Chapter 7: Turning Point

Battle Once More (Hakari)

Monday, February 8, 2253; 12:50 P.M.

Near Bradley Military Installation; 104.5W, 49S

"Andrew, you ready?"

"Ready, Captain."

"You don't have to call me that." He had been calling me "Captain" ever since we left Border City. Mostly out of respect, but being called a rank didn't mean much to me. "Just 'Grave', okay?"

He didn't respond immediately. "Then what's my nickname?"

"Perv. I smiled in my helmet."

"Hey! What kind of—?"

"Cut the chatter you two. This is Hawkeye. We're ready to commence the attack. The 1st is currently attacking the facility from a distance of two miles. If they advance within one mile of the base, they'll be fried by the EM shield. Use your long-range pierce bombs to provide some support."

Some coordinates appeared on my radar.

"Vector 270, five miles. Release now!"

"Roger, bombs away!" I depressed the trigger and sent an orange contrail streaking towards the base. The satisfactory explosion and confirmation from Hawkeye only made me feel sicker. Something was coming…

Hawkeye noticed it first. "Dammit! We got four high-speed bogeys inbound! From vector 280…It's the Bloody Eagle!"

"This is Eagle to Predator Squadron. Falcon, Kestrel, take the leader. Buzzard, bomb them. I'll handle the wingman. Got a score to settle."

"You hear that, little angels? We're gonna strip you of your wings!" A cocky, raspy voice sounded over our radars. These Red Star pilots were bold. Aces. Leagues above our skills could handle.

"Take 'em." I readied the two AA missiles and checked my special AA weapon. Orange Star's homing missile wasn't very modern, but if I could just fire one, then there would be one less enemy to worry about.

"Roger, Captain."

Four Red Star planes flew and broke off into three groups. The bomber never saw me coming.

Slayer Once More (Andrew)

Monday, February 8, 2253; 1:00 P.M.

Near Bradley Military Installation; 104.5W, 49S

Hakari practically flew through the enemy bomber and ripped him to shreds. I remembered it looked like the other three, but had many bombs and moved slower. But now Hakari had to rely on machine guns and OS's rather limited radar guided missile. I still had my homing missile ready, and it was hungry for blood.

"Okay, let's see what you got!"

Breaking and turning from my foe's sight, I split off and headed for the 1st. I saw them move forward and turned south. The Eagle was keeping up; good. A 180 now, flying up and twisting into a corkscrew. Back towards the 1st.

"You can't do that forever! Your little…Holy Stars!" The entire base rippled with explosions. I noticed the 2nd and 3rd were swarming the place. The ground battle was over, but now the predator behind me only grew fiercer.

"This…this will be your end." He began to fly erratically upwards and disappeared into a cloud.

"What is he doing?" I braked hard and flipped towards the ground. Only a few hundred feet separated the bottom of my plane with dusty rocks and craters. I saw Hakari down another enemy. One left for each of us.

"Fool! Now you die!" The Bloody Eagle came zooming straight down, firing his guns and missiles rapidly. As if he would hit me. Easy to dodge, simply bank left, bank right, up, down, back up to the sky…and then he was directly in front of me.

"Hpmh. I have no interest in weaklings. Begone!"

"What in the world?" I shook in fear at the demon in front of me. His body glowed bright red and the sun began to fade. "This…what is this?"

"I don't know! It's some sort of magic trick!" Hakari fenced and chased her foe around in circles. The enemy seemed to be very much afraid, even with his leader's amazing power.

Power. CO Power. Wait!

I felt something come from my deepest belly and up through my throat. Not a scream. Not a prayer. Not a song. A command.

"I will not lose." Missiles and gunfire struck my plane and created deadly rips and tears. Tears that vanished instantly. "Hyper Upgrade!"

"Impossible! You can't be! He's!"

The Eagle's plane burst into flames and fell from the sky. I saw the burning wreckage. It didn't matter if he survived. Not now. Now there was something else to worry about. My own survival.

The ground approached ever so close, creating black shadows upon my vision. But I felt…warm.

Recovery Once More (Andrew)

Wednesday, February 10, 2253; 10:00 A.M.

Border Hospital; 80W, 50S

I woke up in the hospital. I simply lay in a bed, no machines, no IV, just a head lying next to mine. Hakari was snoring and drooling on my pillow. She was hunched over, and her arms made an excellent pillow. She mumbled something and continued to drool. It was gross.

A familiar nurse walked in. She was the one from Marina. Sarah gently tapped Hakari on her shoulder, which failed to wake the snoring beauty. Then she slapped Hakari across the back of her head, which instantly made Hakari snap to attention and blurt out:

"Captain Hakari Hachiyama, reporting for duty, sir!"

She saluted and stiffened. Then she slumped over and fell to the ground, snoring again. I chuckled.

"She's been here for a whole day now. Worried sick about you." Sarah gently picked up Hakari. "Help me with her. Don't touch anything you're not supposed to."

"Eh heh. Right." I grinned and shouldered Hakari. The three of us managed to get her outside on one of the chairs.

"Hey, you better change. General Ford wishes to speak with you."

History Lesson Once More (Andrew)

Wednesday, February 10, 2253; 11:13 A.M.

Border Military HQ; 80W, 50S

"Welcome, Mr. Andrews. I've been expecting you." General Ford gave me a chair and sat down on the opposite end of the table. We sat in a little tent created to the east of Border City. President Nell and Hakari entered, Nell sat to the left of General Ford, Hakari to my right.

"As you may be aware of, Mr. Andrews, our operation was a success. We dealt a severe blow to Red Star and we can now begin further operations to strike at their key military positions." General Ford sat motionless, his eyes glaring at me from under his military hat. "But we also have an unexpected surprise. Four Red Star aces killed with only one of our planes down. I have to thank Ms. Hakari for her excellent flying abilities, but Mr. Andrews; this is not why we are here."

I wondered if this had to do with me blacking out after killing The Bloody Eagle.

"We are here because you are special Mr. Andrews, special indeed." He shuffled through some papers and slid them over to me. On the topmost sheet a faded, browning picture of a young boy, a burly man, a young woman, and a tall woman in a military clothes stood posing. The young man held a wrench, the young woman a machine gun.

"250 years ago, Wars World lost almost all records of a great battle. This is the only document to date that has been recovered. It explains in great detail how the world rallied together to defeat a foe as powerful as to destroy all that existed. Four countries, Orange Star, Blue Moon, Yellow Comet, and Green Earth, fought side-by-side and defeated the darkness, which retreated."

President Nell spoke up. "But as the documents reveal, one month later, the world was enveloped by a dark shadow. What was noted as a cloud became a torrential downpour of death and destruction upon the land."

I tenderly leafed through the aging documents, and saw a dark cloud striking a city down with red beams.

"The people named this dark cloud the Azrael." Hakari stared at the picture and rasped the words in awe. She pulled out a book with gold linings. Inside, there was a picture of a demon being repelled by a powerful light.

"I see now. This little history lesson is turning out to be full of surprises." General Ford rose to his feet. "Captain Andrews, Captain Hachiyama, as leader of the Orange Star Army, I now promote you to COs. I am sure you will discover your powers soon enough."

Both of us stared at him in complete disbelief.

"You will see, just keep on fighting, and it will come to you." He smiled. "Right now, you two surpass me in ability. I am only a general through my prowess and strategic maneuvers. President Nell has been elected by the people. You two have powers that we cannot even begin to wield."

"Hyper Upgrade…" I muttered and thought back to the battle.

"A power used by CO Andy of Orange Star. It's in the dossiers. Please, review them over. You may find something that we have missed. You are now dismissed!" President Nell and the General saluted, and left.

Hakari and I sat silently together, trying to piece together what had just happened. Together, we turned the pages of time…