Chapter 9: Truth Doesn't Make A Noise
Author's Note: The chapter title is also the name of a very underrated song by The White Stripes. This chapter also refers to events in chapters 5, 6, and 7.
December 29, 2010
Psel, Yuktobania
It was no better plan really. The new air force general had really turned things around. It was his idea to gather all the aces into one squadron and send them against the Oseans; they'd lost their trump cards and were paying a heavy price. No less than 250 Osean and allied planes had been lost in the seemingly hopeless campaign to take Cinigrad. The 11th Armored Division and 13th Airborne Division had been all but crushed and the cities they captured, Psel and Arzri, had been retaken. But it was not without a brutal fight; one credit to the Oseans was that a singe parachute regiment held out for 11 days in Arzri before being overrun. In the air, it was all but a rout of biblical proportions. For the first time, the Yukes enjoyed almost complete air supremacy. The combined ace squadron, known as Group Freya, had contained a mere 45 members. Although 4 had been lost in combat, their kill totals shot up dramatically over the past few weeks. But now it seemed they had only forced a stalemate. The crushing victory on paper was a tactical win for Yuktobania, but a strategic loss for both sides. The people would no longer support it. And nowhere was this more apparent than in Group Freya.
In command of Group Freya were the Forza Paxiae or "Great Four". Each member controlled a jasten or "party" containing 8 members. One of the leaders of Group Freya was the cunning Major Quara Quaramine. His kill count was actually understated, it was around 32. He lived in both Osea and Yuktobania as a military advisor to Osea's experimental training programs. But now, he was in a delicate position. However, it was interesting that the situation suddenly didn't matter. He wanted to belive the war had a cause, but it there was none really. The soldiers, the people itself, had become pawns in a deadly political game; a political game that was killing people everyday. Even members of Group Freya had been victims of this. Of the 45 members only 38 remained. While not a huge loss in numbers, they were amongst the most skilled and brave pilots Yuktobania had. Combat stress, fatigue, and illness were beginning to plague the squadron. Now only 26 were combat ready.
Quaramine's Jasten only had 2 other members. They were doing their usual CAP over the area of Psel. The three planes traveled in a triangle formation. The first was his old friend, 27(and soon to be 28) year old Major Valentin Horan in an Su-35. The next was a former Cruik defense squadron pilot, 26-year-old Captain Miko Vaati, who was the wife of top-scoring ace Major Alexei Vaati. He was battling the flu, a common illness for pilots this time of year. She flew in her weathered JAS-39C which had seen constant battle since early December. Horan had a commanding lead on the kills board with 40 kills. Of course, there was also his other kills from other conflicts; added to the forty, his actual kill count was 71. Vaati had only managed 17. Despite whatever skill they had, the will to use it just wasn't there.
"0-1-0, no visual." said
"Roger that. I am so tired right now. Why we don't we just make something up to impress the brass so we can get some sleep." said Quara.
"I'd like to do that. But you know how anal-retentive the Colonel can be." replied Horan.
"Well, we're getting to the edge. Funny, they call it Falcon Alley," said Quaramine in reference to the large amount of F-16s that would be in the area, " but I don't see anything."
"So let's call it a day. They'll be there tomorrow." said Vaati.
"Wait...I got something. 0-9-0. 3...they're turning in!" said Quaramine.
"Roger, I see them. Business as usual." said Horan.
It was so viciously mechanical of the trio; they acted any ace pilot would. React instantly. Come out of the sun. Get close. Kill on the first pass. Alexei had a nickname for Group Freya: Certified Airborne Assassins. The Oseans didn't stand a chance. They were up against very skilled professionals with superior tactics and training. They did not even react towards the screams they heard over the radio as the enemy went down one by one. That would have to wait.
Quara soon locked on to the final enemy and fired. But this enemy was a little better than the others. He evaded and turned back in; then he broke off and descended rapidly. But there was no outrunning his superior F-15. It was a hopeless cause. Quara never liked to play games with his enemies. As soon as he could fire he did. Which he did. The missile streamed forward as the pilot climbed into some strange evasive maneuver. But there was no escape from the Sidewinder missile as it did a strange turn and destroyed the hapless F-16.
When the carnage ended, they went back to regular people...not aerial killers.
"Base One, this Mujonder Gold reporting contact and successful engagement with enemy. Preparing to RTB."
"This is Base One...wait a minute...what the hell...what! Well...", the voice over the radio said.
"Base One, this Kadera Silver. What's going on?"
There was a long pause.
"Jasten Four, we've received word to halt all combat operations."
Quaramine's heart stopped.
"Say again? Halt all combat operations!" Horan said.
"That is correct. All aircraft are to cease offensive operations at this time and return to base. The war's over." the voice said.
There was a long pause.
"What? It's...over. The war's over?" Horan stuttered out.
Horan let out a incredibly hearty laugh. "The war is over!"
"Yes! Time...for the roll of victory!" said Quaramine.
All three aircraft rolled at the same time at different altitudes. When they returned, Miko let out her own exclamation of joy.
"We won! Their pulling out!" said Vaati.
"We won? We didn't win anything! It's probably a cease-fire, but I don't care. We're alive. We can go home to our homes and families...or what's left of them." Horan said as he trailed off bitterly.
"I suppose." said Quaramine.
Would have been too much to have the cease-fire come through before we shot those damn guys down?!
It wouldn't be till later that the full truth would be revealed to Group Freya. But that was enough for them. They were alive and mentally stable and soon they would going home. The war on the front lines had ended, but the war to restore home was about to begin. Still, there would be many lingering doubts. For Quaramine, it was November City. It was the man he never got to meet. Then, Alvin C. Davenport was just another number on the kills board. But now...his name meant much more. But it was a secret that he kept deep inside. A secret only Valentin knew.
December 14, 2011
Mallora Island
So it was almost a year since that event that Quaramine found himself admitting the truth. He'd hidden from David and Kei, from Grimm, his own wife, his children, and his comrades. With each word the pain passed from him. But he was facing the people who'd friend he'd killed. Despite the hard feelings of the war having passed away, he wondered if they were going to kill him. Their looks were of confusion. He wondered if there was deep desire for revenge in them. Did they carry the anger of the families of the 31 other pilots he killed? Or the 298 kills the three squadrons of Freya had amassed in a short 4 months of war? It was about to be found out.
"All this time," David began, "it was you?"
Quara sat up in his chair. He felt like he was at an intervention. David and Kei were giving him looks of a mixture of anger, confusion, sympathy, and shock.
"Yes. I was there. We were "volunteered" by our CO for that mission. We were added on at the last possible minute. They weren't taking any chances. They actually said someone else did it. A Valentin Horan. I mentioned him before."
"Oh yes, I remember you talking about him." said David.
" I didn't want to be there. None of us did. We didn't know they were using bombers! We were attached like 5 hours before the mission. We didn't know! We went in there with almost no intel, almost nothing. All I was told to do was engage the enemy. So I did. I didn't know who he was. At the time, I didn't care! I was glad to get out of there alive. I was lucky. There is no such thing as honor in the air. I had to play dirty to survive. But then again, I couldn't deal with the pressure. I hated the war. I hated my government. I hated everything. When we left it hit me. Horan called me a magnificent bastard. Magnificent. Such garbage. I don't think even he believed it. He was even more ambivalent about it than I was."
"So you let him take the credit because you couldn't handle the responsibility and the weight of all of it?" asked Kei.
"Yes, in a manner of speaking. Horan was already a celebrity. They made a propaganda tool out of his wife. Poor woman. In early November, they bombed the hell out of civilian towns in Western Yuktobania. This was to uproot our forces there. The last thing the Osean military wanted is urban combat. At the time, there was no military presence there. But the command justified it as rooting out enemy strongholds. The Marines shelled the city of Sevaspol for 10 hours. It was the largest city there. 3,000 people died and about 5,000, 6,000 maybe, were wounded. It was the most heavily fought for city in Yuktobania as it traded hands between us and them. Guess where Horan lived. His wife's feet were blown off. They did a interview, a damn interview, with this woman! The nerve of those people! I was so enraged. I outraged at the audacity of both countries. But I was trapped. In order to survive, I had to kill. It was sad really. I had to slay my way back to my family. He was never the same. He's still being affected by that incident. The medals are fine, but the way the economy is over there, it doesn't pay for anything. It was going to cost Valentin over 100,000 to get his wife prosthetics. But he can't afford that, so's shuffling around in a wheel chair. All this stuff, November City, this. that, and everything else...I've been taking medication for it. Back in the Motherland, they say I have a bit of depression and post-traumatic stress. That's...why I'm here."
There was a silence for some time.
"Look, I...actually appreciate this. You've finally helped us solve the puzzle."
"You have no idea what combat can do to a person." said Quara in a dry voice.
"What? That's..." Kei started to protest.
"I know you've been through much. But you don't really have a true idea. You don't. You weren't in combat for 4 months straight. Being in a war your people would not forgive. Being hated by your own people. Seeing people die everyday. I mean day after day. Two or three sorties per day. Everywhere you look, there was enemy. You were killing everyday. You only went up a few times a week or a month even." said Quara.
"What do you mean. I thought you guys did pretty good." said David in confusion.
"That was just at Bougainville. After the November City fiasco, we were called to Cinigrad. After Cruik fell, there were just endless air battles over the skies of the capitol. Endless. They kept coming and we had to go stop them. It was killing field out there. People ran for bomb shelters, not from bombs, but from the falling planes! That was how bad it was. You were fortunate. Your skill wouldn't have saved you really. We lost three Belkan war veterans, and we splashed the 3 top scoring allied aces. It was insanity up there. Just furballs everywhere. Finally, they gave up on the air attacks on the capitol after a week and a half. Then it was just a battle of attrition for some 3 weeks. Believe me, there was no person gladder the war was over other than us."
"No, I think I can disagree on that point." said David.
David and Kei looked at each other. Apparently, he never flew through 60 miles of tunnel and destroyed a falling satellite.
Quara laughed. "I can imagine!" he said.
It was no secret the Yukes knew something about the "Ghosts of Razgriz". They'd encountered them a few times. The tales passed through every squadron.
"I'm sorry man. I really am. It was just a difficult situation. We really shouldn't have been there. The others though were extremely enthusiastic about the mission. Most of them could care or less about the bombers or damage to the cities. And you know, it's funny how everyone focuses on the stadium rather than all the other damage that resulted as a result of it. The only thing I wish I knew was who he was really. I know he was once an Alvin Davenport. I know this. But who was he really? What was he like?" asked Quara.
"Well...he was a pretty interesting guy. He was a bit of a hard drinking guy, he was very loud-mouthed at times, loved joking around on the radio, just...he fit every stereotype of the maverick pilot. Yet we all loved him. But..." said David, trailing off sadly.
"But what?"
"I never really considered him a friend until he died."
"What!" said Kei in shock. That was not was she expected to hear.
"I had a lot of other friends...and most of them are dead. Chopper, that's what we called him, was a guy I had a love/hate relationship, even when were in fight training. I never called him a friend. But when he was gone...I always realized he was a friend. He was already there, even though I kept pushing him away. I mean, we had nothing in common. Nothing at all. I even lied to him saying that I liked that favorite song of his. I hated it. It was a horrible song, but...I never looked down on him for it. He had his interests; I had mine. He was just...there. He'd never abandon anyone. He'd never push them away. He was always there when and when you didn't need him." said David, with a smile on his face.
"Really? I thought he was a pretty extraordinary guy. He fits the mold of a lot of old friends. In fact, he kinda reminds me of the way Volodga was." said Quara.
"Who was he?" asked Kei.
"He was one of the group commanders. All the ace pilots were grouped together in one squadron, the 23rd Fighter Group...codename: Freya. Brig. General Volodga was an old, grizzled ace pilot from the early nineties, even before the Belkan War. He was pretty rough guy. But we all loved him because he was so practical, pragmatic, and rebellious. He always stood up for his men and women. We called him the Mastiff, or Black Dog." he said.
Kinda like someone else I know, Kei thought.
"I commanded a jasten, or hunting party, that would go out and shoot down enemy aircraft. There were several of these, and General Volodga ran the whole thing...and he was good. I loved the fact that you can always learn something new from him as he would learn something new as well. But...he got killed; not in battle, but a landing accident. He flew a modernized Mig-27. The Migs always have a difficult time landing. He crashed after a particularly rough battle. It was later learned that his landing gear was damaged in the fight." he said. He then looked off and away from the couple.
"I suppose there wasn't much difference between the two countries, in the air at least." said Kei.
"Yeah. We had our group of fascinating people, some were total nutcases, but..."
The silent air of truth filled the room. The hostile air faded away and the three chatted away into the night. But something else was about to happen, that was going to change everything.
"Did he really do that?" asked David.
"I have to admit, that was real bold of Alexei. Saying if he became an ace he'd run down his block naked. I never laughed so hard in my life. Even the police were laughing so much they were almost crying." said Quara doubled over on the couch.
All three were laughing. Kei suddenly stopped laughing though. There was something wrong, and David didn't realize it at first. Kei started breathing harder; she was shaking. She clasped her extended belly. Something was very wrong.
"So, what are you going to name the baby?" he asked.
Kei was looking away. She closed her eyes and seemed to grimace at something. Meanwhile, David was still talking to Quara face to face.
"Well Kei's gonna let me do it. That's because we were talking about naming the kid after one of my family members. But Kei doesn't really have a family to speak of-Kei...are you alright?"
"You look kinda ill." said Quara.
Thank you Captain Obvious, thought Kei.
"The baby...it's...it's..." She stammered out. She was shaking even more. Then there was a scream of pain.
"No way! No freaking way! Come on we'll get you to the hospital! Don't just stand there! Help me!" said a panicked David.
This was not normal; something terrible was going on. She was only at six months. For the first time in her life Kei truly knew the cold, deathly emotion of fear. It was a fear that David shared, but in Kei's case it was sheer terror. It was unlike anything she'd ever felt before. It was the fear that her dream of her child having what she did not have, that is a happy childhood, was about to die before it had a chance to live.
To be continued...