Chapter 9
Disclaimer: I don't own Ace Combat (starts looking for victims to test the ax on).
September 22, 2010… It was big day for Sand Island, because today, a journalist was visiting the base to cover a story, Colonel Perault got all the nuggets together the day before, telling them about it and warning them as well. "Tomorrow is a big day for this base. The journalist coming is from the Oured Chronicle, one of the biggest news agencies in the country. Everybody in Osea is going to hear about how we do things here, so be forewarned people. What you do while he's here not only reflects upon the base and our military, it also reflects me as well. And I swear, if any of you screws this up and makes me look bad, I'll see personally that you spend the rest of your service cleaning the oil spills from the hangar floors. Do I make myself clear here?" All the nuggets responded "Yes sir." "Be sure to behave yourselves or else." And on that, the Colonel left to his office to give his medals a good shining..
"Jackass. Be sure to behave yourselves or else." Said Chopper in his impression of the base commander. "I got a few words to tell this journalist about our beloved Colonel. You would think that this was an international affair with him. I'm willing to bet that this newsman isn't here for him and how he keeps this place combat-capable."
"It's probably about Captain Bartlett. He was a pilot in the Belkan Conflict 15 years ago. I heard he was a true ace who shot down twenty-three enemy fighters himself during the war. And to think that were training under his wing." said Nagase.
"Come on Nagase. He's been Captain for about forever. Never once did he get promoted since the war. Yeah, I've done my homework; I heard the stories about him. He should learn to lighten up once in a while, he's way too tense. The way he barks orders at us, I'm afraid he's going to blow out a vein soon." said Chopper.
"I know he's tough, but he cares about us. Our lives are more important to him than any mission or aircraft." replied Nagase.
"Whatever. I am glad for him for finally getting the recognition he deserves, but I still think he's a hard bastard." said Chopper as he left the briefing room.
Nagase looked down at the floor and sighed. "He likes the captain. He just has his own way of expressing it." said Blaze from his seat. "It's second nature to him to make remarks about that. That's what makes him Chopper, though as annoying as he may be." Nagase turned around and smiled at him. "He is a nice guy, and not a bad pilot at that. But he really should be careful with that mouth, its going to get him in major trouble one day."
"You're probably right, but I doubt he'll ever stop."
The next day came and the journalist arrived. When he got off the plane, he was greeted by Colonel Perault and Captain Hamilton, who gave him a first class tour of the base. Kevin went into one of the hangars to relax. He liked the smell of jet fuel for some reason, and in the hangar was an F-4 Phantom, Bartlett's Phantom, getting some maintenance work. It didn't look like anyone was around and took a seat on a crate and looked out at the open water in his view. He didn't know how long he sat there, but he felt someone shaking his shoulder. He turned around and saw the chief mechanic of the base. Blaze has seen him around and he did give some lessons on maintaining the planes to the nuggets.
"Kevin Johnson is it? The football star?"
With a sigh he responded "The one in the same."
"I use to watch you guys play on the televised games. A hell of an improvement over the teams I saw in the past. A literal resurrection I say."
"I hear that a lot. I just went out there and played, the overall team was better. I only helped."
"That's very modest of you. Some friends of mine mad a fortune on betting in that Diamond Bowl game. I made 200 dollars with your performance myself. You really gave those Owls a hard time bringing you down."
"Well that's the past now, my playing days are over. By the way, what are you doing with that thing Second Lieutenant?"
"Please call me Pops, seeing that I'm probably the oldest guy on this base. As for our old friend here, she just needs a new fuel pump and she'll be ready to go. I better get to that now before tomorrows drills." And Pops left to take care of it, leaving Blaze alone again. He continued to sit their looking out into the surf, but once again his peace was disturbed.
"Excuse me, can I ask you a few questions?"
Blaze turned around again, to find someone he never saw before standing there. He was a little taller than Blaze, with red hair and a notebook in his hands. He stared a t Blaze for a moment, as if trying to remember where he saw him before. "I know who you are. Your Kevin Johnson, you played running back for the Air Force Academy. I thought you would go pro, the sports analysts were saying that you would be a high draft pick. But you didn't enter the draft, instead of making millions of dollars playing football you chose to remain in the military. Why is that?"
"You're that journalist from Oured right? Are doing a piece on this base or on my playing days?"
He looked a bit embarrassed. "I'm sorry, it's just that one of my co-workers was a sports writer and he kept going on about how you were going to bring the Knights out of the basement. He did the story on your Diamond Bowl victory and MVP trophy."
"I understand. To answer your question, I joined the air force to serve my nation, not play football. I made that decision a long time ago."
"Alright, but seriously, I came here to ask you some questions about your squad leader, Captain Jack Bartlett. If that's okay with you?"
Blaze gave another sigh "Fire away."
"What are your thoughts about the Captain?"
"My thoughts? He's probably the best fighter pilot on this base. He challenges us, pounds us with maneuvers to help make us all we can be. He's the type of guy that I would want covering my back."
"How do you feel about being in the air force, though this is a time of peace?"
This took longer for Kevin to answer. He had to put some real thought into it. "Just because there's peace, doesn't mean that everyone accepts it. There may not be any major conflicts right now, but that doesn't mean we should drop our guard. We have to always stay alert and do whatever is in our power to prevent any further conflicts between countries. It may not be so glorious now with no big struggles, but I am still proud to be here, serving to protect my homeland."
"Nicely said junior."
It was Pops, walking up to the two with a smirk. Both men didn't even realize that he was around. "How long have you been standing there?" asked Blaze.
"Long enough to hear about the journalist friend and you not going pro. I'm guessing your that reporter whose here for a story."
"Yeah. Albert Genette, and you are…"
"Second Lieutenant Peter Beagle. I'm the chief mechanic here." The two talked to each other with Pops answering Genette's questions. Kevin saw this as his opportunity to leave. On his ay back to the housing building, he thought about Genette and Pops. He liked the two, but he couldn't help but think that he's really going to need Pops in the near future. And as for Albert, Kevin felt that he was going to get one hell of a story. He made his way to the lounge where he ran into Nagase and Chopper. Chopper was going on about how he told Genette of how an asswipe the Colonel was and how tough Bartlett was. "He really seemed to like the stuff on the Captain. Don't worry; I have more respect for him than you think. But as for Perault, he got the big guns, though I thing he reporter didn't really like him a whole lot."
"No one here really does. For the way he acts all high and mighty, its no wonder" said Blaze.
"You two really shouldn't sat that, he is a higher ranked officer." said Nagase.
"I don't care if he's the damn President. He's a jerk and everyone knows it."
The rest of the day was pretty much the same. The squad went back up and practiced maneuvers, though they were reminded over the radio from Perault about keeping it perfect.. Everything went without a hitch and the squad flew beautifully. Everything remained peaceful on the little island, miles away from any civilization. But things wouldn't stay calm for much longer. A very dark cloud hung over Osea, and it was ready to rain down it's hatred.