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Chapter 3: Narrow Margin

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Amidst the eternal waves of time
From a ripple of change shall the storm rise
Out of the abyss peer the eyes of a demon
Behold the Razgriz, its wings of black sheath

-Gennette-

Sand Island, Crew Quarters
1145hrs 27 September 2010

I finally managed to finish setting up this camera. This was the room... or the cell... I had been assigned to. The furnishings made the cell seem decent enough. I had a bunk bed on the left, a couch on the right, a computer desk to work with. It was better than a prison cell, to say the least.

1205hrs 27 September 2010

I had a visitor to my room. Captain Hamilton... unlike his superior, the Base Commander who locked me in here, he's been very reasonable with me. He even got my camera back. He told me that if his uncle wasn't a soldier, he would've liked to have a job like mine.

Hamilton hung up the phone by the window and turned to me. "Well, we don't have any reason to hold you anymore."

I was taken by slight surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Yuktobania just declared war. They've launched an offensive simultaneously, too. Our naval port at St. Hewlett is getting bombed right now." He left the room hastily after relaying the information.

I turned and walked over to the window and pulled a part of the shade down to see what was going on outside.

There were only three of them now. I watched as they took off from the airstrip.

-Mission Start-
-Blaze-

St. Hewlett Naval Port
1433hrs 27 September 201

It felt like our flight took forever. We remained silent between the base and the port. The silence gave me time to think, but as soon as a train of thought finally started rolling, the voice of Thunderhead derailed it.

"Due to pressing circumstances, I'll be issuing an emergency in-flight briefing."

His briefer took over and explained the situation. "Our naval base at St. Hewlett reports that Yuktobanian aircraft have launched a surprise attack on the port. The situation there is critical with widespread panic. Ships from the 3rd Osean Naval Fleet docked at the port are currently under attack and taking heavy losses. Hurry to Port St. Hewlett and provide air cover for our naval vessels attempting to escape the bay. Among these ships is the aircraft carrier Kestrel. It is the flagship of the 3rd Naval Fleet and a critical combat asset. You must protect the Kestrel at all costs."

The briefer finally ended, but Thunderhead himself wasn't done. "Thunderhead to Wardog. Edge, you lead the formation."

"Negative," she said as she rolled to the side and fell back to my wing. "You take the lead, Blaze. I'll fly on your wing."

"Second Lieutenant Nagase, follow your orders," Thunderhead commanded.

Edge was quick to argue. "No. Blaze is leading. I'll protect her six o'clock. And I'm not gonna lose another flight lead."

Another pilot in an F-14 came rocketing past us. "Quit screwing around. This is war! The enemy's all over and they're gonna eat you alive!"

"Aaah... I'd better stick to the trail position, thanks," Chopper chimed in.

The other pilot spoke up over the radio again. "This is Captain Snow, callsign Swordsman." My interest was immediately perked at his callsign. "Engaging next enemy formation. Give me a position."

A sailor interrupted before he could get an answer. "This is the AA cruiser Excalibur. The ship blocking us up ahead, you've got to move away! We can't use our SPY radar!"

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"I'll lead," I said as I hit my thrusters.

"Cleared to engage," Thunderhead said.

"Blaze, engaging."

"Edge, engaging."

"Chopper, engaging."

There was only one way I could do this without worrying about killing pilots, even if they were enemies. I had to convince myself that they were all unmanned, as hard as that would be. Even if I couldn't do that, I had to keep the Captain in mind. We wouldn't know if the rescue team took care of him or not until we got back to the base, and to do that as quickly as possible... I had to push my personal feelings aside.

"I'll cover your six. All right, Blaze?" Edge asked.

"Sure, but don't neglect your own six."

"Roger."

She was keeping up with me fairly well, but I had just started chasing down a target. There were two enemy planes close together. I swooped in with gunfire, being careful to avoid the cockpits, and knocked them both out of the sky.

"Nice shot, Kid," Chopper said.

"The tanker next to us just exploded!" said a sailor in the Osean Fleet. "Where's the fireboat? It's spreading to our ship! Help us!"

"Nobody saw them coming?" another said.

"Their ships are just sitting at anchor. This is like target practice," an enemy Yuke pilot called out.

"If you think our ships are like target practice, just wait 'till I get ahold of you," I said. I don't know what it was about what he said, but it just pissed me off.

"Enemy reinforcements detected," the Yuke fighter said. "We've got a live one. Heads up and get ready."

An entire formation was soon hot on our tails. Edge and Chopper were doing all they could to keep their own sixes safe from fire, at least for the short time they were being chased.

"Whoa, Kid!" Chopper said. "That was fast."

I had destroyed the bandit on Chopper's tail first before moving on to Nagase's. Neither lasted very long, and I no longer exactly gave a shit about the pilots I was shooting down. I had too many reasons not to.

One bandit managed to come close to my six, but Chopper and Nagase teamed up on him and sent him spiraling toward the water. The fourth plane in that formation attempted to flee, but I chased after him. He flew under the bridge, hoping to buy some time, but I was not going to be denied. I had him in my sights so fast that I'm sure his head was spinning... as was his plane after I filled it full of holes.

I didn't as much as break my stride between that kill and the next. Two more enemy planes were flying directly toward me. It was time for a game of chicken. Let's see if they can pull up in time.

At the last second, I launched a missile at each one. Neither could react quickly enough. My missiles hit their cockpits.

"Wow," Chopper said. "Got any orders for us, Captain?"

"Yeah," I said. "Stay glued to me. And I'm not the Captain."

"Cool," he said as he and Nagase caught up and took formation with me.

"The fireboat got caught in the explosion." One of the Osean sailors reported. "Two... no, three ships are burning now."

"... This is not a drill..." another said.

"Captain Obvious over there," I said as I set my sights on a new formation

"Oh, thanks for the heads-up, you idiot!" another one of the Osean sailors called out. I had to hold back a giggle.

"Nice one," Chopper said, not bothering to hold back his laugh.

"That was pretty funny," Nagase agreed. I could tell she was on the verge of laughing as well.

The sky above the port was pretty scarce of enemy formations now, but another would fly in as soon as we finished with one.

Captain Snow started loosely following us, with the newfound lack of targets.

"Your target is the enemy aircraft carrier and the large surface combatants surrounding it," a new Yuke fighter said as his formation came into view.

I gunned down the last of the previous formation and turned hard to give chase to the new one.

"Don't let them escape the port. Sink them all."

"Your sinking days are over," I said coldly as I gunned him down.

"That was almost like a movie line," Chopper said, trying not to laugh at how seriously I said that. I mentally sighed.

We had a moment's reprieve in between formations. The port was clear for about twenty seconds.

"Thanks, everyone. We request your cover until we break out of the port!" an Osean sailor said.

"Blaze, this is Edge. Have you located the carrier Kestrel?"

"Yeah, it's in the middle of the port right now, moving toward the sea."

"I see it, too. Looks like it's still all right," Nagase said.

"This is the Port Captain. All vessels, leave port immediately! Ships nearest to the exit first!"

Another formation came into view. "Chopper, Edge, let's go," I said as I hit my thrusters and headed toward the new formation.

"Escape the port and take evasive action. No mistakes!" one of the fleet said.

"This is the aircraft carrier Kestrel. Approaching port exit," the Kestrel's radio sailor reported.

"Roger, Kestrel," the Port Captain responded. "The Kestrel takes top priority! That barge over there, move it! I know you want outta here, but open up a path! That carrier's valuable!"

I glanced down every so often to check up on the Kestrel. The skies were still clear from all but a few stray planes. After a few more kills, the Kestrel finally cleared the port.

"The Kestrel's in open waters. Bon voyage, guys!"

"All friendly aircraft, protect the Kestrel for us!" the Port Captain ordered.

"This is Swordsman. On my way. That's our ship," Captain Snow reported. I saw him turn and head in toward the Kestrel.

"Negative. This is AWACS Thunderhead. Swordsman, remain in the Eastern Sector. Protect our territory and continue battle."

"But that's my carrier!"

"Wardog, provide cover for the Kestrel," Thunderhead ordered.

"From what exactly?" I asked. "We've already sanitized the sky above the port and there's only a few scarce fighters even left in this area."

"Just do it."

"Dammit, you pigheaded... All right, I'm counting on you, Wardog. Don't lose our ship!" Snow called to us.

"No need to worry, Swordsman," I said. "Nobody is getting anywhere near it."

"Bogeys inbound from 280," Thunderhead called. "It's no use, there's too many of them."

Is his ability to count non-existent?

"Chopper, Edge, let's go," I said. "Don't let them get within anti-ship missile range."

"Roger," they said as we hit our thrusters.

"Wardog, this is Thunderhead. We need you to take care of the Kestrel."

"The Kestrel's good," I said, giving him an update.

"The other ships are finally starting to move. Get out of the gulf, fast!" Nagase called out.

Three more Yuke formations appeared from the west right after we finished shooting one down.

"A flight, engage the enemy ships. B flight, attack and destroy the gulf port facilities. C flight, fly top cover. Establish air superiority. You got that?" the enemy ordered.

"Roger. Commencing attack," a Yuke fighter replied just before his plane went up in smoke. Chopper nailed him. Nagase shot down the fighter nearest to him, and I took care of the other two.

"This squadron is good," one of the Yuke fighters said just before he was forced to bail out by me.

We shot down all three of those formations in only a couple of minutes. We circled back toward the port to make sure nothing had snuck up on us. The enemy was scarce, but the fires left behind by their destruction spread quickly.

"The entire gulf is in flames," Nagase said, looking across the waters below.

"Man, what happened here? This is worse than even I imagined," Chopper added.

One rogue plane had managed to fly in this close. I took care of it quickly, but it plummeted below...

"Those... those are people floating in the waves." Nagase said.

-Chopper-

I shouldn't have looked.

When that enemy plane crashed and covered the water in flames, there were people floating right there.

I could see their faces... so many of them. Somebody stop this. I can't take it anymore.

-Blaze-

"Kid, did you see that?" Chopper asked. I could hear the disgust in his voice.

"I couldn't bear to watch," I said. The plane that crashed into those people was the one I shot down. I just couldn't look.

"I see," Chopper said. "I wish I hadn't."

"We're out of the gulf, but stay alert," one of the Osean Fleet said.

"The carrier's entering the ocean. C'mon, whoever's out there, help us out! Get that bucket of bolts out of here," Chopper said.

"This is the Captain of the aircraft carrier Kestrel. My congratulations to all ships that managed to escape. As Captain, I will now form a provisional battle fleet. The enemy's built a blockade with their fleet in front of us. We have to break through this and escape to safer waters. Good luck, everyone. All friendly aircraft, your support is requested."

"I'm there," Captain Snow called. He had finally managed to return to the sky above the Kestrel.

"So are we," I said.

"Blaze, this is Thunderhead. Are you clear on the mission objective?"

"Yes."

"Roger. Begin at once."

"Range to blockade line confirmed at four miles," the Kestrel radio sailor reported.

"The formation's centered around that carrier. Begin operations," a Yuke ship reported.

"This is the perfect chance to improve our battle record. Let's go," another Yuke said.

"There's gotta be an enemy aircraft targeting the carrier from beyond the horizon," an Osean sailor reported.

"Not anymore," I said as an explosion resounding over my radio.

"There's another one!"

"Man, these guys are stubborn," Snow said.

"Chopper, Edge, special weapons free. Aim well," I said as I dropped an unguided bomb right in the middle of an enemy Yuke ship. Chopper and Nagase followed suit. Seven Yuke ships, three by my hand and two by each of their hands, were on fire by the end of our bombing run.

"The smoke's blocking my view ahead. I'm cutting in," Snow said.

I cut around and headed back toward our fleet. Just in time, too.

"Missiles incoming from aft starboard! Two of them!" one of our ships called out.

I saw the missiles and gave chase. They were fast, and there was no way I could catch up in time, so I tried to shoot 'em down from where I was. It was a long shot, but two explosions confirmed my efforts were not in vain.

"Holy... good shot!" said the radio officer from the same.

I turned back and headed toward the enemy ships, a light smirk on my face. Another fighter formation had just flown over them and I took it upon myself to take them out. Chopper and Edge were hot on my trail as I chased after the targets.

"I gotta admit, the enemy's got some great pilots," one of the Yuke fighters said.

"Our fighters are providing great top cover. We can do this!" an Osean ship called out.

"Captain Snow, we entrust the sky above us to you," Captain Andersen said.

"Roger, Captain Andersen!"

We teamed up with Captain Snow to take down the last couple of enemy formations before dropping our remaining bombs on the last of the Yuke ships. Our ships finally made it through the blockade.

"It broke through!" Chopper cheered. "That's one tough boat, man! Yeah! So, Kid, does it feel good to be the flight lead?"

"I'd rather the Captain be doing it, but I'm fine."

"I hear ya," he said.

"This is the captain of the aircraft carrier Kestrel. Our fleet has successfully escaped to safe waters. My thanks to our brave warriors of the sea... and in the air."

The area was sanitized of enemy formations and ships. We completed the mission, and we all survived. Now it was time to go check on the Captain.

As I turned to lead my wingmen home, Swordsman called out over the radio, "Hey, Wardog."

"Yeah?" I replied.

"Good work out there. Thanks."

I smiled, not that anyone could see it. "Glad we could help."

-Gennette-

"One, two, three... One, two, three planes," Chopper said over the radio. "Count 'em up, man, we're all back safe. I can't wait to tell the Captain once they pluck him outta the ocean!"

But the Captain, Captain Bartlett, never returned to Sand Island.

-Debriefing-

The aircraft carrier Kestrel has survived the enemy attack and has broken through into open waters. Although the 3rd Osean Naval Fleet sustained considerable damage, it's still combat capable.

-Blaze-

I couldn't help but worry about the Captain on our way back to the base. I had an odd feeling I couldn't shake. We kept the Kestrel safe until it sailed to safe waters, but what about Captain Bartlett?

The Captain was more than just my captain. He was my Uncle Jack, too, although we kept that our little secret from the others. Only Pops knew.

I couldn't bear to lose more family.