Location: 444 Air Base, Zapland

Time: 0900 July 15, 2019

"Oh Goddammit Trigger!"

Bandog was in the control tower overseeing Spare Squadron's training session. For the most part, everything went smoothly. The planes took off, nothing was malfunctioning, the guys were actually following his orders and no one managed to crash. Yet. And Bandog had a strong feeling who was likely going to bite the dust.

Trigger, in his fantastic judgement, was trying to fly his jet as close and as fast to the ground as possible. Despite the vast majority of his squadmates yelling at him not to, he did it anyway, much to the frustration of Bandog (who was now banging his head on window in front of him).

Bandog sat down in his seat and grabbed a mic so he could talk to the idiot pilot "Spare 15, you dumbass! Fly up!".

Trigger ignored him.

"Trigger!".

Trigger ignored him again and started to do a couple of rolls, mere feet from the ground. The pilot grinned underneath his mask, Trigger loved the sense of speed flying so close ground. Suddenly he arched his plane upward into the air, before diving back down in a series of rolls.

Bandog attempted to get his attention again "Stop with the stunts! Get back in formation or else you'll be cleaning the dumpsters for the next 2 weeks!".

"Heh heh" Trigger chuckled quietly at Bandog's threat, which Bandog heard, pissing him off even more.

Count, Tabloid, and a 11 other Spare members were flying in formation around the base just looking at Trigger's antics and they were all impressed by Trigger's movements. He had pretty remarkable resilience.

"Hm, hey Trigger" Count patched into Trigger comms "Do a few loops, I wanna see if Avril managed to improve the frame on that piece of shit".

"Spare 2, Don't encourage the idiot" Bandog groaned.

"C'mon Bandog, testing a crafts structural integrity is important. We just want to make sure Trigger's safe" Tabloid stated with a smile.

"Bullshit. You guys just want to be entertained".

"We can test an aircraft's limits and have fun doing it!" Tabloid exclaimed.

Bandog just shook his head "Whatever, if you guys want the idiot to crash, then so be it".

Count smirked "Thanks Bandog, I knew you'd come around".

"Hmph"

"Yo Trigger, show us what you can do".

Trigger nodded to himself and arched his aircraft a few thousand feet upward. He he began to do a basic loop before twisting his plane around left and right while ascending out of the loop. Suddenly his plane began to come to a crawl and in one quick motion, Trigger's plane flipped backwards before accelerating once more.

On the ground, almost everyone was watching Trigger's insane movements. Naturally, Avril was amongst those watching the display. Once one of the Guards told her what Trigger was doing, she had to see whether or not Trigger was gonna mess up his plane again.

So here she was, standing in the middle of the fake runway watching Trigger pull off stunts. At least it was entertaining.

"Better not mess that plane up" She thought.

Right at that moment, Trigger did another nosedive straight to the ground before barely managing to to lift his aircraft back up before crashing. He ascended once more and stabilized his craft so he could talk.

"Bandog" Trigger said.

"Oh finally talking to me now huh?" Bandog snarked. "What is it?".

"Unlock the FCS".

"What?" Bandog asked confused. " Why the hell do you want me to do that for?".

Count was equally confused "Yeah Trigger, what gives?"

"You'll see" Trigger stated simply.

Everything in Bandog's mind told him not to do this, but eventually, he caved. He began to signal everyone in room to unlock the FCS, which surprised some of the controllers.

"You sure that's a good idea man" one of the controllers asked Bandog, concerned.

"Just fucking do it, they can't target anything. He probably just wants to do a couple of pot shots at the ground"

The controller nodded and unlocked the FCS. Once that happened, Trigger suddenly maneuvered his aircraft a few hundred feet in front of the squadron.

Bandog and the others in the controller tower didn't like what they were seeing, and everybody on the ground started to get confused.

"Just what are you planning dumbass?" Avril crossed her arms.

Tabloid raised a brow "Uh, Trigger? I don't like where this going".

"Bandog. I'm in position" Trigger reported.

"I can see that dumbass. Just what the hell are you up to?".

"Tag me as an enemy".

Everyone who was listening eyes widened at Trigger's request. Some even adjusting their headsets wondering if they had heard him correctly.

After recovering from the initial shock, Bandog yelled into his microphone "Are you fucking insane?! Hell no!".

"C'mon Bandog, don't be a square" Trigger taunted.

"Bandog's right Trigger" Tabloid agreed "What you're asking is stupid as hell. Even for you".

"It'll make things fun".

"Dying is fun? Guy's I think Trigger has finally lost it".

Trigger chuckled and spoke to Bandog again "Just do it. You said you didn't care if we die".

"Yeah. I did", Bandog hissed "But I'm not just gonna fucking allow someone who's useful to just die for no reason".

"Awww. You said I'm useful" Trigger sang.

"Shut. Up" Bandog fumed.

"Bandog, I won't die"

"How? Your right fucking in front of people who with missiles you idiot!"

"Bandog I have a plan. You just need to trust me".

"No Trigger".

"Please?"

"I said no, you fuck. This is end of the discussion"

"Bawk-Bawk!"

Bandog gritted his teeth "Don't you fucking dare Trigger…"

"Your a chicken! BAWK BAWK BAWK!"

Bandog gripped his desk tighty, getting more and more angry "Just ignore the dumbass. Just ignore the dumbass. Just ignore the dumbass. Just ignore the dumb-"

"BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK BAAAAWK!".

"ARGHHHHHHHHH!" Bandog screamed and punched the window in front of him, cracking it in the process. "FINE!"

Bandog gave an intense glare at the person controlling the IFF, which prompted them to quickly tag Trigger as an enemy. Soon after, every plane currently flying saw Trigger in green with a red "TGT" next to his square.

Count shook his head at this "Alright Trigger, we see you as an enemy. What now?".

Trigger had a huge grin on his face "I want all of you to shoot me at once".

"Dude, this crazy man" one Spare member spoke.

"Trigger, you are going to fucking die!" Another yelled.

Trigger ignores them "Ok on my mark. One!..."

"This is gonna suck" Count remarked.

"Two!"

"Oh my god he's serious" another member said.

Three!

"Get ready to clean up a dead pilot" Bandog said to his peers.

"FIRE!".

One that cue, all 14 of the jets fired a missile directly at Trigger, causing everyone on the ground to go into a panic. The entire crowd began yelling at screaming at what they were seeing.

"What the fuck?!"

"Is everyone mad at Trigger or something?!

"Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!"

Avril eyes widened at this display "Just what the hell are you doing dumbass?!"

Every single missile headed for Trigger at a breakneck speed, while Trigger himself slowed his are craft to a crawl.

"What the hell?! Dumbass, you're gonna stall!" Avril yelled, despite knowing Trigger couldn't hear her "Is this fucker suicidal?!".

The missile came closer, and closer and in one swift move, Trigger's aircaft flipped over like a dime….

...dodging every single missile in the process.

Everybody watching was astonished at what they just saw as Trigger flew upside down fast, right over the squadron that just fired at him. With his craft still upside down, Trigger flew and turned around right over Count and looked down at his cockpit. Count looked up at Trigger with wide eyes as the idiot pilot gave him friendly wave.

The crowd below was speechless.

Avrils mouth was wide open "Son of a…"

Everybody in the control Tower gasped in relief. It took a little while before Bandog could process what he saw. Once he did though, he got back on the microphone "Spare Squadron. Training session over. Make your landing check".

o-o-o-o-o

Trigger was final one to land after the training session was over. His Mig-29 came into view, and he successfully landed on to the runway (which caused Bandog to lose another bet).

A small crowd formed around Trigger's land spot. Trigger opened his cockpit and as soon as he jumped out and landed on the ground, he was met with a hard slap to the face, courtesy of Avril.

He was grabbed by the collar if his flight suit and was brought face to face with a pissed of Avril Mead.

"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG YOU!?" She screamed in his face.

"Eh, Nothing really. I feel fine" Trigger replied dumbly, earning him another slap to the face "Ow!".

Avril looked even more frustrated "You could have died dumbass! And my plane could have blown up".

Trigger smiled at her "But it didn't. And I didn't die" he was then thrown to the ground and got kicked in the thigh "Ow! Jeez Avril, why are you always hitting me?".

Bandog walked through the crowd and towards Avril, shoving her out of the way to approach Trigger.

"Watch it shithead" Avril sneered.

Bandog flipped her off and began speaking to Trigger "That was quite the stunt you pulled idiot".

Trigger got up and dusted himself off "Wasn't that awesome?".

Bandog smacked Trigger in the back of the head "No. It wasn't awesome dumbass. You almost wasted a perfectly good plane".

"I was just having some fun…" Trigger pouted as he rubbed the back off his head.

Bandog glared at him "You were having fun on my time. Don't you ever wasted my fucking time. Whenever you fuckers disobey orders, McKinsey always gets on my ass. Don't do that shit again. You hear me?".

"Crystal" Trigger gave a thumbs up. "Just admit that you thought what I did was awesome. C'mon, don't deny it".

"I'm fucking denying it" Bandog would never admit to Trigger that he thought anything he did was cool. And yes, Bandog thought what Trigger did was awesome, and no, he was not going to admit it anytime soon.

Count and Tabloid soon got in the conversation, with Tabloid grabbing Trigger's shoulders "Trigger man, that was incredible! How the hell did you do that?"

"Oh I just did post stall maneuver, or a cobra...whatever you wanna call it" Trigger shrugged.

"Shit man you gotta teach me how to do that!".

"Oh it's simple! You just gotta take your controller, slow down to around 150mph, slam down the left and right triggers, release the left trigger while holding down right, then move your plane up using the left thumbstick".

Tabloid just looked at Trigger with a blank expression, causing the pilot to laugh.

Trigger patted Tabloid on the back "Ha! Your face! I'll teach you how to do it some other time. It's pretty complex".

"It can't be that hard" Count butted in. "I could pull that off easily once I learn it"

Bandog snorted at that, causing Count to glare at him "What? You don't think I can do it?".

"Not think moron. I know you can't do it" Bandog pulled out a cigarette "Of course your lying ass would say anything to satisfy your own ego".

"Hey fuck you!".

"See Trigger? I told you he was into dudes".

Count looked pissed and tried to march up to Bandog, but Trigger got in between them "Woah Count chill out. You know how Bandog is".

"Doesn't mean I have to accept it".

"I've accepted it".

"That's because your a fucking teacher's pet".

"An unbehaved teacher's pet".

Bandog chuckled at Trigger's words until a guard showed up telling them to get off the runway and for the planes to go back to their hangers. Trigger and the other pilots got back in their planes to put them away, while everyone else went back to the courtyard or anyplace else they were supposed to be.

Trigger waved at Bandog before closing his cockpit, which caused the AWACS to wave back slightly before quickly put his hand back down, much to the amusement of the pilot.

o-o-o-o-o

The day had already been eventful with that stressful training session dominating the entire morning. Because of that, the rest of day seemed rather dull as it went on. The prisoners and guards did what they normally did: chatted amongst themselves, played games, gambled…

Gambling.

Oh how Bandog loved gambling.

He was currently in courtyard, in the middle of a really good game of poker and it was just him and one other guy. Before he died, it was usually High Roller and someone else that made it to the very end, with him winning around 90% of the games he participated in.

Now, it was very likely that High Roller was cheating, but nobody had any proof, and since he was dead, nobody would get any.

While Bandog would never admit it, he really missed High Roller. They surprisingly got along pretty good, and they always had a great time gambling together despite Bandog losing most of time.

The guy in front of Bandog revealed his cards, and Bandog knew, once again, that he lost. They both did the typical money exchange and went on their separate ways. Honestly Bandog didn't know why he gambled so frequently. He was awful at card games, in fact, it was a miracle that he even made it that far.

Bandog went back to his "office" and shut the door. He pulled a large bottle of whiskey, a plastic cup, and began to drink. After taking some painkillers he proceeded to drink and drink and drink until he eventually passed out on his desk.

He eventually woke up several hours later with a stinging pain on his face and arms. He sat up and saw his desk was covered in blood and glass shards. He deduced that while he was sleeping the bottle of whiskey had fallen on top of him, as evidence by the fact that he clothes reeked of whiskey and were wet.

"Eh. McKinsey's gonna have my ass.." Bandog grimaced. This wouldn't be the only time a situation like this happened. Bandog has spilled or broken glass of whiskey many times before, some by accident, others intentional. He had a bad habit of throwing whiskey bottles at the wall in front of him, and due to his office being a small closet, the shards would ricochet back at him. Bandog rarely tried to dodge them, so this resulted in him get a bunch of cuts all over his body.

Not that he minded. It gave him an excuse to consume more painkillers.

Something he did quickly after cleaning up the mess in his office. He soon left his office and slowly made his way to the infirmary. As soon as he walk through the door he was met with the doctor shaking his head in disappointment.

"Ta fuck are you lookin' at me like for,... that…" Bandog slurred, still very drunk. The doctor grabbed him by the arms and sat him in the chair.

The doctor sat down in front of him and sighed "Why do we always have to go through this, month after month, week after week…"

Bandog stayed silent so the doctor continued "Look at yourself. Your clothes are wet, you're bleeding all over the place, you reek of…*whiff whiff*, Whiskey? How the hell did get whiskey?".

"Heh heh heh" Bandog chuckles and grins "Thats…*belch*...c-classified".

"Let me ask you something Bandog…"

"What?".

"What's my name".

"Uhh…"

"You don't remember".

"Shut the...fuck up...I remember…..uh..".

"I'm waiting".

"Uh...Michael?"

"It's James, Bandog. James".

James shook his head, and it pissed Bandog off, causing him to get defensive "Well how was I supposed to remember it? Huh? I've only known you for like...three weeks?"

"Try three years, Bandog" James stated. It was true. James had been in charge of the infirmary back at Fort Jackson in Northern Osea, where Bandog was stationed before getting arrested and sent to 444th. Bandog was a regular patient due to his drinking problem, that only seem to get worse over time. In fact, it was his drinking that caused him to stab his superior, the only reason. Bandog tries to justify the stabbing with how the superior insulted his mother, but no, it was all drunken rage.

The only reason James was transferred to the 444th was because he was one out the few doctors willing to serve a penal unit. He also knew Bandog was one of the prisoners. So he wanted to see how the former AWCAS was doing, and was met with nothing but disappointment.

Bandog scratched his chin "Shit. It's been that long…"

"Yes. It has" James sighed. He reached into a drawer and got out some cotton swabs and a bottle of alcohol. "Hold still".

James dabbed Bandog's cuts a little before patching him up with a series bandages and band-aids. He then took out a fresh set of prisoner garbs and handed them to Bandog.

"Thanks" Bandog said quietly.

"Don't mention it" James replied.

Bandog reached into his pocket to take some more painkillers but was dismayed to find that his bottle was empty. He looked up at James "I need some mor-".

"No"

"What?".

"You're not getting any more pain pills from me".

"Why not?".

"You have an addiction".

"No I don-"

"Yes you do".

Bandog stood up angrily and clenched his fist "I've been taking only to amount you fucking prescribed to me!".

"Bandog. I know you've been stealing my pain pills".

Bandog scoffed at that "No I haven't".

"Oh really? Because a guard told me he found 7 bottles of empty pain pills in your pillow case".

"How the hell….?"

"McKinsey had the guards do a surprise sweep of everyone's cells while they were outside one day".

Bandog avoided eye-contact. He stood there for a while before he slowly began to walk out the infirmary.

James stared at Bandog before he left "Do you want to talk?".

"Go fuck yourself" Bandog said before leaving the infirmary.

"Can't say I didn't expect that.." James sighed and went book to doing paperwork. James and Bandog did this game hundreds of times. James would call Bandog out, Bandog would be in denial and refuse to accept responsibility. It's been like this for years and James doesn't know why he still expects Bandog to change.

To be fair, James had given up on him in a few areas. For starters he knew Bandog would remain an alcoholic forever. Hell, the day he met Bandog, he was hit a strong vodka smell.

James remembers that day like it was yesterday. Bandog came into his office with a black eye and blood dripping down his forehead. He apparently got into a fight and got messed up pretty badly. He decided that drinking would be the best thing he could do and got chewed out by one of his superiors.

Bandog walked in, they talked, he got patched up and left. It was a simple meeting. Something James could, and probably should, have forgotten. Be he didn't. The broken man that was Bandog intrigued the doctor.

Most of the prisoners didn't know how bad Bandog truly was and it surprised James. The lengths that man would go to keep his problems a secret from most people was rather astounding. James just wished that Bandog would use that same amount of effort in improving his own life, rather than using it to hide his bad one.

Perhaps it is a foolish wish, but James still has faith. He knows that another person does as well.

2 days earlier

James was typing along on his computer when he spotted Bandog along with the pilot he had treated 4 times before. James couldn't help but groan at the sight of Trigger.

"Why you got that look on your face Doc?" Bandog asked.

"This is the fifth time Trigger's been here" James stated.

"Jesus christ Trigger. How the hell have you not crashed yet?".

"I'm just really lucky" Trigger said with pride. Bandog proceeded to punch him in the arm. "Owww…"

"Shut the fuck up".

James sighed and signalled for Trigger to sit down on the bed. Before Trigger did that he turned to Bandog and spread open his arms.

"Can I get a bro hug?" Trigger grinned.

"Fuck off. Just do what the doctor said".

Trigger chuckled and walked over to the bed "See ya later B-dog".

"Don't ever call me that" Bandog said and left the infirmary. James noticed that Bandog wasn't as angry as he usually was, which surprised him. He hadn't seen him like that in long time.

James put his attention back on Trigger "Hold out your hand"

"Sure thing Doc" Trigger compiled and put out his burning hand.

"Just what did you do Trigger?".

"I grabbed a hot blow torch nozzle"

James decided it was best not to ask why, as he suspected that the pilot did it on purpose. Why anyone would do something so stupid would be anyone's guess, and James was in no hurry to find out.

James applied some cream to Trigger's hand and began to wrap it in Bandages. As this was happening, Trigger decided to strike up a conversation "So how do you like being a doctor?"

"I like it. Helping people has always been a important to me" James replied a he finished applying the first layer of bandages "Although I will admit, having to treat the same person over and over again can get a bit annoying…"

Trigger knew what the doctor was getting at and scratch the back of his head with his free arm "Heh. Sorry about that".

"Just be more careful. Alright?".

Trigger nodded and James began to apply the second layer of bandages. As he'd did, he asked a question that had been nagging him as soon as Trigger walked in "So why did Bandog escort you in here?".

"Eh. He Just wanted to make sure I got here safely" Trigger replied.

James raised an eyebrow at this "That seems awfully out of character for him…"

"Yeah it does. But we're friends".

That made James look at Trigger like he was crazy "Trigger I think you may have been misinterpreting Bandog's intentions. He's not the friend type".

"Sure he is! He just doesn't know it yet".

"Is this man naive or just not bright?" James thought to himself.

"So...why do you think that?" James asked.

"I think Bandog has the capability to be a cool dude and genuine friend if he's treated nice enough" Trigger explained.

"Trigger don't take this the wrong way, but, I think that's an incredibly naive view point to have on someone like Bandog".

"How so?".

"Trust me Trigger. I've known Bandog for 3 years, and he's been like this from day one"

"People can change".

"While I do agree with you, I do not think that's possible for someone like Bandog".

James finished applying Trigger's bandages and the pilot stood up with a confident look on his face "It's totally possible. The reason Bandog acts the way he does is because he has no one he can truly trust. No real friend, someone he talk to, someone one that won't judge him. I wanna be that guy".

"May I ask why you want to be that person?"

Trigger's face took on a more serious look "A few nights ago me and Bandog were talking and I came to realize the Bandog was the realest person on this base. He got me, and I understood him. He's not like the other guys here. He's... different".

James sat down and leaned back "It's going to be hard Trigger. Bandog has many walls protecting him from connecting with others. Tearing through them all may be impossible…".

"Which is why I'm not gonna try to go through them all. I want him to trust me. If he doesn't want to reveal certain things to me, that fine. It's his choice".

Trigger began to walk out, but before he did, James asked one final question "And what if you fail?"

Trigger turned a gave James a determined look

"I won't".

Trigger left the room with confidence radiating from him. James was left alone again. He leaned his chair back again and looked at the ceiling with a smirk on his face.

"Hmph. We'll see Trigger. We will see…"