The Aces of Razgriz

by Blaze118

Becoming a pilot was a dream for Antonio "Blaze" Castillo ever since he was young, and then it became an obsession when his father died during a mysterious attack on an air show when he was eight. With his goal of becoming a pilot completed, Antonio must fight a war that no one saw coming while fighting to keep his humanity and other dark secrets intact.

23. The Great Escape Part III

Chapter 22 - The Great Escape Part III

December 7, 2010 0324hrs Sand Island AFB

Everyone was strapped into their seats while I was left to open the hanger doors. The plan was for us to time our engine start up with the opening of the hanger doors so that we could move onto the flight line and taxi onto the runway as quickly as we could before the guards could regroup and halt our escape. Once we were in the air, we'd be at the mercy of the Osean Air Force. Our T-45s didn't have a single weapon on them because they were all locked away in the ordinance hanger. We were going to be flying totally exposed and we knew this would likely be a one way trip. I looked at everyone and they all nodded their heads, signaling me that they were ready. Alright, here we go. I opened the hanger doors and quickly ran to the cockpit of my plane. I quickly strapped my bag to my back and then strapped myself into my seat. Once the hanger doors were three quarters of the way open, we all started our engines at the same time and started to roll out. Pops led the way while Grimm and Kei flanked him. I was trailing them so that way I could make sure they were going to be alright. As soon as I rolled out onto the flight line, bullets started to pelt our planes mercilessly.

"Everyone, keep your heads down and continue to make your way towards the primary runway," said Pops.

"No shit!" shouted Michelle.

I hunkered down inside my cockpit and kept peeking over the instrument panel to estimate how much further we had to go, but the bullets that shattered through the canopy weren't the least bit comforting. If it hadn't been for our flight helmets and oxygen masks, we'd all have a face full of glass and shrapnel by now. We were taking too much fire and I didn't think we were going to make it to the runway before one of the guards landed a lucky hit. I had to do something. I drew my pistol, stuck my arm out of a large hole in my canopy, and started to fire blindly at the guards. I wasn't aiming to hurt them, but instead I was trying to suppress their gun fire a little. I unloaded my pistol on them and it actually seemed to work, but not a whole lot.

"Argh," screamed Kyle.

"Nelms, are you alright?" I shouted.

"A bullet grazed my shoulder, I'm alright though."

"Hang on guys, we're almost there," said Pops.

I peeked over the instrument panel and saw that we were coming up on the turn towards the main runway. I sat up in my seat and gripped the controls of my plane in preparation for takeoff. Once Pops, Grimm and Kei got into position for takeoff, they applied full throttle and shot down the runway.

"Okay, let's get out of here," said Pops.

I slammed the throttle all the way forward and I started to speed down the runway. We were still taking fire from the guards but they weren't doing any real damage to our planes any more. I saw the others lift off the ground and claw for altitude. Once I felt my plane lift off the ground, I pulled up the landing gear and fell into formation into the lead position, even though there wasn't any point. Old habits die hard I guess.

"So where do we go now," asked Grimm.

"We no longer have a home to return to," said Pops.

"I know a place. Just keep heading north," I said and we all turned towards vector 000.

"Where are we going?" asked Grimm.

"With luck, hopefully Usea," I replied.

"Why Usea," asked Erica. But before I could answer, I was cut off by a voice over the radio.

"Attention, all Air Force planes! Enemy spy elements have made off with four training jets and are heading north. Find them, and shoot them down. Repeat, all Air Force planes…" hailed the voice over the wideband radio channel.

"That's Hamilton's voice," exclaimed Grimm. "The bastard…"

"Shit," I muttered. "Alright, everyone apply full throttle and keep moving. We're about to have some company."

"Guess I'll try my hand at combat maneuvering then, excuse me while I take the lead. Follow me, people," said Pops and he rolled into position in front of me.

"Combat maneuvering… Pops, shouldn't you let Blaze lead us out of here?" asked Erica.

"Yeah, he should." I said in an agitated voice.

"You're pretty tired, Blaze. Let me lead you guys out of here," said Pops.

"I'd be more than happy to if I wasn't expecting a knife in my back," I mumbled.

"What's your problem, Blaze?" asked Kei.

"Genette, is Pops hiding something from us?" I asked.

"I think he is, Captain," said Grimm.

"What happened when you went to see Perrault?"

"He told us that he was just about to call Pops to ask him some questions. In the end, he held us at gun point, asking who Pops really is," said Grimm.

"So Pops, care to come clean?" I asked.

I looked at Pops and I could see him hanging his head in the cockpit. He looked back at all of us before he sighed and revealed who he really was. "My name…is Wolfgang Buchner. I was a Colonel in the Belkan Air Force during the war fifteen years ago."

"You!" exclaimed Kei. "Blaze, he's the one who…"

"I know, but I want to hear his side of the story first," I said and we all waited for Pops to fill us in.

"I was assigned a mission during the Belkan war. I was ordered to destroy an allied controlled city to halt their advance from proceeding further into Belka. In good conscious, I couldn't carry out the mission, so I ran," said Pops.

"The Round Table…" I muttered.

"Huh?" said Genette.

"The Round Table, area B7R, was Buchner's last known location before he was shot down by Galm team. He was listed as MIA because they couldn't find his body."

"Wait, how do you know this?" asked Kyle.

"I read history."

"He's right," said Pops. "After I was shot down, I met up with Captain Bartlett. After some initial friction, I was able to tell him everything and he rescued me from the people who wanted me dead. He even convinced the Osean soldiers that rescued us that I was an Osean pilot who stole a Belkan uniform to evade capture."

"But wouldn't they have tried to look you up in the squadron data base to confirm your identity?" asked Michelle.

"Yeah, but I got lucky. A Belkan infiltration group had set off an EMP on the base Bartlett was stationed at, which was a staging point for a major allied offensive, to cripple the allies' forces and his squadron data was destroyed. The brass had to reconstruct personnel records and I slipped in by giving them a false identity."

"So, Captain Bartlett wasn't a spy?" asked Grimm.

"No, he was a man who was dedicated to doing the right thing, regardless of what others might think. If our military had found out about him helping me, Bartlett would probably be in prison or dead and I'd just be dead."

"Besides being a Belkan Colonel working within the Osean government, what other reasons are there for people to demand your head," asked Genette.

"Remember those Belkan Aces I told you about?" asked Pops. Genette knew what he was talking about right away and Pops had to fill the rest of us in. I never knew that Osea had recruited Belkan pilots after the war fifteen years ago, to strengthen the OADF. It was right then that I understood how Belka was able to infiltrate the Osean military. "Anyways, they were also looking for me because they'd heard rumors that I was still alive. For the past fifteen years, Bartlett's been protecting me from them."

"But why betray your own country? You're Belkan nobility. You could've lived a care free life under your family's name," I said.

"It wasn't that simple," said Pops solemnly.

"So, what was your mission?"

Pops didn't say anything and it made me suspect that he was assigned to do something that he would've ended up regretting. I thought back to everything that Pops had said to all of us since we arrived at Sand Island. All the advice and moral support that he gave us wasn't something that a person without ethics would say. His mission must've had something to do with a large loss of human life. I know what his mission was now.

"We can trust him. While he's gathering his thoughts, I got something to tell the rest of you," I said.

"Antonio…" said Kei.

I gathered my thoughts and I decided to tell them everything. I couldn't leave anything out without telling them I was Mobius 1 at the age of seventeen. Everything came out and they all just listened. I told them about my involvement in Project Pitbull and how it was connected to my career as Mobius 1. Of course, the reactions from my team were mostly skeptical. They didn't believe me. I didn't mention Kei's involvement because I didn't think she wanted me to.

"So you expect us to believe that you're some kind super spy or something?" asked Michelle.

"I don't expect you to believe anything. I'm just telling you what happened and you're free to judge for yourselves. Besides, how do you think I was able to rescue you?" I replied.

"You could've just been extremely lucky."

"Or he could be telling the truth," said Erica.

"Think what you want, but that's who I am. Anyways, Rockford, keep your hands on the controls. I don't want to crash in case I can't stay awake."

"What the hell? I can't fly this thing!"

"Don't worry, Michelle, we'll be flying at this altitude and speed for the duration of this flight," said Pops.

I tried to relax and close my eyes. I was so tired and I wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. The wind that blew through the holes in the canopy made it extremely hard for me to fall into a quiet slumber. I wasn't wearing my flight suit because I was still wearing the uniform I stole from the guard I knocked out and I left the top at the spot where I met up with Kei and them when we met up behind hanger C. All I could do was lean back in the ejection seat and lazily grip the controls of the plane. This would be a miserable way to die.

"To answer your question, Blaze, I was ordered to Nuke a city in my own country to halt the allied advance," said Pops.

Okay, that's a miserable way to die. "I see…" I sighed.

We continued flying north as Pops led the way. I didn't know if he was going to get us killed or if he was trying to save us, but he was our only hope for now. The sun was starting to rise and under different circumstances, I would've loved to watch it. Even though I couldn't go to sleep, I was glad I was able to relax a little. All we could really do is hold formation and keep alert. I couldn't pay attention well enough to anything because of the cold air. I was shivering and I swear the others could hear me through the radio, even if they didn't say anything. A warm blanket and a hot meal sounded so good but at the rate we were going, it seemed like we'd die before I got either one. The coffee I drank from the armory started to wear off and my eye lids were becoming heavier and heavier. I wanted nothing more than to go to sleep. I bet if I try hard enough, I can still sleep like this. What the hell, I'll give it a shot. I took a deep breath, folded my arm and hunched over in my seat. So…warm. A smile came to my face when I felt myself drifting off, but the moment was interrupted when a very familiar voice came over the radio.

"This is the 8492nd squadron. We have a visual on the enemy, engaging."

God, what did I do? I mean, yeah, I know I killed a lot of people in this war so that it could end quickly but I showed mercy when I could. Ugh, okay fine. If you want me to die, I'm gonna make them work for it. I pressed the Start and Split button on my watch, hoping that Harkin's instructions on how to use my "improved" watch actually worked.

"It's them," exclaimed Grimm.

"This is Thunderhead, Roger, 8492nd. Are those guys really traitors?"

"Yeah," growled the flight lead.

"I can't believe it," said Thunderhead unconvincingly.

"You can believe what you want, but it's the truth. 8492nd Squadron, you have permission to shoot down those planes," said Hamilton.

"8492nd, roger," said the flight lead.

"What do we do? What do we do? We're so frigging screwed," Erica panicked.

"We're still flying, aren't we?" said Kei.

"Yeah, in training jets don't have any weapons on them. We might as well crash into that island down there and save them the trouble," said Kyle.

"Pops…"

"I'll get you guys out of here. You all stay with me, now," said Pops.

"Alright, lead the way," I said.

I looked in my rear view mirror and saw the 8492nd's F-15 STOL/MTDs coming up on us fast. We all formed up behind Pops and spread out enough to give each other room to maneuver. Pops led us into a dive towards a small chain of islands down below and we all followed him closely. I brought up the rear of our formation and I tried to wake myself up by hitting the side of my head. We were flying just over three hundred feet and the 8492nd squadron was almost within missile range. The heat from the ground was interfering with their heat seeking missiles' guidance system but then we had to worry about their radar guided missiles and guns.

"What's that island down there? Dammit, my radar's out," said the 8492nd leader.

"That's a volcanic island. There's a strong magnetic field all around it. Our radar's out too, so you guys better follow me closely," said Pops.

Alright, they can't rely on their weapon's guidance systems. If they want to use their gun, they're just going to have to spray and pray. We started weaving through some gigantic electro-generator windmills that were located to the east of the first island we flew over. These things were bigger than the ones we saw at Akerson Hill and I honestly didn't think they could be this huge.

"That flying style… that isn't the Colonel is it?" asked the 8492nd leader.

"Colonel, you mean THE Colonel? The legendary pilot they used to call Huckebein the Raven during the last war?"

"Yeah, the most infamous traitor our country's ever produced."

"Is that you, Ashley?" asked Pops. "I kept hearing this name, "8492" and was wondering what the heck it was. Since you started calling yourselves the Grabacr Fighter Squadron in the last war, I got sick of flying in the same sky with ya. Sounds like you've strayed further from your ideals since then," said Pops.

"Ashley? That's the first time I've heard of a guy named Ashley."

"What of it?" he growled.

"Every time I hear that name, it reminds me of this bitch I knew in high school who looked like she had a few too many run-ins with the ground. I bet you look just as ugly as she was. Hell, you even sound like her," I teased.

"Blaze, I don't think you should be antagonizing him," said Kei.

"Shut you fucking mouth, bitch," said Ashley.

"…. I swear, the moment, the second I run into you assholes again, I will blow your asses out of the sky, find your bodies, and shove your heads so far up each other's asses that you'll have to swallow to take a shit in hell!" I shouted.

"You don't stand a chance against us, Castillo," said one of the 8492nd members.

"Really, why don't you ask your little hit squadron about my chances against you? Oh wait… they're all dead," I mocked.

"That would actually intimidate me if those pilots weren't new recruits."

"Bullshit, Belkan pilots are no different from the other aces I've flown against."

"Watch who you insult, Boy!"

"Say's the shit mop that's too much of a bitch to take us on in a straight up fight," I said.

I heard Ashley and his friends cut off their radios. The 8492nd was still trying to catch up and I knew they were going to try and gun for us. We needed to make it further into the mountains to continue evading them.

"The ravine is widening up ahead. What's that?" asked Grimm.

I looked ahead and rubbed my eyes so that I could see what was ahead. There was a huge field with a bunch of aircraft laying in rows. I could see B-52s, A-6s, F-15s, F-16s, F-4s, F-14s, and A-10s all lying in the field, waiting to be disassembled. It was a moving sight. The thought that everything has to come to an end eventually, scared me because I felt like the planes we were flying right now were going to end up here, with or without our bodies in them. I looked over every plane that was on the ground and I was a little disappointed when I didn't see Miranda down there.

"It's…a scrap yard," said Kei.

"This is a grave yard for scrap planes," said Grimm.

"Keep it together guys," I said, but I freaked out a little when I saw tracers shoot past my canopy.

"Pops, they're firing on us!" shouted Michelle.

Pops banked to the left and pulled a hard turn to lead us away from the 8492nd squadron. I snap rolled to the right to avoid the 8492nd's stream of bullets while I kept my eyes on Pops and the others. Ashley was gunning for me while the others of his team held formation over Pops and the others. I increased my throttle and caught up with the Kei. More bullets flew by my canopy as Ashley tried to shoot me down. Michelle was panicking because she knew I couldn't do much in this T-45. All I could do was evade his attacks, but even that was difficult. Michelle was breathing heavily and I could hear her as she struggled to keep calm.

"Just calm down, Michelle, I'm not going to let us get shot down here," I said trying to calm her down.

I saw Ashley shoot another burst at me and I barrel rolled over the stream. I was still following Pops as he led us through the mountains of the island. Bullets continued to shoot past me and impacted the cliff faces. Rubble fell all around my plane and I saw couple of large pieces hit the canopy and wings. He kept his distance away from me and I needed to get away from him. I was still going pretty fast and I had to get him off of me. Ashley tried diving on me, but he overshot his mark when I barrel rolled over him. What I didn't realize was that he now had Pops in his sight. Pops saw Ashley coming and he was about to pass over a mountain ridge. Ashley fired a burst at Pops but he was sent into an uncontrollable spin when Pops snapped the stick forward and hit Ashley's plane with his jet wash.

"That's amazing! Where did he learn to do that," asked Kei.

"He expects us to follow that?" exclaimed Grimm.

Ashley recovered from the spin and climbed back up to rejoin the others of his group, who were still flying above our formation. There was no way he was going to risk getting killed like that. We were all hugging the deck which made maneuvering extremely hard. I had to make sure my wings didn't graze the ground, tree tops, or the mountain sides. We also had to keep an eye on the 8492nd squadron to make sure they didn't try to bounce us from above. Grimm's plane was wavering and Kei's was steadier, but I could tell that she was a little hesitant of her own skills.

"Good, good, keep it up. You're doing great," assured Pops.

I knew I was doing well, but I was concerned about the others. Grimm kept panicking whenever he had a close call and Kei was delaying her maneuvers like she was trying to make sure she wouldn't crash. Erica, Kyle, and Genette were silent while Michelle's breathing had intensified. Pops was as calm as ever as he pulled all these tight maneuvers that the others had difficulty mimicking. I was pulling them as best as I could, but the G effects were taking their toll on my body. The most I've ever been able to pull without a G suit was nine, but Pops' consecutive nine G maneuvers were really starting to wear me out. By now, I was already starting to grey out. I didn't know how much longer it would be before it turned into tunnel vision, followed by me blacking out.

"Where did you learn to fly like this, Pops?!" asked Kei.

"In many air battles long ago, my young aviator!"

So this is what it's like to fly with one of the most famous Belkan pilots of the last war? For a man as old as Pops, it was impressive to see him handle a plane like this. He was flying like he spent every waking minute of his life in the cockpit of a fighter jet. It was like Pops had always found his home in the sky. If flying was a woman, Pops would've been the first one to marry her. For the most part, I knew how Pops felt because I pretty much felt the same way when I flew in peace. But there was something different about him. We were flying for our lives but he didn't seem to be worried about it. It was like he could die at this very minute and be totally okay with that. Pops was just weaving through the mountains with such ease and all I could do was wonder what he was thinking. If I had a g suit on, then it would've been a lot easier to keep up with him.

"Grimm, don't deviate from the course," exclaimed Kei.

Grimm's hesitation was even more apparent when I saw him take a turn too wide. I looked up at the 8492nd's formation and saw Ashley dive for Grimm. I needed break off Ashley's attack but I didn't have any weapons. I throttled up and sped in between him and Grimm. I flew directly in front of Ashley less than fifty feet away. He tried to shoot me down with his gun but the angle I was at made is so that he couldn't hit me unless he maneuvered through my jet wash, but this guy was clever. He dove at a steeper angle and I thought he was going to break off, but he pulled up in front of me and applied full throttle in an attempt to hit me with his exhaust. If I hadn't snapped rolled to the left, Michelle and I would've been forced into the ground. Ashley rejoined the rest of his squad while I joined mine.

"Grimm, try to keep up. I don't think I can do that again," I said.

"Yes, sir," he replied and we continued flying.

"How's Genette doing?" Kei asked.

"He hasn't passed out yet," said Pops. "The guy's pretty tough."

"The cliff faces are blowing right by the canopy," shouted Grimm.

"Relax, you can do it."

"Yes, sir," said Kei confidently.

The intensity of the flight was wearing me out even more. I had to strain to keep myself from blacking out and Michelle was well aware of it.

"Blaze, you have to try and keep up with them," she said.

"I'm trying; it's just difficult right now."

Come on, Kid. You have to dig deeper. Keep moving!

"Right," I whispered to myself. "Michelle, grab the controls and move them with me. I want you to gain a sense of how to fly. I'll keep flying but just keep your hands on the stick and throttle."

We were flying through a valley in the middle of the island. I shot a quick glance above me to see the 8492nd still waiting for us to screw up. The more they held formation above us, the more annoyed I felt. I started to wish this plane had some kind of weapons but it didn't have any weapon systems on it. Then again, why would it? It's a training jet.

"Grimm, you doing okay," Kei asked.

"Yes, but not nearly as okay as you sound," he replied.

I'm fine, by the way.

"We're diving into that cave now. You all ready for this?" asked Pops

"Cave?" I said.

"Up ahead is a cave that we're going to fly through. This is the short one. Are you ready?"

I sighed because I knew I had no other choice but to follow Pops. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be," I said.

The ravine started to narrow and I could see the entrance of the cave. It was huge. A creative base designer could turn this cave into a VTOL airbase. I could already imagine the base layout in my head and if I really wanted to, I could fund it myself. Anyways, I fell back behind Grimm to give him some room because of the way he was flying. As cold as it might sound, I didn't want to be taken down by Grimm if he screwed up somehow. Pops led the way inside the tunnel and we all followed him in. He wouldn't have led us through this tunnel if he wasn't sure there was another way out. My heart was racing because I hated flying in enclosed spaces. I almost had a heart attack when I flew through the tunnels of Megalith and I had to do that four times. I made sure I was awake by the time I headed in the tunnel.

"His flying is incredible," exclaimed Kei.

Grimm started yelling and grunting as he flew through the tunnel. He was handling his plane even worse than before. I wanted to say something but I felt like I would break his concentration if I did. My hands and feet were all in sync as I maneuvered through the tunnel and I felt my confidence growing as I continued flying through it.

"You need to concentrate. Stay cool," said Pops.

"Just think of this as threading the needle Grimm. If you're calm, the easier it is," I said and I flew out of the tunnel.

"Pops was pulling some amazing maneuvers," said Kei.

"I can barely keep up with him," remarked Grimm. "There's no way I can fly like that."

"You can do it, Hans," said Erica.

I leveled out for just a moment and looked above us. The 8492nd squadron was still holding formation. They were determined to make sure that we didn't make it out of here alive. I would've loved to fight these assholes man to man and show them what's up, but instead, every time we've run into them, they left us to be dealt with by others. Apparently, these douche bags were too good to get their own hands dirty so they had to kick us while we were already down. Just you bastards wait.

"Woof, woof, woof."

"Yeah, Kirk," I said smiling to myself. "We'll show those guys we're the better aces."

"Woof," barked Kirk.

"Pops, I think the Captain has officially lost his mind," said Michelle in an attempt to be funny.

"Nah, that happened when I was ten," I said.

"Antonio…"

"I'm alright, Kei."

I was still trailing behind the others. Thoughts of hate and death were running through my mind. I didn't want to think about it, but the thoughts came anyways. Maybe I was just that tired and it caused me to be more susceptible to irritability and other thoughts like this. I hated thinking like this but I couldn't help it. The thoughts pissed me off so much that I wanted to scream in anger when I saw Pops approaching another cave. Son of a mother's lover, this has to be some kind of test, right? The entrance of the cave was a hell of a lot smaller than the last one and from the distance we were at, I could tell that it was used as a storage facility. This just made me suspect that this cave didn't have an exit like the last one, unless the exit was just another entrance like this. Wait, what if the entire tunnel is just as narrow as the entrance? I was thinking too much and I knew it would be the end of me if I thought about it anymore. I just have to trust Pops.

"Now we're going into that cave?" bellowed Grimm.

"Oh my God, Pops, you can't be serious," said Kyle.

"Will you guys shut the hell up? We'll be alright," I said.

We all gave each other some space as we approached the tunnel entrance. I gripped my necklace and took a deep breath before it was my turn to enter the tunnel. One by one, I watched as the others' planes flew inside and vanish from my sight. Here we go! I was focused on making it through the tunnel, but I wasn't expecting it to be so dark. I quickly rubbed my eyes and I adjusted to the lack of light as quickly as I could. Grimm was panicking about flying in the dark. Given that we were flying through a tunnel with little to no light making the slightest mistake extremely hazardous, while being chased by a group of pansies was extremely nerve-racking.

"Don't lose your sense of range in the darkness," said Kei.

"This is unreal. It's insane!" shouted Grimm.

"It's just barely wide enough to pass through."

"How can you fly like that?" Grimm asked Pops. "It's not human."

"Keep a wide field of vision," said Pops.

A grin appeared on my face and I started to laugh. I didn't know if I was slap happy or if I was glad I was so close to death. Michelle joined me in laughing, though I might've mistaken it for crying. All I knew was that I was having fun right now. Maybe I got a kick out of flying through a precarious environment. If I could've brought Kei here when I asked her to be my date for the Ball, I would've flown through these mountains. I wasn't scared anymore. I was having fun in this twisted state of mind I was in. Almost everyone that mattered to me was flying through this tunnel and it reminded me of this quote Lt. Colonel Harkin said to me once. If you're going through hell, keep going.

"I can see the exit," said Kei. "There's the open sky on the other side!"

Grimm started to complain about the light and I really wanted to slap him upside his head. First you complain it's too dark, now you're complaining it's too bright? I could see the exit as well and I pushed the stick over to the left. Michelle's laughter, or crying, intensified and I howled in excitement as my plane exited out of the tunnel while I performed a continuous roll. I neutralized the stick and formed up on Pops' right wing as we continued to gain altitude. Our radars had finally cleared up and I looked around to see that we weren't being followed any longer. I leaned back, closed my eyes, and breathed a sigh of relief. The sandman was beating me to death and I could've fallen asleep in the middle of an earth quake at that moment.

"This is Thunderhead, what happened to the 8492nd? We're seeing the traitors on the radar again."

"There they are again," said Grimm.

Shit! I looked ahead and saw one radar signature appear on my HUD. It was an Osean F-14 Tomcat with a very familiar paint scheme that I had seen when this war had first started. You!

"This is Swordsman; I just found 'em, so now I just shoot 'em down?"

"Exactly," growled Hamilton.

"For Christ's sake, why won't they just leave us alone? We're innocent and even if we were guilty, it's not like we know anything vital that could benefit our enemies," cried Michelle.

"He's not really our enemy," said Pops calmly.

"What?" I asked as I watched Swordsman shoot past us and circle around to get behind our formation. I couldn't move at all. I've cheated death a number of times and it seemed like there was no way out of this one. I looked in my rearview mirror to see Swordsman closing in on us, but then he did something unexpected. I saw a light flickering from his RIO's seat and noticed he was signaling us in Morris Code. TRUST…ME…BAIL…OUT.

"He wants us to bail out?" asked Grimm.

"So, what do you guys think?" I asked.

"What say we trust him, then? Genette you first," said Pops.

I looked over at Pops' plane and saw the canopy fly off. Genette's chair then flew out of the cockpit, followed closely by Pops. Once they were clear, their plane erupted into flames and fell past me. The noise from the explosion was enough to startle me and cause me instinctively duck my head down.

"Swordsman to Thunderhead; splash one," said Swordsman.

"Tracked on radar, kill confirmed."

Grimm, Erica, and Kirk were the next ones to bail out, followed by Kyle and Kei. I knew he was allowing us to escape our planes but my heart took off racing when I saw the missiles impact their planes. Michelle wasted no time in pulling the ejection seat lever. The remnants of the canopy flew off and she shot out of the cockpit. Right, now it's my turn. I pulled the ejection lever and my seat harness pulled me tightly into the seat before it shot into the sky. I was in the air for a couple second before my parachute blossomed above me. I then witnessed my plane explode and fall towards the ocean in flames. It's finally over. As I hung suspended in the air, I felt myself finally drift off to sleep. The echoes of Swordsman's F-14 and the explosions faded and I could feel darkness and the cold surround me. It was the same feeling I felt when I almost died during the Curtis attack. At least I don't feel any pain. It was the perfect time for me to be selfish and I humbly accepted the fact that I might be dying right now. I was tough, but everyone has their limits and I was pretty sure I had reached mine. All my senses were numb but I could hear the faint echoes of voices. This is pix; I do not see any floating debris in the water. Image faded from radar, all planes destroyed. You'd better give me a medal for this later.

I continued floating towards the ground while I slept but I couldn't feel anything. I was dreaming, about flying but I wasn't in a plane. I started to feel the breeze on my face as I flew in the bright blue sky, but suddenly, everything began to grow dark and I felt myself become even colder. I couldn't breathe either. I didn't know what was going on and I struggled to try and draw air into my lungs, but the more I tried, the more I felt the darkness envelope me. I got you, Captain. I won't let you go! The echoes started to sound off in my head again. At first it was just one, and then I heard the roar of amonster in the darkness. I tried looking around frantically but I didn't see anything. The roar grew even louder and I still couldn't breathe. When the roar was close enough, I started to feel like something was breathing on me. That's when I saw the pair of green eyes reveal themselves. I was scared. I wanted to run but I couldn't move. I wanted to yell in terror but I still couldn't breathe. The eyes began to take form into a tall red headed woman wearing all black. She wore a black cape and a knight's helmet that had black wings jutting out from the sides. Razgriz! She was looking down at me and I was petrified at the sight of her. She continued to roar at me and she scooped me up in her hand. I tried to struggle but it wasn't any use. Razgriz brought me closer to her face and she looked at me as I tried to break loose of her grip. I paused from my struggle to see her face turn into a black cloud that flew up and swirl around above me. Razgriz's entire body soon evaporated into the black cloud. I was suffocating and I feared what else this demon would do to me. The black cloud shot down towards me and I tried putting up my hands to try and block what was happening but it wasn't any use. The cloud forced its way down my throat and I thought my insides were going to burst, but they didn't. A few seconds after the cloud went inside me, I could breathe again. I felt myself coughing and spit up some kind of foul tasting liquid. I could feel someone wrap their arms around me and the warmth of their body as I continued to cough up the liquid. Come back to me! My eyes slowly opened and all I could see was a blinding white light and someone's silhouette. My breathing was rapid and I could feel my body shivering as I grabbed the sleeve of whoever's arm was holding me.

"It's okay, I got you," said a voice.

"Kei…" I felt myself whisper and I reached out for the person's silhouette. My hand was on the person's cheek and I could see Kei's blurry face as she leaned to the side and blocked the light so that I could see that it was her. I wanted to say more, but I couldn't. I felt myself fading into darkness again and it enveloped me. I could finally rest ,knowing that Kei was okay. I didn't know where we were at the moment or where we were going. I just let go of everything that was on my mind and I drifted off to sleep as Kei held me.

Location unknown, 1016hrs

We were moving when I felt myself go to sleep, but a sudden stop had woken me up. It took a second to realize I was on a helicopter with everyone else. The squad of armed Marines that sat across from us made me a little uneasy. My hand was already on my knife but Kei had placed her hand over it like she was telling me to relax. Other than that, I felt extremely cold. We were no longer in the tropics and I was shivering uncontrollably. Kei pulled me even closer to her so that I could stay warm while we got off the helicopter. We were on an aircraft carrier that was docked in a river outlet between two huge cliff faces. I thought I was on the UFS Fort Grace, but the number 30 painted on the carrier's tower made me realize that we were on the Kestrel. These guys are trying to gain the credit for capturing us! I reached for my knife again and unbuttoned the strap. I couldn't let them take me and my team to rot in prison and I sure as hell couldn't let them take my bag. I was going to wait for them to make their move first before I did anything. We followed a Marine as he led us below deck. Some of the ship's crew was giving us nasty looks while others seemed like they were star struck when they saw us. The Marine led us to the carrier's briefing room and set us down in the seats. A man was looking at a set of numbers that were being projected on white board and we couldn't see who it was. We were all still soaking wet and I really wanted to go back to sleep. I knew the others felt the same way and the last thing we wanted to do was be lectured to by some asshole who didn't know what was really going on. I bet this guy is the Captain of this ship.

"You guys just can't seem to keep yourselves out of trouble, can you?" said the man in a chipper tone. None of us said anything and we all glanced at each other. "However, thanks to you, my job just got a lot easier."

The man turned around and looked at us. "Harkin," I muttered.

"Your attorney," asked Michelle.

"Yeah," I said looking at him with tired eyes and scowl.

"Don't look so excited to see me, Kid," said Harkin.

"What are you doing here?" I asked like I was bored.

"Is there a problem here, Captain?" asked Harkin.

I threw my head back breathed a heavy sigh as I gathered my thoughts. I stood up out of my seat, ready to go off on Lt. Colonel Harkin. "Where should I start? How about I point out that all of this started because Belka persuaded Yuktobania to declare war on Osea and now we, The Demons of Razgriz, are on the run from our superiors, who turned out to be Belkan sleeper agents, who want us dead so this war can drag on. The Osean President is missing and no one has any idea where he is. I also had to leave my sister behind on Sand Island and chances are she's in some pretty deep shit by now. She probably thinks I'm dead and so does my mother. I'm also starting to think that Chopper's RIO is probably dead because Hamilton told me he wanted to transfer to Cape Landers. I'm standing here, trying to tell you what my problem is while I'm freezing my ass off in these wet clothes and now you're trying to explain something that couldn't wait until tomorrow? Or at least, until we had gotten some clean clothes and a hot meal that didn't taste like shit?!" I shouted. The whole time I was ranting, I had walked around the room three times while everyone gawked at me.

"When's the last time you got a full night's rest, Kid?" Harkin asked.

"Twenty-eight hours, forty-six minutes and thirty-seven seconds ago," I said quickly as I glanced at my watch. "But who's counting anyways?" I laughed.

"Has he been physically stressed at all during this time?" Harkin asked the others.

"He fought over a dozen Belkan pilots single handedly, rescued us from captivity, and flew from Sand Island, all the way to where we were shot down without wearing a G suit," said Erica.

Harkin looked at me as I started doing logarithms on the board the numbers were being projected on. I was rambling to myself and I had no idea what I was saying or what I was doing. I must've been making sense of the numbers because they had somehow managed to change into letters.

"Is he alright?" asked Grimm.

"He's physically and mentally exhausted," said Kei. "I do the same thing when I'm just as tired as he is."

"Song Bird has stopped singing, permission to free bird, STOP! Site three," I rambled.

"If he's that tired, why doesn't he just collapse from exhaustion?" asked Kyle.

"Because when we were in Project Pitbull, our handlers forced us to keep pushing our limits. We had to stay active somehow so that we wouldn't get beaten."

"Wait, how do you know about this?" asked Erica.

"Because I went through the same exact thing he did," said Kei.

"Isn't Disney World a people trap operated by a mouse?" I asked. "Michelle, if blondes have more fun, would you know it?"

Erica and Kyle were trying so hard not to laugh while Kei continued to explain everything. She told the others about her involvement in Project Pitbull as well but they didn't seem to believe Kei either. Harkin tried getting me to calm down but it wasn't any use. I was doodling on the board and I had no idea what I was drawing. Harkin tried taking the markers out of my hand but I kept pulling them away from him. I couldn't think straight anymore and I felt as though my mind was a TV and I didn't have control over the remote. I was just too slap happy and everyone seemed to be getting a kick out of it except for Kei. She knew I could end up hurting myself and she knew that if someone tried to sedate me, things could turn ugly. Kei walked up to me, gently placed her hand on my shoulder, and whispered 'sorry' into my ear.

December 8, 2010 0530hrs OFS Kestrel

When woke up to the sound of my watch alarm going off, the first thing I noticed was Kei sleeping next to me as she rested her head on my chest. She must've been glad to get a new change of clothes. A white tank top and grey sweat pant must've felt great to sleep in. I was also wearing a new change of clothes and my first thought was to guess how I got into them. The bed we were sleeping on was extremely small but Kei didn't seem to care at all. We were in a small room that could fit two people but Kei chose to sleep with me, not that I had a problem with it. I wrapped my arm around her and used my free hand to stroke her hair. She was still asleep and I didn't want to disturb her. There was a certain ecstasy I felt whenever Kei and I had our moments like this. I rested my head back onto my pillow and closed my eyes for a few more minutes. When Kei woke up, we stared at each other and I smiled. I knew she knocked me out so that I could finally get some rest and I was glad she did.

"Good morning, how did you sleep?" Kei asked.

"Great, I feel like I could go for another round with all those Belkan pilots again," I said and Kei looked at me annoyed. "Not that I'll go looking for a fight like that again."

"Yeah, okay," said Kei like she didn't believe me. "Anyway, your boss said you should go see him ASAP. He's got some things he wants to go over with you."

"Like what?" I asked.

"Oh, you'll see," Kei said smiling.

Kei got up and started to get dressed into her flight suit. Why is she in her flight suit? Once she was dressed, she threw me a new flight suit as well and I put it on. As far as I knew, the Osean military thought we were dead and with this being an Osean Federation Ship, I was starting to wonder if they thought we were actually dead. Once we were both dressed, we headed out of the room we slept in and made our way through a series of corridors until we got to the aircraft hangar. Lt. Colonel Harkin was talking to one of the mechanics as he worked on the missile pylons on an F-14 and F-18. By the amount of tech that was hooked up to them, I could tell that they weren't doing standard maintenance on the planes. Grimm and Erica were sitting in the cockpit of the F-14 while Kyle and Michelle were talking over by the aircraft elevators. We were the only people in here. Kei explained everything that Harkin had told the others after she had knocked me out. Lt. Colonel Harkin needed us for unsanctioned operations within Belka. Everyone opposed the idea of carrying out this mission as a rouge unit because we had no idea what we'd be up against. It took a lot of convincing but the others agreed to take part in this operation only if I agreed to contribute. If there was still a way to expose the truth, I was all for it, but the only thing that worried me was how exactly we were going to operate.

"Hey, Kid, it's great to see you. How are you feeling?" asked Harkin.

"Way better than I did yesterday," I replied. "So what's up?"

"I'm sure the lovely Miss Nagase has told you about what I'm doing here. Now, all I need is your answer."

"Does the bear shit in the woods?" I replied. Harkin smiled and he shook my hand. Everyone else noticed I had arrived and started making their way towards us. They all seemed happy to see me and we all shared a few words of appreciation for each other. We were all headed into the unknown and my team felt comfortable knowing that I was leading them. It seemed stupid when I thought about it more and more because I was just as much in the dark as they were. "Alright, sir, what've you got for us?"

"I got some good news and some bad news so I hope you're ready for this," said Harkin. "You and your team have been confirmed KIA and the Osean government branded you all traitors. Your friends and family are under intense investigation and all remnants of the US military have been disavowed. That's the bad news."

"And the good news," I asked.

"The good news is that now we have the freedom to do what needs to be done," said Harkin.

"Which is?" Kei asked.

I was intrigued as to what Harkin's been up to since this war started. "I work for a secret international organization that specializes in the espionage and sabotage of other countries that aren't part of this organization."

"The IOSS (International Office of Strategic Services)," asked Grimm.

"That's correct, but for now, I'm limited to the information I can give you. All I can tell you for now is that we need Wardog's help to rescue the President tomorrow. I'm here to make sure these operations run smoothly and so that I could provide you all with some special equipment," said Harkin. "Rico, take it away."

The mechanic who was working on the planes turned around to reveal his face. I was actually surprised to see Rico here because I thought he retired. He still had that goofy smile on his face while he approached us. One thing going through my mind was wondering why he was here. He shook mine and Kei's hands before he brought us over to the F-14 he was working on.

"I know if you had this kind of tech at the start of the war, you wouldn't have had to worry about your ammo situation. You're going to love this, all of you," said Rico.

"You know him, Blaze," asked Michelle.

"What, he hasn't told you?" asked Rico.

"I tried to, they just don't believe me," I said.

"Ha! I knew they wouldn't believe you," said Rico. "I was a member of his ground crew while he was flying as Mobius 1."

Harkin whacked Rico upside the head because he just blurted out my biggest secret and for all he knew, we weren't alone. After Harkin chewed him out a bit, he turned towards me and my team to explain the equipment he brought with him, but he was interrupted.

"No, he's Mobius 1!" exclaimed Michelle as she pointed at Harkin.

Harkin sighed in frustration and rubbed the back of his neck. "No, I'm not."

"But I saw your picture in the paper after you destroyed Stonehenge."

"Yeah, and?"

"You're Mobius 1."

Jesus Christ, I shouldn't have told them. "Yeah, he's Mobius 1. Rico, as you were saying," I said.

"Right, so here's the run down on your new equipment. Antonio already knows all about this, but everything I'm about to show you is based on the technology of Strangereal's first inhabitants. These guys were fucking smart," said Rico. "Watch, this is so cool. Colonel, if you don't mind."

Harkin went to the other side of the hanger, got on an ordinance cart, and brought over a rack of eight sidewinder missiles. He loaded one missile onto the pylon and Rico proceeded to press a couple of buttons on the computer. A dim green light suddenly started to glow between the missile and pylon. The light then projected a grid over the missile and then, it vanished in the blink of an eye. The missile was no longer on the pylon and was nowhere to be seen. Everyone looked at Rico and saw that his goofy smile had turned into a maniacal laugh. Harkin loaded another missile onto the pylon and the missile disappeared the same way the first on did. Everyone stood still in total confusion as Harkin and Rico made the remaining six missiles disappear off the pylon.

"What the hell happened to those missiles?" asked Michelle.

"They're in storage," said Rico indifferently

"Where," asked Kei.

"You didn't show them your watch?" Harkin asked.

I rolled up my left sleeve and held my wrist up so that everyone could see my watch. "See my watch." I said sarcastically.

"You didn't show them what else it could do?"

"Uh, it's water resistant up to two hundred meters. It can record my time for each of the thirty laps I run around a track, and it also has a tracking device."

"You didn't read my note about the storage capabilities I had the R&D guys put in it?"

"Uh…"

"Never mind, hold the Mode button," said Harkin. I held down the button and dim green light projected out the top of my watch. "Now use the Start and Split buttons to navigate between the items I had already put in there."

I pressed the start button a couple of times and saw the holographic images of a box of gummy worms, a tall can of my favorite sweet tea/ lemonade, and a MRE (Meal Ready to Eat). Harkin then told me to slap the top of my watch when the item I want is selected. I chose the can of tea and slapped my hand on top my watch. To my amazement, the can materialized and hovered above my wrist when I moved my hand away and I didn't know what to do. Everyone looked at me, waiting for me to grab the bottle.

"Go ahead, take it," encouraged Harkin.

I hesitated when I grabbed the bottle and once I got hold of it, the light on my watch disappeared. This is so freaking cool! I didn't think they could integrate this into a watch. I opened the can and chugged the drink. I couldn't remember the last time I tasted something as great as this. Everyone else just gazed at me and I knew they wanted one.

"Alright, that's pretty freaking sweet," I said followed by burping. "How much can I fit in here and is there a weight capacity?" I asked.

"It depends on the volume of the item you put in. Right now it can hold up to a cubic meter of anything. For example, the bottle I put in there has a volume of around fifty cubic centimeters. Now subtract that from a million cubic centimeters and you have that much room left in your storage," said Harkin.

"So you fitted these planes with this kind of thing?" asked Kyle.

"Exactly, however, it does have its drawbacks," said Rico. "For example, after you fire a missile, you have to wait a minute before the next missile is ready to launch. Another drawback is that we can only fit one type of weapon onto each pylon. We can still equip your planes with different weapons, depending on the number of pylons it has. The number of missiles each pylon can hold is limited, depending on the size of the weapon," said Rico.

My team couldn't stop gawking at what they were being shown. I was extremely impressed with all of this when they showed me it the first time. Rico tried to explain how all of this worked but he lost them after he said something about the light being the key to all of it. He then went on to explain how the cockpits of each plane were upgraded and how they were able to get their hands on upgraded sidewinder missiles. They were fitted with radar and heat seeking guidance systems so that they were now able to track air and ground targets. All of this equipment was only revealed to a certain people for special assignments. I knew the others were wishing we had this stuff at the start of the war because I really wish that I still had access to it. I went off to explore the rest of the ship while Lt. Colonel Harkin and Rico continued talking with my team about some of the things we'd be using during this operation. I made my way to the top deck and saw Captain Snow's F-14 being prepped for a hop. I saw him talking to his RIO. At least that's who I assumed he was talking to. I figure I'd better thank him for helping us.

"Captain Snow," I said as I saluted him. Since he was a Naval Captain, Swordsman was the equivalent of a Marine Colonel. I had to salute him, but since we were considered dead, I could've just casually greeted him.

"Captain," he replied as he put me at ease. "Can I help you?"

"No, I just wanted to say thanks for helping us out."

"Oh, you're welcome," said Captain Snow and he turned to continue talking with his RIO. I couldn't see his face, but something about him seemed familiar. The jet black hair, tan skin, and Australian accent was enough to make my skin crawl.

"Daniel Orosco," I muttered.

"Piss off, Castillo," said Daniel.

"Glad to see you haven't mellowed with age, Danny" I said as I folded my arms and leaned against the carrier's control tower.

"You two know each other?" asked Captain Snow.

"Yeah, he was my RIO when I first started out as a combat pilot," I said and Snow looked at me like I was joking.

"Yeah right, he's been my RIO for the past four years," said Swordsman.

Of course, I can't tell him the full story about how I knew him. I spent the next few minutes catching up with the duo until the ground crew had finished preparing their F-14. Danny was originally a member of the Osean Defense Force who volunteered to join the ISAF and I just happened to be paired up with him when I started flying for them. Danny's attitude towards my flying was similar to Michelle's, but he had more reason to be afraid of flying with me. When I first started out, I honestly didn't care if I lived or died. Flying for the ISAF was my shot at fulfilling my death wish at the time and Danny soon figured it out. He was afraid to fly with me but as time went on, I changed and we eventually came to trust each other until we had a falling out after Operation Bunker Shot. From what I've seen, Captain Snow and Danny had a good thing going as pilot and RIO. Swordsman was in good hands but I was nervous about trusting him. Yeah, he saved our lives but he sure didn't seem too happy about us being here. Some of the Kestrel's crew seemed to have the same attitude towards us, so I kept my guard up the whole time.

I sat on the deck as I watched Swordsman taxi his F-14 into position. The ground crews were running all over the place, making sure everything was ready to go. Once the F-14 was in position, the ground crew hooked the front landing gear up to the catapult. Everyone started waving their hands in the air, trying to communicate with each other over the engine noise. After the blast barriers were raised, Swordsman and Danny both saluted to signal that they were ready for launch. I saw the AB, or the Aviation Boatswain's mate, throw both of his hands in the air to signal the catapult operator. The AB then knelt down and pointed towards the bow of the ship. Swordsman's F-14's engines roared to life and a couple seconds later, the plane shot off the deck. I had no idea where they were going or what they were going to do. The F-14 wasn't armed and Swordsman had changed his heading to the east. I didn't know if I was going to be under his command while we were here but if we were, I just had to deal with it.

Thanks to everyone who's been following and reviewing my story. I really appreciate it. If there's anything that I need to clear up about any part of this story so that I don't confuse anyone, just let me know. Also, I'm thinking about starting a new story that follows Antonio while he was flying as Mobius 1, but it might take some time to actually get to the actual combat of the story.

P.S. I told one of my friends about my ideas about who Green really is and he practically went ape shit over the idea I planned on using. So now I have to ask you about who you think Green should be: Pops, Colonel Bishop (Ace Combat Assault Horizon), Cipher, Pixy, PJ (AC Zero), or Razgriz. Send me a PM on who you think Green should or shouldn't be. Or if you'd like, I could write six alternant endings and base my next story off the ending I originally planned.