Chapter 4: A New Hero

Lovely Rose (Andrew)

Monday, January 26, 2253; 5:30 P.M.

Border City, OS; 80W, 50S

I watched Hakari put her plane into the hangar. The engines stopped, and the cockpit opened. She climbed gracefully out of her metal bird.

"Take good care of it." She smiled. "I know you will." Hakari stared into my eyes. I looked away. I didn't want her to read me. It felt uncomfortable, being told I was hiding something. I was.

"I'll see you again later tonight." She waved, and left. I sat down, relieved. She didn't seem to ask about my hospital stay…

David walked by, looking worried.

"Yo, you gotta come help me out here. We just got another plane, but it has to have some stuff fixed up. Too much for me and Colonel. Mind helping us out?"

I chuckled. "I don't got a choice now, do I?" I stretched and grabbed a toolkit. "In a bit, I have to check out this plane first."

"Okay, you check out your baby." David smirked. "Don't be so shy. Just let her know how you feel." He patted me on the back and brought his lips close to my ear.

"You can't screw up with a hot babe like that." He drew back and left.

"Huh. Whatever." He didn't hear me, but I had to reassert the image of a white house in the middle of lush green pastures. That would be the dream home where Hakari and I would live out the rest of our lives, together.

6:13 P.M.

Air raid sirens were ringing loudly. Enemy aircraft soared overhead. Bombs sent men and machinery flying everywhere. I smelled the blood of the dead private next to my hiding place. Hakari and the other two pilots were fending off the attack. I was too scared to even save myself.

I hid from the loud noises and death and screams behind a destroyed wall. But they still reached my ears…Even 20 years later…They reached me.

"Mommy…Daddy…They're coming…" I cried and cried, but Mommy and Daddy had drifted off into eternal sleep. I peeked through the crack in the wall. It was big enough for my head to go through. I didn't venture outwards, though. Inside was safe, outside was death. I was five, and I knew that deep inside.

A tank rolled by as men stomped beside it. Their footsteps drove my ears insane, the rolling gears and crunching of debris resounded in my little skull. Then…

I stared at the sky. A plane burst into flames and fell from the sky. The orange glow made it look like an Orange Star plane. Hakari's plane. Two more fell. They all looked the same. All Hakari. All death. All alone…

Courage (Andrew)

Monday, January 26, 2253; 6:15 P.M.

Border City, OS; 80W, 50S

All alone…

No…Not alone. Not now. I wouldn't die alone. I would die with her!

I leapt from my hiding spot behind the wall. I ran for the hangar, where there would be one more plane. A damaged plane, but a plane nonetheless. I found it, in the only hangar not destroyed. It looked new, but it didn't have any missiles. But it could fly.

I climbed into the cockpit. Ignition…ignition…I flicked the switch, which didn't work. Grabbing a screwdriver and prying off the cover took me no thought. I didn't even remember starting the plane. But I saw the runway, and then the sky.

Courage (Hakari)

"They're gonna wipe us out!" I yelled as bombs exploded on our AA batteries and tanks. Their earlier attack failed, because we had destroyed so many ground targets. Now we were tired, flew damaged planes, and had less ammunition to fend off enemy planes that were superior to our model.

"Grave! Break off and engage!" Captain Emmel banked sharply and bounced an enemy fighter with some machine gun fire. The plane burst into flames and plummeted to the ground.

"Roger!" I split off, firing guns at the radar blip in front of me. Another enemy down. Kira had got one as well. Only 13 more fighters and 10 bombers.

"Hey! Look at the hangar!" Captain Emmel was surprised by another F-5F slowly coming out of the only undamaged hangar. "Who the hell is that?"

"I don't know! All the non-combat personnel are supposed to be gone! Who?" Kira yelled over the radio as well, desperately evading an enemy fighter's shots.

"Hey! You there! Don't do it! You're gonna end up dead!"

"I'm not going to die! Not alone!" Andrew's voice was unnaturally strong. His plane was soon at our altitude. Fighters rapidly gained on him.

"SHIT! YOU'RE NUTS!" Captain Emmel flipped around and shot down one of Andrew's pursuers. "FIGHT IF YOU WANT TO LIVE!"

"I'M NOT GOING TO DIE!" Andrew roared again, firing his guns at the bomber ahead of him. The plane released a bomb, but the gunfire struck it. The enemy bomber exploded as its cargo sent ripples of destruction through it. Andrew's first kill.

"Lucky." Captain Emmel whistled. "But here's how it's done!" He banked and launched a missile at an oncoming foe. The Red Star pilot was dead instantly as the missile shattered his cockpit. The enemy was dwindling rapidly now. AA fire from the retreating ground forces and our planes reduced the enemy quickly. But one was persistent.

"Heh. You all are very good. Worthy foes. I'll enjoy killing you all!"

"Who the hell?" Captain Emmel scanned the darkening sky.

"Farewell, enjoy your trip to HELL!" Twin streaks of fire shot from a dark shadow, seeking to impale my plane. The missiles almost grazed my plane's exhaust. Someone got in the way of the reaper's hand, sacrificing their life for mine.

Captain Emmel's plane fell from the sky and burst into a million pieces, raining them onto the destroyed runway. Captain Emmel's voice vanished forever into the night.

"…" Kira returned no sign of emotion. Night had come, and we were three planes alone in the dark shadow. There were no other blips on the radar.

"Angel Squadron, are you there? Angel Squadron, respond!"

"This is Angel 2. Angel 1 is gone. And we have one more…" First Lieutenant Kira looked back at Andrew's plane. He was following me with in a shaky pattern. He whimpered a little, and started to cry.

"Heading for Marina AB. Angel 2, out." Kira opened up our channel and shut off the HQ's. "You there, Kid. Stay with us, we got a long flight ahead."

"I…I…Roger." Andrew flew closely behind me, and I followed Kira. Together we made our way to Marina Airbase, 1200 miles west of Border City.

Respite (Andrew)

Wednesday, January 28, 2253; 7:05 A.M.

Marina AB, OS; 60W, 50S

I excited blurted my story to David and the Colonel. I recounted my crazed firing at the bomber and striking an enemy fighter. It was a complete change from when I landed. I almost crashed. For a first flight, I had done pretty well. My hands still shake when I get into a plane. Colonel Roberts looked at me oddly after my story had been complete. He then smiled, and patted me on the back.

"Good job, son. You seem to be good at whatever you do." Colonel Roberts left; his mind on something else.

"Hey, now I'm all alone with that guy! Oh man, I'm gonna get chewed out now!" David panicked and grabbed some tools. "They say you're going to be a pilot now. Just gotta give you the proper training, I guess." He hurried off.

I sat back on the workbench and looked at the beat-up old plane that I would call my own. It could fly, but needed a new ignition switch and a weapons system, other than machine guns. The next battle would be fierce, and Orange Star would need everything they could muster.

Hakari walked by the hangar and sat down beside me. We watched the rising sun together, in silence. I wished that this moment could last forever…