Chapter Fourteen
Disclaimer: I don't own Ace Combat.
October 22, 2010… Wardog Squadron is in the briefing room, waiting to be briefed on their next assignment. Things have finally quieted down and there had been no enemy sightings within the last three weeks. The squad had only done some recon work around Sand Island since the last attack with no sightings of the enemy. That would normally be a good thing, but the higher ups didn't think so. They believed that things were too quite for their own good and that something needs to be done. And that was why the 108th Squadron was sitting around in front of a projector with Captain Hamilton monitoring them.
"So what's going on now? Are we going to actually do something productive for a change." Complained Chopper.
"You'll find out soon enough." Answered Hamilton.
"Well that's not soon enough for me Jack. All we've been doing is sitting on our asses and waiting for the Yukes to mount another attack. We have to do something about this man. You never win by playing defense, you eventually have to go to the offensive some time, am I right?" said Chopper.
"Be quite Second Lieutenant or Colonial Perault will bite your head off." Whispered Grimm.
"I don't care if that fat bastard can hear me or not. I know why we're here, they've got some half ass mission for us where the intelligence is going to screw up and probably going to get half of us killed. Am I right Captain?" continued Chopper.
Captain Hamilton didn't respond to these insults as he just stared at Chopper.
"Woe man, don't you be going Blaze on me now. One quite, weird guy on this base is bad enough." Went on Chopper.
Nagase wanted to hit Chopper for that and Grim moved into a seat that was farther away from the Second Lieutenant. Blaze on the other hand just sat there as quite as Hamilton as if he didn't hear anything. A few moments later, Colonial Perault came into the room and the briefing got underway. The mission was simple enough, the brass believed that a small eemy force may have infiltrated the country and it was their job to investigate. They would be split up into two groups with Nagase and Kevin in one group and Chopper and Grim in the other group. As the pilots made their way to their planes, Chopper noticed that Nagase gave him a look that wasn't pleasant.
"What's wrong Kei?" asked Chopper.
"You're such a jerk sometimes." Respond Kei in a sort of angry tone.
"What did I do?"
Moments later, the four wings were in the air and heading straight for Akerson Hill. Chopper and Grimm separated from the rest of the group and headed north, while Kei and Kevin continued to the southern end of Akerson Hill.
"Blaze, can you hear me?"
"Yeah I can hear you fine Nagase."
"I want to say I'm sorry, for what Chopper said about you. It was a low shot and completely uncalled for."
"You don't have to apologize for that motor mouth. He is what he is and nothing can change that."
"But still, he had no right saying those hurtful things."
"He should apologize for being my roommate back at Hierlarcke. I at least deserve that."
Nagase laughed at hearing that. But she was also surprised by it at the same time. It was the first time in her life that she actually heard Kevin crack a joke. He had always said little with none of it ever being funny for as long as she known him. But it still felt good to hear that he had a sense of humor. For the rest of the flight though, both pilots were very silent as they scoped Akerson Hill for anything suspicious. That was until the Motormouth interrupted.
"Everything id fine over here. How about on your end?"
"Everything is clear so far. Nothing to report… wait a minute. There's something on the radar. Edge and I will check it out. Stand by."
The two F-20's then flew cautiously at the target to discover that it was a 747 passenger airplane. It had also appeared to be trying to contact them through the radio with the sudden static as the pilots tried to tune it to the correct frequency.
"We… fired… radar…." Was what the two pilots heard until they got on to the right frequency?"
"Oh good, some planes finally."
"Unidentified plane, this is restricted airspace. What is your coarse heading presently?" asked Blaze.
"This is mother Goose One. We are on a top secret mission and are heading for the country of North Point. Unfortunately, due to the security of our mission, our aircraft isn't reading a friendly signal and were accidentally fired upon by our own SAMs. We managed to avoid the attack, but our radar was taken out so we're flying blind right now." Reported the transport plane.
"Blaze we have a mission update for you." Said AWACS. "You and your squadron are to escort Mother Goose One and lead it safely through the air defenses. Do you understand?"
"Roger that Thunderhead. Edge, looks like we have to do some babysitting here. Mother Goose One, can you hear me?"
"Yes we hear you clearly."
"I've just been ordered to guide you through the defenses. Stay on my tail and we have no problem. You got that?"
"Loud and clear."
Blaze went ahead of the transport plane and prepared for the upcoming maze. When he entered the antiaircraft firing airspace, he entered heading Northeast at slow speed to let the plane follow his movements easier. Edge stayed close to the 747, eyeing it's position and warning how close they were to some firing areas. Secretly, it was one of Kevin's scariest moments because one false move and others would suffer the consequences and he wasn't about to let that happen. He led Mother Goose One through the death maze, and after a few dramatic minutes, was successfully out of the firing zone and putting distance between them. Unfortunately, some unwanted chatter came through the radio on their way out. It was the chatter of Yuke fighters.
"If we bag this one, they won't just give us a medal. They'll build a statue in our honor."
"Pilots we ask for your continued escort. Our cargo is of the utmost importance."
"Alright, Edge we're going straight at the fighters head on. Contact Chopper and Grimm and tell them to get their asses over here now."
There were two Yuke Mig fighters heading straight for the transport plane, with two Osean jets flying to meet them halfway. Behind the Migs were two more Osean aircraft. The fighting was fierce as the Migs and Osean's squared off in dogfights. It seemed that the Wardog Squadron had things under control until the radio chatter got deadly over the radio from Mother Goose One.
"What, get back in your seat…" Shots were heard over the radio and it appeared a struggle was going on. After a minute of then silence, another voice came over the airwaves. A sort of familiar voice.
"Hello!"
"What's going on in there? What are you guys caring? Is it something dangerous? Who is this?" asked a bewildered Chopper.
"I guess you can call me the cargo of this here plane."
"Are you okay Mr. Cargo?" asked Nagase.
"Yes, I'm fine, but the pilot was shot. There was a spy on board and he opened fire. My secretary, Tommy, is taking the controls but he's never done this before."
Edge was then trying to go over some of the controls while fighting at the same time. As the battle waged on, more and more Yuke fighters appeared. It soon became a real furball over the skies of Akerson Hill.
"Thank you miss… With the lovely voice?" asked the Cargo.
"It's Nagase, sir."
"That's a lovely name."
"And I'm Chopper."
"That's a fine name too."
"I like you man."
The battle ended with the remaining Migs bugging out as the four Sand Island wings still airborne. But another problem then presented itself.
"The plane is going down. It's going to crash." Said Grimm as he watched Mother Goose One loose altitude.
"Shit, they can't stay up here for much longer." Said Chopper.
"Mother Goose One, you're going to have to make an emergency landing right here and now." Said Blaze.
"Are you sure about that?" asked Cargo.
"We have no other choice. Drop your airspeed and let out the landing gear. We'll make an airstrip for you, land there."
And the four pilots then aimed and took out some windmills in a mostly clear area to help show the way for he plane. The young secretary inside tried his best to decrease his speed as the plane fell lower to the ground. The pilots along with Cargo tried to cheer him on as the plane hit the ground and rolled to a stop just a few feet from a clearing of trees.
"Is everyone okay?" asked Nagase.
"Yes. That was actually a pretty smooth landing."
"I still believe in your promised bridge of peace."
"It's still possible, thanks to the bird."
"Did you really have to… use that white bird in the war."
"Yes, the bird has us on equal footing now, but I want a quick solution to this so I'm trying to get to North Point."
"To communicate in a neutral country to ease the tension."
"Exactly."
"So I can still believe in you. Thank you sir."
"Damn it we're running low on fuel." Said Chopper.
"Wardog Squadron this is the 8492 Squadron. We saw your actions on our radar. We'll stick around until a rescue team arrives."
"Thanks a lot guys. We should probably head back." Said Nagase. He didn't know why, but heading back to base, he had a bad feeling.
Back at the base, they got a job well done from some of the superiors and even Captain Hamilton came to shake their hands for what they accomplished. Later on in the loiunge, Blaze was on a chair reaing the newspaper and thinking about the events that happened today when Chopper came over to him.
"Hey Kev, got a minute?"
"What is it Chopper?"
"I came to apologize for what I said earlier in the briefing room. I guess I was sort of out of line."
"Is that it?"
"Well yeah, what do you want me to do? Go on my knees and beg for you forgiveness?"
"That would be a start."
"hey man, I'm just trying to… Wait a minute! Did you just make a joke? You did you just cracked a joke at me. So you actually are human after all."
"And your still talking why?" said Blaze as he got up and left. He still couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong, but he couldn't put his finger on it. What could it hve been.
It wouldn't be until later that Kevin Johnson would realize that he was used by the enemy.
(I know the dialogue isn't exactly from the game, but I'm doing this all from memory so give me a break.).