Chapter 15 – White Noise
November 17, 2010 2107hrs Sand Island AFB
Returning to base without my wingman, my girlfriend whom I loved so much was overwhelming. I had to fight to keep myself together and keep it from around the others, but they found out. They could see it when we headed towards the briefing room and while I sat still when Colonel Perrault spoke about the mission.
"None of the rescued POWs saw Bartlett in the internment camp," said Perrault. "So where could he be, I wonder? Upon more favorable weather conditions, we will carry out a rescue operation for Captain Nagase."
I perked my head up at his last sentence. Captain Nagase? She got promoted again? I looked at the others and they noticed it as well.
"That's right; you've all been promoted yet again. You guys are burning through the ranks, you know that? You can thank High Command for it," said Colonel Perrault.
Perrault might have said we were promoted again but I was still a Captain. Everyone except for Grimm, Erica, and Michelle were now Captains. Erica and Michelle were now 1st Lieutenants and Grimm was now a Technical Sergeant.
"Seems like you getting promoted two ranks at the beginning of the war wasn't enough for you, eh Grimm," said Chopper.
"I'm still waiting for my papers to go through so I can finally become a 2nd Lieutenant," said Grimm.
"I wonder how Nagase's gonna react to this news," said Justin.
I got up, left the briefing room, and walked outside into the rain while I ignored all the questions everyone was asking me. Once I was outside, I removed my flight gear and dropped it on the ground as I continued walking towards the edge of the base and onto the beach. Thoughts of Kei raced through my mind as I started to walk in the water and I stopped when I was knee deep. I thought about the first day we met and everything after that. I was her blue dove and I felt like I had let her down. I don't know if it was the rain or if it were my own tears that were running down face, but I watched as they dropped into the ocean. This is for you, Kei. I cried a tear into the ocean, and I will love you until the day you find it.
"Kid, what the hell are you doing?"
I looked back to see Chopper standing on the shore behind me. He actually looked like he was worried about me for once. I took one last look out towards the horizon before I headed back towards the shore and sat down on the beach.
"Kid, acting like this isn't going to bring her back."
"It should've been me…. I should've protected her. I-I made a promise to her that I'd protect her and I let her down," I said. I was talking pretty fast and I couldn't stop myself from stammering. "She already hates me because of what happened between me and Rockford, I broke my promise to protect her, and now….. It's… I don't know how to deal with this."
"Follow me and I'll show you," said Chopper as he turned and headed up the dunes.
What the hell is he talking about? I followed Chopper up the shore and saw that he had driven a buggy to get to where I was and he had picked up my flight gear along the way. I got in and Chopper started driving towards the barrack's crew room. I told Chopper that I'd meet him in there once I got changed into some dry clothes and I headed up towards my room. I opened the door and saw that nothing in our room seemed different. Kei's book wasn't on her bed, nor was it anywhere else in the room. One thing that I did notice were the used tissues that were in the trash can that was sitting next to Kei's bed. She's that upset over what happened. I continued to get dressed and headed towards the rec room to join Chopper.
When I got there, Chopper was holding a bottle of vodka in one hand and a bottle of rum in the other. I also saw Genette in the room too. He was holding Kei's book in his hands and my first thought was to get it away from him, but walked up and handed me the book.
"I thought you'd want to see it," he said as I took the book.
I've only seen the inside of Kei's book once and I didn't feel like I should look inside. I remembered how she yanked it away from Chopper when he made a grab for it, so I assumed that there was something personal of hers in it. I flipped the pages, but I didn't read what was on them. As I was flipping through the book, I saw a small piece of paper fall out of it and land face down. I knelt down, picked it up, and flipped it over. It was the picture that we had taken together at the Ball that I had given her. I was holding Kei around her waist and she had her hands placed on mine. Her smile accented everything that was beautiful about her and I remembered how I felt as I embraced her. I flipped the photo over to read the note that I written on the back. What I need to live has been given to me by the earth. Why I need to live has been given to me by you. I noticed that some of the ink had been smeared a little and I could barely make out the trace of where a tear had fallen onto the photo.
"When did you two take this picture?" asked Genette.
"A week ago, when we were on leave in Oured," I said softly as I put the picture back into the book. "I remember every detail of that night."
"You never told me how you got those bruises on your face when I saw you the day we came back," said Chopper as he poured himself a glass of vodka and soda. "What's your poison, Kid?"
"I don't like drinking," I said as I sat down on the couch.
"How else are you going to lighten up tonight if you don't get a little buzzed?"
"I don't lighten up when I drink. I'll just end up pissing everyone off with my negativity," I said solemnly.
"I'll take my chances," said Chopper and he handed me a drink.
"No you won't," I said as I put the drink on the desk next to the couch. Grimm, Erica, and Justin all joined us in the rec room to try and keep each other's hopes up. It was great, knowing that we all wanted Kei back safely. Chopper kept asking me what Kei and I did during our little break and I told him about how I had to fight the Major and how I ran into my ex-girlfriend. I exaggerated the part about how Kei stepped in and confronted Becca and telling them that Kei punched Becca in the throat.
"No way, Nagase and your ex actually fought over you?" asked Genette.
"Why is that so had to believe?" I asked.
"Well, Captain Nagase always seemed so… calm. She strikes me as a pacifist."
"Where have you been for the past few days? Haven't you heard about how the Captain and Nagase almost fought to the death?" asked Justin.
"Wait, you fought Captain Nagase," Genette asked me.
"Yeah, last time she was out to kill me and she ended up getting the wind knocked out of her. She knows how to fight and that makes me feel a little bit better knowing that she can handle herself while she's out there," I said.
"Captain, how did you and Captain Nagase meet?" asked Genette.
January 24, 2010 1032hrs Heierlark AFB
"Blaze….. BLAZE!" shouted Master Sergeant Russell.
I was in the hanger turning my F-5's engine when I heard Russell calling for me. I looked up at him to see him waving me over to him as he looked out in the distance towards the runway. I put down my tools, stepped down from the ladder I was on, and ran over to Russell as I wiped off my hands on the rag I had in my back pocket. I saw a C-130 taxi onto the flight line and park five hundred yards away from where Russell and I were.
"What?" I asked as I stood next to him.
"Why don't you take a look at the rest of your classmates who arrived today," said Russell.
I walked outside the hanger and leaned against the door as I watched the passengers get off the plane with Russell. Most of them seemed eager to start their training while others just seemed worried about what they might encounter here. Only three of them were women and they all seemed stuck up. Great, all these attractive girls on this base and none of them seem like they're interested in nothing but themselves. Then I saw the last person get off the plane. I didn't know who she was or what she was like, but I could only gaze at her. I felt like I was in a trance with this immediate crush and I felt my heart skip a beat. She was a Japanese woman with straight, short black hair. Her eyes were gentle and full of kindness, but they also seemed like they harbored some kind of sadness. She took a look around from where she stood and she spotted me as I looked at her. She was beautiful and I felt myself become aware that I was staring at her when she gently waved at me. I quickly retreated back inside the hanger and returned to tuning my plane.
"That girl got you weak in the knees or something?" asked Russell.
"Nope, she just reminded me of someone I knew," I said quickly, trying to avoid the subject.
"Yeah right, you might've been here for only four days but I can tell when you're when you're full of shit," said Russell. "You should talk to her sometime."
"You might be able to tell when I'm lying, but you don't know how hard it is for me to talk to women," I said as I started turning my wrench.
"What's so hard about going up to a woman and saying 'hi'? Just sit next to her at chow and introduce yourself."
"Introductions are the easy part; it's what comes after that's always the hard part." I said and I continued working.
1800hrs
I was in the mess hall gathering food on my tray when I saw the woman from earlier standing further down the line. I have to find some way to start up some kind of conversation with her, if she decides to sit anywhere near me. I picked a table that was near the center of the mess hall, sat down and started eating. The food at Heierlark was some of the worst in the world, but it wasn't the worst that I've had. I kept watching the woman out of the corner of my eye as she made her way down the line and started looking for a place to sit. The others who were in front of her in line had already filled up the other tables and a couple of the other nuggets were already sitting next to me. I hate awkward silences.
"So, how do you feel about starting flight training tomorrow?" I asked the others sitting around me.
"I'm really excited about it. I can't wait to show the others what I can do when I'm in the cockpit," said one of the nuggets.
You still won't be able to keep up with me. "You're that confident?" I asked.
"Yeah, my dad flew in the war fifteen years ago and he gave me a lot of pointers on how to fly. My name's Shadow by the way. My dad's friend gave me that name when I joined the air force."
"Nice to meet you, I'm Blaze," I said as I shook his hand.
"Why'd you pick that name?" asked Shadow.
"It wasn't really my choice. My flight instructor, Major Pesi, gave it to me because he said I have this aura of 'blazing anger' surrounding me. I think he really gave it to me because he saw the fox that I had printed on the side of my duffel bag. So what's your name?" I asked the other nugget sitting next to me.
"I'm Hoover. I had a habit of doing barrel rolls every time I shot down an enemy on the flight simulators I played when I was younger."
"Uh, excuse me," said the woman I had my eye on. "Do you mind if I join you?"
"You can join me any time you'd like, sexy lady," said Shadow, attempting to be smooth.
"Thanks, but this is one time only," said the woman as she sat down next to me.
I sat still because my shyness had gotten to me. Dammit, I've shot down enemy aircraft, I've destroyed two super weapons, and I've been trained to kill with my bare hands, but I can't talk to a girl? I took a glance at her and smiled sheepishly when we made eye contact. I was thinking of something to say but nothing came to mind. I tried thinking back to some of my other relationships and came to realize that the most of my relationships started off as being friends. My relationship with Becca started off with her asking people for my name after I told her that she had beautiful hair. No, don't tell her that she has nice hair. I was trying to compliment her on something else but we were all in uniform so there was nothing I could really compliment her on. Go for it!
"I remember I grew my hair out as long as yours once," I said looking at her.
She looked at me with a blank stare and I could only assume that she thought what I said was stupid. I looked away from her and continued eating my dinner in an attempt to repress what I had just said. Jeez, Antonio, you are so damn stupid. Shadow and Hoover looked up at me and I could tell they were expecting me to go on about what I just said. I had nothing to follow it up with and I wasn't sure if I should. My palms were all sweaty and I was tapping my heel on the ground. Okay, this is uncomfortable. Get away quickly!
"I bet I look better than you did," said the woman as she giggled.
"Yeah, I ended up looking like a serial killer by the time I decided to get it cut," I said. Why did I tell her that I looked like a serial killer?
As soon as she was about to say something, someone announced that the base commander was in the mess hall and we all snapped to attention. I never bothered remembering the base commander's name because he rarely ever talked to anyone unless they royally screwed up. I honestly thought that he'd put us at ease but then he began to speak.
"I'm here today to welcome you to Heierlark Air Force Base where you'll spend the next fourteen months training to become combat pilots for the Osean Air Defense Force. I feel like I must warn you that the instructors here are not going to take it easy on you. They've all flown in the war fifteen years ago and they all know what it's like to fly for their lives," said the base commander as he started pacing back and forth in the mess hall. "The instructors are here to prepare you for the event that you come across a well-trained enemy in the unfriendly skies of Strangereal. I wish you all the best of luck in your pursuit of becoming the top pilot of your class. That is all."
The base commander left the room and everyone went back to eating and talking with the others. I was just about to sit down when I heard one of the instructors call me over to him. I took one last look at the woman and gently smiled at her.
"I'm Antonio Castillo by the way," I said as I held out my hand.
She gently smiled back at me and grasped my hand. "Kei Nagase, it's nice to meet you Antonio."
Kei, that's a very lovely name.
November 17, 2010 2143hrs Sand Island AFB Crew Room
"I didn't know you liked her, Captain," said Genette.
"Yeah well, it couldn't go beyond me having a crush on her," I said as I slumped on the couch I was sitting on.
"But aren't you two…."
"I honestly don't know right now," I said.
"But you still have feelings for her, right Captain?" asked Grimm.
I nodded as I looked down at the ground. The others now knew that I loved Kei and they knew how hard I was taking her loss. Grimm tried to stay optimistic by telling me that she could take care of herself for one night and that we'd all be looking for her the moment she activated her distress beacon. I knew they wanted Kei back safely because we all relied on each other and our bond, as a group, had grown stronger over time. Genette brought out his photo album and showed us all the pictures he took of Wardog, from the day he arrived 'til now. Some of these pictures reminded me of the ones my dad showed me from when he was in the military. The pictures of the four original members of Wardog were my favorite because we've seen more together than our RIOs. Come to think of it, they weren't really official members of Wardog. They're only here on standby in case we needed them, but as much as we flew with them, I guess they were part of Wardog.
"I hope the good times don't end," said Grimm.
"I wouldn't call this war a 'good time', Grimm," said Justin.
"That's not what I meant, sir. I just don't want us to stop being friends like this."
"Yeah, we should all get together like this when everyone gets back here," said Erica and we all agreed.
We all talked for a bit longer before we all decided to go to bed. I took Kei's book back to the room and set it on the computer desk. I decided to sleep in my flight suit so that way I'd be ready at a moment's notice once the order came. Kei was still on my mind and as I lay in my bed, I couldn't sleep. I kept looking at Kei's bed like she was expecting to see her sleeping, but she wasn't. While I was lying in a warm bed, with a roof over my head, Kei was out there all alone in the cold, dark territory of Yuktobania. I looked at my watch and saw that it was two in the morning. I didn't know what else to do except go for a walk or head back to the crew room and raid the officer's liquor cabinet. I walked back into the dark crew room, turned on one of the lamps, opened the cabinet, and poured myself a glass of whiskey. I normally didn't drink because I never liked the taste of alcohol, but I didn't let that stop me from drinking that glass.
"Having trouble sleeping?"
I looked behind me to see Pops sitting in the dark corner of the room. I'm surprised I didn't see him there. Pops got up and took a seat next to me at the bar while I continued drinking.
"Yeah, everyone tells me I shouldn't worry, but I can't help it," I said.
"Well I don't think I couldn't help but worry about my girlfriend either if she was in enemy territory," said Pops with a smile.
"Hey Pops, can I ask you something?"
"You can ask me anything Blaze, you know that," said Pops.
"Yeah, but I feel like there are some subjects that I'm not sure you'd want to talk about. Anyways, did you lose any friends during the war fifteen years ago?" I asked.
"Yeah… I did," said Pops softly. "It was tough seeing those guys go down in flames, knowing that I couldn't do anything to help them. Then one day, I thought I was going to join them."
"What happened?"
"I was assigned a classified mission and I couldn't carry out my orders because of changes in the situation. I was intercepted by a group of enemy fighters and I led them over B7R, the Round Table, hoping that some of the allied fighters might be able to help me out," said Pops with a slight smile.
I remember the stories Lieutenant Colonel Harkin told about the Round Table and all the enemy encounters he had during his missions over there. I also read about the massive dogfights that occurred over B7R in the newspaper. I kept thinking to myself that I would've loved to fly against all those aces one day.
"Did the allies help you?" I asked.
"Oh yeah, but in the end I was still shot down and I had to bail out. I happened to meet up with Captain Bartlett on the ground and we made our way back towards the allied frontlines," said Pops as he chuckled, but then his tone got serious. "He was my last friend to survive the war and now he's gone. Losing friends is a part of war and nothing in the world can prepare you for it, but when the time comes, you have to hold onto every single bit of hope you can get and pray that they're still alive."
I nodded and thoughtfully drank the last bit of whisky in my glass. Kei wasn't dead and I was going to find her soon. I wasn't going to let her wait out there any longer than she had to. Pops and I continued talking until sunlight started showing itself over the horizon. I looked at my watch and saw that it was five o'clock in the morning. I was still wide awake and I wasn't tired at all when Colonel Perrault came over the intercom, telling Wardog to meet in the briefing room. They found her! I ran out of the crew room and hauled ass towards the briefing room. I saw Chopper coming around one of the corners, shoving people out of the way and we both ran to the briefing room together. Grimm and Erica were already there and no one knew where Justin was. None of us bothered taking a seat and we urged Colonel Perrault to start the briefing without Justin. Perrault could only glare at us when he finally decided to start.
The radar team managed to intercept Kei's distress beacon within the same AO as yesterday, but the signal was extremely weak. Wardog was going to be sent in to get a better reading on her beacon and once we found her, we would report her location to Sea Goblin. Further analysis suggested that enemy forces are looking for Kei as well. We'd better get moving.
"Bring back Captain Nagase. Don't make us have to give her a posthumous two-rank promotion," said Colonel Perrault as we ran out of the room. She's coming back alive and I'll kill anyone who tries to stop me from saving her.
We still had no idea where Justin was as the remaining four of us ran towards the hangers to get our planes. Chopper and I chose to fly F-15Cs armed it with four sidewinders, four AMRAAMs, four JDAMs, and PGU-28A/B multipurpose high explosive incendiary ammo for my gun. Grimm was going up in his F-15E with the same payload.
"Alright people, let's not keep her waiting any longer. Take off as soon as you get to the runway and make your way to the AO. Don't wait for us," I ordered as we taxied onto the runway. Hold on Kei, I'm coming for you.
November 18, 2010 0958hrs Glubina, Yuktobania
No one said anything as we flew at top speed back towards Glubina. Chopper knew how serious I was about today's mission and he knew I wasn't going to let the enemy get in my way. The weather had cleared up and an even blanket of snow covered the hills and valleys. The sun's reflected light was too bright for me, even with my tinted visor down. I put on my Aviator sunglasses underneath, and continued to wait for the distress senor to appear on my HUD. When it did appear, so did the radar signatures of two enemy MiG-29s coming at me from head on. I yawed to the left, just a little bit and acquired a lock on one of the MiGs with an AMRAAM. I fired it at the flight lead and I fired a sidewinder at his wingman when he was close enough and watched my missiles impact the enemy planes. I noticed that when I yawed, I had a better signal on Kei's beacon.
"This emergency locator beacon is our connection to Nagase. Let's hurry up and find her," said Chopper. "Hang in there Nagase!"
"Right, I'll try to get a bearing that has a better response," said Grimm.
I continued flying towards the signal and it dawned on me that I hadn't heard anything from Kei yet. "Kei, are you alright? Talk to me woman," I said over the radio.
"I'm okay… I can keep going," she said, breathing heavily.
It was great to hear her voice again, but I would've felt better if I could've seen her again. I saw three more enemy radar signatures coming at me from head on and they started tracking me on radar. I don't have time for this, get out of my way! I locked all three of them up with my remaining AMRAAMs and fired on them. All three planes still flew towards me as they spewed out flames and oily smoke from behind.
"Guy's, I'm taking too much heat from enemy aircraft. I need help," I said.
"Grimm, Chopper, you have to protect Blaze," urged Erica.
"Protect Blaze? I'm the one being protected," said Kei.
"I don't see how running for your life puts you under some kind of protection," I said.
"What?"
"Never mind, just keep moving and I'll find you."
I was so focused on finding Kei that I ignored all the questions and remarks the others were making, but I noticed that the Yukes had a large force that was spread out over a wide area. Why would they need this many troops and hardware to find one pilot? I figured that they didn't have a fixed location on Kei's position because they were too spread out, but what really worried me was that they knew who Kei was and what she helped accomplish in the war. How could they know who she is? The reality of what the Yukes might do to her if she was caught sank in and I picked up the pace.
"Kid, do you understand how to view the distress signal sensor on your HUD?" asked Chopper.
"If I didn't then I wouldn't be heading in the right direction," I said sarcastically.
"Okay, just checking. Make sure you don't miss Nagase's signal."
"Grimm, try to soften up those ground forces if you see an opportunity," I ordered.
Kei's signal was getting stronger and I opened up the wideband radio channel to listen in on the Yuke communications. I listened in on one patrol in particular and they sounded like they were closing in on her. I was still being targeted by enemy aircraft and mobile SAMs and I wanted to tell Chopper to break off, but I needed him to stick with me.
"Eleven o' clock, something just moved in the forest!" shouted one of the Yukes.
Dammit, we have to hurry! I continued to pay attention to detection bar and noticed that it was going berserk. What the hell is going on? I looked at my radar and saw that it was acting the same way and I knew that something was wrong. I looked ahead and saw a Yuktobanian E-767 clawing for altitude. I started to wish I hadn't used my AMRAMMs so soon.
"That's a Jammer aircraft," said Chopper.
"It's being Jammed," shouted Grimm.
"Hurry up and take that son of a bitch down! We can't waste any more time here," I said.
I heard gunfire over the radio and I knew Kei was running out of time. I throttled up and performed an Immelmann turn to get behind the E-767. I lined up my gun sight on the right engine and squeezed the trigger. My bullets ripped into the plane's engine and watched it belch out smoke and flames. The fuel lines ignited and the flames reached the main fuel tank. The E-767 exploded and the jamming cleared up. I looked at the detection bar and quickly changed direction to continue my search for Kei.
"I've heard that engine sound before… Blaze, is that you," asked Kei.
"I'm coming Kei, just hold on."
"They're firing at me, I'm moving away!"
Shit, where are you?! Her signal was getting stronger and I flew to lower altitude to try and get a visual on her or the Yuke patrol I was listening in on. Kei's distress signal indicated that I was right on top of her and I started circling the area while Chopper and Grimm were still fending off the enemy fighters that were sent to intercept us.
"Kei, your beacon says I'm right on top of you. Where are you?" I said.
I looked down at the ground and saw her run into a clearing. She was waving her arms at me and I almost yelled out of sheer joy when I saw her. I rocked my wings to let her know that I saw her, but then I looked behind her and saw the Yuke patrol closing in on her. Kei turned around and drew her pistol to fire at them. I peeled away and brought my F-15 around to make an attack run on the Yuke position.
"Take cover, I'm coming in for a strafing run," I said.
I saw Kei run towards my plane as I descended on the enemy patrol. I opened fire with my gun and I saw dirt and snow kick up around the enemy soldiers as they collapsed. I looked back to see more Yuke soldiers appear and make another push towards Kei, who was a good distance away from them now. I turned my plane around one last time. I told Kei to take cover again and she dove to the ground. I lined up a JDAM and dropped it on the enemy soldiers. The explosion was big enough to intimidate the remaining soldiers to fall back and leave Kei alone for now.
"This is Sea Goblin. Wardog, have you found her?"
"Yeah, I got visual on her right now," I said.
"Good job, you got good eyes. We'll move in for the rescue. While we're on our way, eliminate those enemy fighters for us. We need to make sure this place is safe," said Sea Goblin.
"Whoa, whoa, there are still enemies on the ground!" exclaimed Chopper.
"Take them out too. Don't let anything get in the way of this rescue operation," I ordered. "Kei, Sea Goblin's on its way, ETA, six minutes."
"Don't worry, we'll take your princess back to base safely," said Sea Goblin.
"You do that, and I'll worship you guys," said Chopper.
I started making my way towards Sea Goblin, taking out any enemy AA defenses along the way. More enemy fighters were headed in to intercept the helicopter and we engaged them right away. Grimm managed to down two enemies with his gun within three second. Chopper was effectively dealing with the enemy attack helicopters by flying within close proximity to them at high speed and using his jet wash to destabilize them in flight which caused the pilots to lose control and crash. When the first wave of interceptors was dealt with, we formed a Lufbery above Sea Goblin to stave off any further attackers.
"Hey, so this Captain Nagase is she a looker?" asked the Sea Goblin pilot.
"Why don't you rescue her and see for yourself," said Chopper.
"If she's hot, I'm asking her out."
"Well then, you can find out how tough her guard is too. C'mon, just hurry up, will ya? Please."
I felt my jealousy grow as the Sea Goblin pilot kept talking about her like that. It got to the point where I left the Lufbery circle to engage the first enemy fighter that popped up on my HUD. I chased after him at full speed and he broke hard left. I was going to over shoot him at the speed I was going but I already had it figured out. I pulled up into a high angled climbing left turn, or a High Yo-Yo. This maneuver allowed me to turn my air speed into altitude while staying behind my target. I was in gun range above and behind him and as I dove on him, I fired my gun into his engines and his plane broke apart as I continued to dive past him and engaged and shot down another enemy fighter that was trying to make its way towards the Sea Goblin. I saw more enemy fighters headed for the helicopter and then I started to realize that the Lufbery circle that I was so fond of was pretty much useless with only three aircraft. Even with Kei, it still wouldn't prove to be any use. We all broke off and engaged at will. The enemy interceptors were relentless, but we didn't let any of them get through.
"What do you think he meant by how tough her guard is?" asked one of the Sea Goblin pilots.
"It's a pun," I said annoyed as I fired a missile at another enemy plane.
There was a moment of silence as I gave them a minute to try and figure it out but they eventually gave up. During that moment of silence, I managed to shoot down another enemy fighter and began chasing my next target.
"Okay, her guard I'm assuming is her ability to defend herself and the other meaning?"
"Her bodyguard," I retorted and Sea Goblin stopped talking about Kei.
They were four miles away and the enemy interceptors were starting to thin out. I was looking for another target to engage when I noticed a single radar signature appear on my HUD. The target was pretty far away and I pulled out my binoculars to get a closer look at the aircraft. An X-29, how did the Yukes get their hands on that? The X-29 is a highly maneuverable aircraft because of its forward swept wings and frontal canards. A good pilot would be able to make it dance and by the way this aircraft was painted, this guy wanted to be noticed because he knew how to fly it.
"Chopper, Grimm, listen, I've got a bad feeling about this guy so keep your distance and continue protecting that helicopter," I ordered.
"What are you going to do?" asked Chopper.
I sped up to meet the X-29 pilot head on in a knife's edge pass. I banked hard left to try and get on his tail but he managed to put his flight path perpendicular to mine which already put me in his sights. He fired a burst from his gun and I rolled over him as he flew past me. I tried to quickly reverse my direction but the enemy pilot was already in position to fire at me again. This guy knows what he's doing and I'm fighting his fight. He's too maneuverable. I rolled over the enemy pilot and applied full throttle to gain some distance from him. He tried following but his plane couldn't keep up with me. My only advantages were my plane's service ceiling and speed. I turned back towards the enemy pilot and acquired a missile lock on him. I fired a missile but he launched flares to avoid getting hit. I went vertical to lead him to higher altitude and I looked behind me to see him following me. I was pulling various maneuvers so he couldn't get a clear shot on me but then he figured out what I was trying to do and broke off his attack. I turned my F-15 around and pursued him as he made his way back to lower altitude where he would have the advantage, but I wasn't sure if he knew about Grimm and Chopper. The pilot started to head towards Sea Goblin but I caught up with him just before he could get within missile range and I fired my last missile at him as soon as I had a lock on him. The pilot broke hard right and I turned with him even though I knew I couldn't keep up with him. He continued his right turn and I lag rolled multiple times to keep him in my sights. He broke out of his turn, leveled out, and performed Pugachev's Cobra.
I was amazed that this pilot was able to pull off that maneuver without his plane breaking apart. The forward swept wing of the X-29 already a great deal of stress on them when it was flying normally because the wings would bend at the tips and that maneuver would've stressed the wings to the point that they snapped off. The only way it wouldn't have broken apart during this dogfight was if the wings were reinforced, but if that was the case, then it wouldn't have been this maneuverable unless they reinforced the wings with a stronger and lighter material.
I flew past the enemy pilot and he continued his pursuit of me. I started to break left when I saw the enemy pilot opened fire on me with his gun and I pulled a high G barrel roll while he continued to follow my original flight path. The barrel roll I performed positioned me above and behind the enemy pilot but I didn't expect him to pull up into a climb. I got off a short burst with my gun and hit him a couple times in his fuselage and right wing root. After I scored those hits on him, he continued to climb and loop up and over me. I let him get behind me because I wanted to try and see if he was starting to get desperate. I led the enemy pilot into the vertical and clawed for altitude again. We were quickly approaching fifty-four thousand feet and I continued to push my F-15 to its highest altitude and my pursuer wasn't letting up. He was too focused on me to realize where I was leading him and when we finally broke fifty-six thousand feet, I looked back to see his plane shudder and fall out of the sky in a flat spin stall. I jump on the opportunity and dove on him as he spiraled out of control, but it was a trap. He had put himself into a controlled flat spin stall in the hopes that I would chase after him which I did, but I easily recovered from my mistake. Before I passed him, he put his plane into a dive in preparation for his chase against me but I was quick to try and counter his trap. I cut the throttle, pulled back hard on the stick, and stalled my plane so that its engines' exhaust ports were now pointed directly at the enemy plane. I was less than twenty feet away from him and I applied full throttle. The force of my engines' jet wash blew against the enemy aircraft, causing it to tumble towards the ground out of control. I watched as the pilot struggled in vain to regain control of his aircraft. I circled back around to finally finish off the threat but nature had already beaten me to it. The X-29 started to break apart in mid-air as it continued to fall out of the sky. His weakened right wing was the first thing to break off, followed by the front canards, and finally the cockpit. I was waiting for the pilot to bail out but as I continued to watch him, he seemed to calmly sit inside the cockpit as if he had accepted his fate.
"Jesus, Kid, how do you come up with maneuvers like that? I swear, it's like you've done all of this before and it's scaring the hell out of me," said Chopper.
"I just wing it. That's me flying while I'm annoyed, so you can probably imagine how I fly when I'm pissed off," I said. "Sea Goblin, how far are you to Captain Nagase's position?"
"Four miles," replied Sea Goblin.
"Captain, more enemy fighters are inbound," said Erica.
"Dammit, Sea Goblin, just keep going," I ordered.
"We're gonna have to rely on you on the ground. Pull through for us, alright," said Grimm.
"Roger that, we owe you one from yesterday," said Sea Goblin.
Chopper and Grimm formed up on my wings as we headed for the next wave of enemy fighters. There were only three of them this time and I saw that they were flying Su-35BMs. If these pilots are half as good as the X-29 pilot, then we're knee deep in trouble now. The enemy planes had broken formation and we followed their example. I went after the flight lead while Grimm and Chopper went after the wingmen. As I closed in on my target, I saw that he was banking left and right like a snake before it strikes and for some reason, I found myself mirroring his movements. When he banked to his right, I banked to my right and when he banked to his left, I banked to my left. We were still moving together when we finally got within gun range of each other and we pulled up into a vertical rolling scissors. We were both evenly matched in this fight and we continued trying to get behind each other. Eventually, our rolling scissors turned into a continuous canopy to canopy barrel roll. I looked up to see him looking back at me. We were neck and neck with neither one of us gaining the upper hand. It looked like we were performing some kind airshow stunt as we barrel rolled together and we somehow managed to take the fight out of the vertical and into the horizontal. We were losing speed at an alarming rate and I knew it would only be a matter of time before one of us stalled. I had to do something to gain the upper hand and fast, or else I could be the one who ended up dead. As I leveled out at the bottom of one of the barrel rolls, I cut back on my throttle, pulled the air brake, and lowered my flaps all the way. My F-15 slowed down to the edge of stalling and my opponent was now directly in front of me. I fired a short burst into left engine and my canopy got covered with fluids from the enemy plane while my F-15 was getting pelted with debris that fell off of his plane. The enemy pilot applied full throttle, causing me to get caught in his jet wash. My plane shuddered violently and I gripped the flight controls as hard as I could to keep it under control and keep it from crashing. The enemy pilot circled around me in a wide right turn and got behind me while I got my plane back under control. He locked onto me and fired a missile, but it failed to track. I guess luck was on my side. He then closed in on me and pelted my left wing with 30mm cannon rounds. I'll be damned if I'm going to be rescued by Sea Goblin today. I broke hard left and barrel rolled behind him one last time. He went vertical to try and get away from me, but it only ended up to his biggest mistake. He increased his throttle in the hopes that he could try and out climb me, but he put himself in perfect position for me to shoot him down with my gun and I took the shot. The enemy plane exploded and suspended itself in mid-air for a couple seconds before gravity pulled it back towards the ground.
"Chopper, Grimm, is the area clear of hostile aircraft?" I asked.
"Yes sir, the surrounding area is clear of all enemies," said Grimm.
"Alright, prepare to drop. Don't make her wait any longer, everyone ready? Go," ordered the Sea Goblin Marines.
"Rescue team dropping from the helicopter! I was really worried there for a while."
"You got a towel," asked Chopper. "I need to wipe all this sweat off my brow."
I made my way back towards Sea Goblin to see the rescue team getting out of the helicopter and rush towards Kei. I saw her standing in the opening with her pistol pointed at a group of Yuke Soldiers who we holding their hands in the air. Behind her were the two helicopter pilots that crashed while trying to rescue her. The rescue team quickly approached the Yuke soldiers and took them into custody. One of the Marines had to help Kei lower her gun and I could almost see her hands shaking from adrenaline or the cold. I tried hailing her over the radio but I didn't get a response from anyone, so I didn't bother to try again. As long as I knew that Kei was safe, I was just fine with that. As she boarded the rescue helicopter with everyone else, I saw her look up towards me as circled Sea Goblin at low altitude. I'm not going to lose you again.
"Say Blaze, I think that time might be perfect for a time like this, you know?" asked Chopper.
"Yeah…. I guess it would," I replied tranquilly and we all headed back towards Sand Island.
1529hrs Sand Island AFB
We got back to Sand Island two hours ago and I was still waiting on the flight line for Kei to get back from the FOB, or forward operating base, that she was taken to so she could get a ride back to Sand Island in a transport plane. The others were waiting with me too, hoping to see Kei soon. Kirk was just as anxious because he was lying down next to Grimm and Erica who were sitting on the ground. Justin had finally showed up and told us that he was in the middle of his shower when we were ordered to report to the briefing room this morning. I was sitting on the bench in front of hangers, thinking about what Kei might say to me after I almost made her lose another flight lead. I knew she was going say something about it but I knew what I did was the right thing to do. My team always comes before me. As I looked out towards the ocean, I noticed that Kirk had brought his head up in alert. The others noticed Kirk's reaction too and we all sat quietly as we listened intensely. It started out as a faint humming and with each passing second, it grew louder and louder. I reached for my binoculars that I had brought with me and started scanning the sky for the incoming plane. That has to be Kei. I finally saw the transport plane approaching Sand Island from the east and start its approach to land on the runway. EMS was already on its way towards the flight line and stop next to the transport plane when it landed. I felt myself tense up and become overwhelmed with the fatigue that I ignored from yesterday up until now, but I had to make sure Kei was alright. I got up off the bench and we all walked over to the transport plane as it came to a stop and powered down.
"You think she's pissed that you tried saving her, Kid," said Chopper.
"If she is, she can bite me," I said.
The side door of the plane opened and a flight officer stepped out to lower the ramp. It seemed like an eternity passed before I finally saw Kei step into view and get off the plane. Her left arm was in a sling and I could see that her arm was bandaged just above her elbow. I could tell she was tired and relieved to be out of enemy territory. The others ran towards her while I stopped two hundred yards away from her because I still wasn't sure how she felt towards me, but then I thought about it again. There's not much she could do to me. She could say just about anything to me, but I'm worried about the words she'll choose.
I started walking towards her again and saw the others patting Kei on the back and hugging her. They were all happy that she was back and so was I, but I was ecstatic to finally see that she was still on one piece. I continued looking at her as I walked towards them until I saw someone else step out of the plane. I noticed who it was right away and I couldn't believe my eyes. It was my sister, Amanda. I started running towards my sister and Kei looked at me, thinking that I was running towards her and the others. The look on Kei's face suggested that she was almost happy to see me, but not as happy as I would've liked. I walked up to Kei and all I could do was to shake her hand. I could tell that there was nothing that I could say or do to make Kei happy to see me. I swear, she was an enigma and that made it hard for me to read her.
"I glad you're back safely, Captain Nagase," I said as I shook her hand. All Kei could do was nod in return and let go of my hand. I looked into her eyes on last time before I walked past her and made my way towards my sister.
Amanda was beautiful and smart for her age. I had to keep the boys away from her during the one year we were in high school together. Nobody would've ever thought that we were related because everyone thought she was Asian because of her eyes. Amanda ran track, played the flute in marching band, and was a bigger smart ass than I was.
When I finally reached her, I took off my sunglasses and looked at her. She could only look back at me wondering who the hell I was and it took her a couple of second to realize it was me and when she did, she ran up to hug me. The moment was sublime and I could hear Amanda almost choking up as we hugged each other. I was so happy to see her after almost five months of being deployed and her thinking I was dead.
"I thought I'd never see you again," said Amanda.
"I always come back, don't I?" I asked as I let go of her. "Where've you been?"
"The Osean military saw my aptitude scores and offered to pay for my college if I agreed to volunteer six years. I was able to get half of my classes out of the way during my last two years in high school and I finished the rest of them during the past two years. I'm a physician for the Osean military now," said Amanda.
"So what are you doing here?"
"I was ordered to come here to take a look at some people who got the crap kicked out of them yesterday and I got a ride with Captain Nagase who, by the way, refused to let a physician look over her until she got back here," said Amanda.
"Did you talk to her at all?" I asked
"Nah, she slept the whole way back. Why do you ask?"
I looked back at Kei and the others, who were looking at me, wondering who I was talking too. Kei seemed a bit jealous but more pissed off because I was pretty much ignoring her to talk with my sister, but she didn't know that.
"She's….. We're…." I stumbled. I couldn't find the right words to tell my sister that Kei and I were dating because I didn't know what Kei thought about our relationship at this point. "I have a relationship with her and I don't know where it stands right now."
"Really, so you finally moved on from…" asked Amanda, but I cut her off before she could finish her sentence. She looked over my shoulder at Kei before she said anything else. "She's just as pretty and after everything I've heard about her from the others at the FOB, you can't afford to lose her."
"So you'll help me out?" I asked timidly.
Amanda gave me an annoyed looked and sighed heavily as if she wanted me to fix things with Kei by myself, which I would've done but I didn't know what I would say to her. "Fine, do you want me to make something up or should I be honest?"
"The truth, and thanks, Turtle," I said as I walked back toward the others.
I called my sister 'Turtle' because when she ran track, she would always throw a fit every time she didn't beat her personal record whenever she ran her three miles. I would always tease her about it and she would always tease me about how weird I looked whenever I was practicing my martial arts in the back yard of our house at the time. Amanda walked with Kei to the infirmary so they could get what they needed to do out of the way while I hung back with the others.
"Who was she, Kid? Do you think you could hook me up with her?" asked Chopper as he nudged me.
"Just watch yourself around my sister, alright?" I said.
"That's your sister?!" exclaimed Erica. "She doesn't look anything like you."
"Yeah, everyone tells us that. Now if you'll excuse me I'd like to go to bed now."
I headed towards the barrack but I intended to eavesdrop on Kei and my sister. I discreetly followed them to the infirmary and waited outside in the hallway as they began to perform Kei's check-up. I waited for a few minutes before they actually started talking about things other than medical issue.
"So, do you know Antonio?" I heard Kei ask.
"Yeah, he's my brother and I'm his little sister," said Amanda.
"Really?" asked Kei in shock. "I would've never guessed you two were related."
"Yeah we get that a lot. Everyone thinks that I'm Asian because I have my dad's eyes, but I'm just the same as my brother. Has he told you anything about me?"
"He told me about how he saved you when you were both younger," said Kei, trying to sound considerate.
"Yeah…. He did. I'm surprised that he actually told you that story," said Amanda.
"Why does that surprise you?"
"Anthony…. Do you call him that or Antonio?" asked Amanda.
"Antonio, I never knew people called him Anthony."
"Oh, well anyways, he always seemed to get mad about it every time he talked about that day. But for some reason, I think that whole experience made him who he is today," said Amanda.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, before everything happened, he was never really that open with anyone and spent most of his time in his room. He always kept to himself because he felt like no one would be able to understand him. At least, that's what he told me. But after the two years he was gone and every time he came back for school in the fall, something about him always seemed to change. He started making friends and he even opened up more to others, but he never really talked about that day though. The biggest change that I noticed about him was that he always put others ahead of himself," said Amanda.
"How long after the attack did that change occur?" asked Kei.
"It was his second year of summer camp, even though I'm not sure if it was summer camp. But anyways, there was this one time where he saw this lady getting attacked by this huge ass dog and he ran in to help her."
"What happened?"
"The dog turned on Anthony after he tackled it and then it started attacking him. What really shocked me about the whole situation was that he killed the dog by shoving a stick down its throat and beating its head in with a rock. He didn't have a single scratch on him though," said Amanda. "Then a few weeks later, he helped fight off a group of bullies who were harassing this kid that he didn't even know."
Dammit, now Kei knows that I lied about my other scar.
"He told me about that too. The kid's name was Mike and the lady turned out to be his mother," said Kei.
"Yeah, so what's your opinion of my brother?" asked Amanda.
"He's a great guy but I worry about him sometimes."
"What worries you?"
"Well, I know he's keeping secrets from me and the rest of the squadron and I get the feeling that there are things about him that we should know but he doesn't want to tell us."
"You like him, don't you?" teased Amanda.
"What? No I just… it's just that I…."
"Oh, come on Captain Nagase, I know how we women think," said Amanda. "You want to trust him and but you think you can't because he hasn't been completely honest with you."
There was a moment of silence between the two of them before I heard Kei whisper to my sister. I had to listen with all my intensity to hear what they were saying. I don't think I've ever had to concentrate this hard in all my life.
"Can you keep a secret?" asked Kei quietly.
"I'll consider it patient confidentiality," said Amanda.
"Alright, your brother and I are dating but I think I should end it with him," said Kei.
I felt my heart sink when I heard her say that and I almost left to head back to my room but then I chose to stay and continue listening. I have to hope that Amanda can convince her otherwise.
"Why would you want to break up with him?" asked Amanda.
"Well, a couple days ago I caught him kissing his RIO, Michelle, and I knocked him out," said Kei.
"You didn't even give him a chance to explain, did you?"
"No, but then I heard the other side of the story from his RIO," said Kei softly. "I went to check on him while he was still out cold and I saw Michelle there. She was sitting next to his bed holding his hand and I asked her what she was doing there."
"And what did she say?" asked Amanda
"She said that your brother was seeing her behind my back and that he was using me for a fling. She went on to tell me everything that he said about me and the more she told me, the more hurt I was."
That bitch! I'm going to intimidate the shit out of her when she gets back here! Wait, does Rockford like me or is she just one of those people who love to start shit?
"That doesn't sound like something my brother would do," said Amanda. "He'd never do anything like that to his girlfriend."
"But she said that he…"
"Let me tell you something my brother emphasizes to everyone; if you didn't hear him say it, then he didn't mean it. I think after we're done here, you might want to go talk to him before he over thinks your current situation."
"But what if she wasn't lying?"
"Has my brother told you that he loved you yet?"
"Yeah, why," asked Kei.
"Either you believe him so you have nothing to worry about, or you don't and you've already decided," said Amanda.
I couldn't help but smile at what my sister had said to Kei. I felt like I would've screwed everything up if I talked to her first. With the way my sister was talking with Kei, I was convinced that Amanda knew what she was doing and with that I headed off to bed to catch up on some much needed sleep. Once I got to the room, I didn't have enough energy to make it to my bed and I collapsed on the floor. This feels so awesome.