Valais Air Base
April 22, 1995
1400 hrs

"Great landing, Galm 1," the air traffic controller complimented as I landed on the runway extension. As Pixy landed, I took a good look at the newcomers parked on the other side of the tarmac. Four MiG-29Gs of the UAF's 4th Air Division stood idly as ground crews inspected them for any wear and tear. These jets were part of a just-completed training exercise between the UAF's 4th Air Division (comprised of active-duty pilots) and the mercenary 6th Air Division. It was to see how the newly trained regular units would fare against battle-tested mercenary units. Much to the delight of Base Command and Eagle Eye, the pilots held their own and even managed to land a few shots on us before we took them out.

As I took a good look around the base, I noticed the leader of the Ustian squadron walking towards me. Not having much to do until the CO pulls us back for debriefing, so I might as well make some small talk with him.

"Hey," he said.

"Oh, hi," I answered.

"That was some nice flying you did up there. You were just as good as the commanders said you were."

"So were you. It took me a while to take you down. Those Yukes and Rectans sure know how to fly, don't they?"

"Yeah. They taught us quite a lot of new moves that we never knew. Most were done by the Yukes, although the Rectans were very good as well. Hell, the Yukes even gave us some new planes to replace our old ones and make up for our early losses."

"What kind?"

"We received Fulcrums, Flankers, and Mirage 2000s, as well as some F-20s from Osea. We used them to replace our Fishbeds, Floggers, F-5s, Drakens, and F-1s."

"You got rid of the Drakens? Good. I always hated those planes."

"Yeah, but lemme tell you, the Yukes weren't too happy to learn that we were flying the top-of-the-line models."

"What?" I asked, not understanding what he meant.

"Yuktobania has two variants of each fighter they make: the good ones for themselves and their allies, and the cheaper, stripped-down export models for everyone else," the flight lead explained. "Now, since Belka is their somewhat-ally (at least until now), they got the real deal. Ustio is a minor country, so we would get the crappy export versions. But since we inherited the good versions from Belka and because we want commonality between our fighters, they gave us the good versions. Honestly, I think the Yukes weren't too keen on handing their design to a third-world country."

"Well, that's their problem," I responded. "Besides, I would rather have the high-quality models rather than the export ones."

We were walking during our chat and the whole time, we were speaking in fluent Ustian. I looked up towards one of the nearby mountains and got a look at one of the four S-75 Dvina batteries that guard the base, along with the two more "advanced" S-200 Angara batteries. I had plenty of experience with those 1960s era SAMs. They may be old, but they were still super deadly and reliable.

"Can I ask you something?" the Ustian flight lead asked.

"Sure," I answered.

"What part of Ustio are you from?"

I tensed up. "Why do you ask?"

"Your Ustian is very good," he said. "Most Belkans can't speak a lick of our language. But your accent seems a bit unusual. I feel like I have heard it before, but I can't really put my finger on it."

I paused for a minute before answering, "I'm from Solis Ortus."

The flight lead quickly answered, "Oh, okay. I just thought for a second that you looked-"

"Belkan?" I cut him off. The Ustian pilot looked somewhat ashamed of the thought that came to his mind. Of course, I couldn't really blame him. It's not my fault that I looked Belkan, what with my height (6'1"), fair skin, sandy blonde hair, icy blue eyes, and fluent Belkan (my fluency in both Belkan and Ustian came from me speaking Belkan in school as it was the official language in the pre-independence years and speaking Ustian with my family, despite the Belkan government's best efforts to stamp out the languages of the territories they historically conquered). Many people initially thought I was Belkan until they heard me speak Ustian without a hitch.

"You might have mistaken me with my wingman," I informed the flight lead. "He is actually from South Belka."

"Okay. But why did the two of you become mercenaries instead of joining the Belkan or Ustian Air Force? Was it the opportunity to make a lot of money?"

"Partly. I mean, I knew wasn't going to live here and make those crappy wages that came post-independence."

"Tell me about them."

"But I also wanted to fly and travel the world, so I wasn't going to live as an expat. As for Pixy, my wingman, he really didn't want to stay in Belka due to some ... uh ... things that happened during his childhood."

Of course, that is all he will ever know. I was the only one Pixy told the true story to: when he was 11, his hometown, near the Belka-Osea border, got bombed by Osean planes during one of the two countries' multiple border disputes. His parents were killed as they were fleeing, and Larry spent the rest of his childhood in an orphanage. To this day, he believes the cause of his parents was unjustified. "Of all the stupid reasons for two countries to clash over," he once told me, "a border dispute has to rank very high up there." I agreed with him. There is no reason for two countries to go to war over an imaginary line in the ground, as this dispute can be solved in a boardroom. I even stated the best borders were natural features, such as mountains and rivers. But alas, the politicians of the world are an illogical bunch and I can never understand their thought processes.

"C'mon," I said to the Ustian flight lead. "Let's head to the debriefing. I know how pissy the CO gets when we are late to them."


Ustian Air Force (mercenary aircraft don't count)
Note: indigenous Ustian aircraft will be marked with an asterisk

Fighter: F-20A Tigershark, Mirage 2000C, MiG-29A/G/S, Su-27S

Attack: SEPECAT Jaguar, Mirage 2000D, MiG-27K, Su-22M4

Early warning: E-767

Utility helicopter: AS532 Cougar, PZL W-3 Sokół*, PZL SW-4 Puszczyk*, Mi-8

Cargo Transport: C-130H Hercules, C-160, PZL M28 Skytruck*

Aerial refueling: KC-130H, KC-135R Stratotanker

VIP transport: A310-300, Dornier 328

Retired:
Fighters: F-5E Tiger II, J35J Draken, MiG-21PFM, MiG-23MLD
Attack: F-1


Hey guys, I know it's been a while since I last updated. School has been heavy lately, and I don't have the urge to work on this story many days. But the school year will be over soon, which means I will have more time to focus on this story. Anyway, here are some definitions of some aircraft and words that I looked up.

MiG-29G: variant of MiG-29S (the upgraded good version of the MiG-29A) used by Belka (Germany)

Su-22M4: export version of Su-17M4 fighter-bomber

Sokół: Ustian (Polish) word for falcon

Puszczyk: Ustian (Polish) word for tawny owl

That's it for today. Make sure to favorite and follow, and I will see you again with a new chapter.