Ace Combat : Shadows of War
Chapter 5
A boy who looks to be about 12 comes running up a hill, he stops at the top of the hill looking up. He raises his hand shielding his eyes from the sunlight, he looks up into the sky as a group of jets draw dizzying contrails across the sky. As he stands there a young girl who looks to be about 6 runs up next to him, she looks up at the sky some. "What is that big brother?" The boy looks down at her, "It's a group of jets." He then looks back up watching the five jets, the young girl reaches up and grabs onto his hand. She flinches some as she hears the sudden boom from a missile exploding overhead, she looks up as she leans in closer to her older brother. The boy smiles some watching them, "It looks like its four against one.." He says softly watching them, the young girl holds onto his hand tighter as she looks up some. The five jets suddenly cut out of the sky and roar no more then 20 feet over them, the sound is deafening. The girl lets out a cry and covers her head as she leans up more against her brother, "I wanna go home big brother...I'm scared." The boy looks down at her, he really didn't want to leave but he could feel her shaking against him. He sighs softly and nods his head, "Alright Elizabeth." He crouches down and gently picks her up, he turns and starts to walk back down the hill. As he does Elizabeth looks up over his shoulder, watching the jets.
Shadow Wolf cuts across the sky shortly followed by Jessica, Kimiko, Mark and Andrew, Jessica squeezes on the trigger sending bullets spraying across the sky at Shadow Wolf. Shadow Wolf dodges around the bullets, he arcs off to the left. Jessica holds onto the flight stick tightly as she tries to stay on his tail, he suddenly swerves off to the right. Jessica pulls off to left and dives, she looks back some expecting an attack from him. She's surprised to see him pulling off to the other direction.
"Damnit he's just playing with us." Andrew's frustrated voice calls out over the radio.
"I hate to admit it but he's right." Mark says over the radio.
Shadow Wolf smiles and laughs softly hearing them, "You four really are hopeless without your true wing lead aren't you." He says to them.
Jessica holds onto the flight stick as she cuts around coming up behind him, she attempts to get a lock on him. "We fight in his memory and because of that we will win." She finally gets a lock on him, "Kaizer One fox two." She calls out as she fires off a missile, just before hitting him the missile banks downwards hard exploding harmlessly. Much like the other missiles they fired at him, "Why can't any of our missiles hit him."
"I'm done testing you,, the next time we meet I will take you down if you are not strong enough." Shadow Wolf said as he pointed his plane away from them, then pushes forward all the way on his throttle. His engines roar to life and his jet is off in a flash.
"Should we pursue?" Kimiko asks looking over at her plane.
Jessica closes her eyes as her hand clenches the flight stick tightly, "...no.." She says softly, "Let's return home...we don't have the fuel to follow him." She turns her jet back towards home base, the rest of them follow her.
A few hours later Jessica is sitting in the hanger watching a video, it is a video showing the recordings from all of their jets in that last dogfight. She leans forward some as she watches Shadow Wolf's flight patterns, "There's something...familiar about the way he flies..." She says to herself softly, she jumps when she feels a hand on her shoulder. She looks back and sees Andrew, "Oh hello."
Andrew looks at her then at the T.V. screen, "Trying to find a weakness in his flight patterns?" He asks as he rolls up another chair next to her, he sits down looking at the screen. "Any luck so far?"
Jessica shakes her head, "No...he's perfect...I haven't seen flying like his in a while..." She says softly.
Andrew reaches over and rests his hand on her hand, "Well if anyone can find a weakness in his flying I know you can."
A light blush goes across her cheeks as she looks down at his hand than up at him, she nods her head some. "A..Alright..." She says softly and looks back at the screen.
Andrew smiles some and lifts his hand away, he then stands up. "Well I'm going to head off to the training simulator, they took the flight data from our planes on Shadow Wolf and made a training program. I'm going to check it out."
Jessica nods her head slightly still looking at the screen, "Alright." She says softly.
Andrew looks at her and sighs softly, "You really should take it easy soon, you don't want to wear yourself out too quickly." He says before turning and walking from the hanger.
When he was gone Jessica looks down at her hand, she looks down and closes her eyes. She clenches her hands some, "If Alteric is really gone...maybe I should start to think about moving on." She says softly, she opens her eyes and looks back at the screen. She then shakes her head some, "No...if I give up his memory then he really is gone." She says softly, she stands up and moves closer to the screen. "The way he moves almost reminds me of Alteric...maybe I should try and track him down, maybe I can try and talk to him."
Kimiko is coming out of the shower, a towel wrapped around her body as she dries off her hair with another towel. "Man...how are we supposed to win a fight against someone we can't even hit...I wish Alteric was still here. He would know how to take down this Shadow Wolf guy." She stops letting the towel rest on her head, she takes a deep breath as she closes her eyes. She lets out a sudden gasp as she feels a pair of arms go around her waist, she looks back quickly and sees Mark. "Damnit Mark you scared me."
Mark smiles some looking at her, "Yeah I know, but you know you love it when I do this." He says softly leaning in close to her, kissing at her neck gently.
Kimiko closes her eyes some as he does that, a small smile plays across her lips. "Yeah...yeah..." She says softly, she opens her eyes a little and looks back at him. "You know this is the female barracks, you're going to get in trouble." She says playfully.
Mark smiles, "Yeah I know, but you know I like a little danger." He says as he pulls her tighter against him.
Kimiko moves her arms down, resting her hands on his arms. "You're such a bad boy sometimes Mark." She moves his arms away from her body some and spins around so she is facing him, she wraps her arms up around his neck as she leans in close to him. "I just don't know what I'm gonna do with you sometimes." She says as she looks lovingly into his eyes.
Mark smiles slightly looking into her eyes as lovingly, "Love me forever and never leave me." He says softly.
Kimiko looks at him, caught slightly off-guard by what he said. "Of course my love, I will always love you and never leave you." She leans in close resting her head on his chest, as she holds onto him. "I promise the nothing will ever take me away from you." She says softly.
Mark closes his eyes as he holds onto her, "I know I would die if I lost you...I can't even imagine what poor Jessica is going through..." He says softly.
Kimiko closes her eyes, "I know she's doing her best to hold it in...because she's our new wing lead...but I know this must be tearing her up inside." She says softly.
Mark nods his head some, "Yeah..." He then moves his arms from around her waist and rests his hands on her hips, he moves her back a little so he can look into her eyes. "I love you so much Kimiko." He says softly.
Kimiko blushes some looking into his eyes, "I love you too Mark." She then looks down at herself some and blushes a little more, "But if you don't mind, I would like to get dressed now."
Mark looks down some as well, "Oh yeah..." He laughs softly as he lets her go, he reaches up and scratches the back of his head some. "Well then I'll let you go about getting dressed." He says looking at her, he leans in and kisses her gently on the lips. "I'll be right outside." He says and heads off to the exit.
Kimiko kisses him back and smiles watching him as he walks out, she shakes her head some then heads over to her locker.
Meanwhile several hundred miles away in a bunker hidden within a mountain...
Echoing footsteps could be heard walking through it, the bunker itself was cavernous and was nearly empty with the exception of two aircraft. One a fighter the other a massive sky fortress, there was sparse lighting so the owner of the footsteps could not be seen clearly. The footsteps were heading towards the jet, where at the moment a mechanic was looking over the plane. The mechanic stops and looks over his shoulder hearing the person come closer, "Oh its you, you're just incredible let me tell you. Not a scratch on her and the readings from the computers showed just how much stress it can take, just keep on flying the way you have." The mechanic looks forward again looking up at the plane, "This is what one would call a rare beauty I believe." The mechanic says with a smile on his face.
The man smiles and laughs some, "Yes indeed, it handles beautifully. I felt like I was part of this amazing machine, it almost felt alive in my hands. I know bringing about a new peace will be possible with this...I will bring an end to all fighting, I will not allow this war to claim her life."
The mechanic looks back at him, "Her, huh? So you have a special someone you want to protect?" He says with a slight smile.
He looks towards the mechanic, "Yes, I love her and I don't want to see any harm come to her. Especially from me...that is why our next action has to end this war now, we are going to destroy the capital of both major countries. With their presidents and military leaders dead...they will surrender to us, then finally the two of us can be together." Alteric then steps into the light surrounding the fighter, he crosses his arms over his chest. "I just hope she can forgive me for deceiving her the way I have..."
The mechanic looks forward and nods his head, "When you bring peace to the world I'm sure she'll learn to forgive all your past deceptions and sins." He says with a slight nod.
Alteric looks at him, "Yes...I cannot allow our children to grow up during wartime, that is something I just cannot allow. Mark and Kimiko's children also deserve such a thing, once the Hammer of Light is in control there will be no more need for war."
The mechanic nods his head, "Alright, since there is no need of my service on this aircraft, I'm going to go over and see if they need any help with the sky fortress."
Alteric nods his head some, "Alright." He says as he moves closer to the plane looking up at it.
The mechanic turns and walks off to the sky fortress, when he gets there he walks up a ramp into it.
Alteric looks at the plane, "I think they all have family in the Osean capital...I will have to make arrangements to have them moved out of there, I don't want Jessica to hate me before I have the chance to reveal my true feelings to her." He says softly, he then reaches his one hand up to the plane. Slowly running his hand along the cold smooth metal of the body, "Together we shall show those who dare to oppose us, the true angel of death." He says softly as he looks at the plane.
Within the sky fortress the mechanic is stopped by a couple high ranking officers, they look at him. "Well any new news to deliver, is his loyalty still to the Hammer of Light?" The one officer asks him.
The mechanic stops and looks at them, "Yeah I say his loyalty is still intact, it should stay that way as long as nothing happens to this girl he cares about."
The officers looks at each other some then back at the mechanic, "Do you know if he has had any contact with her since he arrived here?" The same officer asks.
The mechanic shakes his head, "No, he has broken all contact with his loved ones and friends. He really wants the plan to go through so he and her can live in a world of peace."
The officers nod their heads, "Good, as long as she continues to provide no threat to our plans we do not have to kill her." The one officer says, "However if she does become a threat to our plans, we will have to kill her on the spot." The other officer says.
The mechanic scratches the back of his head some, "Well you know that Alteric will not like that, he will most likely turn on us in that moment."
The officers look at him, "Then he will force our hand and we will kill him too." The one officer says coldly, then the two of them walk off.
The mechanic sighs some looking down, he rubs the back of his head some. "Man I picked a really bad time to stop drinking..." He then walks off in a different direction of the officers.
End Chapter 5