May 5th, 2010

Oured


"Will you shut up already?!" I cursed at the blaring warning of the missile alert as I kept the SR-71 on full afterburner. I felt myself accelerate hard towards Oured in the upper atmosphere.

But no matter how fast he was going, the missile was right behind him.

My heart pumped in my chest wildly as I released whatever amount of flares I had left.

But it was all for nothing and my whole world went white.

My eyes slammed open to the white ceiling of his room. I took a quick look around and found everything as it was when he fell asleep last night. Taking a few deep breaths I quickly claimed my racing heart and closed my eyes for a few moments.

I wiped my sweaty palms on my blanket and slowly sat up on my bed. I swung my legs over on the floor and realized that I had forgotten to take my boots off before passing out. Even so, it was by far the best and worst sleep he had gotten in a while.

The dream felt incredibly real. From the feel of the cockpit, the smell of the sterilized air and the sights and sounds of it all. It was also a view into what could've happened if he wasn't as careful as he was or lucky for that matter.

Those MIGs had the chance to run him down at that altitude and speed and at the distance where they could fire off a missile…...well he wouldn't even know which one of the four would be responsible for the kill.

He knew the risks, in fact he was damn near excited to finally be able to do more than simulated dogfights and missions.

But to do it?

Different story entirely.

And weirdly enough, he wanted to do it again.

I looked down at my hands. They were still shaking slightly from the nightmare but he could only think of the adrenaline high from his brief encounter. Nothing in his training could've prepared him for that.

It was just too bad he would be essentially grounded, playing soldier for a few months before things really got going.

I shook myself from my thoughts and glanced up at the clock.

0643.

The sun wasn't even up yet but there was no way he would be able to go back to sleep anytime soon.

I sighed as I got out of bed and stretched my stiff limbs. I cracked my neck a couple times before making the bed neatly, as practiced, and made my way outside and to the cafeteria.

"Chow hall." I quietly corrected myself. I had the necessary information and training to blend in with the Osean soldiers but there were still slight slip ups. He was trained by a bunch of Belkan ace pilots, nothing "formal" or traditional in any sense.

He would have to be a little more careful with his words and actions, he couldn't draw any unwanted attention on himself.

I followed the signs and quickly made my way to the chow hall, which thankfully was mostly empty. There were a bunch of long tables with seats lining the whole room while there was a coffee machine and vending machine to the side. I passed the machines and quickly grabbed a tray and made my way down the line.

I grabbed some cereal, a couple pieces of bread, a banana and a cup of orange juice before grabbing a table off to the corner.

The bread was a little stale as I bit into it but I shrugged it off and washed it down with some juice. I slowly chewed through the second piece of bread and drifted off into thinking back on the mission from yesterday. I knew I should've been paying more attention, having almost been shot down by that first missile.

If Ashley saw that, there would've been an hour long lecture about paying attention to everything, above, below and around you. And it wouldn't be the first time he got such a lecture.

"You're really eating that stale bread with no jelly?"

I snapped out of my musings by a soft voice, I looked across from me to find a pair of brown eyes staring back at me with amusement. Shit, was he really that bad to let someone sit down literally across from him without noticing?

Apparently so. I took a closer look at her features. Black hair, brown eyes and a slim oreintal face. She was attractive for sure and a pilot and 2nd Lieutenant to boot judging by her rank on her flight suit. I shrugged. "I got some juice to wash it down, besides, I hate jelly. Too sweet for me."

"Really? Hmmm."

I glanced down at her plate. She got the same thing I did, except with some grape jelly on her stale pieces of bread. "You know, it's rather impolite to just barge in and not introduce yourself."

She smirked at me in response. "Fair point, I'm 2nd Lieutenant Kei Nagase. Although in the air, they call me Edge."

"I'm Johan Mattis, my callsign is Blaze."

"Blaze huh…..makes sense."

I rolled my eyes. "It's because of my eyes right?"

She nodded as she ate the last of her cereal. "It's a beautiful shade of red, I've never seen anything like it and with the yellow too."

"Oh well, thank you." I nodded in appreciation. It felt strangely nice to be complimented by a female every now and then.

We fell into a comfortable silence. I quickly finished my food before she did but stayed at the table. I felt like it would be rude if I just up and left, so I quietly stayed in my seat, taking a look around at the rapidly filling cafeteria. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw her staring at me. Was there something on my face?

"I saw you landing the Blackbird last night."

"Did you now?" I propped my head against my arm on the table. "I didn't realize I had an admirer." I slyly commented.

She took it in stride with a small laugh. "More like the bird than the operator!"

I laughed along with her but a small part of me was nervous. She was definitely going to ask about exactly what I was doing piloting a Blackbird of all things.

"It's beautiful."

"Indeed it is."

She leaned forward on her elbows with an excited smile on her face. "Tell me, how's it like to fly something that can reach the edge of the atmosphere?"

I hummed in thought. "I really can see the curve of the Earth from up there, you know. I didn't have my astronaut suit so I couldn't hit 80,000 feet but…." I felt myself falling in a trance as I recalled my memory of the world down below at 60,000 feet. "At even 60,000 feet, the world just blurs together as one. An endless sea of clouds and land, it's really hard to describe it."

"I can't imagine what it looks like from up there…." She trailed off before continuing in a quieter tone. "You looked exhausted when you came out."

My lips twitched. "It….was a long flight."

"I'm sure it was Blaze."

There was a tone of understanding in her voice, as if she knew not to pry. So I took a chance. "You aren't going to ask why?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "If you're flying a Blackbird then I'm sure it's above my paygrade."

If only she realized how true that statement was.

I could only find myself thanking her again. "Thank you."

"Of course." She suddenly grabbed her plate and stood up from her seat. "I almost forgot I had to get ready. It was nice meeting you Blaze, I'll see you around sometime."

I waved at her. "Same hare, it was nice meeting you. I'm sure I'll see you around." I gave her one last smile at her retreating form. My smile disappeared along with her.

There would be a day where she would be on the frontlines as a pilot, fighting other Yuke pilots. In the coming months, there was a real chance she would die. I looked down at my hands and clenched them into a white knuckled fist. I looked around and saw more people in flight suits, enjoying their meal and friendly company. For the briefest of moments when I closed my eyes, I could only see them crashing to their deaths in a blaze of fire.

"Shit." I muttered to myself. I opened my eyes and leaned back in the chair and gazed up at the ceiling. He had to do this, there was no going back now.

Their blood was already on his hands.

They just didn't know it yet.

I steeled my features and got up and left the chow hall after dropping off my empty tray.

Even after years of preparing myself for the upcoming months, I found myself second guessing myself. Did I really have the will to go through with the war? Was my loyalty to Belka as strong as I said it was? Because unlike Ashley and the other aggressor pilots, he held no real hate for the two major superpowers.

This was what he decided his fate should be way back when the old man offered his "salvation." He may not have understood or even realized it at the time but it was set in stone at this point. The Grey Men had influence deep in the Osean and Yuktobanian government and war would inevitably start again.

And it was I who made the first move to put the plans in motion.

In the upcoming weeks, the peace loving and charismatic Prime Minister Nikanor would quietly be replaced by war hungry generals. They would order spy operations on the Oseans from there on, and the rest would be history.

All he had to do was wait at Sand Island until the war kicked off and then do his part from there onwards.

The Belkans got their war and revenge and he got to fly.

That was their deal.

Simple, easy and not complicated at all.

I smirked at the thought as I entered my room.

Looking at my bed, I found a large duffle bag sitting there. I walked over and dug through its contents. There were regular sanitary stuff like toothbrushes and paste and any uniform he may need while in the Osean military along with multiple flight suits. Plus some magazines and books, mainly biographies of other ace pilots, thrown in there.

I combed through the clothes and on one of the flight suits I found a small writing on the inside of the suit. It was located just below his chest and written in small ink.

Fly High Kid.

I only knew one person who would find a way to write that on his uniform.

"Fucking, Ashley." I muttered with a soft smile. Sighing, I clenched the uniform tightly and closed my eyes. Even if I truly didn't care for the war or for Belka, Ashley did. I owed the man my life and more.

And that alone meant fulfilling his mission until the bitter end.

With a newfound resolve found in himself, he quickly slipped his new flight suit on and threw his old one in the duffle bag.

I looked over at the clock.

0833. Just a little longer and he'd be on his way to a tropical paradise. But before that, he needed to be at the base commander's office for a quick meeting.

I straightened out my flight suit and looked myself over in the mirror. I turned my head as I ran my hand through my hair. It was a standard crew cut with his brown hair swept to the side. I frowned as the sides and back were getting a little long for comfort. Hopefully the colonel wouldn't say anything about that.

I turned away from the mirror and grabbed the large duffle bag with a soft grunt, it was heavier than I expected. Walking out of the room, I quickly made my way to the colonel's office. The walk was a bit longer than I expected but it helped me gather my thoughts last minute.

Before I knew it, I was standing in front of my destination. I glanced at the plaque that was on the door.

Colonel Richtner

His parents left Belka long before the war and immigrated to Osea and the good colonel had joined the airforce straight out of high school. That's all I was told to know.

I closed my eyes and took a slow deep breath. I placed a stoic facade on my face before knocking on the door three times.

"Yes, who is it?"

"2nd Lieutenant Johan Mattis sir!"

There was a short pause. "Come in."

I took one last breath before opening the door. I quickly pushed past the door and closed it behind me before turning around in a salute and giving me a view of the base commander behind his desk. The colonel was shorter than me by a whole head. He was much older than him with short grey hair, wrinkles around the eyes and forehead and dark eyes. Despite his age though, his eyes seemed as sharp as ever. He merely waved me off.

"At ease."

I lowered my hand to my sides and waited for him to continue.

The aged commander looked me up and down, judging me. "You look a lot younger than what I was expecting….hmm I trust you remember what to do?"

"Yes sir."

"Good, that saves me a lot of time and we can get to the nitty gritty." The colonel narrowed his eyes at me, it felt like he was staring into my soul. "Arguably, you will have the hardest job out of most of us, juggling being on the frontlines and whatnot. Don't fall so into the role you are given that you forget your end objective, understand?"

I felt a chill go down my spine at the threatening tone. "Yes sir I understand."

"This is bigger than you and I….and we….no they will know if you turn your back on us." The commander sat down in his chair with a sigh and leaned back as he continued to stare me down. "You know, I heard a lot of good things about you from Ash. He said that there is no better person for the job...and that you're a hell of a pilot. And while I am inclined to express my doubts, I trust his word."

"He trained me well sir, you have nothing to worry about."

"Oh, I don't have to worry about anything. This is all you and Ash along with the rest of you lot." He scoffed at me as he looked me up and down. "Ashley is practically putting his name on the line with you kid. He and the others have high hopes for you. I pray for Ash that you don't fail."

My lips thinned at the statement but otherwise kept his face neutral. I took a quiet deep breath, the room suddenly felt claustrophobic. "I won't fail sir."

"See that you don't." The commander looked over at a clock on the wall. "I was supposed to brief you again you know...but quite frankly, I don't think you need it and even if you did, it would be too late to go over such details at the last minute. You're dismissed, C-130 takes off in 30."

I saluted him. "Yes sir!' I dropped my salute and quickly turned around, making a beeline for the door. I wanted to get out of his room ASAP. I practically ran out the room and shut the door behind me with a loud click. I took another deep breath.

'Well that was pointless and annoying.' I thought while I began walking to the transports waiting outside.

The whole "meeting" lasted only a couple minutes and amounted to him being told that he wasn't trusted and a backhanded good luck wish. All he could've done without.

I shook away the negative thoughts that began surfacing in my head and continued my way to my transport. I walked down the hallways at a brisk pace and eventually saw a C-130 transport being loaded up with various supplies through the windows. I stopped and took a moment to appreciate the huge bird. I turned my eyes to the other people in flight suits gathered by the loading ramp. Seems like some of the other "nuggets" were already there.

I made my way outside and to the gathering group of my fellow pilots. Judging by their large smiles and excited voices, they were all happy to go to Sand Island. Which confused me, Sand Island was in the middle of nowhere and they were all being sent to bolster the numbers of an auxiliary squadron. Maybe it was the weather or location? Whatever it was, they most likely wouldn't be as excited down the line.

"Man, I sure can't wait to fly somewhere that isn't Heierlark!"

I winced at the loud, boisterous voice before coming to a rather quick understanding, well more of an assumption. Most of these people were probably trained and earned their wings at the frigid air base. He could understand their feelings. He had only known the icy, snow covered land and skies of Belka for the longest.

In fact, if he remembered correctly, Heierlark wasn't too far off from roughly where he was in that damned castle.

I took a chance to look for the culprit of the voice to find a rather outrageous individual in the middle of some other pilots, enjoying the attention and laughter he was getting. I quickly took notice of the long sideburns on the sides of his face.

'Are those sideburns even allowed?' I thought with amusement as I watched the pilot's antics.

"That's Chopper by the way."

I damn near dropped my bag at the sudden voice next to me. "Schei?e!" I turned to a familiar face. "Will you stop sneaking up on me?"

Kei smirked as she looked up at me. "Nope, you zone out too much, it makes it easy."

I sighed in exasperation. "Well, I guess I'll have to fix that then."

"I hope you don't zone out as much in the air as you do on the ground Blaze. That's-"

"Asking for death." I finished for her before waving her off. "I'm good in the air, no need to worry."

She winced at my comment. "Well I wasn't going to put it like that."

I shrugged and saw her glance down at my bag. I lifted it slightly. "I guess you're headed off to Sand Island right?"

"Yeah….we all are." She gained a thoughtful look on her face for a moment. "We just finished training at Heierlark, we're getting sent there for some further training…..but what about you Blaze? How come you're headed to Sand Island?"

It took a lot to keep my face straight in front of her questioning stare. "I'm getting transferred."

She wasn't satisfied by the answer. Not by a long shot, he could tell that much. I sighed for what seemed like the thousandth time that day. "Some...things happened in my previous unit and I'm getting sent back to an auxiliary squadron for further….evaluations."

"I see…" She hummed to herself. "It must've been something bad huh? For you to be sent to Sand Island of all places."

I titled my head at her comment. "Sand Island can't be that bad right?"

Kei simply shrugged at me. "Well it's where all the troublemakers and nuggets go, at least that's what I heard anyway."

Well no one bothered to tell me that I was getting sent to an island full of troublemakers. "That's…...well I guess it could be worse."

"Everyone, get on board! We're taking off!"

I shifted my grip on my bag. "That's our cue, let's go Nagase." I turned and made my way towards the line of pilots boarding the C-130. I shuffled behind another pilot and quietly followed everyone else onto the transport. Out of curiosity I turned my head slightly and saw Kei out of my peripherals. She was taking a look over towards the hangers. I quickly turned my head back around to avoid any eye contact.

His excuse bought him some time but he knew Kei would probably ask him again sometime soon. While he was under obligation to tell her anything, even a lie, he knew she would still try to squeeze some more information out of him. It wasn't as if he didn't have a cover story to fall back on, he had forged records backing every word he said. It was just that he had a terrible poker face.

I saw the pilot in front of me sit and I followed his actions. I held back a wince at the rock hard and uncomfortable seating he found himself in. He heard the person next him mutter a slew of curses under his breath at the terrible seating. I rolled my eyes and silently put my bangs between my feet and buckled myself in.

Suddenly I felt Kei move closer to his ear.

"I expect more of that story later Blaze."

I gave her the fakest laugh I could muster. "Maybe over a strong drink."

"Deal."

Ah shit. I let out a breath that I was holding and glanced down at the smaller pilot. She had a small smile on her face, whatever reason that may be.

"Engines start up in 60 seconds! Get your ear pros in!"

I didn't bother looking at the voice and quickly fetched my ear plugs from my bag.

Then I heard and felt the engines roar to life. In the belly of the C-130, the sound was deafening, even with the ear plugs. I crossed my arms over my chest and closed my eyes for a quick nap. I felt the plane lurch forward as it began to taxi to the runway.

Should be a nice and easy few hour flight to the tropical island.

I kept my eyes closed for the whole ordeal of takeoff. I was just trying to force myself to take a short nap, if only to escape the loud sounds of the transport. I felt the plane shake as it hit turbulence as it climbed to altitude. Soon I felt the plane level off and leaned my head back against the cool metal of the plane.

It took a while, or what it felt like a while but soon I felt myself slipping away. However I was quickly shocked wide awake by a head leaning on his shoulders. I looked over at the culprit, mildly annoyed as I caught the snickers and finger pointing from the other airmen.

Nagase had fallen asleep before him and decided in her sleep that his shoulder was a good pillow. I shifted my shoulder slightly, seeing if she would awake but she stayed asleep through it. It wasn't uncomfortable by any stretch of the imagination, felt nice in a way he really couldn't describe.

It wasn't as if he had tons of experience with normal interactions between a man and woman. Growing up with a bunch of war hungry Belkan aces did that to a kid.

Now he was definitely not falling asleep.

Using my free arm I reached down carefully, not to awake the female pilot, I opened my bag and fished out a book. It was a rather thick book with a paper thin red cover. I stared at the title for a moment.

Who Really is the Demon Lord?

While Ashley never had any great things to say about the Demon Lord, he admitted on many occasions that the ace pilot was THE ace of the Belkan War. Definitely not one to be trifled with on the battlefield as dozens and dozens would agree with. If they were alive that is. Very few lived through an encounter with the mercenary pilot, even fewer could fight him head on.

I knew the major details of his exploits from my own prior readings but never got a chance to dig deeper into the mystery of the Demon Lord of the Round Table. Ashley was often reluctant to even talk about that part of the war.

Until now that is, apparently.

I opened the book and began reading.

As I began reading I felt goosebumps on my arms and a shiver run down my back despite the warmth of the cabin.

"He really is the Demon Lord." I muttered to myself as I got drawn into the words. I didn't notice the time or the sleeping pilot on my shoulder as I read through the pages.

Eventually I felt the plane shudder as it began descending. I looked up from my book and glanced around me. Most of the others were sleeping, reading or doing whatever to pass the time. My vision landed on a taller guy with the sideburns, some several seats down and across from me. Even with the noise of the aircraft he seemed to be talking up a storm as the two sitting beside him were giving him an annoyed glare.

I shook my head at the pilot's antics before returning back to the book. It wasn't long before we were told to get ready to land. I folded the page I was on and stuffed the book back into my bag. As I was zipping it up, I shook in my seat as we hit some turbulence and felt the head on my shoulder slowly move. I looked over at Nagase and saw her slowly wake up. She blinked and looked around as her eyes landed on mine. I just watched with amusement as she slowly turned red in embarrassment before jolting upright.

I finally allowed myself to stretch and enjoyed the cracks and pops from my joints before crossing my arms over my chest. I kept my gaze down at my feet as I felt the craft descend further.

It wouldn't be much longer before we touched down. Sure enough, after a couple minutes I felt the plane lurch as it landed. Soon the plane crawled to a stop and the ramp lowered with a loud thud. I looked at the brightly lit island from my seat and felt the heat hit me.

We were quickly motioned off the transport plane with our stuff and as soon as we gathered outside, we were met by a rather disinterested looking security guard.

"Come, the base commander wishes to speak to you all." He droned at us.

I watched the others look at each other before they began following the guard. I looked to my left and saw Nagase. Her ears were still a little red.

Cute.

I shifted my grip on my bag and followed the guard. As we were led through the hallways of a building I took notice of the aged appearance of the walls and floors.

The base had definitely seen better days.

We eventually reached a room and were quickly ushered in. I was one of the last in and found that there weren't enough chairs for everyone so myself, Nagase and a few others had to remain standing.

It was a couple minutes of hushed whispers before the base commander appeared.

I watched as a large man practically waddled into the room. I had to take a double take at the rank insignia he carried.

"Room, Attention!" Someone called out.

I snapped a salute as did everyone else. I watched as the man stared at us down one by one.

"At ease."

I slowly lowered my arms back down to my sides and watched as the base commander took a deep breath.

"I am Colonel Perrault and as you know, I am the base commander here. Remember what I say, goes without question and know that all of you, with the exception of one, are brand new pilots in the Osean Airforce. You are here to hone your skills with the instructors at this base. Don't think that just because we are an auxiliary squadron means that you can slack off on your duties!" He berated us and took a moment before continuing. "I have read through the transcripts and know we have some troublemakers here...if you wish to get off this island, I suggest you straighten your behaviors. Especially you! Blaze!"

I blinked as I realized I was being singled out. I bit the inside of my lip. "Sir!"

"Johan "Blaze" Mattis….disobeying a direct order huh?"

Shit.

"Well you got anything to say for yourself?"

I looked the base commander in the eyes and kept my face as neutral as possible. "None sir." I deadpanned.

"Hmph! I assumed as much….you're just like Captain Bartlett. I hope you are comfortable with your demotion, you'll be 2nd Lieutenant for a long while." He sneered at me.

I couldn't help but glare at the man. Sure, everything was just a fabrication of the Grey Men but it still annoyed him to no end to be singled out like this. Even if he technically wasn't in the Osean military, he still wore the uniform with some semblance of pride. For a while the two of us had a staring contest, uncaring of how the rest of the room looked on at us.

I won.

The colonel looked away before dismissing us. "Belkan rat...Dismissed!" He pushed past us and waddled out.

He certainly didn't hold back.

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath to calm myself down. I wasn't Belkan by origin, at least I think, but the insult still stung. Even worse, I had the attention of the whole room now.

"Blaze!"

I opened my eyes and glanced over at a pissed off Nagase. "Yes?"

"What was that? You can't let him walk over you like that! It's-It's-"

"What? Not right? I watched her nod her head and I shrugged in response. "Well, it is what it is. I'm here now so I just have to deal with it." I picked up my bag and practically ran out the room. "I'm gonna figure out where my room is, I'll see you later."

It took me longer than I expected to figure out where my room was. Nobody seemed to know and I was getting bounced around by people who were making guesses. Eventually I ended up at the office of the base's adjutant, Major Hamilton.

I wearily looked at the blond haired, green eyed man that sat across from me. Despite the calm exterior demeanor, the major had a rather icy glare permanently etched in his eyes. I took a quick glance at a small folder in my hands.

"I heard you had met the base commander earlier." Hamilton started off.

I couldn't suppress a grimace. "Yes, I did. He also took the moment to absolutely embarrass me in front of the other pilots."

The major propped his elbows on the wood desk and laced his hands under his chin. "Hmmm, that's not what I heard. According to 2nd Lieutenant Davenport you, "set the fat bastard on fire with your eyes.""

Davenport….why was that familiar? "Davenport….that's the loud one right?"

"Yes it is."

I sighed. "Of course."

There was a short period of silence between us. I took the moment to comb through the contents in the folder.

"I used to be in the 8492nd Squadron before my station here, you know."

I raised my eyebrows in confusion. "I see….then I guess you know Ashley then?"

"I do, he's a dedicated man." Hamilton continued in a lower tone, it was almost a whisper. "Much like everyone else, the question is...are you?"

I shut the folder and laid it on my lap and stared back at the officer with a blank stare. "I lived my whole life for this, trained for it by the best. You can be assured I will see this through to the end, formal training or not. I am every bit as committed as you are, Major Hamilton."

The pale man gave me a small smirk, the only expression he had given me throughout this whole conversation. "Understood." He reached underneath his desk and pulled out a bottle of whiskey along with two shot glasses.

I gave the man a confused stare.

"A toast for the future." Hamilton answered. "Soon we will have our war….much to your efforts."

I blankly stared at the brown liquid as it was poured into my glass. I watched as the adjutant raised his glass.

"To Belka."

I raised my glass. "To Belka."


Again thanks for reading! Do let me know if you see any errors or have a comment!

See yall in the next one.