Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I don't own Ace Combat.

September 28, 2005, midnight… Kevin sits on his bed, contemplating on the events in the last 24 hours. Of all the madness that happened, the lives lost. The reasons for this sudden war were unclear to him. Why now, after fifteen years of peace? This wasn't quite what he had in mind when he joined the service, it shouldn't have been like this at all. In that short a time, all hell broke loose.

Kevin remembered the mission; it should have been so easy. Destroy all UAV's before they returned to the spy vessel without destroying the ship, that's all. That was the only easy part, but they never stay that easy for long. All of a sudden enemy fighters come out from the same vector as before, shades of what happened three days ago. They were called back to retreat by the Captain for fear of how many enemy planes there could have been. The mission was already complete, no reason to spill blood. But Chopper couldn't hang in there with the squad; the enemy was right on his tail. They had no other choice, engage and destroy all enemies. After the intense dogfight, they all survived, with fresh kills for each to add to their kill record, they were not flying like nuggets anymore, but everyone forgot about the vessel; everyone except Captain Bartlett. Nagase got close to the spy plane and it opened fire with a SAM. She couldn't shake it and Kevin could remember his mind racing, "No God please, don't take another from me. Please!" His prayer was answered, but not in the way he wanted.

Bartlett was able to get the missile to lock on to his jet and led it away from his squadron, but couldn't dodge the missile. The damage wasn't that serious, but he couldn't maintain his plane. Captain Bartlett then said the words that would stick with the nuggets forever. "These things are always replicable. Its getting the crew back alive that counts." He landed in the water with his three wingmen circling over him to provide cover in case there were anymore enemies, looking for their chance to strike. But they were called back over the radio, and ordered to return to base to rearm and refuel. The three didn't want to leave their Captain like this, but didn't have a choice. They were given a direct order. They just hopped the rescue helicopter would arrive soon to pick him up. And over the radio again, Thunderhead said the words that neither of them wanted to hear, "The enemy has declared war on us."

"ENEMY? WAR? What the hell is going on?" asked a pissed of Chopper to one of the mechanics.

"We got to get these planes fully ready for combat, there's a battle going on not too far away and they need your air support." Answered one of the crew.

"But who? Why?" continued Chopper.

They were back in the sky again, but with one plane less. The same question was on each of their minds. With the Captain gone, who would take command? They made their way to St. Hewlett naval port where Thunderhead gave them the in-flight briefing on the situation. The port was getting bombed like crazy, and their job was to protect the aircraft carrier Kestrel as it tried to make its escape into open waters. It as directly after the briefing that Thunderhead designated Nagase to lead the squadron. She was the most combat experienced of the three after all, and hoped that would be enough to accomplish the mission. But to everyone's surprise, she declined the position and gave the lead to her tail man, Blaze. She didn't feel like she could handle being the flight lead, but she trusted Blaze would. Kevin didn't reject the offer either; someone had to take charge of this or they wouldn't be much good. Blaze closed his eyes and whispered to himself, "Time for all that government education to pay off."

The battle was one of the most intense things any of the three ever encountered. Vessels on fire, men dieing, fear and desperation all around. The Kestrel was soon in sight after Wardog Squadron bagged four enemy fighters. It was preparing its leave with the few other ships still intact and sea ready. The bombers made drastic runs to sink it, but not a hit was taken on the carrier, Wardog Squadron, along with the help of Captain Marcus Snow, shot down every enemy fighter in the bay and continued to escort the small fleet to safety. While flying over what looked like charred earth and muggy waters, the squad saw the dismal sight of dead bodies of their own countrymen floating along the waves. The sight made Edge all tense in her body, while Chopper was ready to throw up, he couldn't take that awful vision. Blaze didn't like it any better, and it fueled him from inside.

As they reached open waters, the Yukes started to form a naval blockade to stop the fleet and sent Nimrod bombers to destroy the Osean ships. There were just four Osean planes that were standing between victory and defeat for the 3rd Osean Naval Fleet. Blaze shot down all three enemy Nimrods with a flurry of bullets and well timed missile shots. Edge and Swordsman mopped up the remaining Yuke fighters, while Chopper and Blaze set their sights on the enemy ships. With the air filled with black smoke and the scent of burning metal throughout the open sea, the ocean floor was now a graveyard for the Yuke forces. All Osean ships that made it out with the Kestrel were safe, along with the carrier. The first official battle of the war had ended, with Osea getting the first victory.

"Hey Kid, how's it fell being the flight lead?" asked a sudden cheerful Chopper.

"It feels rather good actually." Answered Blaze in a rare happy tone.

"I thought you would." "One, two, three planes. Count them up man, we're all back safe. I can't wait to tell the Captain when they pluck him out of the ocean."

But only bad news awaited the triumphant Wardogs. Captain Bartlett was not found by the rescue helicopter when it arrived. The enemy spy vessel was also gone when they arrived too, making it seem a little suspicious in Perault's eyes. This came as a morale killer for the squad. Deep inside, Nagase blamed herself for the Captain's disappearance, if she was more careful, Bartlett would be here with them telling them that they were too damn cocky. Chopper didn't take it too well either, he secretly had a deep respect for Bartlett. He seemed to be the only one on the base besides Pops, who knew what he was doing. Blaze just remained silent, not letting on any human emotion in him. But he felt hurt inside; another person who made contact with him was possibly dead. He thought and wondered more and more if he was actually cursed.

Later that night… Genette was sitting in the lower bunk of his assigned room with the Labrador, Kirk, lying near the door. Just then, his "temporary" roommate entered and went over to the radio on the desk. He fiddled around with it until he got it on a specific station, and sure enough, they were playing his favorite song "Face on the Coin" as he took a seat on the sofa across from his new journalist friend. The two talked about Bartlett and his past about his service in the Belkan War and his romance with a Yuke Recon Major back then who broke his heart. Chopper also made clear his dislike for the Base Commander and his interrogations about Bartlett's disappearance. They even briefly talked about the future of the squadron, it looked like blaze's commanding days were up with Lieutenant Ford possibly coming down to take over. That's when the warning alarms sounded meaning one thing; the base was under attack.

"An air raid, give me a break man."

The three Wardogs made it to their planes that were sitting on the tarmac while enemy planes flew overhead, taking out the other mild Osean fighters. They made their way to the runway, where one by one, all three jets took off into the black night. When they got to the same altitude as the enemy, they were once again the only available Osean force to stop the enemy. They didn't need an in-flight briefing to know what to do, destroy all the bombers before the base is leveled.

The three fighters managed to make quick work to the first three bombers and their air support; they even got some encouragement from Pops about the maintenance of their planes. From up in the sky, the three could see Pops' plane taking off in an old hunker of an aircraft. They also saw a fourth f-5 Tiger leaving the hangar. On its nose was the ace of hearts that symbolized Bartlett's heartbreak fifteen years ago. It was Bartlett's spare plane and Wardog couldn't believe what they were seeing.

"Who the hell took that out?"

"This is Private Airman First Class Grimm."

Blaze remembered who Grimm was. Hans Grimm, a rookie pilot who was receiving flight training on the base with Bartlett, while learning to maintain the jets as well from Pops. Blaze never said a word to him, but he was glad about getting the extra backup.

Grim explained how he was helping the mechanics and how he seemed to be the only available pilot. Chopper was bashing him about not even finishing pilot replacement training, but was ordered to shut up by Blaze. Four Osean planes in the air were better than three. Grim was heading to the runway when radar was picking up more enemy aircraft heading their way. Edge believed in what Blaze said about four planes were better than three and assured Grimm that she would cover him.

"Kid, Grimm's coming up. I'm not sure he can handle this… Are we just gonna watch?"

"No way in hell Chopper, he's going to need our help. Find an enemy and keep him away from Grimm!"

"Roger that Kid."

The three Wardogs watched Grimm like hawks and fought like tigers to keep the enemies off him. Grimm couldn't believe it, he was entering his first ever battle. The three nuggets were able to keep the heat off Grimm long enough for him to take off. Now there were four wings over Sand Island as its guardians, and they shot down the enemy bombers with ease as the Yuke's plans were coming apart. Things then appeared quitter, as Lieutenant Ford was over Sand Island air space. He was taking over Wardog Squadron and demanding clearance to land, but was denied by the control tower for the battle going on. He even received some attitude, though not surprising, from Chopper who never really paid much respect to authority. Ford was making a threat to write Davenport up, but he would never do it. His plane was shot down as a final wave of bombers entered their airspace.

"Forget about Ford for now. Our responsibility is destroying those bombers. Full attack formation, we're bringing them down." Said Blaze as the four jets flew off to meet their enemies.

There were also four Yuke escort fighters, but they didn't stand much of a chance. As the battle waged on, everybody, including Blaze, saw how far Archer had come in his training. He kept the aircraft straight and was doing some pretty good flying, better than what was expected of him. The three bombers were sot down and the remaining Yuke forces fled with their tails between their legs. Once again, Osea had triumphed an almost certain defeat. The four planes landed with a number of base personal waiting to congratulate them on their efforts, especially for Grimm. Genette got an almost perfect shot of the four pilots with Chopper putting Grim in a headlock while Nagase gave a smile and Blaze looking on. It was almost perfect, except that Chopper's arm blocked Blaze's face in the shot. But Genette though it was better since Blaze is really a man of mystery. The base was filled with celebration for the victory and for Grimm's first mission and confirmed kill. Pops could be seen putting one arm around Grimm and another around Chopper, cracking some half-drunk joke about the two. The base was damaged to an exempt, but it all could be repaired. The war had just begun and so far the score was Osea 2, Yuktobania 0.