal bolstered nonetheless."

"Right away, My Lord."