Note: I hope to have Black Magic doing some aerial combat in this chapter, so read ahead for some excitement. I don't particularly know what I'm going to do for the big plot yet, but I'll have to keep working on it. In the ranking, I will include ones mentioned in previous chapters, but there will be no descriptions next to them. Happy Reading!
Highest to Lowest in Ranking
Base Commander
Captain (Leader of an air squadron, 50 missions flown to become one.) ((This refers to the air ranking; it has a different meaning in the Navy.))
Second Lieutenant
Chief Master Sergeant
Senior Master Sergeant
Cadet (3 missions flown to become one)
Recruit (1 mission flown to become one)
((Guile Willard, or Tornado, refers to them as Nuggets in this chapter, but I just want to be sure you know exactly what Nuggets are before reading. Cadets and Recruits are nearly the lowest on the ranking ladder, Civilian ranking being the lowest.))
Chapter 2: The Demons of Razgriz Appear
(Second Lieutenant Jean, a.k.a. Flame)
We continued towards St. Hewlett Naval Port where the carrier Kestrel was being attacked by Yuke fighters. As we approached closer, I hailed the Kestrel, "This is Flame, captain of the Black Magic squadron, what's your situation flagship carrier Kestrel, over?"
It took a few moments before I finally got a reply, "This is Captain Andersen, leader of the Kestrel, we're being attacked and we humbly request that you hold off Yuke fighters while we attempt to break through the naval blockade and lead the Osean 3rd Fleet to safety. I repeat, we humbly request that you hold off Yuke fighters while we attempt to break through the naval blockade, over."
While making sure my team was still with me, I called back to the Kestrel, "We copy; we're coming to your rescue as we speak, Second Lieutenant Arian out." I spoke to my crew as we finally reached the port, the Kestrel down below as it attempts to escape, "Alright, this is what separates the men from the boys, disperse and engage enemies at will!"
As protocol directed, each of the team was forced to shout a single line.
First, Blizzard called to me over the radio, "Blizzard, engaging!"
Then, Terrain said in as serious a tone as humanly possible, "Terrain, engaging!"
Tornado was next in line, "Tornado, engaging!"
After everyone was finished, I was the last one to yell, "Flame, engaging!"
Each of us chose a different target to chase, and it seemed to be going well for awhile until enemy reinforcements began to arrive.
Suddenly, over the radio, I caught a female voice explaining, "Negative. You take the lead, Blaze. I'll fly on your wing." Then after a few moments she replied to something that I couldn't hear, "No, Blaze is leading, I'll protect his 6 o' clock. And I'm not gonna lose another flight lead."
Then a deep male's voice interrupted her, "Quit screwing around! This is war! The enemy's all over and they're gonna eat you alive!"
Another male's voice, though carefree this time, explained in a mocking voice, "Ahhh…I'd better stick to the trail position, thanks."
The same deep male's voice ignored it and spoke, "This is Captain Snow, callsign Swordsman. Engaging next enemy formation."
These were fighter pilots, and I dearly hoped they were on our side. Over the radio Tornado cheered, "Yeehaw! Finally we've got someone helping out!"
Disregarding his loud comment, I radioed the lead plane of the fellow squadron, "This is the captain of Black Magic Squadron, Second Lieutenant Arian speaking, callsign Flame, might we ask for your help?"
The female from before replied with pride, "We'd be happy to oblige, Flame."
After she was finished, the cheerful male from before shouted, "Let the rest of your squadron know that if they need any help, the Sand Island pilots are here!"
A smile came to my face as I dodged a missile from an enemy fighter, asking politely, "The Sand Island detachment? May I please have your ranks, names, and callsigns?"
There was radio silence for a few moments before the flight lead piped up, "This is Captain Blaze, flight lead for Wardog Squadron, my real name is unimportant."
Then the female came in quick precession, "First Lieutenant Kei Nagase, callsign Edge!"
Afterwards, the carefree male answered, "First Lieutenant Davenport, I won't answer to anything but Chopper." This was great I thought sarcastically to myself, they all outranked me and my crew.
As I made my way over to the Wardog squadron, I graciously complimented them, "It's great to have you guys with us, I was a little worried we'd be the only ones here…" My eyes landed on an enemy bomber going for a run over the Kestrel, so I cussed as I made my way down towards him, "Damn it!"
As I neared closer, I repeatedly spoke to myself, "Come on, come on, come on…get within missile range…"
Out of nowhere, Edge called to me over the radio, causing my head to turn quickly in the direction she specified, "Flame, enemy on your 6 o' clock! Missile, evade!" The missile she was speaking of was chasing me no matter what I did to get away. I tried all the fancy moves I could muster, but it continued to stay right on my tail.
Over the radio, Blizzard explained, "Tornado and I are here are to help, sir!"
They tried to fire upon the missile, their bullets nearly hitting my jet, and I quickly yelled, "I said spread out and attack the enemy at will, not to cover my tail! If that missile hits and I get shot down, fine, these damn jets aren't as important as the Kestrel!"
Though they were a little reluctant to do so, both Tornado and Blizzard backed off and began fighting the enemy again.
It was great that they'd tried to help me, but they'd almost made things worse. Luckily I had a single missile diverter installed onto my F-14 a few missions back, so I pushed the special button and a flare led the missile safely away from me.
The Sand Island pilot named Chopper fired at an enemy plane behind me while yelling, "Pay attention! You're supposed to be the flight lead in you squadron, right! Not only were you almost shot down, but one of your guys is being chased by at least five Yuke planes at 8 o' clock low!"
He was right, but in the air there was no time for apologies. I instantly changed my flight path and turned for Terrain, the plane Chopper had indicated to me. Terrain had his hands full, that was for sure, so I commanded to my two other pilots Blizzard and Tornado, "Blizzard, you continue to protect the carrier Kestrel! Tornado, you come with me!"
Over the radio they both replied, "Aye, aye, sir!"
Terrain was in big trouble, I watched as nearly all five enemy planes got missile locks on him and fired. Under my breath I cursed, "Shit…" The only thing I hadn't done was order installation of missile diverters to the rest of my squadron…he was as good as dead if he didn't move just right.
I looked to my right as Tornado joined me on our way to rescue Terrain, and he spoke in awe, "I can't believe it…after all I said to that guy…I hope he makes…"
I interrupted him proudly before he could go further, "He is going to make it! If he gets shot down, I'll resign as flight lead!" This was more important than anything else at the moment; I wasn't going to give up on my crew.
Unfortunately for us, Tornado had to break away as more enemies began to chase him through the air, "Sorry, Flame, they're just too much! You keep at it!"
The only luck we'd seemed to have was the fact that Terrain had somehow dodged all the missiles. I arrived in time to shoot down two of the planes chasing him, but the remaining three suddenly changed their course for the Kestrel. Neither I nor Terrain would be able to chase them to do any good, so I warned Blizzard, "You've got three incoming Yuke fighters headed for the Kestrel, make sure none of them get through! Terrain and I will attempt to catch up to them and shoot em down, but I can't make any promises!" I watched as Terrain followed me back towards the Kestrel, still not saying a word to anyone.
That was when I suddenly remembered, "Squad! I almost forgot the Sand Island detachment known as Wardog Squadron is here along with another fighter known as Captain Snow! If you need help, don't hesitate to call on them, however I would prefer it if we could manage on our own!"
There was no reply over the radio, but I knew everyone was busy with their own troubles. Terrain and I finally managed to tail the three fighters heading for the Kestrel, and as we tried to shoot them down I called to the Kestrel, "Flagship carrier Kestrel, could you give us a sitrep?"
I narrowly evaded debris from a Yuke plane both Terrain and I managed to down as I listened to the Kestrel's reply, "This is Captain Andersen again, we're holding up so far, but it seems the 3rd Osean Naval Fleet is going crazy down here, they keep calling for help. If it's not a problem, could you clear some of the naval blockade below?"
Rubbing my neck tiredly, I explained to Terrain, "I'm going to start clearing out the enemy ships below, Terrain; you continue to help keep control of the airspace." I made my way downwards towards a row of enemy boats and flipped a switch to allow me to drop bombs. Even though I attempted to time the bomb release button presses just right, the bombs didn't hit perfectly on the mark, however they still sank a few.
The man with the callsign Swordsman began to help me clear out the rest of the Yuke Naval Fleet, and he addressed me when we were finished, "You did a pretty good job today, I'd recommend you ask for a promotion to Captain."
I ignored his compliments as I watched the Wardog Squadron finish off the last of the Yuke jets in the air, and afterwards a cheer of victory came from one of the boats in the 3rd Osean Naval Fleet, "Yes, we made it thanks to all of the help from the sky! We salute you, pilots of the Osean Air Force!" A grin came to my face; I always enjoyed making someone's day a little easier.
Swordsman flew off back towards the Kestrel and landed upon it with ease, leaving me to go back to my own squadron. Once we'd all finally come together, I called jokingly over the radio, "Blizzard, Tornado, Terrain, how was it today, did you all have fun up in the deep blue sky?"
With his comedic attitude, Tornado added in a rhyming voice, "There was blue above and there was blue below, I just didn't know where the hell to go!"
I smirked at what he'd said before the Sand Island detachment approached, Chopper saying over the radio, "Hey, Black Magic, we should get together for a beer or two sometime when we're off-duty, what are your names, you can add callsigns if you want?"
While shaking my head, though he couldn't see it, I explained, "That's okay, I'm sure you'll know who we are if you ever come to North Belka Air Base."
The silence was cut instantly as Chopper exclaimed, "You belong to North Belka Air Base!"
Edge didn't waste any time adding, "That's where the three of us were trained before being sent to Sand Island…is that place as peaceful as I remember?"
I was sad to tell her so, but I did anyway, "Sorry to tell you this, but in a war there is no peace. Even though North Belka isn't being attacked, we still feel the repercussions of the war. Recruits and Cadets are being forced to get ready to depart, and most of them don't even have basic training down yet."
"Those Nuggets don't even know which way to pull the stick to go up!" Tornado laughed as he joined in on the conversation.
While taking the time to chide him, I finished talking to Wardog Squadron, "There is nothing funny about that! Anyway, Wardog Squadron, we thank you for joining us in the battle today, we couldn't have gotten as far as we did without your help. Don't forget to warn us if you're ever going to be heading our way."
Chopper was enthusiastic as he replied while he followed his squadron in turning to face the direction of Sand Island, "You can count on it, man! Hah, Blaze and Flame, you couldn't have planned a better coincidence."
We were alone now, and Blizzard tiredly said as he yawned, "Well, I guess we can consider this mission accomplished…"
My tone matched his as I dully retorted, "Except we really didn't accomplish anything…" My eyes wandered to the blue sky above and then to the waters below, watching as the waves rolled over and over down below…were us pilots the only chance Osea had for winning this war?
End-note: Well, how did you all like that! I planned to have the Sand Island detachment appear from the beginning and they'll be making a few more appearances in the story, so don't fear any longer thinking that they'll be gone for good. After all, what Ace Combat 5 story would be great without the Demons of Razgriz? I didn't give any lines to Terrain in this chapter…guess I'll have to give him more next time. Again, R&R, I really want to know what you all think, every opinion matters! I'll be working on the next chapter soon, so keep tuning in!
