Chapter 9 – Blind Spot

Note: Don't try to attempt anything I describe from this Chapter. It's extremely dangerous and I don't want someone injuring someone else because they want to see if it works. Believe me, IT DOES and if you want to see it, YouTube it. That way you can blame it on them instead of me. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!

November 2, 2010 0554hrs Sand Island AFB

"No Kei, once you lock your opponents arm, you can manipulate it a bunch of different ways. Since your strong point is grappling, you would throw him to the ground then lock his arm anyway you'd like or you could break it, but that's entirely up to you. The point of what I'm trying to teach you is to neutralize your opponent and move on. When you're in the fight for your life, there are no rules; you fight to stay alive," I said.

We were the only two people in the gym. Kei and I woke up earlier than usual so I could teach her some more of the hand-to-hand combat I knew. It felt strange teaching her more ways to severely hurt someone, but I didn't teach her anything that I knew that could kill someone. I tried my best explaining it to her and she caught on for the most part, but today she had a hard time comprehending what I was trying to say.

"But the way you're describing it seems like the point of all this is to kill your opponent and move onto the next one," she said.

"Exactly, however I taught myself to disable my opponent so that he/she no longer poses a threat. For example, when I knocked you unconscious last time, I could've left you lying there and you would've been out for a couple of hours if I didn't try and wake you up. I could've done it a bunch of other ways too."

"How exactly?" asked Kei.

"It mostly centers around striking certain pressure points on the body. For me, the best combinations are centered around the arms, chest, and head because that's where I'm most comfortable, but I can do it from other parts of the body as well. There's one I like to use when I'm trying to stop someone before he/she starts something where I strike three points simultaneously and then they're out cold."

"Can you show me?" said Kei.

"I don't know, can I?" I said and she gave me an annoyed look.

"May you please show me how to do it?"

"Alright, but only because you asked nicely; now there are two ways you can do this, but both of them involve striking your opponents foot either here or here," I said pointing out the points around Kei's ankle. "Then, you strike right here, a bit further up the rib cage, with your left palm open. Then for the final point, you hit right here, just below the left collar bone, with your knuckles or with the tips of your fingers." I said as I pointed out the spots on her body.

"The other way you could do it is by hitting this pressure point here, on both sides of the neck with the sides of your hands." I said rubbing the side of her neck and she giggled a little.

"So you mean like this," said Kei as she attempted to knock me out by using what I just showed her.

I deflected both of her arms and lifted my foot up before she could hit it. But as I deflected her arms away, she managed to grab one of them, hip toss me to the floor, and twisted my arm. Ugh, this woman must love hurting me. I swung my leg up behind me and hit Kei in the back of her knee, causing her to get down on one knee. As she soon as she knelt down, I grabbed her shoulder, pulled her to the ground onto her back, rolled on top of her, and pinned her. She tried struggling to get out but gave up when she realized she couldn't.

"Almost, but not quite," I said as I leaned in and kissed her.

I let go of her arms and was about to get up when she pulled me down and kissed me again. Her legs were wrapped around my waist as we continued to make out in the middle of the ring. We can't let this go too far. We stayed like this for about half a minute before we heard someone running down the hallway towards the gym and we quickly separated. I got up and I helped Kei get on her feet when Grimm entered the gym in his flight suit. He was out of breath and panting heavily as he tried telling us something.

"Sir, we have a mission briefing in three minute. I've been looking everywhere for you, have you been here all night?" said Grimm.

"No we got here at 0500," said Kei as we scrambled to get all of our stuff together and ran out of the gym.

We raced for the briefing room while we were still wearing our workout clothes. I didn't even have time to put on my shoes as we rushed out. Why do we have a briefing this early? I wasn't in the mood for a sortie this early in the morning, especially after all the crap we went through yesterday with the invasion. All that physical and mental stress still had me pretty worn out. Flying while I was tired was one of the worst feelings in the world, to me at least. But sprinting for the briefing room took care of that feeling.

I was surprised at how fast Grimm was able to out run me and Kei. He must've run track or something. I probably might have been able to run faster if I hadn't stubbed my toe while trying to turn a corner and if I had my shoes on. The floors were cold and I could start to feel my feet go numb as we continued sprinting. At least I'm getting in my morning run.

We got to the briefing room and saw Chopper, Erica Boldman, and Kyle Nelms waiting for us along with two other people I haven't seen before. They introduced themselves as 1st lieutenant Justin Hardin, call sign: Wildcat, and 2nd lieutenant Michelle Rockford, call sign: Valkyrie. They were going to be our two extra copilots in the event we decided to fly four, two seated planes today. We entered the room and took our seats as Captain Hamilton looked at me and Kei in total confusion.

"Captain, is there a reason you and 1st lieutenant Nagase aren't in uniform?" he asked.

"Sorry sir, we were in the gym when Grimm told us we had a briefing so we had to rush over here without changing," I said.

Captain Hamilton could only look down and shake his head in disbelief. Chopper was snickering at our misfortune as Hamilton started the briefing. The Yukes had taken heavy losses when Osean forces invaded Yuktobania yesterday. The landing forces preceded further inland and managed to occupy most of the Peninsula. As the Osean army pushed further inland, the Yukes were airlifting their forces out of the area so they could regroup and strengthen their defenses to halt the Osean advance. If the Yukes managed to regroup enough of their forces, they could hold off the Osean army long enough to launch a counter attack strong enough push them out of Yuktobania altogether. Wardog was assigned to intercept the transport planes and halt the retreat. It seemed simple enough.

After the briefing, Kei and I headed back to our quarters to get ready and start the day. It surprised me that no one, not even Colonel Perrault, mentioned the fact that we were rooming together. Nothing happened between Kei and I that would get us in serious trouble if anyone found out. We never changed our clothes in front of each other and we never slept together, except for that one night when the war started. I guess that's why no one really gave us a ration of crap about it, or maybe it was because we saved the other rooms for pilots who would sometimes come through and have to spend the night at Sand Island.

I got done with my shower and headed back towards the room to get some of my things. Kei usually would still be in the shower by the time I got back, but not today. I opened the door just in time to see Kei wrap her towel around her body before I could see anything. I made eye contact with her for a split second and quickly left the room shutting the door behind me. I was blushing and I thought I could see her blushing as well.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see anything, I swear," I said through the door.

"Did you need something?" I heard Kei ask from the other side.

"Yeah, I need to get my watch and my PDA. They're on the table right next to the window."

I could hear her as she walked to the other side of the room and got my stuff. The door opened wide enough so that she could fit her arm through and she handed me my things.

"Are you sure you didn't see anything," she asked while giving me a look as if she thought I was bullshitting her.

"I swear I didn't see anything Kei," I said and she closed the door. Did you want me to see anything?

After that little incident, I headed towards the mess hall to get some breakfast but we were scheduled to take off in seven minutes. I asked the guys in the kitchen if they could pack me a bag or something to help me out because I was starving. They packed me a ham, egg, and cheese sandwich, an apple, and a bottle of orange juice and gave me another bag for Kei because she hadn't eaten either. I took both bags and headed for the flight line. I saw everyone, except for Kei, standing at the entrance of one of the hangers and I joined them to tell them how today was going to work.

We were going to fly F-15Es equipped with four sidewinders, four sparrows, and two external fuel tanks. Michelle was going to be my WSO and Justin was going to be Chopper's. Kei and Grimm were going to be partnered with the same people they flew with yesterday. Chopper started complaining about how he wasn't paired with a girl like Grimm and I were.

"Chopper, do you ever shut the hell up? I swear you could complain about anything," I said.

"You're right Kid, I can complain about anything and I will complain about everything. All of you get a chance to flirt with someone while I got this guy who might try and play grab ass with me!"

"I'm already married," said Justin showing his wedding band. "And besides, I don't think any woman would find those goofy ass sideburns of yours attractive."

"I like them and that's all that matters," said Chopper as he walked towards his plane with Justin.

I saw Kei step onto the flight line and she started to walk towards me. She looked like she was still blushing from when I saw her earlier. Why doesn't she seem to believe me? I walked over to her and handed her breakfast bag.

"I figured you'd probably be hungry since we didn't have a chance to eat breakfast so I asked the kitchen staff to help us out," I said.

"Thanks, so who's your WSO?" asked Kei.

"Rockford, you're paired with the same guy from yesterday."

I saw Kei shoot a jealous glance at Michelle. Michelle was a very good looking woman, but I still would've chosen Kei when it came down to it. I guess mainly because I didn't like it when military regs stated all women had to have their hair up in a bun. If Michelle had her blonde hair down, then maybe that would've made my choice between them harder. However, I was already in a relationship with Kei and I was the faithful type. I'd love to see a cat fight between these two, but I couldn't do that to them.

"Hey, is there something wrong?" I asked.

Kei looked at me and smiled to cover up her jealousy, but I saw right through it. She didn't want me to know she was jealous, but she didn't know I was jealous of Kyle. I don't have anything to be worried about, if she's jealous of my WSO then that means she only has her eyes set on me.

"Yeah I'm fine, see you up in the air," said Kei and she walked to her plane.

We all strapped in and ignited out engines. Grimm led us onto the primary runway and we took off. As we formed up and headed to the AO, Thunderhead came over the radio and gave us the sitrep on the retreating enemy forces. They were already taking off and they were headed to their destination and if we maintained our current speed, we would arrive too late and they would escape. We increased our throttle and hurried towards our AO, but it would still take some time to for us to get there.

"Man, I just wanted to have a nice quiet flight on the way towards our AO, and then Thunderhead has to come along and ruin it just by saying one sentence," said Chopper.

"Well we never get to have a nice, quiet ride towards the AO because you can never shut up," I said.

"Well I could probably stop talking long enough if I had some music to listen to, but the regs say we can't."

"Chopper, turn your radio to frequency 182MHz and shut up," I said.

Chopper did what I asked and by his reaction, I had made him one happy guy. He could listen to some music while we could fly peacefully. I activated the auto pilot on my F-15 and started to eat my breakfast. I must've been hungry because I ate it all within a couple of minutes. The food from the mess hall usually sucked, but not today. I looked over at Kei and I could see her eating as well.

"So Captain, how does it feel knowing your squad is the most experienced squadron in the entire Osean air force?" asked Michelle.

"It feels like we're pulling all the weight in air war," I said.

"But it must feel good knowing that you and your team are the top scoring aces of out of all the other pilots in the country, right?"

I didn't answer her because I didn't feel good about it at all. Everyone expects us to take pride in killing someone, or almost killing someone. I don't know exactly how many enemy pilots, whom I've fought with, were dead or how many survived. I knew somebody somewhere would never forgive me for what I've done, and that's what really bothered me.

"I don't think they actually take pride in risking someone's life in a dogfight Valkyrie," said Justin.

"But their just shooting down planes, it's not like the pilot can't escape…"

"They don't always have a chance to escape from their planes, Rockford," I snapped.

No one can understand the effects war can have on a person unless they've actually been in one. It can change a person if they let it, and that's easier said than done. I needed to take my mind off of all of this so I tuned into the same frequency as Chopper and started to listen to the music that was being broadcasted over the channel. "Face of the Coin", it was okay but it wasn't my favorite song.

1011hrs Dresdene Yuktobania

"Hey Kid, did you take a listen to that song?" asked Chopper.

"I sure did," I replied.

"Yeah "Face of the Coin", I love that song."

"I got a single enemy contact dead ahead, Edge, engaging."

"Blaze, engaging"

"Archer, engaging"

"Whoops, Chopper, engaging"

Kei had the first lock and fired a sparrow at the enemy plane. We watched as the missile flew towards the target and buried itself inside the enemy plane and explode.

"Kill confirmed, let's go get those transports," I said and we sped forward.

We could hear General Howell broadcasting over the radio, trying to justify the Osean invasion of Yuktobania to its citizens. They're not going to understand or they're going to refuse to believe that their own government started the war. He was wasting his breath and we all knew it. We got within visual range of the enemy transport planes. There were only three of them as I acquired a lock on one of them. As I was about to fire, more radar signatures appeared.

"Unbelievable!" shouted Kei.

"We gotta bag all these planes?" asked Chopper.

"You think every enemy plane in the area is up and flying?" asked Grimm

"Well let's ask 'em. Hey, how many plane you got there? ... Man, this is makin' me cry," said Chopper as he fired a missile at one of the planes.

We watched as the missile kept going and going. It should've hit by now, what's going on? Chopper's missile missed its mark. Something wasn't right about all of this.

"There are way too many signatures on radar; Kid, Nagase how 'bout you guys?" said Chopper.

"I'm getting false signatures and a lot of static," I said.

"My radar's showing strange results as well, something's going on," said Kei.

She's right, there's something's messing with our radar. I started scanning the sky above me when I spotted a white dot against the clear blue sky at twelve o' clock high. I took out my binoculars and saw an E-767 with Yuktobanian markings on it.

"Valkyrie, you see that E-767 at our twelve o' clock high?" I said. "Mark it on our radar and relay the information to the others."

"So it's… a trick?" said Chopper.

"Captain, this is Birdy, there are four formations of enemy transports in the area. There's probably a jammer covering each of them," said Erica.

"Alright people, take out those jammers first then worry about the transport planes. Edge you're with me. Chopper, take Grimm and take care of the formations further north," I ordered.

Kei joined on my wing and we gained altitude to meet the E-767. Its ECM was active so neither of us could get a missile lock on it. I closed in, got within gun range, and opened fire on its left engine. My 20mm shells score direct hits on the engine and it started trailing smoke, but my radar didn't clear up.

"Sir, try aiming for its radar dish. That should clear up the radar," said Kyle.

I fired on the radar support beams and saw it rip off and hit the vertical stabilizer of the E-767. I barrel rolled over it just in time to avoid hitting it. I watched at the jammer aircraft nosed over into a dive and crash into the mountain range below.

I rejoined Kei and Kyle as they shot down the enemy transport planes. Kyle called out three enemy fighters that were converging on our location from our 10 o'clock low.

"Hold on Valkyrie and get ready for some fancy flying," I said.

I followed Kei as she dove into the enemy formation of Su-27s. She targeted the flight lead and dove on him at high speed. When Kei got within range, she fired on him with her gun and hit his engines, causing them to trail smoke and fire. The pilot lost control of his plane and bailed out.

The other two fighters scattered and we split up to engage them. I latched onto one of the Su-27s and followed him as he dove for the deck. He was flying too close to the mountains and it would only be a matter of time before one, or both of us crashed because of pilot error. The mountains were almost within arm's reach as they passed by my canopy.

"Captain, pull out! Are you insane?" shouted Michelle.

I didn't bother responding and continued chasing my target. I had a missile lock, but with the way he was weaving through the mountain made it impossible for the missile to track him successfully without impacting a mountain first. I could try and scare him like I did Kei when we were at Heierlark. I let loose a burst from my gun and he pulled his Su-27 up to gain altitude. I still had a missile lock on him but he was too close. The explosion would damage my plane as well. The Su-27 leveled off and performed a Kulbit and I shot right past him.

"Captain, he's on our tail!" shouted Michelle.

No shit! As soon as he regained his speed, he fired a burst from his gun and I easily dodged it by performing the barrel roll that never failed me and I was back on his tail. Within milliseconds of me getting into position, I opened fire with my gun and scored multiple hits on his plane's fuel tanks and watched it explode.

"Edge, how you doing over there, sweetheart," I said. Why did I just call her sweetheart?

"I'm headed back your way now. We should hurry up and take out the next formation of transport planes before they get away," said Kei.

"Alright, Smokey you still with us?"

"Yes sir," he said breathing heavily. "Sorry I'm out of breath, I'm still trying to get used to all this combat maneuvering."

As we headed for the next formation, we continued to listen in on General Howell's broadcast. He wanted the Yuke civilians to join the Osean military cause. He actually thinks the Yukes are going to turn their backs on their government? I could understand that he was trying to come under a banner of peace for the civilians; however I still doubted the Yukes would care.

"Hey, you think it's going be that easy?" asked Chopper.

"No, even if their government is in the wrong, the civilians would still look to them for support," I replied.

"Yeah, I don't think so either."

We got within visual range of the next enemy formation. They had more fighter cover and the transport planes were still mixed in with false radar signatures created by the E-767. Damn, this is getting annoying.

"Smokey, Valkyrie, keep your eyes open for those jammers," I said.

"Way ahead you, Captain. I see one at our two o' clock high," said Michelle.

"Captain, this is Wildcat, we just shot down the two jammers covering the transport formations to the north of your position. We're still experiencing some radar interference but I assume it should clear up once you take out the last jammer," said Justin.

Kei and I climbed up to meet it and we shot it down using our guns again. Several of the remaining radar blips disappeared, and we engaged the escort fighters first. There were ten enemy fighters and they were coming at us in formation. Our WSOs managed to lock onto multiple targets for us and we launched all of our sparrow missiles towards them. Most of them found their mark except one of them missed. We only had to deal with four enemy Su-27s, but this was going to be tricky.

"Edge, take the lead, I'll go trail and follow," I said.

"Blaze, I'm supposed to protect you. Not the other way…"

"Woman, don't argue with me. Just do it," I yelled.

"Lighten up Kid, she's just trying to look out for ya," said Chopper.

I know, but I'm trying to look out for her. Kei took the lead and I followed her as the enemy formation came at us from head on. We were closing in too fast for us to get a missile lock and we passed each other. Kei continued to head for the transport planes and the enemy formation turned to pursue us.

"Valkyrie, get ready to launch flares when they fire their missiles," I order.

Kei got within range to fire one of her sidewinders at a transport plane and she took the shot. Her missile blew off the wing off of the transport she was aiming at. Kei then broke off her attack when the enemy fighter formation got within range to engage me.

"Edge, keep going while I clear our six," I said.

"Say… laze…break…up," said Kei.

"Keep going." I shouted.

Michelle launched a set of flares as a missile came streaking towards us. I barrel rolled behind the enemy formation and had all four of them in my sights. I managed to fill one Su-27 full of lead before two of them broke off. I acquired a missile lock on the fighter that was tailing Kei and fired. The missile impacted above the cockpit and the plane broke apart as if fell towards the ground.

"Cap…..hind us!" I heard Michelle scream.

I looked back and saw the other two enemy planes chasing me. I tried hailing Kei over the radio but all I could hear in response was static. Dammit, can she hear me? I pushed the throttle all the way forward and my F-15 took off. I was banking left and right trying to shake off my attackers but they were glued to me. I was still looking for Kei and I still couldn't find her. I couldn't do my barrel roll over my pursuers because they had given me a wide berth.

They had a missile lock on me and fired. I could see it coming and I broke hard to my right. I watched as it flew right past me, narrowly hitting my canopy. The maneuver had robbed my plane of precious air speed and the enemy planes closed in on me. They're going to try and shoot me down with their guns now!

"Captain …of us, do some….," shouted Michelle.

As the lead Su-27 closed in and fired, I rolled my plane over and dove for the deck at full speed. I was able to lose him but his wingman was still following me. I pulled out of the dive and watched as a stream of bullets passed by my right wing. I broke left and saw the Su-27 overshoot. I applied full throttle and got behind him. I had a missile lock but I had to break off because the other Su-27 was diving on me.

Just then, I saw Kei streak in from my twelve o' clock and fire a missile on my attacker. It impacted right in the middle of the plane and it almost completely disappeared into thin air. I saw that I was clear and reengaged my target. I was in gun range and I fired a hail of bullets that seemed to cut his plane in half, right down the middle. The Su-27 literally folded in half as the pilot bailed out.

"Edge, do you read me?" I said.

"I can't…. you….with… radio," I heard Kei say.

I looked over at her plane and I could see Kyle signaling me with his hands that there was something causing interference with our radios.

"….enemy….jamming waves…interference," said Thunderhead.

"This is the 8492nd leader, all 8492nd units, proceed as planned," said a voice on the radio.

I could hear the voice loud and clear, but I still couldn't get a clear response over the radio from anyone else in my squad. We had already shot down all the jammers, but what was causing the radio interference? Was I the only one who heard that voice on the radio?

"Hey, Kid, you… the… pre…join….Air….?" said Chopper.

"Uhh, yeah sure," I replied even though I had no idea what he said.

"Yeah, I agree…. …..completely Na…..ha," said Chopper as I heard him laugh at what he just said.

"It's…jammed!" shouted Grimm.

"ECCM, restore communication link!" shouted Thunderhead.

Thunderheads ECCM, or Electronic Counter Counter-Measure, was finally able to clear up the radio interference and tuned us into an enemy radio communications channel. We continued to approach the remaining transport planes when we heard someone say that Osean planes were firing on a school packed with civilians at an engineering college. Thunderhead broadcasted an order telling them to hold fire.

"What idiot's doing that?" shouted Chopper.

"Attention, units operating in sector Charlie Omega, attacks on civilians are forbidden!" said Thunderhead.

Charlie Omega was only a short flight to the northwest of our location. We were the only Osean planes in the air that we were aware of and we sure as hell weren't attacking civilians.

"Hell, that's where we're supposed to be operating; do you see those idiots anywhere?"

"I'm no joy, radar isn't picking up any other friendlies in the area," said Erica.

Our radars weren't picking up any friendly IFF signature. We didn't know what was going on or who was violating orders. I asked the others if they heard that radio transmission about the 8492nd squadron and they all said they did.

"Why would someone attack a college?" asked Michelle.

"I don't know Valkyrie, but someone else is operating here besides us," I said.

"Do you think it was those guys we heard on the radio?" asked Kyle.

"I don't know, but whoever attacked those civilians must be doing it on purpose," said Kei.

"Wardog this is Thunderhead, did you engage in an attack on a civilian facility?"

"No, we've been fifty miles southeast of that location this whole time," I said.

"Rodger so you're sure you didn't do this?"

"Why would we do that, weren't you watching from up there?" said Chopper.

Kei and I got within visual range of the remaining transport planes and engaged them. I continued to listen in on the enemy transmissions surrounding the attack. The remaining enemy escort fighters bugged out and flew to the northwest at high speed. They must be trying to help fend off those attacking planes.

"That's what I hate about war! No matter who starts it, it always comes to this!" shouted Chopper.

"There's nothing we can do about it now Chopper, right now we have to take care of these transport planes," I said.

"But Captain, we can be in that area in a few minutes and lend those people some aid," said Justin.

"We can't, if we go anywhere near that area, they'll confirm our presence there and we'll more than likely get blamed for it too."

I locked onto one of the transport planes and fired a missile at it. The transport planes right engines started smoking and I saw its wing dip down and fall out of the sky. With no fighter escort to protect them, the remaining transport planes were totally defenseless. Kei got behind the last transport plane and lined up her shot. She launched a sidewinder at the last transport plane and it impacted the outer left engine casing the outer left wing to tear off and send the transport plane into an inverted spiral.

"Alright people, form up on me and let's get back to Sand Island. God knows what the brass is going to do to us when we get back," I said.

"But we didn't do anything Captain, we were here the whole time when that area got attacked," said Erica.

"But it was in the area we were supposed to be operating in. If Air Command can't figure out who attacked the place then we're going to take the blame for this SNAFU (Situation Normal, All Fucked Up), "said Chopper.

"Thunderhead, this is Wardog leader, can you confirm our location during the time of the attack?" I asked.

"Negative Wardog leader, the enemy jamming waves started two minute prior to the attack and they're still interfering with our radar. What's your current location?"

"02⁰39'14" north by 117⁰31'59" east, we've just finished shooting down the enemy transport planes and we're RTB towards Sand Island," I replied.

"Roger Wardog."

This whole situation had me pissed off. There's some reason as to why they attacked that area, but why? Every one of us felt helpless, due to the fact that we would just be digging ourselves deeper into a hole we were already in. We couldn't do anything to stop the attack or prove that we weren't there.

1342hrs Sand Island AFB

We landed back at Sand Island and we received an unfriendly welcome from some of the ground crew, security guards, and other base personnel demanding our heads. One guy managed to sum up the courage to try and attack my copilot and he found himself on the ground with a bloody nose and broken finger. The eight of us could do nothing but stand with our backs against our planes as they continued to scorn us for something that we didn't do until the security team was finally able to escort us away from them.

In the locker room, we could only continue to talk about what had happened and why we were being blamed for it. No one else could prove our innocence during the attack and the fact that we were operating close to that area didn't help our case either.

"How bad do you think the brass is going to stick it to us?" asked Chopper.

"We'll probably get a dishonorable discharged and thrown in jail afterwards," said Kyle.

"Not before we get court martialed for it first," added Justin as he hung up his flight gear.

"We could probably use our black boxes in our planes as evidence to prove our innocence," suggested Grimm.

His suggestion could've been our only way out of this mess. I grabbed my PDA and walked out of the locker room. I headed for the hanger where I had parked my F-15 and opened the hatch where the black box was. It recorded all radio transmissions that my radio had receive and sent throughout the mission. I was about to download all the radio transmissions from today's mission to my PDA when a thought occurred to me. Wouldn't this be considered tampering with evidence?

I hesitated and continued debating whether or not I should do it. If I don't, there's a chance that someone else might be involved and erase all the data. I didn't know what to do, but I had to do something. I hooked up my PDA and downloaded the data. This had to count for something in the long run.

Just then I was ordered to report to Colonel Perrault's office. I knew it was only a matter of time before he wanted to talk to me. I headed for the Colonel's office and I got some nasty looks from some of the people along the way there. Just try and start something with me, see if it doesn't bit you in the ass. I was in a bad mood and I wanted them to try and jump me.

I stepped into Perrault's office and presented myself. There were two security guards standing against the wall next to the door in his office, just in case. The Colonel was sitting down, elbows on his desk, holding his hands together in front of his mouth. I could almost see him smiling as he stared at me.

"Captain, there comes a point in every military man's life when he feels like he's on top of the world. You must've felt very powerful the day the brass made you Captain, am I right?" said Perrault.

"Not really, sir," I said. I did feel a little bit of pride when I was promoted, but mostly nervous about it.

"'Not really' implies that you still felt powerful even if it was just a little," said the Colonel as he stood up and walked towards me. "I remember the day your mother and her boyfriend, Harkin, got passed over for promotion for abandoning their post some years back. They must've thought they could've screwed around and no one would notice, but I did."

I clenched my fists when he told me this. I had to try and fight the urge to deck him right then and there. I couldn't do nothing except stand there and continue listening.

"Of course when I reported them, the brass couldn't prove that they were screwing around, but I knew the truth."

Of course you do, you sent them across the base then denied ever telling them to do so, you fat bastard!

"What's your point Colonel?" I asked.

He smiled and continued walking around me as I just stood there. "My point is Captain, that the truth is always out there, but only you know what really happened. However, that doesn't mean you're going to tell the truth to the court when you try to defend yourself against the war crimes you and you team committed today."

"My team never attacked a civilian target while we were on mission," I said frustrated.

"Oh really, then how do you explain the reports of a flight of four F-15s with Osean military markings attacking a Yuktobanian college?" shouted Perrault.

I didn't know what type of planes were used to attack the college and the fact that we were flying F-15 Strike Eagles didn't help our case any. I wanted to say it was a coincidence, but I never believed in coincidences so my argument would've been invalid.

"Then there must've been another flight of Osean F-15s in the area. My squad was busy shooting down the transport planes as we were ordered, sir."

"Next I bet you're going to tell me that those transport planes looked like buildings, aren't you?" he said sneering at me.

"You son of a bitch, we didn't attack any civilians!" I shouted as I advanced towards him.

The security guards quickly grabbed me and held me back before I could get any closer to Colonel Perrault. I could've easily gotten loose, but I didn't even bother trying. I knew what would happen if I struck Perrault, I wouldn't have had the chance to get a court martial before I was thrown out of the military.

"As far as I can tell Castillo, you and your team are all guilty. I hope the brass understands now why I told them making you Captain was a mistake. Get him out of my sight!" And with that the guards dragged me out of his office.

I went to my room and got on my laptop to send a message to Lieutenant Colonel Harkin about the whole situation. He was one of the few people in the military who knew I would never do anything like this. I didn't care if he could've helped us out or not but I just wanted him to know my side of the story.

After I was done with Perrault, I went to the mess hall to get some lunch. The kitchen staff wasn't too thrilled to see me after they heard about what everyone thought we did. The rest of my team was sitting at a table away from everyone else. It probably wasn't their choice to sit away from them. I took a seat beside Kei and started eating.

"So Captain, why do you think anyone would want to attack civilians," asked Grimm.

"Because they probably wanted to give the Yuke civilians more reason to ignore General Howell's little friendly broadcast," said Chopper.

"It's not like they would've listened to it anyways," said Justin.

"Yeah but if everyone knew they wouldn't listen to the broadcast, attacking them seems kind of pointless, right?" asked Erica.

"Yeah it does, but there's got to be more to it than that," said Justin.

We continued talking on the subject when Genette walked up to our table, pen and pad in hand. I could see where this was going. He was going to ask us about our involvement in the attack.

"Sorry to bother you, but I was hoping to get your side of the story," said Genette.

"What have you heard?" I asked glaring at him.

"Well I heard that you attacked a college campus in Yuktobania and I just wanted to know why you'd attack a civilian facility."

Chopper slammed his hands on the table and got up. "You want to know why we did it?" shouted Chopper. He grabbed Genette by the collar of his shirt and pushed him against a wall. "We didn't do it and the last thing we need is some nosey ass reporter spreading false news about us!"

Grimm, Kyle and, I tried to separate them both before anything got out of hand. I could see the fear in Genette's eyes as Chopper held him against the wall and we quickly broke it up. Chopper walked out of the mess hall before he tried to hurt anyone else and I quickly turned to Genette.

"Genette, all you need to know is that we didn't kill any civilians and that we're not talking to you about this matter. Now I couldn't give a rat's ass about you gaining popularity with the press so don't bother trying to get anything out of us," I said.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend anyone," said Genette. "I just wanted to…."

"Just go!"

He left the mess hall and we took our seats to finish our meal. I honestly didn't like Genette because he was a reporter and tried to get every little detail about our thoughts on the war and our missions. In short, he was too fucking nosey. We had just taken our seats again when Captain Hamilton approached us and started talking to us.

"Captain, you and your team are ordered to pack your bags with everything you'll need for a court martial on the fourth of this month. The same goes for your copilots. You'll be leaving once your military escort arrives," said Hamilton.

"Yes sir," I replied and I went back to finishing my lunch.

When we were done, we headed back to our quarters to pack. I packed my Alphas, the green colored uniform that's the US Marine equivalent to a business suit, a change of clothes, an extra flight suit, my hygiene kit, my laptop, and my MP3 player. I had never seen Osean military uniforms other than the ones I've seen Captain Hamilton and Colonel Perrault wear. I saw Kei pack a black skirt and dress shoes that she had to wear with her white shirt.

"I can't believe I have to wear this thing again," groaned Kei.

"At least I get to see your legs again," I joked.

"What do you…?" Kei stated to say when she remembered this morning. She looked at me while blushing.

"I only saw your legs, your towel, and your head," I said trying to reassure her I didn't see any other part of her body. "You have some very nice looking legs by the way."

I could see her blushing even more and she threw one of her dirty shirts at me. She continued packing her bag and finally said something back.

"You have a very nice chest," said Kei nervously and I blushed.

I heard a knock on our door and I got up to answer it. It was a security team that had to escort us to Oured. I picked up my bag and followed Kei out of the door. We followed our escort to the flight line and waited for the others of my team to show up. I looked around and didn't see a transport plane anywhere on the flight line. How are we going to get to Oured?

As soon as the rest of my team arrived, the security team led us to our F-15s and told us to put our bags in the storage pods that had been hooked up to our planes. We're taking our planes with us to Oured? I looked further down the flight line and saw four F-22 Raptors being refueled and rearmed.

"They expect us to fly our planes to Oured by ourselves," said Grimm.

"No, they'll probably have fighters escorting us along the way," said Justin.

"Why couldn't they have just taken us in a transport plane?" asked Michelle.

"Because, all available transport planes are being used to fly in supplies for our troops in Yuktobania," We turned around to see Captain Hamilton walking towards us. "You'll be escorted to Oured by those pilots flying those F-22s further down the flight line. Your planes will be stripped of everything except for those external fuel tanks and your storage pods."

"Captain, you don't believe that we actually did any of this, do you?" asked Kei.

"I believe you're all innocent, but not everyone in the Osean military does," said Captain Hamilton. "There's nothing I can do to try and help you, however I'll still be trying to coordinate with Thunderhead and try to dig up something that can help you. Maybe we can get some of the reports from the Yuke pilots that left your AO to help."

How did he know they left the area? We never got our debriefing out of the way. Grimm was about to say something about it when I cut him off and thanked Captain Hamilton for any help he could've been. Something was up, I don't know what it was but I knew something seemed out of place.

We got in our planes and waited for our escort to take off so they could watch us and make sure we didn't try anything funny. Our radios were being jammed so we couldn't talk to each other and the escort pilots kept their eyes on us so we couldn't communicate by hand signals either. They didn't want us to try and come up with a fake story for the jury, but they didn't know we were innocent.