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Description
Valais Air Base, Ustio
1530hrs. April 15th 1995
Rec room
Light snow

"O're azure skies our emerald plains where freedom and justice prevails, with courage and strength we will fight to the end for liberty in our land!!" Ustians pilots celebrated to a successful operation and continued to drink until one of them fell on his back and laughed they raised their glasses and looked at Cipher who was raising her glass too "a toast to Cipher" she smiled and downed her beer.
"Hey Chris you still want vodka you Estovakina." The bartender teased
"Yeah whatever" he sat at the bar and grabbed his cup of vodka and downed the contents. "You still give the least amount come on your fleecing me" Chris had another glass swirled a little and drank it. The Ustian pilots all continued to sing national anthems of different nations he heard one from Usea again but he wouldn't blame 'em that anthem was a fitting one for this good day. He spotted Cipher and raised his glass in hello which she responded by raising hers. Larry popped in and put his arm around cipher and walked her out towards the Hangars to show here some planes Ustio just got in. he finished the last of his shot and left the bar to go see the rest of the squad but was stopped by CC putting another of her old squad mates in a head lock.
"Oh hey Major" she dropped the unlucky man on the ground cutting his face up from the little pebbles on the ground "I was just uhh…" she trailed off trying to think of an excuse
"Oh no its fine I'm not that hard up" Chris smiled and put his arm around CC shoulder and pointed at an F-18 "you are really good in that jet of yours but" he pointed to his F-22 sitting in the sun getting repairs on the wings and a new coat of stealth paint "I can easily take you down in this baby" CC laughed and flicked here silver hair out of her face and started Chris down with her dark brown eyes
"I'd beg to differ" she punched him in the side and walked off to her F-18 and stood on the wing "me in this baby." She smiled widely "we can go anywhere" Chris cocked an eyebrow and laughed "but by the looks of that fancy F-22 of yours, you should be more careful" she wagged a finger at him
"Yeah, yeah" he looked at the Raptor sitting in the sun and collecting a thin sheet of snow which the mechanics cursed furiously at the snow "you know you should park inside the hangar?"
"hey wise guy do you see how much space is in that hangar we have reserve planes and planes for our pilots and you shmucks that keep getting these sexy pieces of aircraft more broke than it already was" the mechanic rambled. Chris looked inside the hangar CC still on the wing of her 18 but sitting on it with her legs swinging like a little girl finding out her legs don't touch the ground. The Hangar was cramped with all the planes that could fold their wings up F-18s and F-14s that could fold their wings in he spotted a Tornado ' haven't seen those in years' he walked to the other hangars and they spelled the same story. "Osean pilots think they know everything" the mechanic went under the fighter and started to work on the internal weapons bay.
"I'll see you around CC I'm gonna ask the Colonel on our next assignment" he waved to CC who was laying down on her plane now
"See you later sir" she jumped down and grabbed a mechanic "the left aileron is still stiff" her voice faded as Chris went to the colonel's room
Chris walked down the hall pilots and ground crew moving about trying to get things in order the Colonel was talking with the base commander on how her squadron was used in deployments, Chris stopped an earshot away to see the Colonel cross her arms and flick hair from her face with her fingers
"My squad is good Commander" Bree frowned
"I understand Samantha, but we need them for support we don't want Osea's fighters to destroy everything after we liberate Dierictus then ill deploy your squad on your own missions" the Commander responded firmly 'Samantha' Chris was shocked to see that an Ustio CO knows his CO's first name not even her own team knew her name it was just Bree or Colonel Bree or just the Colonel "but after your Command and my Command can come up with something then they are under my command until further notice clear" the Commander leaned into the Colonel's face to be more intimidating
"Clear sir" she groaned
"Good I think one of your pilots is here to see you" The commander nodded his head and left Chris and Bree alone
"That Bastard" Colonel Bree said disgusted "what is it major" she glared
"Just wondering when our next sortie is ma'am?" he said nervously lest he incurred the wrath of his commanding officer
"you are to go to B7R for a little diversion so that Osea can send her 3rd fleet and our new flagship the Kestrel into action" she paused "AWACS Eagle Eye and the Galm team are going with you except since you're a stealth squadron" she smiled at the thought "you're going to be engaging in the north part of B7R around Sudentor" she paused and sighed "AWACS Goliath is going to be helping other squadrons around Ustio so I'll be stuck here in the bar drowning myself in drink" she un buttoned her uniform coat and the top two buttons on her collar. "the operation starts in a couple of days I'd suggest you get your plane fixed and some rest" she went to her room closely followed by Chris "I'll see you later" she closed the door 'B7R huh?' Chris thought 'I can handle myself'.

Valais Air Base, Ustio
Briefing room 4
0530hrs. April 20th, 1995
Clear skies

Chris was sitting in the chair with a cup of coffee and sipped it gingerly and found the contents of the drink a little lacking something. He pushed that aside and looked at the maps for B7R just a long mountain range in the south facing toward Ustio and open area beyond that. He traced his finger from the air base to the destination 70 miles outside Sudentor, Belka he tapped the spot on the map twice and looked at the board and sipped more coffee he heard the door open and CC walked in with her silver hair in a makeshift bun she looked at the major and sat next to him and put her head on his shoulder. And looked at the coffee cup in his hands and reached for it. He gladly gave it to her and she sipped some of the drink and groaned
"Not to your liking CC" he said quietly flipping through intelligence reports in B7R
"Noooo" she huffed and looked at Chris "how can you be awake this early?"
"Coffee my dear black as the blackest night and bitter like my ex's cold dead heart" he laughed "where's the rest of the squad?"
"On their way" CC adjusts her head on Chris' shoulder to get more comfortable and frowned with her eyes closed "you don't make a very good pillow sir" Chris laughed and drank more coffee and hears Alice and John enter they sit next to Chris. Alice gave Chris a nod and John did the same. Cipher and Pixy entered next and took seats behind Dragoon team. Eagle Eye entered with Colonel Bree behind him. She had bags under eyes and her black hair was in an ineffective pony tail. She gave a nod to her team and sat down in the commander's chair.
"Alight ladies and gentlemen Command wants you two teams to penetrate B7R one from the South end" he clicked the projector and a map of the airspace popped up and two arrows one Galm team the other Dragoon team. One was pointing up to the north which was the southern team Galm and the northern team which was Dragoon team penetrated towards the south Chris sipped on his coffee again. "Galm team will penetrate and eliminate any hostile craft same for your team Major" he looked at Chris in which he gulped down the Coffee and nodded and returned to his drink
"Uh sir why do we only a six man team have to do this" John pointed at the airspace "I mean six against at least two entire squadron of Belkan fighters not to mention any reinforcements they can have in almost a flash" John groaned
"Because we are expendable" Pixy put his feet up on the chair in front of him Cipher nodded in agreement. "So stop whining" Pixy joked
"Well real confidence booster huh?" Chris sipped on his coffee and looked at CC who was still on his shoulder but staring at B7R on the projector
"This operation is code named Choker One" Eagle Eye paused "we can expect heavy resistance so be careful" he clicked the projector off "ma'am do you have anything to say?" he asked Colonel Bree
"Well I can tell you one thing Goliath isn't going to help my team so Eagle Eye is going to be our AWACS for the time being" she addressed the Dragoons. "So just make it home safe" she looked at Eagle Eye and left the briefing room.
"Well let's get this show on the road shall we" he walked out towards the hangars followed by the two teams.
Eagle Eye stopped in front of the E-767 and noticed a young women in Osean intelligence uniform standing next the ladder for his crew "excuse me are you lost ma'am?" he looked at her name tag "oh you're Goliath's Intel officer huh?"
"Yes sir the Colonel and the Commander of this base agreed for me to go with this AWACS Eagle Eye" she laughed nervously. The pilot looked her over and smirked
"Alright you can provide data for the Dragoon team and ill handle Galm" he extended a hand Trish took it and shook it he felt her hands trembling. "Don't be so scared Alvarez" he smiled to which she relaxed her shoulders sunk a little.
"Yes… yes sir" she looked at the E-767 and back at Eagle Eye "I'll do my best sir"
"Now that's what I like to here, come on we take off in a few" Eagle Eye put his flight helmet and climbed on board followed by Trish she looked inside Ustian Intel officers were sitting down and looking over flight data and intelligence reports from different fronts in Ustio, a few of them had cups of water and others with coffee. She took an empty seat and got herself comfortable and waited. She felt the AWACS being towed onto the flight line and buckled her seat belt. She felt a hand touch her shoulder and turned to see a tan and well-built man with a cup of strong bitter coffee in his hand he smiled.
"Just breath darling" the man spoke as he toke another sip of his coffee and extended a hand "the names Neil Garcia" she took his hand and felt the roughness to it and a few scars were a knife must have cut along the palm of his hand "and you are little miss?"
Trish was speechless for a second in a daze because she's never been hit on so suave like "Trish Alvarez" she fumbled her words almost "I'm from Osea" she let go of his hand he cocked his head and sipped on more coffee "where are you from?" she asked she could smell the coffee the warmness and the bitterness of the taste.
"Originally from Sapin, but my new home is here" he smiled and set the mug down and felt the AWACS stop at the hold short line. The engines revved and it moved a bit then stopped Eagle Eye was doing system checks.
"Alright people put your seat backs in upright positions and tray tables up" Eagle Eye yelled at them in the back and taxied to the runway he heard Chris over the com
"take care of Trish for us alright Eagle Eye" Chris voice was a little strained from the initial Gs on takeoff "you'll do fine little one" his voice ended as he formed up with the rest of the Dragoon team.
"Yeah count on it" Eagle Eye accelerated and the E-767 took to the skies and leveled off at 30,000ft "ladies and gentlemen you are free to move about the cabin" he joked

B7R, Belka
15,000ft above sea level 70 miles from Sudentor
1245hrs. April 20th, 1995
Clear skies

The cockpit was quiet no one said a word as they traversed through the air; Chris looked at his radar and saw the dotted line of B7R airspace. It edged closer and closer, about 12 green contacts from Belka's squadron stationed at B7R appeared on the radar. Chris hooked his oxygen mask on and breathed. He waited for the enemy to say something he looked at his team. Arclight was on his left following close, Brink was close too, and CC was a little distant away but then closed the formation.
"Eagle Eye to Dragoon team" Trish's voice broke the silence her voice was a lot calmer than the first time she flew with them. "B7R is directly on the nose" she paused "penetrate B7R and get a feel for your surroundings" she didn't click the com off "be careful sir" she turned off the com.
"Right let's go" Chris slowly accelerated towards B7R and the rest followed suit. "Let's get a little dispersed here"
"Rodger" Alice banked a good distance away and leveled off
"Rodger" John waited for CC to bank and then got a same amount of distance from Chris as Alice
"Wilco" CC banked a bit father then closed in a tad "the hostiles are inbound sir" she said cool and calm "they think something's up"
"That can't be right I'm getting faint radar signatures" a Belkan fighter squinted trough his visor and saw the four winged formation on his twelve o'clock "oh shit enemy contacts on my-" he was cut off from a sidewinder impacting the nose of his aircraft his wingman banked away
"They are definite hostiles all squads engage" his plane trailed some smoke from the debris hitting the MiGs belly. Teams around the area proceeded to engage the four fighters that invaded their airspace. The Belkan fighters engaged into the four man formation with Vulcans blazing red hot.
"Dragoon team engage" Trish spoke with a hint of nervousness
"Dragoon 1 engaging" Chris banked and avoided two fulcrums from crashing head on into him. He moved to engage those two with two sidewinders locked on for each one.
"Dragoon 2 engaging" Alice pointed her nose up and three fishbeds followed lagging behind for the lack of speed
"Dragoon 3 engaging" John flipped his raptor upside down to perform a split s and headed for the deck of B7R followed by two MiG-29 super fulcrums
"Dragoon 4 engaging" CC dumped her speed and let a two super fulcrums pass her by she then flipped the 1 on her back and accelerated to catch the two MiGs firing a sidewinder for each.
Chris followed the fulcrums and matched each maneuver they performed and sprayed a volley a bullets into one of them it trailed thick smoke and wobbled from the Gs on the airframe he finished it off with a sidewinder into the exhaust of the MiG. It burst into flames and plummeted into the ground. The other MiG spun into a dizzying circle to shake his pursuer; Chris straightened his plane and waited for him to level off. He did and kept accelerating as fast as his fulcrum could. Chris launched a missile and impacted its wing tearing it off and causing the MiG to spin out of control. He breathed and headed to the next group of fighters.
"Where the hell are our reinforcements?!" the Belkan panted as his MiG banked to avoid a barrage of bullets from CC
"Slippery bastard" she cursed and banked sharper than the Super Fulcrum and clipped it aileron off "take that you little shit"
"This is Round Table squadron 156th tactical fighter Squadron we are being pounded out here" the Belkan pilot nursed his wounded plane "we are being engaged oh for fu-" he didn't finish CC launched a sidewinder to finish him off it puncher the canopy and went through the bottom of the cockpit
"Ooh nasty way to go" She winced at the carnage and her planed yelled at her MISSILE CAUTION CAUTION. "Yes I know" she grunted and pulled the F-18 over the MiG pursuing her and fired her Vulcan at the same time. The MiG trailed smoke and a small fire she finished it off with another burst from her machine gun. She licked her lips and smiled "another one down"
Alice was high in the sky with the fishbeds still on her tail she looked at the digital read out on her altimeter. 35,000ft she turned her engines off and watched the two fishbeds pass her. She smiled "say cheese boys" she got weapons lock and fired her XMAAs at the two fishbeds and watched as they turned into clouds of dark smoke debris. Her Raptor pointed down and roared to life she pulled up sinking into the seat and leveled off "whew alright on to the next" she headed towards Chris who was engaging Su-27s that were brought from the rear.
John stuck close to the red earth of B7R and watched as puffs of the red clay climb into the air from the two planes firing at him. He looked behind him and watched the two MiGs swing side to side trying to get a good shot. "Not today gentlemen" he pointed his nose up and dumped his speed and saw the MiGs fly past him; he accelerated and caught up with him he engaged his master switch and the XMAAs popped out of the weapons bay of the 22. LOCK he smiled and fired them off and banked away looking behind him. One of the MiGs pulled up early and the missile impacted the center of his MiG causing it to split in half horizontally. The other MiG banked too hard to the left and crashed into the ground. John frowned and stayed quiet; he banked to help CC a MiG super Fulcrum and a Fishbed following her. He got on the fishbed's tail and took it out with ease
"Belkan airpower in the air is diminished only two targets remain…. Wait one remains" Trish spoke calmly
"Good job kid" Chris grunted and barrel rolled over the last target which was a Su-27 and fired the Vulcan taking of the rudder and half of its wing. It wobbled and the airframe snapped spilling the pilot out. "Alright airspace secure" Chris exhaled and straitened his plane. The Squad formed up around him CC was flying upside down
"Whew this was…" she paused to think of the words "fun" she panted and steadies her breath she righted her plane.
"Dragoon team we got contacts looks like a four winged formation" Trish spoke with her nervousness creeping back in her voice
"Alright we are moving to intercept" Chris and his flight accelerated towards the new bandits
"Report" the lead plane barked
"Four of them mixed planes" his wing man answered
"Alright then Grun team lets go" the lead banked sharply leaving a sharp contrail and accelerated towards them. The four F-18 Hornets accelerated to intercept the Dragoons
"We have F-18s and they are fast" Trish looked at her radar in the AWACS looks like the Grun team sir" she reported
"Alright take on one on one don't let them double team you" Chris ordered his flight they spread apart to match each one of their enemies movement
The two teams matched each other's speed going head on there was a tension as each team looked each other dead on. The two teams engaged and broke off into one on one dogfight. Grun 1 engaged Dragoon 4 and the mixed and matched lead going after wingman and wingman going after lead. CC was evenly matched her maneuvers being matched and her turns being matched by the Grun commander, She was breathing heavily trying to out turn out perform but the lead plane matched her every move.
"your good" she grunted and barrel rolled her plane but Grun 1 slanted his 18 and fired into her fuselage causing some oil to spill out "come on baby just a bit more" she nursed her plane but still flew as if it was at top performance. She fired her Vulcan piercing into Grun's skin causing oil and hydraulics to spill out as well. She smiled "take that" she kept her finger on the trigger the Vulcan still blaring machine gun fire, until Grun 1 put his nose up and scorpion maneuvered behind her which caught her off guard but she regained her momentum. She flipped over him and fired a sidewinder it hit the F-18 and sheared of the wing
"This was fun Dragoon 4" Grun 1 smiled and ejected out of his F-18 and the plane exploded into a fire ball
"Yeah it was" she said quietly and watched the other Grun members get shot down by the other Dragoons. She banked to her flight lead.
"all units confirmed down" Trish said Calmly "a message from Colonel Bree it says 'well done Osean 3rd fleet is moving out toward Furtour canal as planed' and that's it sirs"
"Looks like we were just a diversion" Pixy said over the com as he heard the report from Eagle Eye. Chris looked at the distance between the two of them. 'Huh this dogfight got us closer the Galm team'
"I guess so" Cipher said
"All teams RTB" Eagle Eye cleared them to head back to base
"Yo, Buddy still alive" Pixy said to his flight lead
"Yeah" Cipher banked her plane towards Valais as well as the Dragoons.

Valais Air Base, Ustio
En bound to land
1530hrs. April 20th, 1995
Cloudy

They entered Valais airspace, Chris looked to see the snow peaked mountains Tyrann glisten in the sunlight he sighed "I wonder what the skies would look like during peace time" Chris spoke to himself
"Probably really beautiful" Alice was in thought as well her raptor close to her flight lead
"You know I wonder if you snow board on those mountains." John chimed in looking at the slopes and nodding in satisfaction "you could get some air of those slopes"
"You could but there are a lot of wolves on these mountains "CC spoke from her silence "but yeah you could get some air" her mood lightened a bit but she frowned as her plane lost more oil and hydraulics in her right wing. "Sir I got to land"
"Right you go first" Chris called the tower "Tower this Dragoon flight, Dragoon 4 is en bound with a damaged wing"
"Rodger emergency teams are on standby" the Tower called the teams and yellow trucks started to move onto the tarmac.
"Dragoon 4 in bound" she banked towards the runway and slowed to landing speed, she eased her wounded plane onto the runway and felt the jerking of the wheels touching the runway. She felt a wobble in the right wheel "oh shit" as soon as she finished the sentence the gear snapped of and cause her plane to spin on the runway she grabbed the handles to counteract the spin of the plane. The F-18 stopped spinning and rested half way down the runway. "I think I'm going to be sick" she pulled the canopy up and puked on the other side of the plane. She looked at the crews running towards her plane to get it off the runway. They pulled her out of the plane and she puked again on one of the emergency personal. He frowned and shook his head.
"Dragoon 1 to tower is CC alright" Chris said worried
"She's fine just puking all over my emergency teams" the tower laughed. The emergency teams pulled the F-18 away from the runway and put it back in the hangar.
The teams landed on the airfield followed by their AWACS, Chris visited the infirmary to see CC she was sitting on the hospital bed getting checked out by a medic she smiled and gave a thumbs up to show she's okay. Chris went to the bar to call Mia with the phone in the back of the bar.The phone rang for a few seconds then the line was picked up "hello?" her voice answered trembling
"Hey baby" Chris smiled
"Oh my god" she gasped "where are you?"
"I'm in a base in Ustio" he paused to look at two pilots making faces trying to make Chris laugh "and I'm fine"
""oh thank god" she cried "I miss you baby"
"I miss you Babe" Chris turned to see Cipher enter and sit at the bar. "I've meet some great people here in Ustio" he smiled to hear her stop crying
"Oh good" she smiled on the other end "be careful out there okay sky guy"
"I will" he flicked one of the pilots off for almost making him laugh when she was crying "how are you doing with the adoption papers " he asked thinking of Cynthia
"Well since the war is going on we are going to wait until the war is over" she sighed and thought of Cynthia probably cold or alone with no one with her
"Don't worry she'll be fine" he smiled "I love you"
I love you" Mia "Come back soon"
"I will baby" he hung up the phone and sat at the bar Cipher was looking at him and too a swig from her beer. She walked to him and sat next to him and ordered vodka.
"You'll see her" Cipher handed him the vodka. He looked at it for a moment and took it and swirled the liquid in thought
"Yeah I know" He put the glass to his lips and stopped "Ma'am can I ask you something"
"Sure shoot" Cipher took another drink from her beer
"You're always so calm" He chose his words carefully even though she's a rank below him he still had great respect for her as a pilot. "Why?"
"That's a good question" she looked at her beer and set it down "but I don't have an answer for you sir" she flicked a stare strand of her from her face. She looked at the major he was staring into the vodka looking at his own reflection in the drink. "You think too much sir" she said bluntly and stood up and walked towards the bar exit "I'll see you around" she left the major alone in his thoughts

Valais Air Base, Ustio
1835hrs. April 20th, 1995
Pilot's bar
Light snow

Alice entered the bar and sat next to two Emmerain mercenaries she ignored their flirts and started to drum the bar counter with her fingers she was sitting next to some Emmerain Mercenaries that preferred the wine over in their country but was reluctant to like Ustian wine. 'Fancy men drinking wine' she thought and continued to drum the counter with her fingers the two Mercs left their seat and she noticed Chris still looking into his glass Larry was next to him. Larry was talking to him about the idea of seeing the world as a fighter pilot the fact there was little difference in the countries people fought in. Chris nodded in agreement and downed the drink. Alice moved closer to them and Larry noticed
"Hey Alice didn't see you there" Larry said and grabbed his beer "I'll see you around sir" Larry left and headed out the bar
"Hey Chris what's up?" she asked a little concerned she hasn't seen her flight lead look like that in years. She put her hand on his shoulder "what were you two talking about?"
"Oh just ideals, I didn't entirely agree with what he was getting at but I saw his point" Chris gulped down the drink and sighed "I just want this war to be over" he grabbed another shot and swirled it a bit he pondered on what Cipher said to him that she doesn't have an answer for him yet 'yet' he said in his mind
"It's a long ways away Chris" she looked at him for a second and saw those Sky blue eyes. A hint of sadness was in there but not too much, she touched his hand. "Chris remember that present you gave me when were together way back when" she smiled. Chris looked up from his drink
"Yeah, Vaguely, What about it?" he asked a little uncertain
"I still have it" she smiled
"That thing it was like a shit gift" he laughed at the thought
"Well it was nice at the time" Alice let his hand go and looked at him in the eyes "were going to win" she said firmly
"Yeah I know" he returned to looking at his drink "thanks Alice" he drank the last bit and left the bar.
"You're welcome" she looked at the cup left behind and took it still a little bit of vodka in it and drank it "how do you drink this" she said coughing

Valais Air Base, Ustio
2000hrs, April 20th, 1995
Repair hangar C
Light snow

CC frowned at her 18 in such a state it was being suspended by a crane so that the mechanics could work on her. The right landing gear was sheared off and bits of the stealth coating were scraped away while she was spinning on the runway. The aileron on the right wing needs to be replaced and the tail hook is gone completely. Her mood worsened when the paint job on her F-18 would have to be repainted. 'what luck' she shook her head 'at least we have spare parts for my jet' she looked at the Dragoon's hangar the three raptors sitting being bathed in the hangar lights canopies shinned and polished repairs were under way on Chris' and John's covering bullet holes and removing debris from the intakes. 'they gotta stop flying so close to their targets' she looked back at her 18 'if one of their fighter get as damaged as mine here' she frowned even more and ran her hands through her silver hair. She groaned in annoyance, 'oh well just got to make due' "Hey Caparzo how long until she's fully repaired?" she yelled to the mechanic under the belly of the F-18
"Well CC I'd say 4 days at least" Caparzo wiped some grease of his face and sniffed "but she'll be good as new just for you CC" he smiled and went back under the 18's right wing and started on the landing gear. She sighed and paced back in forth trying to relax
"CC nice to see your up and about" John called from behind her "too bad about your plane" he looked at the 18 "come on lets grab a drink" he motioned towards the bar. She shrugged 'why not'
"Two beers please" John ordered and two beers slid towards them, he grabbed one and popped the cap off and drank t slowly. CC chugged it.
"Family man that can drink" CC joked
"Yeah old ball and chain" he joked and drank some more
"It must be nice" she set the beer down and passed it between her hands
"It is until the kids come then it's just a pain" he said with a slight grin on his face "but I love my daughter" he took another swig of his drink and smiled. "You'll find someone"
"Nah my family is my squadron even you guys" she laughed and took her beer and finished it. "Nice talk family man" she teased and left to go to the repair hangar to watch her jet get built again.
John shrugged and laughed as he drank the last of his beer. 'Crazy I tell you' he said in his mind.

Description
Valais Air Base, Ustio
1530hrs. April 15th 1995
Rec room
Light snow

"O're azure skies our emerald plains where freedom and justice prevails, with courage and strength we will fight to the end for liberty in our land!!" Ustians pilots celebrated to a successful operation and continued to drink until one of them fell on his back and laughed they raised their glasses and looked at Cipher who was raising her glass too "a toast to Cipher" she smiled and downed her beer.
"Hey Chris you still want vodka you Estovakina." The bartender teased
"Yeah whatever" he sat at the bar and grabbed his cup of vodka and downed the contents. "You still give the least amount come on your fleecing me" Chris had another glass swirled a little and drank it. The Ustian pilots all continued to sing national anthems of different nations he heard one from Usea again but he wouldn't blame 'em that anthem was a fitting one for this good day. He spotted Cipher and raised his glass in hello which she responded by raising hers. Larry popped in and put his arm around cipher and walked her out towards the Hangars to show here some planes Ustio just got in. he finished the last of his shot and left the bar to go see the rest of the squad but was stopped by CC putting another of her old squad mates in a head lock.
"Oh hey Major" she dropped the unlucky man on the ground cutting his face up from the little pebbles on the ground "I was just uhh…" she trailed off trying to think of an excuse
"Oh no its fine I'm not that hard up" Chris smiled and put his arm around CC shoulder and pointed at an F-18 "you are really good in that jet of yours but" he pointed to his F-22 sitting in the sun getting repairs on the wings and a new coat of stealth paint "I can easily take you down in this baby" CC laughed and flicked here silver hair out of her face and started Chris down with her dark brown eyes
"I'd beg to differ" she punched him in the side and walked off to her F-18 and stood on the wing "me in this baby." She smiled widely "we can go anywhere" Chris cocked an eyebrow and laughed "but by the looks of that fancy F-22 of yours, you should be more careful" she wagged a finger at him
"Yeah, yeah" he looked at the Raptor sitting in the sun and collecting a thin sheet of snow which the mechanics cursed furiously at the snow "you know you should park inside the hangar?"
"hey wise guy do you see how much space is in that hangar we have reserve planes and planes for our pilots and you shmucks that keep getting these sexy pieces of aircraft more broke than it already was" the mechanic rambled. Chris looked inside the hangar CC still on the wing of her 18 but sitting on it with her legs swinging like a little girl finding out her legs don't touch the ground. The Hangar was cramped with all the planes that could fold their wings up F-18s and F-14s that could fold their wings in he spotted a Tornado ' haven't seen those in years' he walked to the other hangars and they spelled the same story. "Osean pilots think they know everything" the mechanic went under the fighter and started to work on the internal weapons bay.
"I'll see you around CC I'm gonna ask the Colonel on our next assignment" he waved to CC who was laying down on her plane now
"See you later sir" she jumped down and grabbed a mechanic "the left aileron is still stiff" her voice faded as Chris went to the colonel's room
Chris walked down the hall pilots and ground crew moving about trying to get things in order the Colonel was talking with the base commander on how her squadron was used in deployments, Chris stopped an earshot away to see the Colonel cross her arms and flick hair from her face with her fingers
"My squad is good Commander" Bree frowned
"I understand Samantha, but we need them for support we don't want Osea's fighters to destroy everything after we liberate Dierictus then ill deploy your squad on your own missions" the Commander responded firmly 'Samantha' Chris was shocked to see that an Ustio CO knows his CO's first name not even her own team knew her name it was just Bree or Colonel Bree or just the Colonel "but after your Command and my Command can come up with something then they are under my command until further notice clear" the Commander leaned into the Colonel's face to be more intimidating
"Clear sir" she groaned
"Good I think one of your pilots is here to see you" The commander nodded his head and left Chris and Bree alone
"That Bastard" Colonel Bree said disgusted "what is it major" she glared
"Just wondering when our next sortie is ma'am?" he said nervously lest he incurred the wrath of his commanding officer
"you are to go to B7R for a little diversion so that Osea can send her 3rd fleet and our new flagship the Kestrel into action" she paused "AWACS Eagle Eye and the Galm team are going with you except since you're a stealth squadron" she smiled at the thought "you're going to be engaging in the north part of B7R around Sudentor" she paused and sighed "AWACS Goliath is going to be helping other squadrons around Ustio so I'll be stuck here in the bar drowning myself in drink" she un buttoned her uniform coat and the top two buttons on her collar. "the operation starts in a couple of days I'd suggest you get your plane fixed and some rest" she went to her room closely followed by Chris "I'll see you later" she closed the door 'B7R huh?' Chris thought 'I can handle myself'.

Valais Air Base, Ustio
Briefing room 4
0530hrs. April 20th, 1995
Clear skies

Chris was sitting in the chair with a cup of coffee and sipped it gingerly and found the contents of the drink a little lacking something. He pushed that aside and looked at the maps for B7R just a long mountain range in the south facing toward Ustio and open area beyond that. He traced his finger from the air base to the destination 70 miles outside Sudentor, Belka he tapped the spot on the map twice and looked at the board and sipped more coffee he heard the door open and CC walked in with her silver hair in a makeshift bun she looked at the major and sat next to him and put her head on his shoulder. And looked at the coffee cup in his hands and reached for it. He gladly gave it to her and she sipped some of the drink and groaned
"Not to your liking CC" he said quietly flipping through intelligence reports in B7R
"Noooo" she huffed and looked at Chris "how can you be awake this early?"
"Coffee my dear black as the blackest night and bitter like my ex's cold dead heart" he laughed "where's the rest of the squad?"
"On their way" CC adjusts her head on Chris' shoulder to get more comfortable and frowned with her eyes closed "you don't make a very good pillow sir" Chris laughed and drank more coffee and hears Alice and John enter they sit next to Chris. Alice gave Chris a nod and John did the same. Cipher and Pixy entered next and took seats behind Dragoon team. Eagle Eye entered with Colonel Bree behind him. She had bags under eyes and her black hair was in an ineffective pony tail. She gave a nod to her team and sat down in the commander's chair.
"Alight ladies and gentlemen Command wants you two teams to penetrate B7R one from the South end" he clicked the projector and a map of the airspace popped up and two arrows one Galm team the other Dragoon team. One was pointing up to the north which was the southern team Galm and the northern team which was Dragoon team penetrated towards the south Chris sipped on his coffee again. "Galm team will penetrate and eliminate any hostile craft same for your team Major" he looked at Chris in which he gulped down the Coffee and nodded and returned to his drink
"Uh sir why do we only a six man team have to do this" John pointed at the airspace "I mean six against at least two entire squadron of Belkan fighters not to mention any reinforcements they can have in almost a flash" John groaned
"Because we are expendable" Pixy put his feet up on the chair in front of him Cipher nodded in agreement. "So stop whining" Pixy joked
"Well real confidence booster huh?" Chris sipped on his coffee and looked at CC who was still on his shoulder but staring at B7R on the projector
"This operation is code named Choker One" Eagle Eye paused "we can expect heavy resistance so be careful" he clicked the projector off "ma'am do you have anything to say?" he asked Colonel Bree
"Well I can tell you one thing Goliath isn't going to help my team so Eagle Eye is going to be our AWACS for the time being" she addressed the Dragoons. "So just make it home safe" she looked at Eagle Eye and left the briefing room.
"Well let's get this show on the road shall we" he walked out towards the hangars followed by the two teams.
Eagle Eye stopped in front of the E-767 and noticed a young women in Osean intelligence uniform standing next the ladder for his crew "excuse me are you lost ma'am?" he looked at her name tag "oh you're Goliath's Intel officer huh?"
"Yes sir the Colonel and the Commander of this base agreed for me to go with this AWACS Eagle Eye" she laughed nervously. The pilot looked her over and smirked
"Alright you can provide data for the Dragoon team and ill handle Galm" he extended a hand Trish took it and shook it he felt her hands trembling. "Don't be so scared Alvarez" he smiled to which she relaxed her shoulders sunk a little.
"Yes… yes sir" she looked at the E-767 and back at Eagle Eye "I'll do my best sir"
"Now that's what I like to here, come on we take off in a few" Eagle Eye put his flight helmet and climbed on board followed by Trish she looked inside Ustian Intel officers were sitting down and looking over flight data and intelligence reports from different fronts in Ustio, a few of them had cups of water and others with coffee. She took an empty seat and got herself comfortable and waited. She felt the AWACS being towed onto the flight line and buckled her seat belt. She felt a hand touch her shoulder and turned to see a tan and well-built man with a cup of strong bitter coffee in his hand he smiled.
"Just breath darling" the man spoke as he toke another sip of his coffee and extended a hand "the names Neil Garcia" she took his hand and felt the roughness to it and a few scars were a knife must have cut along the palm of his hand "and you are little miss?"
Trish was speechless for a second in a daze because she's never been hit on so suave like "Trish Alvarez" she fumbled her words almost "I'm from Osea" she let go of his hand he cocked his head and sipped on more coffee "where are you from?" she asked she could smell the coffee the warmness and the bitterness of the taste.
"Originally from Sapin, but my new home is here" he smiled and set the mug down and felt the AWACS stop at the hold short line. The engines revved and it moved a bit then stopped Eagle Eye was doing system checks.
"Alright people put your seat backs in upright positions and tray tables up" Eagle Eye yelled at them in the back and taxied to the runway he heard Chris over the com
"take care of Trish for us alright Eagle Eye" Chris voice was a little strained from the initial Gs on takeoff "you'll do fine little one" his voice ended as he formed up with the rest of the Dragoon team.
"Yeah count on it" Eagle Eye accelerated and the E-767 took to the skies and leveled off at 30,000ft "ladies and gentlemen you are free to move about the cabin" he joked

B7R, Belka
15,000ft above sea level 70 miles from Sudentor
1245hrs. April 20th, 1995
Clear skies

The cockpit was quiet no one said a word as they traversed through the air; Chris looked at his radar and saw the dotted line of B7R airspace. It edged closer and closer, about 12 green contacts from Belka's squadron stationed at B7R appeared on the radar. Chris hooked his oxygen mask on and breathed. He waited for the enemy to say something he looked at his team. Arclight was on his left following close, Brink was close too, and CC was a little distant away but then closed the formation.
"Eagle Eye to Dragoon team" Trish's voice broke the silence her voice was a lot calmer than the first time she flew with them. "B7R is directly on the nose" she paused "penetrate B7R and get a feel for your surroundings" she didn't click the com off "be careful sir" she turned off the com.
"Right let's go" Chris slowly accelerated towards B7R and the rest followed suit. "Let's get a little dispersed here"
"Rodger" Alice banked a good distance away and leveled off
"Rodger" John waited for CC to bank and then got a same amount of distance from Chris as Alice
"Wilco" CC banked a bit father then closed in a tad "the hostiles are inbound sir" she said cool and calm "they think something's up"
"That can't be right I'm getting faint radar signatures" a Belkan fighter squinted trough his visor and saw the four winged formation on his twelve o'clock "oh shit enemy contacts on my-" he was cut off from a sidewinder impacting the nose of his aircraft his wingman banked away
"They are definite hostiles all squads engage" his plane trailed some smoke from the debris hitting the MiGs belly. Teams around the area proceeded to engage the four fighters that invaded their airspace. The Belkan fighters engaged into the four man formation with Vulcans blazing red hot.
"Dragoon team engage" Trish spoke with a hint of nervousness
"Dragoon 1 engaging" Chris banked and avoided two fulcrums from crashing head on into him. He moved to engage those two with two sidewinders locked on for each one.
"Dragoon 2 engaging" Alice pointed her nose up and three fishbeds followed lagging behind for the lack of speed
"Dragoon 3 engaging" John flipped his raptor upside down to perform a split s and headed for the deck of B7R followed by two MiG-29 super fulcrums
"Dragoon 4 engaging" CC dumped her speed and let a two super fulcrums pass her by she then flipped the 1 on her back and accelerated to catch the two MiGs firing a sidewinder for each.
Chris followed the fulcrums and matched each maneuver they performed and sprayed a volley a bullets into one of them it trailed thick smoke and wobbled from the Gs on the airframe he finished it off with a sidewinder into the exhaust of the MiG. It burst into flames and plummeted into the ground. The other MiG spun into a dizzying circle to shake his pursuer; Chris straightened his plane and waited for him to level off. He did and kept accelerating as fast as his fulcrum could. Chris launched a missile and impacted its wing tearing it off and causing the MiG to spin out of control. He breathed and headed to the next group of fighters.
"Where the hell are our reinforcements?!" the Belkan panted as his MiG banked to avoid a barrage of bullets from CC
"Slippery bastard" she cursed and banked sharper than the Super Fulcrum and clipped it aileron off "take that you little shit"
"This is Round Table squadron 156th tactical fighter Squadron we are being pounded out here" the Belkan pilot nursed his wounded plane "we are being engaged oh for fu-" he didn't finish CC launched a sidewinder to finish him off it puncher the canopy and went through the bottom of the cockpit
"Ooh nasty way to go" She winced at the carnage and her planed yelled at her MISSILE CAUTION CAUTION. "Yes I know" she grunted and pulled the F-18 over the MiG pursuing her and fired her Vulcan at the same time. The MiG trailed smoke and a small fire she finished it off with another burst from her machine gun. She licked her lips and smiled "another one down"
Alice was high in the sky with the fishbeds still on her tail she looked at the digital read out on her altimeter. 35,000ft she turned her engines off and watched the two fishbeds pass her. She smiled "say cheese boys" she got weapons lock and fired her XMAAs at the two fishbeds and watched as they turned into clouds of dark smoke debris. Her Raptor pointed down and roared to life she pulled up sinking into the seat and leveled off "whew alright on to the next" she headed towards Chris who was engaging Su-27s that were brought from the rear.
John stuck close to the red earth of B7R and watched as puffs of the red clay climb into the air from the two planes firing at him. He looked behind him and watched the two MiGs swing side to side trying to get a good shot. "Not today gentlemen" he pointed his nose up and dumped his speed and saw the MiGs fly past him; he accelerated and caught up with him he engaged his master switch and the XMAAs popped out of the weapons bay of the 22. LOCK he smiled and fired them off and banked away looking behind him. One of the MiGs pulled up early and the missile impacted the center of his MiG causing it to split in half horizontally. The other MiG banked too hard to the left and crashed into the ground. John frowned and stayed quiet; he banked to help CC a MiG super Fulcrum and a Fishbed following her. He got on the fishbed's tail and took it out with ease
"Belkan airpower in the air is diminished only two targets remain…. Wait one remains" Trish spoke calmly
"Good job kid" Chris grunted and barrel rolled over the last target which was a Su-27 and fired the Vulcan taking of the rudder and half of its wing. It wobbled and the airframe snapped spilling the pilot out. "Alright airspace secure" Chris exhaled and straitened his plane. The Squad formed up around him CC was flying upside down
"Whew this was…" she paused to think of the words "fun" she panted and steadies her breath she righted her plane.
"Dragoon team we got contacts looks like a four winged formation" Trish spoke with her nervousness creeping back in her voice
"Alright we are moving to intercept" Chris and his flight accelerated towards the new bandits
"Report" the lead plane barked
"Four of them mixed planes" his wing man answered
"Alright then Grun team lets go" the lead banked sharply leaving a sharp contrail and accelerated towards them. The four F-18 Hornets accelerated to intercept the Dragoons
"We have F-18s and they are fast" Trish looked at her radar in the AWACS looks like the Grun team sir" she reported
"Alright take on one on one don't let them double team you" Chris ordered his flight they spread apart to match each one of their enemies movement
The two teams matched each other's speed going head on there was a tension as each team looked each other dead on. The two teams engaged and broke off into one on one dogfight. Grun 1 engaged Dragoon 4 and the mixed and matched lead going after wingman and wingman going after lead. CC was evenly matched her maneuvers being matched and her turns being matched by the Grun commander, She was breathing heavily trying to out turn out perform but the lead plane matched her every move.
"your good" she grunted and barrel rolled her plane but Grun 1 slanted his 18 and fired into her fuselage causing some oil to spill out "come on baby just a bit more" she nursed her plane but still flew as if it was at top performance. She fired her Vulcan piercing into Grun's skin causing oil and hydraulics to spill out as well. She smiled "take that" she kept her finger on the trigger the Vulcan still blaring machine gun fire, until Grun 1 put his nose up and scorpion maneuvered behind her which caught her off guard but she regained her momentum. She flipped over him and fired a sidewinder it hit the F-18 and sheared of the wing
"This was fun Dragoon 4" Grun 1 smiled and ejected out of his F-18 and the plane exploded into a fire ball
"Yeah it was" she said quietly and watched the other Grun members get shot down by the other Dragoons. She banked to her flight lead.
"all units confirmed down" Trish said Calmly "a message from Colonel Bree it says 'well done Osean 3rd fleet is moving out toward Furtour canal as planed' and that's it sirs"
"Looks like we were just a diversion" Pixy said over the com as he heard the report from Eagle Eye. Chris looked at the distance between the two of them. 'Huh this dogfight got us closer the Galm team'
"I guess so" Cipher said
"All teams RTB" Eagle Eye cleared them to head back to base
"Yo, Buddy still alive" Pixy said to his flight lead
"Yeah" Cipher banked her plane towards Valais as well as the Dragoons.

Valais Air Base, Ustio
En bound to land
1530hrs. April 20th, 1995
Cloudy

They entered Valais airspace, Chris looked to see the snow peaked mountains Tyrann glisten in the sunlight he sighed "I wonder what the skies would look like during peace time" Chris spoke to himself
"Probably really beautiful" Alice was in thought as well her raptor close to her flight lead
"You know I wonder if you snow board on those mountains." John chimed in looking at the slopes and nodding in satisfaction "you could get some air of those slopes"
"You could but there are a lot of wolves on these mountains "CC spoke from her silence "but yeah you could get some air" her mood lightened a bit but she frowned as her plane lost more oil and hydraulics in her right wing. "Sir I got to land"
"Right you go first" Chris called the tower "Tower this Dragoon flight, Dragoon 4 is en bound with a damaged wing"
"Rodger emergency teams are on standby" the Tower called the teams and yellow trucks started to move onto the tarmac.
"Dragoon 4 in bound" she banked towards the runway and slowed to landing speed, she eased her wounded plane onto the runway and felt the jerking of the wheels touching the runway. She felt a wobble in the right wheel "oh shit" as soon as she finished the sentence the gear snapped of and cause her plane to spin on the runway she grabbed the handles to counteract the spin of the plane. The F-18 stopped spinning and rested half way down the runway. "I think I'm going to be sick" she pulled the canopy up and puked on the other side of the plane. She looked at the crews running towards her plane to get it off the runway. They pulled her out of the plane and she puked again on one of the emergency personal. He frowned and shook his head.
"Dragoon 1 to tower is CC alright" Chris said worried
"She's fine just puking all over my emergency teams" the tower laughed. The emergency teams pulled the F-18 away from the runway and put it back in the hangar.
The teams landed on the airfield followed by their AWACS, Chris visited the infirmary to see CC she was sitting on the hospital bed getting checked out by a medic she smiled and gave a thumbs up to show she's okay. Chris went to the bar to call Mia with the phone in the back of the bar.The phone rang for a few seconds then the line was picked up "hello?" her voice answered trembling
"Hey baby" Chris smiled
"Oh my god" she gasped "where are you?"
"I'm in a base in Ustio" he paused to look at two pilots making faces trying to make Chris laugh "and I'm fine"
""oh thank god" she cried "I miss you baby"
"I miss you Babe" Chris turned to see Cipher enter and sit at the bar. "I've meet some great people here in Ustio" he smiled to hear her stop crying
"Oh good" she smiled on the other end "be careful out there okay sky guy"
"I will" he flicked one of the pilots off for almost making him laugh when she was crying "how are you doing with the adoption papers " he asked thinking of Cynthia
"Well since the war is going on we are going to wait until the war is over" she sighed and thought of Cynthia probably cold or alone with no one with her
"Don't worry she'll be fine" he smiled "I love you"
I love you" Mia "Come back soon"
"I will baby" he hung up the phone and sat at the bar Cipher was looking at him and too a swig from her beer. She walked to him and sat next to him and ordered vodka.
"You'll see her" Cipher handed him the vodka. He looked at it for a moment and took it and swirled the liquid in thought
"Yeah I know" He put the glass to his lips and stopped "Ma'am can I ask you something"
"Sure shoot" Cipher took another drink from her beer
"You're always so calm" He chose his words carefully even though she's a rank below him he still had great respect for her as a pilot. "Why?"
"That's a good question" she looked at her beer and set it down "but I don't have an answer for you sir" she flicked a stare strand of her from her face. She looked at the major he was staring into the vodka looking at his own reflection in the drink. "You think too much sir" she said bluntly and stood up and walked towards the bar exit "I'll see you around" she left the major alone in his thoughts

Valais Air Base, Ustio
1835hrs. April 20th, 1995
Pilot's bar
Light snow

Alice entered the bar and sat next to two Emmerain mercenaries she ignored their flirts and started to drum the bar counter with her fingers she was sitting next to some Emmerain Mercenaries that preferred the wine over in their country but was reluctant to like Ustian wine. 'Fancy men drinking wine' she thought and continued to drum the counter with her fingers the two Mercs left their seat and she noticed Chris still looking into his glass Larry was next to him. Larry was talking to him about the idea of seeing the world as a fighter pilot the fact there was little difference in the countries people fought in. Chris nodded in agreement and downed the drink. Alice moved closer to them and Larry noticed
"Hey Alice didn't see you there" Larry said and grabbed his beer "I'll see you around sir" Larry left and headed out the bar
"Hey Chris what's up?" she asked a little concerned she hasn't seen her flight lead look like that in years. She put her hand on his shoulder "what were you two talking about?"
"Oh just ideals, I didn't entirely agree with what he was getting at but I saw his point" Chris gulped down the drink and sighed "I just want this war to be over" he grabbed another shot and swirled it a bit he pondered on what Cipher said to him that she doesn't have an answer for him yet 'yet' he said in his mind
"It's a long ways away Chris" she looked at him for a second and saw those Sky blue eyes. A hint of sadness was in there but not too much, she touched his hand. "Chris remember that present you gave me when were together way back when" she smiled. Chris looked up from his drink
"Yeah, Vaguely, What about it?" he asked a little uncertain
"I still have it" she smiled
"That thing it was like a shit gift" he laughed at the thought
"Well it was nice at the time" Alice let his hand go and looked at him in the eyes "were going to win" she said firmly
"Yeah I know" he returned to looking at his drink "thanks Alice" he drank the last bit and left the bar.
"You're welcome" she looked at the cup left behind and took it still a little bit of vodka in it and drank it "how do you drink this" she said coughing

Valais Air Base, Ustio
2000hrs, April 20th, 1995
Repair hangar C
Light snow

CC frowned at her 18 in such a state it was being suspended by a crane so that the mechanics could work on her. The right landing gear was sheared off and bits of the stealth coating were scraped away while she was spinning on the runway. The aileron on the right wing needs to be replaced and the tail hook is gone completely. Her mood worsened when the paint job on her F-18 would have to be repainted. 'what luck' she shook her head 'at least we have spare parts for my jet' she looked at the Dragoon's hangar the three raptors sitting being bathed in the hangar lights canopies shinned and polished repairs were under way on Chris' and John's covering bullet holes and removing debris from the intakes. 'they gotta stop flying so close to their targets' she looked back at her 18 'if one of their fighter get as damaged as mine here' she frowned even more and ran her hands through her silver hair. She groaned in annoyance, 'oh well just got to make due' "Hey Caparzo how long until she's fully repaired?" she yelled to the mechanic under the belly of the F-18
"Well CC I'd say 4 days at least" Caparzo wiped some grease of his face and sniffed "but she'll be good as new just for you CC" he smiled and went back under the 18's right wing and started on the landing gear. She sighed and paced back in forth trying to relax
"CC nice to see your up and about" John called from behind her "too bad about your plane" he looked at the 18 "come on lets grab a drink" he motioned towards the bar. She shrugged 'why not'
"Two beers please" John ordered and two beers slid towards them, he grabbed one and popped the cap off and drank t slowly. CC chugged it.
"Family man that can drink" CC joked
"Yeah old ball and chain" he joked and drank some more
"It must be nice" she set the beer down and passed it between her hands
"It is until the kids come then it's just a pain" he said with a slight grin on his face "but I love my daughter" he took another swig of his drink and smiled. "You'll find someone"
"Nah my family is my squadron even you guys" she laughed and took her beer and finished it. "Nice talk family man" she teased and left to go to the repair hangar to watch her jet get built again.
John shrugged and laughed as he drank the last of his beer. 'Crazy I tell you' he said in his mind.