(August 6, 2024)
The gentlemen were able to pinpoint exactly where Blanc's men's last airfield was, and we were poised to head there with our two new allies. As glad as I was that Yu and Suomi both got their friends back, I knew I still had to be weary of them. If they tried anything, they wouldn't get very far in that endeavor. Anyway, I knew the airfield would be tough to take since I assumed there is no where else for Blanc's honor guards tol flock but their last airfield. Numbers weren't on our side, so we had to take any advantage we could get. Nathan Zackary was all too excited to help out with close air support, but we would need to deal with any anti aircraft guns over there before we could radio him to come and help… and I wanted to do it quietly. To help us with that endeavor, I called Raku-Chan, the girl I met back when we were ambushing the command center, and she had a delivery to make to the airfield. Yu, Dani and I were all going to have Raku-Chan smuggle us into the airfield. We would then take the AA guns quietly, then kick off the massive push. Suomi, RFB, Ren and the rest of the guys would be waiting for us to signal them before kicking things off once the AA guns were clear. Nathan would be ready with air support. Raku-Chan finally pulled up in the early afternoon, so Yu, Dani and I piled into her gray car.
"Alriiiiight, we finallllllyyyyyy heeeeeerrrrreeeee… nyaaaaaaa." Raku-Chan said as we pulled up to a place called 'Yummy fast food 2.' "This is a huuuuuuuge deliveryyyyyyy, so if you threeeeeeeee… could help meeeeeeee with allllllllll the ranchiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii… nyaaaaaaaa?"
"Si, we'll give you a hand, chica gata." Dani said as he got out of the front seat.
"Do you think they have burgers here?" I asked curiously and hungrily.
"Oh, hanbāgā… that sounds oishīīīīīīīīīīī…" Raku-Chan said excitedly. "They have hanbāgā… but I can't be too laaaaaate… or else the customers will be mad at meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…" I swear a tear fell out of Raku-Chan's eye.
"A bad review means that much to you?" Yu asked Raku-Chan. She just nodded daintily. "Alright, let's get the order and get going." We walked into the restaurant and right up to a guy standing behind the counter. He looked extremely bored.
"Welcome to Yummy fast food 2, always yes. What can I get for you?" The guy asked. That was a cool slogan, despite the very dry and monotonous delivery.
"Arigatoooooo… nya… I'm picking up an order forrrrr…" Raku-Chan checked her phone. "...Gabriel Gage… nyaaaaaaaa." The guy behind the counter just sighed then pointed over to a shelf that had a giant 'to go' sign on it. It was full of bags, all of which smelled extremely good. I was salivating.
"So which bags do we need to bring to the airfield?" I asked.
"Allllllllll of themmmmmmm… nyaaaaaaa." Raku-Chan said, sounding very daunted.
"QUE DIABLOS?" Dani said with wide eyes.
"How shocking…" Yu said monotonously, but not as monotonously as the guy behind the counter.
—-
It took us possibly a half an hour to not only get everything loaded into Raku-Chan's car, but also to be able to fit four of us in there on top of that. Yu and I ended up sitting in the back seat with bags of fast food stacked on our laps. The smell was getting to me… so I reached into one of the bags and pulled out a single fry. It was pretty soggy, but it was so delicious. Yu shuffled his hand out from underneath all of the bags of fast food on his lap.
"Klonoa, can I have one?" Yu asked me. I decided to give him a handful, since I figured this Gabriel Gage guy wouldn't notice if a few fries were missing… not that he would be eating his meal anyway.
"NYA, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" Raku-Chan yelled with a voice full of fear. "If the fooood is missing, they will be vewwy vewwy mad at meeeeeeeeeee!"
"Don't worry, if this mission goes the way I think it will, there won't be anyone there to be mad at you, Raku-Chan." Yu said calmly as ever. "Here, have some fries." Yu reached his fry-filled hand out to Raku-Chan, who all of the sudden ate all of the fries straight out of Yu's hand.
"Oh… gomeeeeennnnnnn, I stress eeeeeaaaaaat when I'm nervoussssss." Raku-Chan said with a mouth full of fries. This seemed to get Dani curious, as he started digging through one of the bags on his lap.
"Oh mira, they have pizza too!" Dani said with delight as he took out a pizza box. A spellbinding aroma filled the car when he opened the box. "Vamos a comer!" Dani said as he handed slices of pizza around the car. I was so hungry! It was so delicious! I reached into another bag hoping to find a burger. I felt around and felt something round, kind of flat and just squishy enough. I pulled something out of the bag and started unwrapping it… it was a chicken sandwich. I like chicken just fine, but I wanted a burger.
"Hey, I found a burger." Yu announced to me. "Wanna trade?" I happily traded with Yu.
"We probably shouldn't have anymore…" I said after I realized we might have been overdoing it a little. It was also evident that we would have to hide the fact we'd been eating stuff from the massive order when Raku-Chan actually made the delivery. The entire car fell silent for a few seconds.
"You're right." Yu admitted. "It was probably a good time too, I just found a salad. Who goes to a fast food place and orders a salad?"
"I wholeheartedly agree, chamaco." Dani said. This was followed by about five seconds of silence.
"...I like saaaaalaaaads…" Raku-Chan started. "... …nyaaaaaaaaaa…"
"Alright, but this is the last one." Yu said as he handed the salad forward to Raku-Chan.
"NYAAAA! ARIGATOOOOO!" Raku-Chan exclaimed.
—-
Eating all that food made me feel kind of sluggish. Well, that and sitting in the car for such a long time… in the desert… with air conditioning that doesn't work… with hot fast food on my lap. Suffice it to say… I wasn't really feeling up to fighting an entire airbase. I was just about asleep when the car came to a stop. We were close to the airbase, but not quite there. Raku-Chan and Dani got out of the car.
"Huh…?" I muttered as I pulled myself out of a pre-slumberous state. "What are we doing here?"
"Daaani-Saaaannnn thought it would be a good ideaaaaa… if you and Narukamiiiii-Saaannnnn hid in the truuuunk…" Raku-Chan informed me.
"Si, if we're going to do this in secret, we can't tip them off in any way." Dani said. "I won't fit in the back with you two, but I'm sure it would be plausible that Senorita Raku would get an assistant for such a large order." Dani opened the trunk of Raku-Chan's car.
"Let's do this, brother." Yu said determinedly. "Let us know when to pop out, Dani." With that, Yu and I both squeezed into Raku-Chan's trunk. Dani shut the door, and everything got dark. There were moments where the brake lights turned on and lit the interior of the trunk. I felt uneasy, but that actually kind of woke me up. I felt the car come to a slow stop as the brakes squealed, and the lights came on and stayed on.
"What is your business here?" I heard someone ask.
"Nya… I… I'm here to bring oishī tabemonoooo… to a… Gabriel Gaaaaaage." Raku-Chan said nervously.
"Uh-huh… and who's this?" The previous someone asked.
"Just an assistant." Dani said calmly. "This is a big order, no?" I heard silence for a few seconds. The anxiety of knowing if this goes wrong, bullets would start flying everywhere, and sail through this non-bullet-proof car. I slowly and quietly readied my suppressed mac-10. The memories of freeing the hospital came flowing back from that gun. I sat there simmering in nostalgia until I heard the guard.
"Go in." The guard said. The lights went off, and I felt the car move forward. Yu fidgeted his suppressed glock out of his jacket.
"Do or die, brother." Yu whispered. "Don't worry, I've got your back, no matter what happens." I lightly hit his shoulder in endearment.
"I'll keep you alive, bro." I whispered back. The car kept moving slowly, took a few turns here and there, then it came to another slow squeaky stop.
"Klonoa, Yu," Dani said from the front seat. "Can you hear me?"
"We hear you, Dani." I acknowledged.
"If you hear me say 'fish salad,' that means the trunk is open and it's time to engage." Dani said. "What's the secret word?"
"Fish salad." I said back.
"Bueno. I just had to make sure you got it." Dani said. "We're pulling into the bear's cave now." The car stopped, and I heard it shift into park.
"Alright now, where's my food?" I heard someone say. From the voice alone, I couldn't tell if this person was a man or a woman… or a kid.
"Oh… why are you wearing a paaaaaacifiiiieeerrrr?" Raku-Chan asked while sounding kind of shaky.
"It's baby time. Want me to sing you a lullaby?" The… person asked.
"I'm just here to bring you your food…" I heard Raku-Chan say. It sounded like she was extremely on edge because her usual speaking quirks were completely absent. "Are you… Gabriel?"
"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" The person screamed. I could then hear Raku-Chan whimper slightly. "You call me 'Nova.'"
"Whoa whoa, let's all calm down here, mijo." Dani said, trying to defuse the situation. "We brought you all of the food you requested."
"Deep breaths… deep breaths…" I heard Nova whisper to himself after an elongated exhale. "Now, give me my burgies and my nuggies." I laid there listening to Dani and Raku-Chan unloading the bags and bags of fast food, eagerly awaiting the secret word. There was silence for a long time, even after I couldn't hear the crinkling of paper bags full of food. The knot in my stomach was growing. Something was going on… and the longer I laid there, the more nervous I got.
"We should try and sneak out…" I whispered to Yu.
"It's too risky… let's just give it a few more minutes." Yu suggested. That was when I heard a large door open, followed by a garage door closing.
"Wha… why are all of these people here?" I heard Raku-Chan, once again without her typical speaking quirks. Something was wrong.
"To force you to do my bidding." The person said.
"Listen chimaco," Dani started. "We have other deliveries to attend to."
"You don't work for anyone else anymore… only me." The person said. I bit my lip hard… and I made a snap decision.
"Fish salad." I whispered to Yu. Yu nodded and pulled on the handle inside the trunk to release the gate. It opened up, my heart pounded, my vision got blurry, except for right in the middle. I was hyper-focused. I shot three guards who were aiming their guns at Dani and Raku-Chan. Yu took the other side of the car. I thought it was clear, I still couldn't see anything through my peripheral vision. Suddenly, an unsuppressed gun shot. Dani fell over dead. I made eye contact with the fat long-greasy-haired guy standing there holding a smoking shiny revolver. He aimed the revolver at me, then he suddenly got shot through the neck. He dropped his revolver and clamped his neck as blood burst out of it. "Dani!" I uncontrollably shouted as I ran over to him to check for signs of life.
"D…Dani-Saaannnnn?" Raku-Chan uttered as tears began pouring out of her eyes. Yu walked over slowly, looking devoid of what to do at that moment. He stood there, not saying anything… only staring at Dani. I put my fingers over the spot on his neck where I'd normally feel a pulse… there was nothing… stillness…
"They're in there!" I heard some guards yell from outside the hangar! Bullets started sailing through the garage door.
"RAKU-CHAN, GET BEHIND SOMETHING!" Yu yelled. Raku-Chan was too shaken up to move at all! Yu grabbed her by the arm and pulled her behind a big tool cabinet. I returned fire and started making my way back to cover.
"Use grenades! Now!" The guards outside yelled! Two explosions shortly went off simultaneously, and guards started pouring in! We weren't equipped for an influx of guards that big! I then saw a truck coming over to us from the other side of the runway! It was Suomi and the others! The guards got wiped out from behind by all the gun fire! More guards were pouring out of nearby houses and buildings. I had to snap back into focus!
"We need to take those AA guns, or else Nathan won't be able to give us air support!" I commanded.
"YOU HEARD HIM, KIDDOS!" Woods yelled. We all left the hangar, and Suomi tossed me my AK, then Meta Knight tossed Yu his M14.
"Raku-Chan, keep close!" Yu commanded as he caught his M14. "I'll do my best to keep you safe!" Without a word, Raku-Chan mustered up the courage and mental fortitude to follow Yu behind one of the large concrete barriers. I also couldn't help but notice Raku-Chan grabbed Nova's revolver. As we moved closer to the AA guns, we ended up being flanked every which way! We were being stretched extremely thin! We needed Nathan to give us close air ASAP!
"We need to stay together no matter what!" I yelled over heavy gunfire. "We need to cover every angle!" We all moved together, and we were able to get to one of the AA guns, but then another truck full of guards came from one of the giant hangars, but all of the sudden, the truck exploded! I looked next to me, and Soldier stood there loading another rocket into his launcher. "Thanks, Soldier!" I yelled as I reached out and patted his shoulder.
"THIS IS HOW YOU DEAL WITH MAGGOTS, FELINE MAN!" Soldier bellowed. "LET'S KEEP GETTING THE LED OUT!" We used the short amount of time Soldier bought us to take out the other gun on the other end of the tarmac. Then we made our way up to one of the houses.
"We need to clear this house and contact Nathan!" I commanded. BJ shot the door hinges off then kicked the door in, then Dedede, Suomi and I cleared the inside of the house. Everyone else stayed outside to cover us. Luckily, Yu was able to get Raku-Chan inside to keep her as safe as possible.
"We are currently being overwhelmed." Meta Knight said only somewhat calmly. You know it's bad if Meta Knight started sounding uneasy. We went into a room with a radio, but there was a guy behind the door frame waiting for us! He knocked me over, but he was promptly killed… by Raku-Chan.
"Thank you, Raku-Chan." I said with a sigh of relief. I scurried over to the radio. "Nathan, we got the AA guns cleared, but we're being over-run!" I yelled into the radio. "We need close air support now!"
"Roger that, Klonoa!" Nathan acknowledged. "I'll be over in a minute. Stay together, it's difficult to know who's who from this high up."
"We're inside a house on the…" I trailed off. I wanted to tell Nathan which side of the runway we were on, but I wasn't sure.
"East side!" Suomi reminded me. It's like she can read my mind sometimes!
"...East side of the runway!" I continued into the radio. "Please hurry!" We held our ground as best we could, but everyone outside was slowly being pushed closer and closer to the house! All was beginning to look lost.
"Everyone, fire from the windows!" BJ hollered. "Dedede and I will keep the door secured if they try to come in!" It was then when I noticed; RFB is a very good shot. The way she could snipe enemies reminded me of how Yu sniped. She wasn't able to hit enemies quite as far away as Yu could, but it was still something to behold. Honor guards were getting way too close for comfort, and they were pinning us down with constant gunfire! Suddenly, by the grace of God, machine gun fire rained down from the sky! It was Nathan!
"Keep hitting them, Klonoa!" Nathan said into his radio. "I'll keep your forward area covered!" We all left the house and started moving up slowly but surely and steadily.
"Dang, I'm hit!" Jason suddenly yelled as he fell to the ground! Ren ran over and helped him up.
"It's not as bad as it looks, you'll be fine!" Ren said as he helped Jason stand. BJ and Dedede moved up close to the enemies and kept them from gaining ground as Suomi, Soldier, Woods and I took out other enemies coming to back up their buddies at the front, while Yu, Meta Knight and RFB kept sniping them. Nathan would periodically sweep down and obliterate everything in front of us, which helped us move up at a rapid rate. At one point, the guards got smart and tried launching a plane, but Soldier was ready with his rocket launcher! We kept fighting until we couldn't hear any more gunshots that weren't ours. We had finally cleared it, but it didn't feel like victory at first. We checked every nook, cranny, house and shed on the airfield searching for any stragglers. Once the airfield was completely cleared, we walked back over to the hangar where… it happened.
"Dani…" I muttered. Yu walked over to me and laid his hand on my shoulder.
"This wasn't your fault, brother." Yu comforted me. "Look at what we just accomplished… Dani would be proud." The victory we just attained was absolutely tainted by the loss of Dani. Dani was one of the guys who made me feel the most at ease when I first met this group of guys. He was even tempered, kind and a very lighthearted person… A diamond in the rough. I heard sobbing from behind me and saw Raku-Chan standing there looking straight ahead. She was very shaken up. Yu walked over to her. "Raku-Chan… I'm sorry you had to go through all of this…"
"Daaannnniiiii-Saaannnnn…" Raku-Chan cried as she buried her face into her hands.
"What… what happened to the Spanish kid?" Woods asked. I was afraid Woods would get mad at me for coming up with a plan that failed… I was too scared to tell him. Just then, Nathan's plane landed on the tarmac and he drove his plane over to where we were standing.
"Gentlemen…" Nathan greeted all of us as he walked over to us tall and proud. "Why the long faces? We won the day, didn't we?"
"It came at a cost…" I said glumly.
—-
We had finally cleared Blanc's region once and for all, and we also got ourselves an airfield to use as a base. That place had everything we needed; ammo, radios, even some planes sitting there waiting to be used. We returned to the small town to get all of our stuff out of Dew's basement and bring them to our, but I also wanted to give her one of the radios I brought from the airfield so she could contact us if she needed to. We used a few trucks that were left at the airfield to get to the town. The sun was beginning to set by the time we got there. When we walked into Dew's shop, she, Rom and Ram were cleaning the shop.
"Hey everyone!" Dew said excitedly. "How did the airfield mission go?"
"We took it and we cleared out the last rats hiding in their fu-" Woods was cut off. Dew knew he was about to say a bad word, so she had a very intimidating look on her face. Woods took a few seconds, then continued with a cleaner dialect. "Funny little corners." Dew was scanning everyone who walked into her shop, and her smile began to fade.
"...Dani?" Dew asked with a concerned look.
"He uh… He didn't make it." Jason said. Dew covered her mouth with her hand… even Rom and Ram looked saddened by this news. "We… we came to clear out your basement. We're officially moving out." Dew nodded sadly. The guys headed down the stairs to gather all of their stuff. I walked over to Dew holding one of the radios I brought from the airfield.
"Here… this is yours." I said. "Call us if anything ever happens… or if you just want to talk." I handed Dew the radio and she set it on the counter. She then gave me a hug, luckily it wasn't as tight as the hug she gave me when we first met.
"Keep being brave, Klonoa." Dew said to me. "This world needs you." I felt immediately emboldened by her words. She ended the embrace, but not before fluffing my cheeks a little bit. Ren then walked up to her.
"Thank you for helping to free me from my mental programming." Ren said as he extended his hand for a hand shake. Dew forced his hand down, then gave him a giant bear hug.
"We're even." Dew said. "You sacrificed yourself so I could escape from that prison." She stood there hugging Ren for just a few more moments before she ended the embrace. She then walked over to RFB. "I've told Suomi this… but it's hard to make friends in this town. If you'd like to come over here and just hang out… I'd love that. I want to get to know you better."
"Yeah, alright!" RFB exclaimed as she pumped her fist. "Do you have any video games?"
"Um… I honestly don't like those very much." Dew admitted. RFB just shrugged it off.
"I'm sure we'll find other things to do together." RFB opened her arms for a hug, which Dew returned. RFB ended the embrace somewhat quickly, so Dew walked over to Suomi.
"You feeling completely better, Suomi?" Dew asked. "You know… considering everything you've been through recently?"
"Just about… but you were right about the whippings." Suomi said as she softly massaged her own back. "Thank you for letting us stay here, Dew."
"It was my absolute pleasure!" Dew said happily. "It was the least I could do since you, Klonoa and Yu freed the town."
"I couldn't have done my without you, Dew." Suomi reminded Dew. "You pointed me to the store where I got my burka." Suomi gave Dew a giant and tight-looking bear hug.
"I'll radio you every now and then for some girl talk." Dew said to Suomi.
"I'll look forward to it." Suomi said as she ended her embrace with Dew. Dew then walked to Yu. She just stood in front of him, looking nervous and fidgety. Yu stood there, looking confident as ever.
"Yu, I…" Dew started. She couldn't figure out what to say, she looked so nervous.
"You don't need to say anything." Yu said.
"There's… one thing I want to do, though…" Dew said as she slowly looked into Yu's eyes. She grabbed him by the collar, went on her tiptoes, and she kissed him! We all stood there in shock. She slowly moved her lips away from his, but she still gazed into his eyes. "Please stay safe out there… and come back here every so often…"
"I will… Dew." Yu said with a look that was stern, confident and a little dazed all at the same time. Dew slowly let go of Yu's collar. We all went downstairs to help the guys get everything out of Dew's basement. There wasn't much down there besides a few personal items and makeshift night stands. There was also Inspector Gadget's ipad, which we spent a good while trying to figure out what to do with. We finally decided to wrap it in plastic and leave it where we buried all of his remains. While I was helping Woods bring one of the mattresses to the truck, Mr. Farha came over to me with the Star of David I'd asked him to make. He gave me a… very irritated look when he gave it to me, though. Anyway, we finally got the truck all loaded up. Dew, Rom and Ram all stood outside the shop to see us off.
"Frank, BJ, Jason, Soldier, Meta Knight and Dedede, I want to thank you all again for saving me from that prisoner transport." Dew said gratefully. "I was literally on my last legs when you found me."
"It wasn't a problem, kiddo." Woods said. "Just doing what needs to be done in this world; looking out for everyone who ain't part of Chris-Chan's brittle little regime."
"Rom, Ram," I started. "You two be good for Miss Dew now, ok?"
"We will, Mr. Klonoa." Ram said sweetly.
"Radio us if something seems awry," BJ started. "We'll come back with real firepower."
"Please come back just for fun once in a while!" Mr Farha said as he waved goodbye. The truck's engine started, and we were off. We drove past houses with grateful folks poking their heads out their window, waving at us and wishing us luck.
—-
We got back to the airfield a bit after dark, and I was just beyond exhausted. The truck pulled over next to one of the houses that was lit up. Raku-Chan poked her head out of the door.
"Oh, you've finaaallllyyyy returned… nyaaa." She said happily. "These threeee houses have beeeeeedsssss, and kitcheeeennnnnssssss. Alsssooo… my car is broookeeeennnnn… can I pleeeeaaaaassssseeeee staaaaayyyyyy a few daaayyyyyysss?"
"Of course. Me casa es tu casa, as Dani would have said it." Woods said as he got out of the truck. "I'll start working on your car tomorrow, but for now, you can sleep here. Don't worry, we'll keep you safe."
"Nathaaaannnnnnn is alreaaadyyyy asleeeeeeep… in the cabiiiiinnnnnn over theeeeerrrreeeee." Raku-Chan informed us, pointing to the cabin right next to the one we parked in front of. Jason grabbed a mattress and started dragging it to one of the houses. "Oh, I don't think you neeeeeeed thaaat, there's alreaaadddyyyyy beeeeeedsssss in theeerrrrreeeee."
"Sweet, saves me from dragging this mattress." Jason said as he just left the mattress on the ground.
"You could at the very least have the courtesy to pick that up." Meta Knight said as he followed Jason to the house where Nathan was sleeping. RFB jumped out of the back of the truck and headed into the house where Raku-Chan was. She then poked her head out.
"There are two rooms in here." RFB informed us. "We can have a boys' room and a girls' room." Suomi got out of the back of the truck and headed into the house as well.
"Well, I suppose we can sleep in here then, brother." Yu said, sounding quite tired. "Ren, you can sleep here as well."
"I can't wait to get some shuteye." Ren said as he took his glasses off and sauntered into the house. I followed them inside, and it was quite nice in there. I didn't really want to explore the airfield since I was completely wiped out. I went into the boys' room, picked a bed and flopped onto it. We had not only taken an airfield, but we also wiped out the last of Blanc's men. Things were looking good for us, but even though we won the day, we lost a good man.