Time for a few reveals, like the President, for one. Also, we will see a "Top Gun" style Duel between Razgriz & Mobius (See the challenge issued last chapter), I'll touch on the Alliance between Erusea and Belka, and within the next couple of chapters, a new Pilot will be assigned to Razgriz.

Reviews:

Guest: I've never really been one to follow canon (See my NCIS Stories). Also, Mobius is only here for the Inauguration and the showdown at Sand Island. For now. You'll just have to keep reading.

Now, on with the show!


Friday, January 20, 2017. 1300 Hours.

Oured, the Osean Capitol.

The temperature was thirty-two degrees, with a light layer of snow blanketing the City of Oured. Newly elected Osean President Jack Bartlett stood on the steps of the Osean Capitol Building, freezing his tail off waiting for the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court to make his way out to swear him in. Finally, at about 1330, the Justice appeared, and a light snow started falling again.

"Hurry this up, will you?" Bartlett said. "I'm freezing my balls off out here."

"Of course, Sir," the Justice replied. "If you'll repeat after me, please."

"I, Jack Bartlett, do solemnly swear that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the Osean Federation, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the Osean Federation. So help me God."

The eleven-jet formation, led by the Razgriz, listened on their radios as Bartlett was sworn in. Razgriz, having trained under Bartlett, let out a collective laugh at his slip of the tongue.

"Alright, y'all know the drill," Blaze said. "Let's Git-R-Done!"

On Blaze's command, the show began. A series of barrel rolls and other aerial acrobatics followed. The Razgriz stole the show with their tight formation and sharp maneuvers. The Yuktobonian 332nd and Mobius split left and right, mirroring each others' moves and even going inverted at one point. The Air Show was concluded after a ten-minute display, and the three Squadrons turned West toward Sand Island.

...-_-...

Sand Island. 1600 hours.

"Tower, this is Razgriz Flight requesting landing clearance," Blaze said.

"Clearance is granted on Runway 09-er," the tower replied.

"One more thing. This is Blaze requesting a fly-by."

"Negative, Razgriz One. The pattern is full."

"Is this something we should know about?" The 332nd Squadron leader asked. He was answered with three similar laughs.

As with Blaze's fly-by a week earlier, the Air Boss, who should have expected it to happen, didn't, and was subsequently knocked onto his ass when the Demons buzzed the tower. Razgriz turned around, and they saw two middle fingers poking out of the tower. They landed with laughter that was possibly permanently etched on their faces. The Yuktobonians were laughing along with their Osean counterparts, and quite suddenly, the fragile camaraderie that existed between Razgriz and Mobius quickly dissolved. With just one sentence.

"You Oseans really are cowboys," Mobius 1 snapped.

Jon dropped his gear and turned to Mobius 1. "What's your problem, Markham?"

"You're everyone's problem," Markham sneered. "That's because every time you go up in the air, you're un-safe. I don't like you because you're dangerous."

Jon pretended to brush the proverbial chip off of Markham's shoulder. "That's right, Mark... ham. We are dangerous."

Markham made a biting motion and walked away, leaving Jon with a satisfied smirk on his face.

"What was that about?" Kei asked.

"It would appear that Colonel Markham thinks we're dangerous 'cowboys.' I say that tomorrow, we show him exactly how dangerous we can be."

...-_-...

Saturday, January 21, 2017. 1000 hours.

Sand Island.

The entire base, no, the entire Osean Air Force, was talking about today. Some were hoping that it was the day that the Razgriz would be humiliated, while others just wanted to see the Razgriz in combat again, even if it was only an "exhibition." The exhibition was being run as an actual combat scenario, so Mobius was in one briefing room, and Razgriz was in another.

"Y'all know the drill," Jon told his Demons. "It's not the first time we've been outnumbered, and if business around the world keeps pickin' up, it sure as hell won't be the last. Wait for your two-on-ones. But leave Markham alone. He's mine."

The base was buzzing with excitement as the seven jets took to the skies. They split up and flew in different directions. Sand Island Base Control was handling all communication for this hop.

"Razgriz, Mobius, you are cleared to engage," Pops said over the radio. "But be warned. If any ordinance leaves any of your aircraft, I will not hesitate to order you shot down."

"Roger that," Blaze replied. "Razgriz, let's do this thing!"

"Mobius, Engage."

Mobius 1 went high and out of the fight, observing and leaving his subordinates to the Mercy of the Razgriz. He was studying the Razgriz more than anything, until he heard a triumphant cry of "Viper's dead!" He looked and saw one of the Razgriz had "shot down" his wingman.

"Edge, Archer, y'all got the other two," Blaze said, inwardly celebrating his kill. "I want Mobius 1."

As Mobius 2 made his landing, Blaze pushed his throttle full and went full burner, quickly gaining altitude in his search for Mobius 1.

"I got one, Major!" Archer shouted awhile later.

"Don't get cocky, Archer," Blaze replied. "There's still two more out here somewhere."

"Archer's dead. Take a seat, kid."

"Sorry, Major." Archer followed the Mobius F-22 he'd "shot down," disengaging and returning to Sand Island.

'Where are you, you son of a bitch?' Blaze thought, keeping watch for Mobius 1 when he noticed an F-22 on Edge's six o'clock. "Razgriz 2, you've got one on your six. Shake him off."

Blaze watched Edge shake off the Raptor and get behind him before hearing a triumphant "woo" over the radio.

"One left," Edge said. "But where is he?"

"Keep your head on a swivel," Blaze replied. "I don't like this shit."

Mobius 1 was high up in the clouds, keeping eyes on his radar. When he saw that only two Razgriz remained, he dove, wanting to get both with one shot. His strategy proved to be faulty, however, when Blaze and Edge scattered in opposite directions. Blaze was pulling some hard G's, so Mobius 1 went after Edge instead. He quickly discovered that lining her up for a kill shot was not going to be as easy as he'd hoped. For the better part of half an hour, he tried to line up his shot, which was tough enough without having to fly full burner to keep up with her. Finally, he managed to line up his shot.

"Bingo," he said. "Edge is dead. You're outta here, girlie."

Edge rolled her eyes as she disengaged, saying, "Blaze, kick his ass."

"All too happy to," Blaze replied. He pulled up alongside Mobius 1 and gave him the finger before diving at three-quarter throttle. He was smiling ear-to-ear behind his mask and his adrenaline was red-lining. He knew he had to end this quickly, and he started pulling more and more tricks out of his bag. He'd managed to pull up behind Mobius 1 undetected and began attempting to line up his shot. And now he was matching the more experienced pilot move for move, and even using some moves that Mobius 1 had never seen before.

"Goddamn, this kid's good," Mobius 1 muttered.

"Jesus, this guy's good," Blaze muttered.

They continued this dance for about an hour, until Mobius 1 tried to mirror one of the moves that Blaze had made earlier. And that's where he went wrong. Soon, his warning sensors were going off, and when he looked at his six, he saw Blaze plain as day.

"Yee-haw! Mobius 1's dead!" Blaze yelled. Pretty soon, his own warning sensors were going off. "Command, this is Blaze. Are there any more planes in the area?"

"Blaze, you have a flight of four bogies inbound. Nine hundred knots closure."

"Request permission to investigate."

"Granted. Mobius 1 will fly on your wing."

"Mobius 1, roger," Blaze heard. "You up for this one, Blaze?"

"Just a walk in the park, Markham." No sooner did he deliver his response than his missile warning system went off. He cut hard right, barely evading the shot. "Shit! Command, this is Razgriz 1, we are taking fire. Requesting permission to engage!"

"Permission granted. Transmitting new IFF Data. We are launching additional fighters. Time lapse, approximately ten minutes."

"Bullshit, ten minutes! This thing'll be over in two minutes! Get on it! All weapons are hot. Target acquired." Blaze checked his HUD (Heads-Up Display) before taking his shot. "I am ready free. Razgriz 1, Fox 3!"

The missile found its mark, one of the fighters that fired on him. Nine more appeared, seemingly out of thin air, and Blaze started formulating a plan.

"Mobius 1, what say we split this down the middle? I'll take four, you take five. Sound good?"

"Roger that, Blaze. Let's kick some ass." Mobius 1 split his group down the middle and swung around behind one, lining up his shot. "Mobius 1, Fox 2!"

The fighter exploded as two more of Blaze's targets went up in smoke. "Scratch three!"

"Blaze, break! You've got one on your tail!"

"Well, get him off my tail!"

Mobius 1 dropped and locked onto the aircraft at Blaze's six. "Target acquired. Mobius 1, Fox 2!" The unknown aircraft exploded in a ball of fire.

"Six down, four to go," Blaze said, pulling left and going inverted with one of the unknown aircraft. "Razgriz 1 is locked on. Good tone. Fox 2!"

The pilot of the plane that Blaze had gone inverted with never knew what hit him. One second, he was staring up at one of the most feared pilots in the world, and the next, he was ejecting from a fireball over Sand Island.

"Command, one hostile ejected. He has landed on the base. Have the MP's pick him up."

"Roger."

"Mobius 1 activating XMAA. Two locked. Fox 3!" Two more aircraft went down, and Blaze was dealing with his own problem. One of the hostile aircraft unleashed a barrage of 30mm cannon fire on him. Luckily, all it did was chip the paint.

"Blaze, are you alright?" Command asked.

"I took worse hits in training. I'll be alright." Blaze started analyzing the pilot's moves and found his counter. He let the pilot get past him and fired off another missile. He watched with minute satisfaction as the plane fell toward the ocean. He looked to his right and saw Mobius 1 splash the final enemy fighter.

"Command, this is Razgriz 1. All hostiles have been destroyed."

"Roger. Return to base."

The two fighters landed side by side on the runway, and they were soon swamped by ground crew and every other pilot on the base. Jon fought his way through the crowd that was separating him from Kei, and when he got to his wife, he kissed her quite passionately. When they broke the kiss, Kei had a seductive smile on her face.

"You!" Markham yelled, bringing Jon back to reality.

"Yes?" Jon asked in reply, an eyebrow raised.

"You are still dangerous." Markham extended his hand and shook Jon's. "But you can fly on my wing anytime."

"Bullshit. You can fly on mine." Jon wrapped his arm around Kei and turned to leave, but Markham held him up again.

"You two... married?"

"Yes," Jon replied. "Now if you don't mind, I'd like to spend some time with my wife before my adrenaline flat-lines."

...-_-...

Monday, January 23, 2017.

Farbanti, Erusea. 1300 local time.

Ever since the War thirteen years earlier, the Erusean Government had been closely monitored by ISAF Intelligence Agencies. The thing that astounded the Eruseans, however, was that with all of those Intelligence Agencies snooping around, they had managed to rebuild and strengthen Stonehenge, but they hadn't done it alone. For the better part of the last decade, they had been allied with a country that had a plethora of experience sneaking around and pissing off other countries: Belka. The Eruseans had started rebuilding Stonehenge in 2007, and it was nearly completed when a B-52 Stratofortress carrying a full payload of 70,000 pounds of ordinance crashed into the site.

The damage had been catastrophic, and the people revolted. After a long and brutal civil war, they ousted their democratically-elected government and instilled in its place what was now a military dictatorship, headed by a psychotic Sergeant that had barely survived the War thirteen years ago. He approached Belka in 2011 about an alliance, and the reeling Belkan Nation quickly accepted his offer. Together, the two Nations rebuilt Stonehenge and plotted revenge on the countries that put them on the path to ruin. Their plans were almost complete when Jack Bartlett was elected President of Osea. Both governments knew of Bartlett's reputation, not just as a pilot, but as a military man period. He was not one to be toyed with. Now, as he watched the footage from the dogfight over Sand Island, where he lost ten of his best pilots not only to that bastard Mobius 1, but to the Razgriz as well, he knew that he'd have to act soon. He had already placed a call to the Belkan Ambassador, and he was just waiting for the blasted man to show up.

Finally, there was a familiar knock on his office door, and the Belkan Ambassador entered the Dictator's office.

"Mr. Brandt," the Ambassador simply said. "What news have you for the People's Republic of Belka?"

"This alliance between Osea, North Point and Yuktobonia is proving to be a nuisance," Brandt replied. "This past Saturday, the Mobius and Razgriz Squadrons held a training drill, and I sent ten of my best pilots in to observe and destroy them. Razgriz 1 and that bastard Mobius 1 destroyed all of them."

"Mr. Brandt, did you say 'Razgriz,' as in the Demons of Razgriz?"

Brandt nodded. "That is them. Why?"

The Ambassador pulled a thumb drive from his pocket and held it up. "The Razgriz. Everything you need to know about them is on here. May I?" The Ambassador added, looking at Brandt's computer. Brandt nodded and took the thumb drive, plugging it into his computer and downloading the information.

"Danke," Brandt said. "Is there anything about the Razgriz I should be aware of that is not in this file?"

The Osean President Bartlett. He trained the Razgriz seven years ago, before the Circum-Pacific War."

"And during that War?" Brandt asked.

"Our Yuktobonian puppets didn't have him a week before he escaped. Do not underestimate his ability to use force."

Brandt nodded. "I was told that you come bearing a message from your Supreme Leader."

The Ambassador nodded. "12 February," he said. Brandt nodded, then rose from his seat and shook the Ambassador's hand. Things were definitely about to get interesting.

'When history witnessed a great change, Razgriz reveals itself: First, as a Dark Demon. As a Demon, it uses its power to rain death upon the land, and then it dies. However, after a period of slumber, Razgriz returns.'


So that's it for this chapter... 46 hours later than I hoped! Thanks to everyone that's read and reviewed so far. In the next few chapters, I promise that, in the words of WWE Hall of Fame Commentator Jim Ross, "Business Is About To Pick Up!" Review, please! I cannot stress that enough!