Oh my god it's been over a year since I've updated this. Okay, I'm so, so, so sorry. I'm overseas at college and don't have access to AC0 to figure out what missions and cutscenes go in order and I had it stored in my phone but then I had to do an entire restore on my phone and if I backed it up, then the same problem came back so everything got deleted including my notes BUT now I'm back home and I'm playing the game to figure out the order of everything so I can maybe get this story back up and running. Also, writing these chapters is very tedious between adding in original dialogue, new dialogue, character development, character storylines, the whole shebang (it also hurts to type because I'm extremely sore because I've been working out because I gained the dreaded 'Freshmen 15' and am currently trying to lose it before I go to Vegas…). Hope you understand and forgive me! You know I love all of you!
Chapter Quote:
"My family is my strength and my weakness."
~Aishwarya Rai Bachchan
Chapter 6: Flicker of Hope
May 12, 1995…
It was five in the morning. Pixy and I were hanging out in my room discussing the war, about what on earth Belka had been thinking starting this damn war and when we thought it was going to end. We'd been woken up early for some reason, but no one would tell us why. We fell silent when the news started updating us on what else was going on in the world. During a commercial, Pixy asked, "So who are Elizabeth and Genette?"
I nearly spewed the water I'd been drinking all over my friend. "Excuse me?"
"Who are Elizabeth and Genette?" he repeated.
"How the hell do you know those names?" I demanded, glowering at him.
Pixy looked at me warily. "You mentioned them the other day in your sleep when you crashed out in the crew room."
"Damn…"
"Are you going to answer my question or not?"
"If you tell anyone else this, I will kill you and make it look like an accident."
"Got it."
I sighed. "They're my niece and nephew: Albert and Elizabeth but Albert goes by his middle name, Genette. Genette is older by two years. He's eleven, she's eight, turning nine next month."
"Why didn't you ever tell me you had family?"
"I don't like people prying into my private life. I have a phobia of it at the moment."
"A phobia?"
"I'm like you, a defect from the Belkan Air Force, and a pretty good fighter at that, not to sound conceited. They don't know about my family and I intend to keep it that way. If they find out, they could use my family against me because God knows I'd do anything for them."
"So do you have a brother or sister?"
"Older sister. Her husband took on her last name so that's why we still have the same last name. I haven't talked to her since I defected for precautionary measures. It's not foolproof but it's the best I can do. Now seriously, if you tell anyone, I will torture you slowly first, then castrate you, then kill you and make it look like an accident. I'm not joking. My family is my life."
"Your secret is safe with me Cipher. So what are they like? Your niece and nephew, I mean."
"Let's see, Genette is a rather brilliant for an eleven year old. He reads out the wazoo. He also plays football with his friends. He has a whole wall of nothing but fighter jets related. He plans on becoming a pilot." I chuckled at the image of my nephew's wall. Pictures and pictures of different planes and ships lined the walls. His room itself was painted to look like the sky. "And then Elizabeth, she's a lot like me, meaning she hides things really well, mentally or physically. She hides things so well that she loses what she hides. She's found change hidden in her socks, in DVD cases, picture albums, underneath trash cans… you get the picture. Genette strategizes things before executing them; Elizabeth wings a lot of things. Anyway, they're either the worst of enemies or the best of friends. Their fights are like world wars. But when they're allies, anyone against them is screwed. They work really well together. All right, that's enough about them. What about you? Your family."
"Parents died when I was young. No siblings. Grew up the last five years of my life in an orphanage before they kicked me out the day after I turned eighteen. I went into the air force right after. Hey, it was free education so I thought 'What the hell?' That's my life. Not all that interesting Cipher," Pixy said.
"No flings or anything?"
"I didn't say that." He smirked.
"Anyone serious?"
"Nah. A few girlfriends here and there but nothing serious."
As I was about to say something else, Janie entered the room, looking stunning as always. "Suit up two. You have a sortie to attend to."
Pixy groaned and left. I stood up and walked over to Janie. "Do I get a RIO today?"
She wrapped her arms around my neck. "Commander is keeping me on the ground unfortunately."
"Is he ever going to let you in the sky?"
"Considering he's my dad? Probably no," Janie laughed. "Maybe one day though."
"I just had to crush on the Commander's daughter, didn't I?" I mused. Her dad scared the living daylights out of me. He didn't know about the two of us yet and we planned on keeping it that way for a while, at least until the war ended.
"I'm not complaining. He actually likes you."
"Even being a defect from the Belkan Air Force?"
"Even then. Come on, they'll get suspicious if we're gone too long." Janie left my room, allowing me to get suited up for our flight. When I arrived at the briefing room, it was just Pixy. The Base Commander was there though, and he looked at me suspiciously. "What took so long, Cipher?"
"Sorry sir. Won't happen again," I promised. He continued to glare at me as I sat down. I heard Pixy snickering softly next to me. I hit him on the leg.
Vince cleared his throat and began the briefing. "The mountain town of Solis Ortus is located just outside Ustio's capital, Directus. The Allied Forces will deploy airborne troops, comprised primarily of Osea's 101st Airborne Division, over Solis Ortus, in a surprise air and ground attack on the Belkan forces. This operation will play a critical role in Ustio's liberation. Your mission is to provide support for the airborne troops. Destroy Belka's surface-to-air defense network and all interceptor aircraft, securing a safe drop zone for the airborne troops. Be aware of civilians still inside Solis Ortus. Your actions will determine their fate. Good luck."
Operation: Varsity
Location: Solis Ortus
Date: 12/5/1995
Time: 0550 hours
Pixy and I were the first to leave the room. I wanted to get away from the Base Commander as soon as I could because I didn't like the way he'd been looking at me, as if he knew something I didn't. Of course, I knew something he didn't and I didn't want him finding out or else I'd be screwed.
Pixy and I hopped into our regular planes and took off, surprisingly with no banter in the process. It didn't take long for us to reach Solis Ortus since it's so close to Valais Air Base and since Ustio is such a tiny country.
The skies were just starting to lighten when we reached the designated airspace for the mission. I wondered vaguely if the enemies below would spot me and Pixy because of our red wings. If any enemy did, I'd destroy them before they could sound an alarm.
"Escort units, this is the 122nd Airborne. We're now entering the designated airspace. We can't return to base until we empty this transport. We're counting on you."
"We'll take care of you," I said.
"First, attack any anti-air troops positioned at our parachute unit's drop destination," AWACS ordered. I thought Sky Eye was going to say more but apparently he had other plans, meaning he wasn't going to say anything else.
"So that's it? No 'after that' or 'next thing is'? Come on Sky Eye, you're losing your mojo," Pixy commented.
"Thank you. I was wondering if I was the only one thinking he was going to say more," I said.
"And people wonder why Belka has such an amazing air force. I'm pretty sure it's their AWACS are much clearer than ours are."
"Would you shut your cakeholes?!" Eagle Eye snapped.
"It is piehole! If you can't get it right don't say it!" I teased in mock anger.
"Maybe Belka has a better Air Force because their pilots aren't lunatics like yourselves."
"Whoa now, Cipher's the lunatic, not me," Pixy corrected.
"Dude, who was the one that suggested we do the Elvis impersonation contest?" I pointed out.
"That was never supposed to leave the crew room!"
"It did. Now you either agree with me that you're just as crazy as I am, or you shut your piehole."
"I'm shutting my piehole."
"Well who peed in your cereal this morning, grumpy?"
I shook my head at my comrade's lack of humor this morning. I don't know why I was so hyper. It might have to do with the five cups of coffee I had before the mission. I just hoped all that coffee didn't make me need to pee in the middle of a battle because it gets really hard to concentrate when that happens.
Well moving on from me and my bladder issues, I flew low to the ground, practically skiing on the sides of the mountains. I aimed for my first target. I couldn't tell what it was but I didn't care. I knew it was for anti-air defense and that's all that mattered. As I got closer and fired a missile at what I realized was a SAM, the leader of the airborne squad barked, "Get your asses into gear people! You've gotta jump or you're of no value to this unit! Anyone showing weakness will be left behind! Use that anger to get fired up and take 'em out! Understood? Go get 'em! Go! Go! Go!"
I had lined myself up with another Sam. We fired at each other. Whereas I could pull up and avoid the missile, the SAM couldn't and exploded. Two down… some number that I don't know to go.
"We're the best! We're the best!" A guy from the airborne troop cheered. I smiled. With that kind of enthusiasm, there was no way this mission could go wrong. I went into a loop so I could fly towards another target on the outskirts of the town. Most likely it was another SAM. Those things were easy to destroy as long as they didn't fire at you and weren't blocked by too many trees.
"Move! Move! Move! Don't stop to think! Just keep moving!" A soldier yelled, sounding agitated. I would be too in his position. As least my life was in my own hands at the moment; these guys were putting their lives on the line with me and Pixy in the area and the guys that packed their parachutes. I mean, if those parachutes weren't packaged correctly, well, you know what would happen.
"They're a brave bunch of soldiers. I'll give them that," Pixy noted.
I replied, "I don't think I could trust anyone with my life like they're doing."
"I'm offended Cipher. You don't trust me with your life?"
"No, not when you're Mr. Sour Face. And I know you don't trust me with your life because I'm Mr. Crazy, am I right?"
"Fine, fine, I'm crazy too, but only because I hang out with you!"
"Your mistake, but that didn't answer my question."
"I won't tell you that, buddy."
"Then I won't tell you if I was lying about me entrusting my life with you."
"What? Hey now, seniority overrules this. You have to tell me."
"My captainess overrules your age, ergo I don't have to tell you jack crap."
"My AWAC skills will purposefully send you to your doom if you two don't focus on the mission at hand," Eagle Eye interrupted.
"Come on, you know that wouldn't work well. We're the top pilots at base right now. We'd find a way to kick the enemies' ass and then yours," Pixy told him.
I snickered. "There's not much that Pixy and I agree on at the moment, so you should be scared when we do. And just so it's clear, I do agree with Pixy at the moment."
I fired my guns at the SAM I approached. Thank god I was going slow enough to hit it enough times to actually destroy it. I turned around and went to another SAM a few miles away from it. I understood why Belka placed SAMs so far out from the town, but I wished they hadn't. It was making my job painfully long to carry out. Finally though, I finished off all the SAMs on the outskirts and could head into the main part of town. The tricky thing here would be destroying only what had to be destroyed, and saving the innocent civilians and buildings in the process. I knew no one and nothing would escape this attack totally unscathed, but I had to try. I wasn't going to kill innocent civilians on purpose. I couldn't.
Since I'd chosen an air-to-air missile as my special weapon, I'd have to rely on regular missiles and gunfire to destroy the ground enemies. I figured some Belkan fighters would pop in along the way so I wanted to be ready for them. Pixy had air-to-ground special weapons, I only hoped he would use them wisely (meaning he didn't blow up anything he didn't need to).
"Meet up with Company Four in Sector F-4. You got a map?" the airborne commander questioned as I flew low into the town, aiming at whatever I could. There were mainly SAMs and AA guns. The AA guns weren't all that bad. Their aim sucked typically, and by that I mean ninety-nine percent of the time. The SAMs are the ones that had missiles follow you. They were a pain in my F-15 ass. I destroyed two in my first run; Pixy was right behind me, dropping two special weapons and demolishing any nearby enemies.
"I wasn't informed there'd be such a large disposition of troops!" A guy noted, sounding annoyed.
"Our military is so unorganized at times," I groaned. If there was one thing I missed about the Belkan Air Force, it's that it was run very strictly, rigidly, and was always, always organized. Everyone knew what their mission was, when their mission was, with whom they would be doing the mission with, and typically knew why they were doing the mission. The Ustian military at the moment, not so much…
"Pixy, be careful when using your special weapons. I want to avoid as many civilian casualties as possible so only use them on cluster of required targets, not any neutral targets," I ordered.
"Aye, aye Captain." My wingman, as promised, dropped a bomb strategically so that only our actual targets were hit, not any neutral ones. "You know Cipher? I finally figured out what ace you are."
"Oh yeah? What's that?" I queried, diving my plane towards the ground. I fired two missiles, each one aimed at an AA gun. I used my gunfire to destroy a third one. With the way this mission was going, we'd be done pretty fast.
"You're a-" Pixy began.
"AA guns destroyed!" Eagle Eye announced.
"What I was going to say was-" Pixy said before Eagle interrupted again saying, "You got this guys! Keep protecting the troops!"
"If you interrupt me one more time, I'm going to-"
"What's that Pixy?" I laughed.
"You know what Cipher?" he growled. "I should just let you handle all this by yourself."
"Okay," I said nonchalantly. "I have no problem doing this by myself."
"Damn it. So much for that threat. Guess I have to stay here and annoy you then."
"I'm okay with that too, because honestly, I think I annoy you more than the other way around."
"Is there anything that gets under your skin?"
"There is but there's no way in hell I'm telling you what it is. Buddy. Then I'm just asking for trouble. Literally."
"Fine then, I'm taking your kill," Pixy declared. As promised, a missile annihilated the target I was going for.
"Thanks for saving me a missile and a headache," I said. My wingman groaned. I turned my plane in a one-eighty so I could go for another attack run.
"There's still a lot of soldiers up in the air! How many could've dropped to the ground?" A Belkan wondered anxiously.
"That, my not so dear friend, is a good question. I'd be a bad ally if I told you. Plus I don't actually know the number. Pixy, you have any idea?"
My wingman waited a few seconds before, "A lot."
"Thank you for clearing that up. That was so informational," I replied sarcastically.
"You could've asked the base commander," he countered.
"You could've just said you didn't know," I retorted.
"You could've not asked me."
"I needed to ask you something to make sure you hadn't had your wing shot off."
"Shut up Cipher." Pixy flew right next to me, so close that I could see the middle finger he was giving me. I saluted him with my own.
"Get behind me. Whatever targets I miss, you shoot them for me. Just don't get shot down yourself."
"You really want to insult me when I have a plane full of missiles and I'm behind you?"
"Ah you'd never hurt me. I'm your buddy. I also think I could get away from you."
"Is that so? You think that a person like you, a pilot with a couple years' experience, could go up against a person like, a pilot who has over three years' experience and I've been shot down and managed to keep my plane in the air and get back to base safely? You really think you could beat me."
"It's that shot down part that makes me think I could probably take you. At the minimum, we're evenly matched. I mean we're the only people who can keep up with each other," I pointed out, firing at two AA guns. I let Pixy have the third.
Just as he was about to respond, an ally exclaimed, "Mayday! Mayday! Mayday! Requesting support! We're gonna be shot full of holes before we even hit the ground!"
Nice to see they had so much faith in us…
"Pixy, go cover the allied transport plane. I'll take care of the enemies ahead so they don't have to worry about them," I ordered.
"On it." Pixy's plane jerked the left. I went after a SAM that was hiding in the woods. There were a lot of those. You had to have perfect aim if you wanted to kill those suckers. Not only that but they moved and let me tell you, those drivers are erratic. I've seen them driving in open fields and I can honestly say I'd be terrified to get in a regular car with one of those guys.
"I'll draw away the enemy planes," Pixy said.
"I'll come help. I'm taking care of a SAM first. Hang on!" I fired a missile at my target and turned my plane around, not even wondering if the missile hit because I knew it would. I glanced at my radar. From what I could tell, there were about five or six enemy planes. One was hiding in the northwest sector. Not trusting what the pilot was up to, I high-tailed it in that direction.
"Our job is to keep the Belkan planes busy. So my question is: where are you going buddy? You better not be leaving me," Pixy warned.
"And miss out on all the fun of antagonizing you? Not a chance. I'm heading over to take care of this lone plane. I don't trust them."
"You shouldn't trust any enemy plane."
"Obviously. Thank you for that glorious insight oh wise one," I remarked.
"The sass is strong with this one," he said.
"Seriously? Star Wars? After telling me you don't watch movies?"
"Come on Cipher, it's Star Wars. Everyone has seen Star Wars. And those who haven't are missing out."
"I do not understand you sometimes."
"Good."
I shook my head. I needed to focus on the mission, not on my friend's insanely weird personality. I saw the enemy plane coming up in front of me. Either it hadn't seen me yet or didn't care that I was coming. If the first, then they were stupid. If the second, I should be worried. I switched to my XMAAs and locked onto my target. I fired two of them. The enemy plane started to swerve away but it'd been too late. Both missiles struck it. The fiery mass fell down towards the ground. Not wanting to see it impact the ground, I went back towards my wingman where he was currently leading all the other enemies away from our allies. Thankfully, he was leading them towards me so I didn't have far to go before I reached my first target. They flew past me. I maneuvered my plane so that I got behind both of them. Switching to regular missiles, I fired one at the closest plant to me and another one at the plane ahead of it. The first missile hit the target. The second missile missed by a millimeter.
"You little twit," I muttered, flooring my plane so I could get closer to the enemy. Once I was three thousand feet(ish) away, I fired two missiles to double my chances of succeeding. It worked. Both hit. I pulled my plane into a half loop before flipping it over so I could go for my next mark. Immediately I was met with two more enemies. I'd barely gotten a missile and lock and fired before I had to jerk my plane down to the ground to avoid a missile sent after me. As I was attempting to find the other plane, a missile whizzed past me. The blip representing the enemy plane disappeared.
"Are you trying to kill me Pixy?" I asked.
"Not my fault you got in the way of that spectacular kill," he answered.
"I was almost that spectacular kill."
"But you w-"
An allied commander interrupted him. "Regroup and assume control of Sector A-1."
"What's with-"
"Our ally's support operation is going as planned. Continue on with your duties," Eagle Eye said.
"What is with people interrupting me constantly throughout this mission?!" Pixy demanded quickly.
"Go take your anger out on those two planes over there. I have two for me. How many do we have left?" I inquired, lining my plane up with the two oncoming enemies.
"Too damn many."
"Again, that is not answering my question. Do you need to learn your numbers again?"
"You need to learn to shut up."
"When are you going to learn that I'm not going to shut up?"
"When are you going to-"
"Shut up, both of you," Eagle Eye commanded.
"Again, with the interrupting me thing. Why don't you ever do it to Cipher?"
"Don't encourage him," I said. I almost added something else but the two enemy planes came into my firing zone. I locked onto one and fired. These guys were horrible fighter pilots because the pilot didn't even try to dodge the missiles. It was like they literally just let them hit their plane. The other pilot was slightly smarter. They flew away from me as fast as they could.
"Target neutralized," Eagle Eye remarked.
"Let him go. He won't be causing any more trouble," I said.
"I can't find the enemy line. And there's no chance of retreating," a Belkan soldier announced grimly.
"You'll never find a group of soldiers with more pride than them," an ally commented.
"This battle is going in our favor. Hey Pixy, how are you doing with those enemy planes?" I questioned.
"I shot them down. They weren't very bright. I see a plane in the northeast sector. It's just hanging out there. Mind if I go take care of it?"
"No, go right ahead. Just-"
"If you say don't get shot down, I will shoot you down," Pixy warned.
"Actually I wasn't. I was just going to say be careful. Our planes are starting to run on the lower side of fuel and weapons. Don't use any more than you need to. But you know, don't get shot down either. That would suck."
"Oh… okay then. Roger that." I saw Pixy turn and burn to the northeast. One of the enemy planes started going after him. I dipped my plane down about a thousand feet below, hit my thrusters, and caught up to the enemy plane pretty fast. I pulled my plane up vertically. Instead of using missiles, I fired my guns. In this situation, it was simply easier. The enemy swerved away from Pixy. I made my plane follow. Soon enough I was back behind them. The plane wasn't very fast so I easily got within a few hundred feet. I fired a missile and pulled away. It was a direct hit. If it hadn't been, I think I might've turned in my wings after that one.
"Company Two has regrouped. But we're short on weapons here," an allied soldier said.
"The rest is up to air support! Protect those soldiers in the chute drop!" another one added.
"We're trying! There's only two of us you know, and about twenty of them!" I pointed out.
"Requesting reinforcements in Sector B-7! We've lost the tanks!" a Belkan shouted.
"The enemy is everywhere! Do we have any allies left?" A second Belkan pointed out. "If we could at least track the enemy's movements, we still might have a chance."
"Wait, they had tanks?" I said.
"Guess they were in a warehouse or something. I might've… destroyed that before you told me not to not to fire on those," Pixy responded.
"I hope no civilians were working in there…"
"Sector F-3 has more enemy forces than expected. Once we meet up with Company Four, we'll initiate the attack," an allied commander informed.
"You boys need any help?" I queried.
"No, this is only for us to do. However, your air support has been greatly appreciated," he replied.
"Three more planes, buddy. One for each of us and then may the best man get the third," I laughed.
"I'm the best man here," Pixy said.
"Are you sure about that?"
"I'm pretty sure you're a boy, not a man yet."
"Well then I'm a very tall man considering we're the same height. How about this: we each shoot down a plane and shoot down the third together?"
"No, the third plane is mine."
"Work with me Pixy. I'm trying to give you a fair deal here."
"How is me getting the third plane not fair?"
"Because you wouldn't get it. I would."
"Let's see about that." Pixy and I both pushed our planes as fast as they would go. We were both neck to neck, racing to meet two enemy planes head on. I think one of us was growling. The second I was within range to fire a missile, I did. So did Pixy. Our targets were easily demolished. I searched around for the third plane. It was behind us. Whether my comrade had figured that out or not, I didn't know. I let the enemy get in closer. Just as he was about to lock onto me, I slammed on the brakes and went up, spinning over to get behind him. That's when I realized we had a problem.
"Pixy! Get out of there! Two enemy planes on your six!" I notified. My wingman muttered a few choice words in Belkan but he did as I said.
"We're engaging the enemy in Sector B-6! It's no good! They're driving us out!" A Belkan yelled frantically.
Pixy maneuvered his plane so he could get next to me. "Okay Cipher, one each."
"Oh now it's okay? Do I need to remind you who the captain is here?"
"You're a very lenient captain."
"Remind me to change that."
"Sector C-8 is now secure! But we don't have much ammo left. Can you drop us a container?" An ally requested. I knew it wasn't a request for us so I said nothing. I focused on getting these last enemy planes shot down.
"Sector A-12 secured!" Another ally cheered.
"Pixy, fire now!" I commanded. I knew my wingman doubted me but if we didn't take the shot now, we'd lose our targets. Our missiles flew towards their destination. I watched through squinted eyes, hoping my gamble paid off. I grinned when the last two enemies disappeared off our radar.
"Incoming message from Operation Command. 'Airlift Operation was a success.' All enemy forces near Solis Ortus have been eliminated. The rest is up to the ground forces. Galm Team, mission complete. Return to base," Eagle Eye ordered.
The ride back to base was pretty short and quiet thankfully. I was actually exhausted from fighting the enemies and bickering with Pixy, although which one caused the most fatigue I was still trying to figure out. The two of us were greeted by Hammerhead who said he was going to give us the short debrief. It was only three sentences. I mean literally, he said, "Operation Varsity succeeded. Ground troops are now en route to Solis Ortus. It won't be long now before Ustio is liberated."
"Thanks Hammerhead," I said. Pixy and I entered the building, heading to our rooms. Janie came out of hers and planted a big kiss on my lips.
"There's my hero," she remarked with a big smile. She gave Pixy a hug. "And my other hero."
"Is that going to be my greeting every time I get back to base?" I queried hopefully.
She laughed. "Maybe. Depends on if you come back alive or not. Listen, I have a question for you two."
"Shoot," Pixy and I said simultaneously.
"Have either of you heard of 'A World With No Boundaries'? We've intercepted some strange messages and after we decode each one, there's always some mention of it. We can't figure out what it is. Any ideas?"
I shook my head. Pixy shrugged as he said, "No idea."
"Maybe they want a world with no boundaries," I suggested.
Pixy looked at me. "Really? I never would've guessed that."
"It's a good thing you have me then."
"All right. If you find anything, let me know. I have a bad feeling about this group," Janie commented. Giving me another kiss, she went back into her room. I started walking back to mine when Pixy mused, "You know, maybe a world with no boundaries wouldn't be such a bad thing."
"Maybe, but it'd never happen. There'd be too many people fighting over who's going to rule and then the clash of cultures and languages, I just don't think it'd work. Now go get some rest. We've both earned it."
Present Day…
"Wait, did Pixy really say that about borders?" Genette asked. I nodded. "That's like… the best foreshadowing you can get. But you don't realize it's foreshadowing until everything has happened. This would make such a good book."
"When my identity is one day revealed to the world, you can write my biography, okay?" I joked. My nephew hollered in victory.
"All right. It's almost dinner time. What do you two want for dinner? I can cook or we can go out. Let's give my voice a break so y'all can have one more story before we go to bed. What do you say?"
"Can we go to Red Robin? I've been dying to have a burger and shake from there," Elizabeth stated.
"I second that decision," Genette agreed.
I grinned. "Okay, get your jackets and I'll go get the car keys. Meet you in the garage." My niece and nephew scrambled to their rooms. I figured out the one way to bribe them was through food, and since I was paying for it, it was technically free food. Free food was always a good way to bribe teenagers/college students I learned.
As I was grabbing my car keys, my home phone rang. I picked it up. "Hello?"
"Hello sir, is this Jason Banks?" a girl asked politely.
"May I ask who's calling?"
"This is Kei Nagase. I'm a friend of Blaze's… I mean Elizabeth. Sorry, I call her by her call sign. Oh, and before I forget, I called her parents to get your number so I could ask if it was okay if I could come over and surprise her tomorrow? I know she's staying with you but I didn't want to intrude so I wanted your permission."
"Yeah of course, what time were you thinking?"
"Whatever time is good for you, sir."
"What do you say about noon? We're probably going out to breakfast tomorrow and won't be back until ten or eleven."
"Perfect! Thank you so much for letting me come over!"
"A friend of Elizabeth's is a friend of mine. Nice to meet you and thank you for asking for my permission."
"You're very welcome sir!" Nagase chirped. "See you tomorrow!"
We hung up. Elizabeth and Genette came in a few seconds later. Genette asked, "Who was that?"
"Oh just a friend. You two ready?" They nodded their heads eagerly.
CAMEO FROM NAGASE. Wonder who else is going to be making appearances… reviews would be wonderful even though I probably don't deserve them for not updating in over a year… Please? :)