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Captain ‘Midnight Wolf’ was going through the paperwork on her desk. It wasn’t too much, not nearly enough
as the base commander, but still enough to keep her occupied for the better part of half an hour. This pile however was considerably
smaller, consisting of only a few small almost leaflets that she had read through and passed onto her Co-Captain, Wolfguardian.
Apparently, there were two new pilots being transferred into their squadron from Yuktobania. Their callsigns were Huntress
and Yellow 13. Well, she’d have to tell the rest of her squadron sometime soon. not that that was very tough to do,
seeing as how the squadron was, including herself, her co-captain and the two new pilots, there were thirteen pilots. Now
that she thought about it, she wondered if anyone was superstitious in the base. Weather it was her staff or her own pilots,
she didn’t really know.
The next second, she forgot all about it, and went to the base’s intercom. Tuning it, and waiting for the system to
synch up, she placed the piece of paper down in front of her and sat down. Once the microphone beeped, signalling that it
was ready, she tapped it to eliminate feedback and then said: “Everyone, this is Midnight. I have just received a report
that two new pilots will be transferring to our squadron. I want you to all welcome them when they arrive. They’re here
on the Officer Exchange program. Any complaints by either of them will be forwarded directly to either myself, or Guardian
and we’ll deal with the person that complained.”
She let the microphone turn off, and then went to the main hanger. All the planes the squadron had were here, and there were
a fair amount of them of all types and makes. Normally, the squadron was one of those little backwater bases in the middle
of nowhere, however with the recent situation with the giant to the East, the Osean High Command decided to reinforce the
little base with the very latest in everything. Within days, the base had been transformed from a tiny base that used outdated
technology and aircraft into a full base equipped with Surface-to-Air missiles, the very latest aircraft, and many of them,
the best radar, and even a flotilla of ships ranging from patrol boats all the way up to one AEGIS cruiser capable of firing
a hell of missiles from over 200 miles away.
While the base was being upgraded, the two captains had requested that no new pilots be allowed to enter the squadron. The
base commander and other superiors had agreed, saying that any new pilots that none of the people knew would be a potential
risk to everybody in the air, friend of foe.
The base was located on Sand Island, and the small squadron that was on it was considered by many to be one of the best…
for a backwater station. Maybe if they ever had a real chance to fight, they could finally emerge from the shadows. Until
that time, however, there was little anyone on the base could do. At least three of the pilots were known veterans of the
Belkan War, the bloodiest, longest, and most terrifying war in history. However, none of them talked about it much. Partly
because of some of the things they did, partly because of what side they were on, and partly because it was fifteen years
ago.
After finishing up in her office, Midnight found Guardian over by one of the many new stealth fighters that had been delivered
and running her hand over it, checking for any potential problems that only an experienced pilot could find. The sun was beginning
to set, and the long shadows combined with the aircraft’s black paint scheme made it seem mysterious. As Guardian saw
Midnight approach, she waved her over and said: “I think this thing’s got some problem here,” she pointed
at one of the panels.
Midnight put her own hand on it and felt the problem. That panel wasn’t bolted down properly during construction, and
it might take several hours of maintenance to fix it up. Midnight nodded. “Great fix, sis. Typical, the second a new
plane gets here and already it starts screwing up!”
The two of them weren’t biological sisters, but everyone in the base regarded them as such because they were so alike
in so many ways, so it just seemed natural. Plus, it gave them a certain edge on the ground that if anybody screwed with one
of them, they’d suddenly find themselves under a two-against-one argument. As the two captains made their way back into
the Officer’s cafeteria, better know as the Officer’s mess hall, they saw their second-in-commands. Their callsigns
were Ludifer, Wolf-Hawk, and Werewolves Rock. Nobody was sure exactly where those callsigns had come from, but then if anybody
ever did actually figure that out, it would probably be the end of the world as they knew it.
Ludifer wasn’t very sociable, mostly because she simply didn’t like talking about herself. Rock and Hawk however
where another story entirely… or at least, Rock was. Hawk was more along the lines of ‘insane’ but time
and time again; he continued to pass the mental health exam. There was also a rumour that had somehow managed to spread throughout
the squadron that those two were sleeping together. There was no real meat to that rumour, save for the strictly circumstantial
Public Displays of Affection (or PDAs) towards each other, but that was rumour control for you. If left to their own devices,
a single little thing like a kiss in the hallway could turn into a wild and passionate orgy on top of Midnight’s desk
while she AND Guardian were in that same room at the same time!
The five officers in the room were just sitting down to eat when all of a sudden; they heard the loud siren blast that warned
everybody in base that an air raid was approaching. Ludifer groaned, annoyed. “For the love… you’re kidding
me! An air raid!? Give me a break!”
With the sounds of the air raid siren blasting throughout the base, the entire squadron immediately dropped whatever it was
they were doing and ran to their planes as fast as they could. While the squadron had never actually been attacked, they always
trained against the possibility that they could. All that training had paid off, because several of the aircraft were already
airborne by the time the five officers made it into their own aircraft.
Each one of them took off and climbed up to engage the enemy. The aircraft were clearly Yuktobanian, and that worried Midnight.
Turning on her radio, she said: “Remember everyone! Watch out for those two pilots that are on their way here!”
Everyone acknowledged that, and the remaining aircraft that were on the ground took off. They each climbed swiftly as soon
as they could, and seconds later, the landing gar retracted, and the engines went to full power.
Chapter Two
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