Ch 6

With the supplies secured, strider squadron headed back to their base with a new-comer. Mihaly was flying under the guard of Trigger and Count and his own weapons were on safe. He was still racking his head over this impromptu defection. His squadron wasn't happy about him leaving, but Mihaly was adamant that they stay behind to protect their new nation. Mihaly simply didn't care anymore, as he was rather jaded from constant war.

"Control, this is the LRSSG. We have the supplies and need clearance to land." Longcaster said.

"Copy that. You have permission to land."

Upon landing, everyone was busy putting the planes and supplies away and looked in shock as Colonel Shilage stepped out of his X-02S.

"What the hell?" Avril asked.

"Grandpa!" Ionela exclaimed, running towards her grandfather. He saw his granddaughters heading towards him and he crouched to pull them into a hug.

"It's okay. Thank God you two are safe." he said.

The family reunion was cut short, as two MPs came towards the Colonel, weapons drawn.

"Colonel, our commander wants to meet with you." one of them said.

"Of course." Mihaly said.

Following the MPs to the briefing room, Colonel Shilage saw Longcaster, and other Osean soldiers. They weren't happy to see him, considering he was the Erusean terror.

"Sit down, Mr X. We have questions." Longcaster said.

"Of course." he said, sitting across from Longcaster.

"What do you want to know?" Mihaly asked.

"We know about the attack the Radicals made against your forces at the castle. We also know that you rescued your granddaughters at anchorhead bay. But we don't know anything else." Longcaster said.

"Let me fill in the blanks. After the ASAT strike, some of the higher ups from the radicals came to me about their final plan. They were heading to the light-house for a counter-attack." Mihaly said.

"And they hold your granddaughters hostage. Fucking bastards. Reminds me of that psychopath, captain Torres." Longcaster finished.

"That reminds me. When this war is over, i'm going after that bastard. And i want three strikes to help me." Mihaly said.

"One problem at a time. You destroyed that transport plane after Trigger and Tabloid rescued your granddaughters. Did you have any idea what was on that plane?" Longcaster asked.

"Bits and pieces. Before the battle at Farbanti, Dr Schroeder told me that if the capital fell, he would take all his research and get away from the front lines to continue his work. He didn't require a lot of equipment, just a laptop and several flash drives. And he was on that plane that i destroyed. What the radicals will do next is anyone's guess." Mihaly said.

"I see. Why did you defect, Colonel?" Longcaster asked.

"I defected because i want to protect my granddaughters. That's the only reason i'm here." Mihaly said.

"So, you don't care if we win or lose this war?" an Osean asked.

"No. Not a damn care in the world." Mihaly lied.

As the afternoon came, things went as usual. Pilots and mechanics were busy getting the planes ready for combat, hoping that the Eruseans wouldn't launch attacks against them. As he was repairing his SU-30, Trigger heard laughter and turned his head and saw Mihaly watching his granddaughters play around.

It was rather surreal. They were in the middle of a war that may not end for some time, and Mihaly's granddaughters were playing around as if it were nothing. Though Mihaly's face was stoic and appeared hardened, he was happy for his granddaughters that they could use this small moment to live as if there wasn't a care in the world. It was a luxury he and his fellow pilots couldn't afford, yet they'd fight tooth and nail to secure it for others.

"It's hard to believe that anyone could be happy in a time as this." Count said.

"I just remembered what my flight instructor said. He once told me that sometimes we end up at war for so long, we forget what we're fighting for. And what we're fighting for, is a future for our friends and loved ones." Trigger said.

As the two pilots chatted, Huxian approached Mr X and briefly engaged him in conversation.

"So you're the famed Mr X. Not what i was expecting." she said.

"Life's full of surprise's Ms. You need anything?" Mihaly asked.

"Just to say how surreal this all is. You and Trigger had a duel to the death at Yinshi valley and over Farbanti. And now you're here working with him." she said.

"About that. At Yinshi, i noticed his squadron retreated from the battle. Why would they do that?" Mihaly asked.

"Well, i was in the recon unit. We had no ammunition and no fuel for combat. But the 444 squadron, that Trigger was part of, they had plenty of fuel and ammo. And they still fled. Trigger and Tabloid stayed behind to fight you. If it wasn't for them, especially Trigger, i'd be dead right now." Huxian said.

"The man standing next to three strikes. Is that Tabloid?" Mihaly asked.

"No. We call him Count. Trigger and Avril say it's because he inflates his kill counts. He's a glory hound, just so you know." Huxian said.

"Really? So why did he retreat? Was he ordered to?" Mihaly asked. He had no respect nor patience for glory hounds.

"I was there, and i heard their AWACs said he was sending away the damaged aircraft. But the Erusean's had little to no anti-air weapons, and the drones were focused on my group, not Trigger's. Sounds like a cover-up to me." Huxian said, shrugging her shoulders.

"So he's not a reliable pilot. What about this Tabloid?" Mihaly asked.

"He's not as good as you or Trigger, or even Count, but he's one of the most dependable pilots i've flown with. Don't tell anyone i said this, but after the Stonehenge op, Trigger told me that he'd rather have Tabloid as his wingman than Count. Count's a glory-hound. Of course, that all changed after you killed Wiseman over Farbanti." Huxian said.

Mihaly remembered his protege telling him about the death of Yellow 4 over Stonehenge, and how he changed after that battle. He was more serious and less carefree. He hoped that Count would have a similar transformation. He couldn't take any chances flying with a pilot who, by past experience, would turn tail and run when faced with a powerful threat.

…

"Three strikes, I want to duel with you." Mihaly said, approaching the Osean ace.

"What? Why?" Trigger asked.

"I've been in three duels with you, and i'd like to know once and for all who's the better pilot." Mihaly said.

"You need clearance for this." Trigger said.

"Your leader, Longcaster, said so." Mihaly answered.

As Trigger headed to his aircraft, Mihaly pulled him aside and headed towards an arsenal of pink tipped missiles.

"What are those?" Trigger asked.

"Paintball warheads. The warheads are replaced with paint. The Erusean air-force uses them during training and mock-combat." Mihaly said.

"Never heard of anything like this." Trigger said.

"How do you guys train?" Mihaly asked, as they armed Trigger's plane with the new missiles.

"For one thing, we don't fire missiles and live bullets at each other. To tell you the truth, our martial might has dropped since the Belkan war. And the war with Yuktobania only made it worse." Trigger said.

"I know. You Oseans are trying to maintain a world empire, yet are also slacking on your training. Quantity over quality. I'm 62 years old. Guess how many pilots i've killed during this war." Mihaly said.

"Don't know." Trigger said.

"40. I killed 40 Osean pilots. Imagine what i could do if i were your age. You wouldn't stand a chance, three strikes." Mihaly said.

"No time like the present, Colonel." Trigger said.