Here's Chapter 2. Please note that I could not for the life of me remember Pops' actual name, so I went with the name he was using before the Razgriz were branded as traitors.

Now to answer reviews.

Guest: To quote WWE Superstar Dean Ambrose, "Nope."

Trainalf: Thanks for the vote of confidence. You're just gonna have to wait and see. Not this chapter, but the next or even Chapter 4.


Friday, January 6, 2017. 1200 Hours.

Sand Island Air Force Base.

Jon sat on the very familiar couch in the very familiar crew room, where Wardog had spent much of their down-time between missions. Chopper would always be jamming to stupid songs like Face of the Coin, Archer would always split his time between video games and Solitaire, Kei was always either keeping her nose in the book she was trying to re-write or watching movies with Jon, and Jon was always multi-tasking: Watching movies, schooling Archer on certain video games, threatening Chopper with Country Music, and flirting with Kei.

He rose from the couch and looked out a window, catching sight of Kei tanning on the beach (He let that image become embroiled in his brain), and saw the Sand Island Commanding Officer, Colonel Peter N. Beagle, or "Pops", walking toward the crew room. Jon walked over to the door and opened it slightly, turning the TV on to one of the many movie channels and attempted to look busy. Luckily, it was one of his favorite movies, Dr. No. And it was just staring when Pops walked in.

"Blaze," Pops said, and Jon snapped to attention.

"Sir!"

Pops chuckled, taking a seat in one of the many armchairs in the room. "As you were. Now, I have something I want to ask you, and feel free to say 'no' if you desire."

"What's your question?"

"Our new President is being Inaugurated in two weeks, and our new Allies, Yuktobania and North Point, have already supplied a Squadron apiece for the ceremonial fly-over, and we need to put our best in the air to lead the parade."

Jon cast Pops a dark glare. "Have you lost your damn mind, Sir? The last time we did a fly-over, we lost one of our own. I am not takin' that chance again. I don't care what it's for."

"Would it make any difference if I said he personally asked for Razgriz?"

"I'll think about it. And I'll ask the crew tonight after chow."

"That's all I'm asking for." Pops rose from his chair and Jon snapped to attention. "As you were, for crying out loud."

Pops walked out of the crew room, shaking his head and laughing to himself. He'd never encouraged Military discipline under his command, but he supposed that old habits died hard for some.

Later that day...

Jon managed to commandeer a propane grill and a deep-fryer, and the Razgriz were having a small party on the beach where Kei had been sun-bathing earlier. Archer grabbed a beer from the cooler half-buried in the sand and popped it open while Kei was playing DJ.

In the day we sweat it out in the streets of a runaway American Dream
At night we ride through mansions of glory in suicide machines
Sprung from cages on Highway 9
Chrome wheeled, fuel injected and stepping out over the line
Baby, this town rips the bones from your back
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap
We got to get out while we're young
Because tramps like us, baby we were Born To Run

Jon bobbed his head to the tune, serving the food and eating before he delivered the news.

"Alright, y'all, listen up," he said. "Pops, uh, Colonel Beagle, wants us to do a fly-over for the new President's Inauguration in a couple weeks. Now, I know we're a man short since Swordsman called it a career in 2013, but-"

"A fly-over, Captain?" Grimm suddenly interrupted. "Did the Colonel forget what happened last time? We lost-" Grimm stopped talking after Kei elbowed him rather sharply in the ribs. She also had a 'Shut the hell up' look on her face, and Grimm knew why. The nightmares. He fell silent.

"If I may get back to what I was saying," Jon said, "The Colonel told me that the President himself asked for us. North Point and Yuktobania are also supplying a Squadron each. The Man wants us to be the centerpiece of the whole thing. I'm all for it, but I'm leaving this up to y'all."

Kei and Archer exchanged a look, and they nodded.

"We'll do it," Kei said.

"Finest kind. But I'm still gonna make sure we're armed to the teeth, along with our North Point and Yuktobonian counterparts. I do not want a repeat of what happened last time."

...-_-...

Friday, January 13, 2017. 0930 hours.

Sand Island.

The Razgriz walked into the hangar in full flight gear, only to find some of the maintenance crew doing some work on the planes.

"What in the hell are you guys doin'?" Jon snapped.

"Orders, sir," one of the crew replied. "Straight from the top."

Jon started getting a little hot under the collar. "Top here, or Oured?"

"Top of the chain here."

"We'll just see about that."

Jon left the hangar, muttering under his breath with Kei following close behind, trying to talk him out of doing something stupid.

"Jon, don't do it," Kei was saying. He ignored her. "Don't."

"I just wanna talk to him. That's all. If Pops runs like a scalded dog, that's his problem." The homespun analogy made Kei bust out laughing, and Jon took the opportunity to give her the slip and barge into Pops' office.

"Come in," Pops joked. "Let me guess: You want to know why I have crews working on your planes."

"Good guess," Jon joked. "The answer is yes."

Pops sighed. "Well, I guess the cat's out of the bag. I was planning on promoting you three later today."

Jon spluttered. "Promotions? Did I hear that right, or was the Sun in my ears?"

"You heard right. I'm promoting all three of you. It was supposed to be a surprise."

"Oops."

Pops grabbed two black boxes with gold oak leaves and one box with silver Captain's Bars, and walked with Jon back to the hangar, laughing about the entire thing. Grimm, who had been left to guard the planes when Jon and Kei peeled out, was now laughing and joking with the maintenance crew about the War six years earlier, with Kei standing off to the side, shaking her head.

"So Captain Chopper looks at the Captain and Captain Nagase, and he says, 'Kid, you better ask her out soon! If you don't, I will!' And the Captain looks at Chopper, cocks his head to the left, and delivers the most painful smack on the head I've ever seen."

The crew started laughing, and nobody noticed that they had company.

"Keep talkin' and you'll feel one too, Grimm," Jon snapped.

"Captain! Uh, I was just telling these guys one of the old stories." Grimm started stammering until Jon, laughing, held up his hand.

"Shush." Jon looked at Pops, who nodded before continuing.

"I had planned to do this later," Pops said. "But I guess now is a good a time as any. Captain Nagase, would you care to join us, please?"

Kei smiled and joined the group, wondering what was going on.

"Razgriz, Attention!" At the sound of the command, the Razgriz assumed the position of Attention (Standing straight, hands cupped, arms straight and aligned with the seam of the trousers, and feet at a forty-five degree angle).

"Dress Right, Dress!" (At the position of Attention, the Soldiers' Left arm fully extends for everyone but the man at the farthest right of the Commander. All Soldiers' heads, with the exception of the element leader, turn to the right. Element leader looks forward.)

"Ready, Front!" (Command that must always follow "Dress Right, Dress." All Soldiers lower their left arms, if applicable, and turn back to face the Element Commander, returning to the Position of Attention.)

"Now, then," Pops began, "In the year 2010, all three of you were green. So green, in fact, that you resembled baby puke! But you burned through the ranks, and today, you each earn the right to again call yourselves promoted! Jonathon Winters is to be promoted from Captain to Major. Kei Nagase is to promoted from Captain to Major. Hans Grimm is to be promoted from First Lieutenant to Captain."

Pops went to each member of Razgriz, pinned their new rank insignia on their collars, and shook their hands.

"Congratulations," he said. "Present... Arms!" (Standard command for a Salute)

"Order... Arms!" (Drop Salute and resume the position of Attention.)

"Dismissed." The Razgriz fell out of formation and returned to their planes, the XF-02's that destroyed the SOLG and ended the War.

"Major?" One of the ground crew looked at Jon with a serious look on his face.

"What's on your mind, Airman?"

"What's the Military abbreviation for 'Major,' sir?"

"YOU'VE GOTTA BE SHITTIN' ME! Listen once. 'Major' is 'MAJ.' Before you ask, 'Captain' is 'CPT.' Did you not pay attention in Basic Training?"

"Um..."

"RAZGRIZ, MOUNT UP! Y'all can touch-up the planes later."

...-_-...

The Razgriz taxied out to the runway, with smiles crossing all of their faces. This was what they were born for.

"Tower, this is Razgriz 3, requesting clearance for take-off," Archer said.

"Clearance for take-off granted, Archer, on Runway 09-er," the tower replied.

"Roger that." Archer sped down the runway, gaining speed before slowly easing back the stick and gliding into the air.

"Archer is airborne," he said.

"Tower, this is Razgriz 2, requesting clearance for take-off," Edge said.

"Clearance for take-off granted, Edge, on Runway 09-er," The tower replied.

"Roger." Edge sped down the runway, gaining speed before slowly easing back the stick and gliding into the air.

"Edge is airborne," she said.

Blaze watched in awe as his Squadron took back the skies. Smiling wide, he approached the runway.

"Tower, this is Razgriz 1, requesting clearance for take-off," he said.

"Clearance for take-off granted, Blaze, on Runway 09-er," the tower replied.

"That's a roger." Blaze sped down the runway, gaining speed before slowly easing back the stick and gliding into the air, performing a few barrel rolls for the benefit of the ground crew.

Blaze is airborne! Let's form up and run through this one more time."

The Razgriz formed up and went through their routine, perfecting what needed perfecting for the better part of an hour and a half. At the end of their fifth run-through, a faint growling echoed through each pilot's radio.

"What was that growling I just heard?" Archer asked.

"Probably Blaze's stomach," Edge joked in return.

"I heard that!" Blaze replied jokingly. "What say we set these birds down and grab a bite to eat?"

"Razgriz, your landing is confirmed on Runway 09-er," the tower said. "Begin landing procedures."

"Tower, this is Blaze, requesting a fly-by."

"Negative, Razgriz, the pattern is full."

"No, Jon, this is not a good idea," Kei said after hearing a chuckle from her husband.

"Sorry, babe, but it's time to buzz the tower." The old manic tone was back in Blaze's voice as he pushed the throttle on his Wyvern to over 400 knots.

The Air Boss in the tower didn't even see it coming. He put his mug of scalding hot coffee to his lips as a fighter jet blew right by him, causing the coffee to go everywhere but where he intended.

"Goddamn son of a bitch!"

"Yee-haw!" Blaze shouted, bringing his jet around for a landing. He was still laughing when he got out of the cockpit, and so was Kei, shockingly. But Neither of them was laughing harder than Grimm.

"Uh, Hans," Jon said. "Hans, I have something to tell you."

"Yes, sir?" Grimm asked, his laughter slowly stopping.

"You just pissed yourself."

Horrified, Grimm looked at the front of his flight suit and ran toward the barracks, more specifically, the showers.

"Jon, has anyone ever told you how infuriating you can be?" Kei asked.

"Yeah," Jon answered, wrapping an arm around Kei and giving her a kiss. "My wife. Daily."

Husband and wife shared a laugh and walked to the chow hall, wondering what sort of "food" the Mess Sergeant had prepared.

So that's Chapter 2. James Bond references, Top Gun references, a Full Metal Jacket reference, and more. I'll be bringing the Youktobonian and North Point Squadrons in during the Next Chapter. Also, the new President will be revealed. I might do fallout from the fly-by, but I'm not sure yet. And as for the Drill Commands, I paraphrased the summaries from an Army Field Manual. Anyway, review, follow, & fave please. Toda! And good night!