"The Belkan War is shrouded in mystery," Brett said as the camera panned over a document from the Osean Ministry of Defense about Offensive Campaign No. 4101. "But now, a decade after the peace accords, a portion of the records was finally released. I quickly got a hold of it. Wanting more details, I acquired information from unknown sources."

"Unknown, huh?" I snorted. "What's wrong with saying anonymous sources?"

"Oh my god," Laura groaned, "shut up."

"Alright!"

"There was a reason for my obsession," Thompson said as the TV screen showed the eastern Osean continent, before switching to a political that showed Belka in 1987, at the height of its power, with the country highlighted in yellow. "The roots of the conflict lay Belkan federal law review that took place in 1988. Belka, suffering from economic strife, permitted its eastern territories to secede...And the Republic of Ustio was born." On the map, two parts of eastern Belka faded from yellow to white. The map zoomed in on the southern territory and was labeled USTIO. "But Belka's economic troubles didn't subside. Meanwhile, taking advantage of the situation, the world superpower Osea continued to flourish." The map changed to show the Osean continent in 1993, just before the war and after Osea scammed Belka. "Amidst the economic panic, an extreme right-wing party took power within Belka, aiming to restore strength and stability to the nation. And, on March 25, 1995, with the discovery of natural resources in Ustio, Belka began to invade its neighbors."

The map finally showed the initial Belkan invasion, marked by red arrows, as yellow spilled over Belka's borders and into its neighbors. As I watched the animation, I didn't realize just how far the initial invasion went until now. As I expected, Belka overran Ustio, with the only pocket of resistance in the northeast, where Valais Air Base was located. They took Wesson (which was protected by a formidable radar network), Rutherford, and Heierlark from Osea, as well as the Gebetan cities of Model and Mons (Mons is Gebet's capital). But Belka also took over Brunies, the capital of FATO, and came within striking distance of Cor and Brunies, the capital of Recta. The invasion reached as far south as the Futuro Canal, and it went past Belka's original western border, almost coming within striking distance of Sarsfield, a city located northwest of the Great Lakes. "It was the beginning of the Belkan," Thompson said, perfectly capping off the first segment of the documentary.

The documentary switched to show a piece of OBC News footage from the start of the war, with the headlines "The Belkan Assault Intensifies" and "Neighboring Countries Too Slow to Act". Three pieces of footage came up. The first one showed Belkan fighters and B-2 stealth bombers flying over the statue of the Belkan Knight in Dinsmark, Belka's capital. The second and third showed Belkan fighters doing training exercises. "Unprepared, each country fell quickly before the might of the legendary Belkan Air Force," Thompson said over the montage. The screen switched to show Ustio, almost completely swallowed by the Belkan juggernaut. "In just a few days, they occupied all territories except for the mountain range. In response, the occupied Ustio government military placed all their hopes on a joint operation planned between Osea and the foreign mercenary forces." The map zoomed out to show the Allied counterattack: Osea attacking from the west, Sapin from the south, and the eastern countries-with assistance from Osea and Yuktobania-from the east. "This, of course, can be found in any history book," Thompson said. "But I noticed a strange similarity in the materials I gathered."

Oh boy, I thought to myself. I think I know where this is going.

"There were several accounts about a mercenary all followed by the codeword 'Demon.'" The screen showed a document with the light shining on two words: Demon Lord. "But most of the information was incomplete. Still, I was intrigued." The screen switched back to the political map of Osea during the counterattack before slowly zooming out and fading back to a geographic map. "I decided to pursue the history of the Belkan War through this mercenary," Thompson declared. "I was certain I would find something there. Would it be the hidden truth behind the war? Or just another battlefield legend?"

Battlefield legend, I thought. As if Pixy didn't already tell everyone that I existed.

"I wasn't able to meet the mercenary himself," Thomspon continued. "Actually, it's questionable if he ever did exist." Now that brought out a chuckle. Brett Thomspon was one of OBC's most skilled journalists. He could get a full story out starting with just a few leads. But this assignment seemed to be the only one where he couldn't get the actual source material. "But thanks to some old friends in the military, I was able to track down several individuals who knew him. 'Solo Wing' is one such man." The camera switched back to Pixy, still not showing his face. The music went silent and the screen went black, only for an ad to show up. Ad break. The only time Laura likes to talk whenever we watch something on TV.

"A battlefield legend, huh?" Laura asked. "One that he can't find? Are we sure that Brett is doing his job right, cause he should have found you the moment he met that Solo Wing guy."

"Nah. Pixy doesn't know where I went ever since the war ended. Besides," I turned to her, "it's not like I want to be back with him."

"Why? Did you two guys have a bad relationship or something?"

"No. We were very close to each other, practically brothers. It was like that until..." My voice faltered. The words that I wanted to say got stuck in my throat, not wanting to come out. I flashed back to the worst two days back in 1995: June 6 and December 31. I had locked the memories of those days in the deepest, darkest corner of my mind. Now, those memories came back with a vengeance. Laura realized something was off because quickly shook my shoulder. "Tony, you alright?"

"Wh-What?" I asked, dumbfounded.

"Your eyes glazed over. You're not gonna zone out, are you?"

"I'm fine."

"You sure? Because I still have the therapist's-"

"No really. I'm fine. I can get through this."

"Okay," Laura said with a concerned look on her face. "Can you finish what you were saying about Larry?"

"Actually, it's probably better to just follow the documentary, 'cause it basically follows my time in the war. I'll fill in some stuff that Thompson didn't include. Just make sure that whatever I say stays between us, okay?"

"Sure. I won't say anything. Everything stays between us."


Valais Air Base, Ustio
April 15, 1995

By this point, everything on this front seemed to have stalled. Belka's blitzkrieg invasion ground to a halt and there is no news of further movements, at here. Most of the action is occurring on the western front with several high-profile clashes between Osea and Belka. Here, Galm Team has only done air patrols to watch for any incoming Belkan aircraft, and there have only been a few low-profile intercepts and skirmishes. The intercepts have been made easier with a new addition to the UAF's 6th Air Division: AWACS Eagle Eye. He is a regular member of the UAF, not a mercenary. Ustio may not have a big air force, but they were smart enough to purchase an early warning aircraft from Osea, which has proven especially important after Operation Crossbow. Even better, Eagle Eye's early plane was not an old E-3 Sentry, but a brand new E-767, which is more efficient and has a better radar. As for the AWACS, he is a strict, by-the-book person who didn't take crap from anyone. But he was fair, and he always had our survival in mind. Still, after the disastrous battle over Monte Rosa on March 30, we were in no position to take another beating. So yeah, not much to do. But it wasn't going to be quiet for long. More mercenaries had arrived, and many of Ustio's regular pilots and troops were regrouping at Valais. Osea had promised military aid, and the military leaders were coming up with a counterattack strategy consisting of the regular, Osean, and mercenary forces.

So far this morning, there were no orders given to the mercenary pilots at this base. Right now, I was in my room reading a magazine about fighter jets. I was in the middle of an interesting article about the new Osean stealth aircraft (the F-22 Raptor, F-23 Black Widow II, F-177 Nighthawk, and B-2 Spirit), as well as a new Yuktobanian fighter (the Su-47 Berkut). A knock on the door stirred me out of the article. I opened the door to find Pixy waiting for me. "Base commander wants us in the briefing room," he told me.

"Oh boy. Lemme guess, another patrol?" I asked him.

"No. Top brass came up with a new operation."

"Give me some time. I'll be in the briefing room soon"

A few minutes later, I was in the briefing room with Pixy. The base commander was also there, impatiently checking his watch, and only barely acknowledging us.

"What's the CO waiting for? Why isn't he starting the briefing?" I asked Pixy.

"He's waiting for three other mercenaries," he answered.

"Well, they better get here quickly." Patience was never one of my strong suits.

"You know, the front is going to heat up soon."

"Of course I know that. Sapin has been keeping up the pressure on Belka, and Osea is going to give military aid to Ustio. Should reinforce the country's weakened military."

"No, not that. Yuktobania has joined the war on Osea's side. They're sending advisers, fighter squadrons, and reconnaissance units to the war, mostly the Eastern front with Gebet, Recta, and FATO. If the rumors are true, they could even be sending in armored forces."

"Why would the Yukes support the Oseans? The two are in the middle of a cold war and if I remember, Yuktobania was pretty friendly with Belka. I mean, they supported them after the whole mining company scandal."

"Honestly, I don't know why. But Belka was more of a wild card in the Cold War. The Yukes aren't as close with them as you might think, and I think their relations soured after Rald became chancellor. Whatever happened, it must have been bad enough that the Yuke prime minister would side with Osea over Belka."

Three other mercenaries entered the room and took their seats. The CO, mildly annoyed with their tardiness, asked the guard to dim the lights and finally started the briefing.

"Your mission today will not take place in Ustio, but instead, in Sapin. We must regain control over Route 171, which runs through Arlon, to secure a transit route for our ground troops. There bridges along this route, two over the Ems River and one over the Aare River. All heavily guarded by the Belkan Armored Corps." The base commander highlighted the area around each bridge, showing multiple mobile Belkan armored units consisting of Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 main battle tanks, TPz Fuchs APCs, Marder 1 IFVs, 2K12 Kub and Roland mobile SAMs, and Flakpanzer Gepard and ZSU-23-4 Shilka SPAAGs. "Securing this route is critical for Ustio's attack on the Belkan Forces. Destroy the Belkan units blocking passage along this route and secure this supply line between our forces and the Osean Army. That is all." The screen shut-off and all the pilots scrambled to their hangars to prep their planes for battle.


Operation: Roselein
Arlon, Sapin
April 15, 1995
1020 hrs

Arlon is a lush farmland country crisscrossed by the Aare and Ems Rivers. Route 171, a six-lane highway, cut through the land like a straight black ribbon heading towards the rolling hills on the border with Ustio. The land was divided into individual plots of farmland, and there were a few villages scattered here and there. It would have been a beautiful place if not for the obvious presence of the Belkan Army, which as of right now, maintains a tenuous grasp in Arlon. While Belka is stronger than Sapin, Sapin's army is not a pushover and they are managing to hold the line rather well, as the Belkans were unable to reach the Sapinish capital, Gran Rugido. Recently, they have begun to push back the overextended Belkan army. It was decided, however, that Route 171 would be retaken by the UAF's 6th Air Division in preparation for the combined Osean-Ustian counterattack.

It took a while to get here. The direct route was impractical as Belkan radars would easily pick us up, so we had to circumnavigate Belkan-controlled airspace to get to Sapin. This a bit difficult for Pixy and me as we were flying F-15Cs (equipped with 2 AIM-120C AMRAAMs, 2 AIM-9M Sidewinders, 4 500 lb bombs, and 2 2,000 lb bombs) for a ground attack mission, while the three other mercenaries accompanying us are flying F-1 attack aircraft with rocket pods. This wasn't an issue as our planes were modified for any mission of this sort, but the weight of the munitions meant that we couldn't fill out fuel tanks all the way or carry a centerline drop tank, necessitating a midair refueling from a SAF (Sapin Air Force) KC-30 Voyager. We finally arrived at Arlon at 1020 hours, ready to begin the operation.

"There are the vehicles," I told Pixy. "Just like the briefing said. Tanks, APCs, IFVs, SAMs, and SPAAGs all guarding the bridges. Plenty of transport trucks too."

"Shouldn't be too hard," he answered. "There are no civilians here."

"This is AWACS Eagle Eye to the mercenary forces," Eagle Eye's voice crackled over the radio. "The target is in formation along the highway. Commence the operation."

"Keep an eye on us up there, AWACS," Pixy said.

"Belkan ground forces are blocking off our transport route. Destroy them all."

"Roger that. We're nearing the first bridge," I told him. "Got two Shilkas, an APC, and a tank. Yo Pixy, whaddya say we take out all the heavier targets and leave the AA defenses to the others?"

"Why not take care of those first?" Pixy asked in a teasing manner. "Too scared?"

"Do I look like I'm scared?"

"Hard to tell, behind that cockpit, but I would say yes."

"Oh come on! Why would I be scared of a nonexistent threat?"

"Nonexistent? Now, what gives you the right to say you don't care about a clear and obvious threat?"

"I can say that 'cause can."

"Jeez. You must have some serious guts to fly around without caring about the SAMs and AAA. What are you, some sort of hero? I'm telling you, you're gonna get yourself killed."

"AWACS to Galm Team. Cut the chatter and focus on the mission," Eagle Eye's annoyed voice crackled over the radio.

"Right. Right. Destroying targets now," I informed him as I dropped a 500 lb bomb on the tank and APC. An explosion ripped off the tank's turret and tossed the APC aside like a rag doll. I saw Pixy doing the same thing to the Shilkas behind me. "Bridge one is secure," I informed Eagle Eye. "Two more to go."

"Good going," the AWACS complimented. "Continue with the mission."

"Did those fighters come over from Ustio?" I heard over the radio. "They must be in a desperate situation. But there's no way we're giving up this place."

"Our first defense unit is down!" another voice barked. "All units, engage the Allied Forces."

"Ugh, Pixy. You hearing any radio chatter from the Belkans?" I inquired him.

"Yeah, so am I," he answered. "You could adjust the radio, but you can still hear them. Not much we can do about it."

"Very well, I'll do my best. Let's look for more targets."

"This route is Ustio's lifeline," Pixy said. "We'll take it back."

"Thank's for those words. Makes me feel better."

As I tore over the highway, I saw a line of transport trucks, flanked by four Marder 1s, heading towards the second bridge. Seeing a bunch of easy targets, I immediately throttled the engines. Sure, the transports and IFVs aren't mission-important and the trucks were defenseless, but I knew that if we could take out the supplies or troops in the trucks, it could weaken Belka ever so slightly. Besides, we could earn some extra cash by destroying the trucks. I lined up behind the trucks and squeezed the trigger. Two bursts of 20 mm rounds eviscerated the entire row of trucks. I immediately pulled up, arcing over the IFVs to a high altitude before diving back down and dropping a 2,000-lb bomb on the Marder 1s. A massive explosion threw the four vehicles in all directions, with two in a state of disrepair.

As I leveled my aircraft and headed north to the second bridge, I noticed a handful of houses and tents near the road. Strange. Eagle Eye and Base Command never mentioned anything about the houses. Pixy, too, seemed unsettled by the presence of the houses. "Civilian houses within the planned range of attack. Is . . . that part of the operation?" he inquired apprehensively. I knew what he was talking about. In war, it was important to avoid killing civilians as much as possible, something most mercenaries don't care about because they are more interested in the money. "Those houses are probably filled with Belkan supplies," one of the mercenaries said. "Better not take any chances. That's what we did."

"Okay, why would they keep supplies in a house?" I asked incredulously, disgusted at the fact the other pilots had taken out non-military targets. "That's just wrong."

"Are we gonna crush those houses?" Pixy asked me. "It's up to you, you're the lead."

"We're not going through with this," I told him. "Just stick to vehicles and any Belkan transports you find."

"Wilco. I'm sure this fight will change the look of this place, but the owners of those houses will probably be back once this war is over. Galm 2 to AWACS, the first bridge has been neutralized, we're nearing the second bridge."

The second bridge was much more heavily defended than the first one. The radar lock warning shrieked in my ear as I dove to evade two Kub missiles that flew over my head. "Keep an eye out for SAMs. They're gonna give us all they got," I informed the others.

"Roger, Galm 1," one of the F-1 pilots agreed. "We'll take out the radar vehicles and AA guns near the road. You take out the armored forces at the bridge." With that, we immediately split off to engage the vehicles in the field. Meanwhile, Pixy and I stormed over to the bridge to engage the Belkan ground forces at the bridge. The Gepards quickly turned their turrets and began to fire their 35 mm autocannons. Cannon shells whizzed over my head and the missile alert shrieked as a Roland launcher got a radar lock on me. But I focused on the knot of vehicles in front of me, consisting of Gepards, two Roland launchers, and a Kub launcher. I carefully aligned my plane so the targeting reticle on my HUD was in the center of the group. The moment it was on the perfect point, I pressed the firing switched to drop a 500 lb bomb and pulled up. "Galm 1, bombs away," I announced as I pulled up and flew inverted. The Roland just barely missed my canopy and I heard the ping of a 35 mm shell hitting the fuselage. I saw an explosion near the edge of the bridge and on my radar, multiple green dots went out. I rolled back to a normal flight path and headed for the other end of the bridge where a mass of tanks, APCs, and IFVs was preparing to cross. I flew right towards them, and once I was in the middle of the bridge, I dropped my remaining 2,000 lb bomb. The explosion tore through the tanks, tipped over the APCs, and tossed the IFVs in all directions. As I looked over my shoulder, I saw that Pixy had taken care of another mass of armored vehicles, a group of anti-air vehicles, and just finished strafing a line of transport trucks. "Galm 1 to Eagle Eye, Belkan forces at the second bridge have been neutralized. Heading for the last one," I informed the AWACS.

"The operation is proceeding smoothly," Eagle Eye responded. "There aren't many Belkan forces remaining. Eliminate the rest of them."

"Our second defense unit is down1" I heard a Belkan soldier exclaim over the radio. "How could this happen?! There're only a few enemy fighters up there!"

"Heads up!" a friendly pilot yelled. "We've got bandits coming in hot."

My radar lit up with new fighter blips coming in from the north. The radar registered them as MiG-21bis's and MiG-23MLDs. Great. Fighters on a ground attack mission. "Things are gonna get tricky if any more reinforcements show up," Pixy remarked, perfectly summing up my thoughts.

"Well, let's run up the score a bit," I said eagerly. "I wanna see you beat me if you can even shoot a plan down." No sooner had I armed my AMRAAMs and Sidewinders did I get a radar lock on a pair of MiG-23s in front of me. The moment I heard the tone, I fired both of my AIM-120Cs, only for the MiGs to evade. Cursing to myself, I banked right to chase the first MiG-23MLD, its wings sweeping forward as it engaged in the turning dogfight. But I didn't intend to stay in a dogfight. A burst of 20 mm shells from the gun tore through the fuselage, leaving a smoking plane in the aftermath. A shriek from my missile alert brought my attention to an R-60 missile coming in from ten o'clock. I jinked hard into the missile, which passed through the tail fins and, without thinking, sent a spray of 20 mm rounds into the MiG-23 which tore off its left wing, forcing the pilot to eject.

With the MiG-23MLDs out of the way, I shifted my attention to the only other fighters in the area: a pair of MiG-21s closing in from nine o'clock low. A quick yo-yo maneuver brought me behind the unsuspecting fighters. The first MiG-21bis I quickly dispatched with a Sidewinder shot to the tailpipe. The tail, stabilators, and entire rear half of the fighter were blown off as the rest of the fighter careened towards the ground only to disintegrate in midair. The remaining pilot quickly broke in an attempt to retreat, but not before taking shrapnel from my other AIM-9M that tore multiple holes into the fuselage.

I quickly sped over to the third bridge, the one over the Aare River, where the final mass of Belkan tanks, APCs, IFVs, SAMs, and SPAAGs was situated, with one formation at the southern end of the bridge and another at the northern end. The three F-1s had taken out the anti-air units on the banks of the river and were firing their last rockets on a column of tanks further down the highway. "They're in a panic down there," Pixy observed. "We just might be able to win this. We gotta strike while the iron's hot."

"You take the formation on this end," I ordered. "I'll take down the one at the other end. Let's take care of business." I sped up to reach the remaining ground forces. Again, I was met with cannon fire from the Gepards and Shilkas, and missile warning blared as the SAMs got a radar lock. But before they could even fire one missile, I dropped my two remaining bombs and pulled up, turning away to the right. The two impact explosions only left behind several vehicle carcasses and mangled scraps of steel. The carcasses at the end of the bridge meant Pixy had also taken care of his vehicles. With most of the Belkan armored forces gone, the Sapinish Army shouldn't have too much of a hard time picking off the remaining Belkans one by one."

"Operation complete," Eagle Eye announced. "Now the Allied forces can secure a military transport route. Well done, everyone." Switching his attention to Pixy, he said "Looks like luck was on your side again today, Solo Wing."

"Yeah, well, I've had my fill of goin' home without wings," he answered.

"Oh come on," I said to him. "That's something I wanna brag about. Going home with only one wing."

"Relax, you'll get your chance to do that too. By the way, I got thirteen kills total. You?"

"Thirteen too. Let's keep doing this."


The CO still had the same emotionless, no-nonsense face that all military personnel had. Yet I could see through his exterior to find well-meaning praise in his voice. "The operation was a success," he said. "Passage along Route 171 has been secured. Thanks to you, Ustio will now be able to launch a counterattack. Galm Team, you did well. Stay alert because Head of Operations is considering special plans for you. That's all everyone. Dismissed."

Special plans, I thought to myself. Pixy and I had only done some minor operations on overextended parts of the Belkan army that the Belkans barely even noticed. But I can't shake the feeling that we were headed for a major clash with the cream of the Belkan military. Whatever it was, I have to be ready.


Hey all! Sorry about taking so long to upload the next part of the story. School had started and I could barely get enough time to work on this piece (I am still in high school). But here it is. Obviously, combining all three paths is very difficult, but judging by the comments, it seems like it's going well so far. Get ready for Tony's first fight over the Round Table because it will be epic.

Total kills: 13

Like, share, and follow. Stay tuned for the next part. ISEVCommando out.