Chapter Sixteen: The Never Ending Conflict

It didn’t take long for the military base known as Evo to be lit up in flames of chaos and destruction. The EAP blindsided the TA, attacking in the midst of the night. The forces of the EAP consisted mainly of a battalion of ATs along with their own swarm of air fighters. Blazing streams of bullets tore into the ground causing an uproar of sand and debris to burst into the sky. TA soldiers were running in a panic trying to find cover, the ATs treaded forward with their massive elongated cannons firing recklessly, the war had indeed turned into a blind and malicious war. The EAP’s fighter jets otherwise known as dragonflies based off their manufactured number, EAP-32A-Dragonfly, were tearing through the sky dropping bombs that exploded into the ground. As torrents of raging flames scorched the military facility teams prepared to take off to form a counter strike. Evo’s main facility was the main TA central operations base; if it fell then the entire war would be handed over to the EAP on a silver platter. Each attack from the EAP was in the form of a crescendo, becoming louder and even more severe each time. Alarms continued to blare rigorously throughout the base as the soldiers stumbled to their units, ATs and fighter planes alike.

Each soldier had their own reason for fighting, for defending their beliefs, for protecting their friends and their family. It is unfortunate but not every story can be told and their chapters can come to an abrupt end in an instant, in the middle of a sentence without allowing for the action to become complete. It is a sad thing that every soldier has to deal with in his or her life, running out with weapons in arm not knowing if “this will be their last moment.”
The straps interlocked through its little lock as the dull green helmets covered their heads. The elite pilots of the USAF, Red Fury; they each gazed into the starry night as the Dragonflies continued to swirl around the base like ravens, waiting for their prey to die so they could feast.

“Not today…they won’t beat us today.” Carlos mumbled. He pulled his leather glove tightly to fit his hands, his fingers wiggled to make sure the glove wasn’t loose. He looked over at Eric and Anthony and nodded. That’s all he needed in order to communicate with his team, they had been together for so long that they could interact with out words, without commands, just simple facial expressions. The clear cockpit slid open revealing the instruments in their planes, the standard production model for the TA, TA-X92A-Viper, they were quick jets armed with powerful thin missiles, their venom. They also came equipped with machine gun turrets integrated in the obsidian wings. Each pilot jumped into their respected Vipers. As the glass slid over their heads they began to flick the switches on the control panel. The resounding roar of the engines and gears in motion were soothing to their ears, it gave the pilots a sense of familiarity as well as an adrenaline rush. Each pilot had their own pre-game as they called it; it was a way of mentally preparing before heading out into the heat of battle. As his index finger slowly brushed against the customized radio Anthony’s head began to sway from side to side. The music that poured out started out smooth and quaint but then abruptly became loud excessive drumming with heavy guitar rifts. He cracked his knuckles followed by his neck, he was ready. His Viper slowly turned around thanks to the two soldiers who pulled the jet with rope. As the block in front of the front wheel was removed Anthony pressed the ignition trigger causing a swell of flames to emanate from the back thruster. Eric and Carlos stared into their own personal abyss as Anthony’s Viper soared into the sky.

Eric took hold of a picture with his fiancée and child and just stared at it for a few seconds, but to him those seconds seemed like forever. He prayed under his breath, it wasn’t his time to die. His Viper too took to the sky leaving Carlos. His fingers fidgeted around a dog tag with the name “Angela Redentore imprinted indefinitely. His lips slowly grazed the dog tag and then he proceeded to place it under his shirt. His hands firmly grasped the throttle, the engine began to roar and his Viper launched into the sky. As the three pilots escalated higher through the clouds their eyes became filled with images of explosions marking up the ground below. It was a relentless assault, one that the TA was not prepared for. The surprise attack gave the EAP a clear advantage by throwing Evo in a state of panic.
Inside the command tower the ranking Generals and Majors just stared at awe. No one could have expected such an attack. The highest ranking official, General Copiare stood with his hands interwoven behind his back. His neck straightened as his face angled up towards the ceiling.

“General? What are you suggesting we do? Our main AT batallions are still on their way from Laguna, it will be another 2 hours at least until they arrive.” Major Samus replied. His voice was choppy, filled with the essence of fear.

“Don’t worry about it, this battle will be finished before they arrive.” The General replied as he smiled. The Red Fury pilots dashed through the clouds zooming past the massive window.

“Over? Yeah, we’re going to lose. We don’t have a complete battalion of ATs here sir. We only have Vipers and maybe one AT at the most. And the EAP is here with a full squadron of Dragonflies!”

“And your point is what Samus? I think now is a good time to start showing some faith in Red Fury. They are the best of the best, correct?” The General continued to grin.

“You want me to put faith into 3 Viper pilots? That’s absurd General!”

The General sighed and began to laugh; the room soon brimmed with the sound of Copiare’s laughter. His crystalline blue eyes suddenly widened, they were extravagant eyes, eyes that grabbed immediate attention. He was a behemoth of a man, it was a wonder how his uniform kept his muscles hidden, they were so immense and toned that every time his body moved the fabric would stretch and moan. His chiseled face was like a rock, sturdy and frigid. He was not a man to be trifled with. Major Samus couldn’t even look back at the General’s face without cringing.

“…I hope you’re right General…for all of our sakes I hope you’re right…”

            Bullets seared through the clouds forcing Red Fury to break formation. As the three Vipers separated from one another a squadron of Dragonflies sped past with smoke flowing out of their gun turrets.

“How many we got Commander?!” Anthony screamed out as his stomach rumbled under the stress of the gravitational forces pounding against the cold hard steel of the Viper.

As Carlos’ Viper flung around one of the Dragonflies firing shells at an alarming rate he glanced to his sides, he couldn’t figure out how many there were. Normally the radar would give them the answer but Dragonflies come equipped with radar jamming equipment and more than likely disperse a few jamming pods through out the darkened sky.

“Damn I can’t tell. We’re going to have to let our eyes be our guide this time guys!” Carlos screamed back. His index finger pressed along the crimson button on the main throttle causing  a single missile to erupt out from the bottom of the wing. As the missile launched Carlos pulled his throttle to the side, his Viper steered away from the Dragonfly he was following and began to descend. The EAP pilot began to chuckle, no pilot would consciously move away from a bogey unless the target had been confirmed destroyed. Just as the Dragonfly tilted its wings in order to make a turn it was destroyed as the missile Carlos launched tore straight through the cockpit. The pilot’s life ended instantaneously, as the skin melted from the intense heat while the limbs were tossed in separate directions from the impact. They only float briefly before the disintegrated into the air from the explosion.

“Nice shot commander!” Eric screamed. His eyes focused forward as two more Dragonflies were flying dropping bombs onto the ground in front of him. His fingers wrapped tightly around the throttle, the pair of Dragonflies in front of him were causing the deaths of even more unprepared soldiers. He struggled within himself, he wanted to fire, to stop them from killing anyone else but the targets weren’t a lock. He couldn’t risk hitting one but missing the other, if he missed one of them then he’d allow the survivor to launch a counter attack. Just as the target box began to solidify around the targets the two Dragonflies split formation, each twirling to the right and to the left. Eric screamed in his head from frustration. The jamming decoys were finally out of range and his radar began to chime loudly. Both Dragonflies were descending towards his Viper.

“Shit they have a lock. This should be interesting..” Eric mumbled. His Viper quickly tilted to the left and began to descend towards the ground at an increased velocity. Sweat ran down his face, he had an idea of what he was doing, but he wasn’t sure if it was going to work. As the Viper spiraled towards the ground both Dragonflies flew up behind struggling to get a lock. The cockpit began to quiver from the increased G-forces that were conflicting with the Viper. As he moved out of the dense fogs his vision focused on a thin valley of jagged mountains. Normally this would be a sign to pull up but Eric stayed his course.

            “What the hell is he doing?!” Carlos screamed as his Viper swayed from side to side avoiding chrome shells that continued to zoom into the sky. Suddenly the Dragonfly on Carlos’ tail exploded into thousands of metallic debris. Out from the cloud of smoke Anthony sped through catching up to his commander.

“I’m not sure…but he’s got two Dragonflies on his tail. We need to back him up!” Anthony screamed.
Carlos sighed, he looked back towards Evo, they had already moved far enough out of the area of operations. Explosions tore the ground apart as they lit up the shadowy sky. The ATs were continuing to demolish their base camp.

“Damn it. We can’t, Eric can handle himself. We need to take care of the ATs that are at Evo.”       

“What?! You can’t be serious commander!”

“I am. We need to preserve Evo at all costs, we can’t lose it now! That’s an order!” Carlos hated being a commander, there was too much responsibility. He had faith in Eric’s piloting skills but he didn’t like relying on faith. He had faith before, in other pilots, but in the end they were just dust in the wind. Carlos’ Viper swung to the right and began to head back towards Evo where the balls of flames were still igniting into the air. Anthony pounded his fist into his cockpit and reluctantly turned around to follow Carlos. As the two Vipers approached Evo they were horrified to see the massive amount of corpses laying the ground and the lack of respect that the EAP were showing them. The soldiers managed to take out two of the four ATs that were treading through but still it wasn’t enough. The single AT that the TA had was already in shambles, the soldiers’ lifeless bodies hanging out of the cockpit latch. The two remaining ATs rolled over any obstacle including the small hills of dead soldiers. The weight of the tanks crushed the bodies into the wind, their insides rupturing through the skin and exploding from the force of the turning wheels and treads. Carlos’ fists twitched from the anger that flowed in his veins.

“Those bastards! Do they have no respect for the fallen!” His voice erupted from the communications stereo blasting into both Eric and Anthony’s ears. Eric didn’t see the horror, but hearing the rage in his commander’s voice gave him all the information he needed. As his Viper closed in on the mountainous valley in front of him he felt a new resolve. He began to hate his enemies, began to look at the pilots behind him as an extension of the EAP and not as individual pilots with a past, with a life. Eric always hated when he had to kill a pilot, their deaths would plague his nightmare, he never knew them personally, but he knew they had a family and these faceless families would haunt his dreams, condemning him for his actions. But now, things were different, the EAP were slaughtering his fellow soldiers, crushing their soulless bodies as if to brag about their victory, he wanted them to pay. The rigid rocks that protruded from the mountains nearly sliced through the Viper’s wings but Eric tilted his jet to the side allowing somewhat safe passage. The two Dragonflies followed suite, their wings tilted vertically in order to avoid a collision. A ringing sound burned into his ears, his Viper was locked onto. Just then two missiles launched the slight humming of their thrusters bounced off the beige formations. Eric refused to panic; he then took notice of a natural mountainous bridge ahead of him. His Viper slowly began to rise and the missiles followed, at the last second Eric forced his jet to abruptly descend under the bridge. The missile didn’t have enough time to react and exploded on contact with the bridge of rocks and sand. Smoke violently swept through the air, pieces of debris flung onto the windows of the Dragonflies, hindering their vision. As the pilots began to panic the lead Dragonfly exploded into pieces as it ran into the falling structure of rocks. Flames flung out into the sky with even more torrents of smoke. Eric used the explosion as a distraction and flew out of the valley. At first he believed that he got rid of both Dragonflies but soon realized that one survived.

“Lucky bastard…..come on…COME ON!” Finally his missile locked onto the remaining Dragonfly and fired. The missile soared eloquently until it collided with the Dragonfly sending its wings thrashing into the sides of the mountains and the cockpit to burst out. The pilot was launched through the plastic protective screen, his frail body twisting and turning through the harsh winds caused by the explosion. His voice screaming in agony, wishing for death, then everything became silent after the grotesque death the pilot was given. His body was thrown into a single jagged sharp rock that pierce the torso. Blood gushed out from the wound as the pilot’s eyes slowly twitched until finally closing. Eric sighed but then turned around to head back towards Evo.

            “This is getting to be fun!” Anthony screamed as another Dragonfly spiraled to the ground engulfed in a torrent of flames. Both Anthony and Carlos managed to disable both of the EAP ATs but were caught off guard by the arrival of 6 more Dragonflies.

“They just keep coming huh? Like insects.” Anthony replied.

Carlos looked over his shoulder after shooting down another Dragonfly bringing the EAP air fighter forces down to 2.

“Yeah…but I don’t see any more ATs, or soldiers on foot for that matter. Just jets…something isn’t right.” Carlos muttered.
Just then another Dragonfly swooped in on Carlos; the jet began to fire relentlessly forcing Carlos to bank to his right. It was a trap and Carlos knew it, but he had no other place to move. It was either head into the trap and struggle to survive or fly into a close by mountain range.  Carlos’ Viper suddenly shook as a warhead exploded near the left wing engulfing it in flames.

“Damn, I’m hit. I’m going down!” Carlos screamed. His eyes gazed as the sun was slowly rising and then watched as his Viper’s left wing ripped from the core of the jet flinging through the wind. His Viper began to descend spiraling out of control while the two remaining Dragonflies began to close in on him. As Carlos prepared to eject he watched the two Dragonflies fall to the ground, their wings ripping from their cores as electrical sparks spiraled around their remains. He smirked as both Eric and Anthony’s Vipers swooped past. He knew it was safe to eject and did so, his body was tugged around by the wind along with the gravity, but after his parachute launched he fluttered down towards the surface safely. His hand reached in his jumpsuit pulling out the dog tag of his deceased wife. With his eyes closed he gently kissed the soft chilled tag. The battle ended, but hundreds of soldiers lost their lives in the attack by the EAP.

            “I told you we’d survive.” General Copiare mentioned. He sat back down into the leather chair overlooking the entire base camp of Evo. The fires were extinguished, but the towers of smoke that covered refused to leave and continued to linger as a constant reminder of their lack of forces.

“Sir….Mr. Avidus from the Revelations Organization is here. He would like to speak with you.” Major Samus muttered.

“Fine bring him in….oh, and leave us alone please. Thanks.”

“Yes sir.” Samus didn’t like the idea, Revelations was a new Organization formed from the richest most powerful people in the United States along with Britain. Very few were politicians, but all of them had a hand in financing the TA military. In a way they could control the destiny of the TA and the war. As the head of Revelations entered into the room every military officer slowly rose to leave. Vincent Avidus was a young man, the youngest benefactor of the TA and the richest. No one knew where he got his wealth nor did they wish to inquire. He stood in front of General Copiare with a brooding smile lining his beige skin; his eyes were the color of topaz but could barely be seen as his long thin silver bangs covered most of his face. His hands were hidden inside the pockets of his expensive taupe suite.

“Mr. Avidus, this is a surprise. What can I get for you?”

“Heh, the question is how many can I get for you?” Avidus asked smirking. His presence emanated a cold disturbing vibe, one that General Copiare seemed to ignore.

“I’m not sure I follow.” The General replied.

“These are hard times that we live in General, with Genesis taking the MF pilots from both the TA and the EAP to perform in a meaningless tournament. Both sides are relying on inferior modes of combat. We at Revelations are beginning to become fed up with the longevity of the war; we wish to see it end at any means necessary.”
The General moved out from his chair staring at the young official awkwardly. As he began to move towards the window so he could gaze into the destruction he sighed.

“You mean nukes? I’m well aware that you and the other upper class gentlemen have suggested that as an answer to the war. Even if you finance the Trinity Alliance, you don’t completely control us.” The General replied.

“Oh, on the contrary, if we used nuclear weapons then we’d just end up destroying all of humanity and we don’t want that.” Avidus replied still with the smile on his face.

“If you’re not suggesting nukes than why are you here?”

“This is why I’m here…” Just then Avidus flipped open his beige suitcase and took out a manila folder throwing it to the General. The General’s fingers began to flip through the folder, he gasped in shock. What he saw was a specifications table for an MF under development.

“You like it? It’s the RV-Z32A-Shade, the TA’s new staple MF.” Avidus replied with a chuckle. “Do you mind?” He picked up a bottle of Chardonnay and began to pour some into a wine glass without waiting for the General’s reply.

“RV-Z32A-Shade? A staple MF for the TA? What are you saying?”

“I’m saying without MFs participating this is just going to be a long pointless war without an end in sight. And the whole idea of personalized MFs for the pilots was a good idea and all, but believe that if a pilot wishes to have a personalized MF then he’s going to need to prove his loyalty to the cause and earn it. The Government has already green lighted them, and the Shades will be distributed to every military facility on both Mars and Earth. Training programs have been scheduled for this weekend. Don’t worry we’ve already taken the liberty of sending the schedules to the qualified soldiers, mainly the higher ranking ones, ones that have already proven themselves to be capable of fighting for the cause.”  Avidus paused to take a sip of his wine while the General just stood in shock.

“So we’re going back to relying on MFs then…what about the USAF pilots?!” He screamed.

“Them? Don’t worry; they’ll still be in active duty. They’ve proven themselves as a valuable asset to the TA. We’re sending Evo about 50 Shades; they should be delivered by next week. I hope that they will be a guiding factor in ending this war.” Avidus mentioned. He soon stood up from the table and proceeded to leave the room. General Copiare stared into the horizon as the surviving soldiers carried in the seemingly endless amount of dead bodies. Evo took a lot of damage from the attack; the General knew that, he also was aware that it might have been avoidable if they had a sufficient MF unit.

“Revelations….what are they really trying to achieve?” He mumbled as his face tilted against the glass window. His pale hardened skin pressed flat onto the frigid window and began to skid down as his body slowly fell to the floor.

            “Are you alright man? You took quick a hit?” Anthony mentioned as he stared at his commander. Carlos chuckled under his breath as he sat on the edge of a military crate while watching the mechanics go to work on his Viper.

“I’m fine. It’ll take a lot more than that to get rid of me.” Carlos replied. “What about Eric? He hasn’t said a thing since we touched down.”

Anthony glanced over towards the exit door of the hanger, Eric stood at the edge just staring into the rising sun.

“It’s been a while since he took the lives of another pilot. I think he’s just a bit shaken up.” Anthony replied.

            “Why am I still fighting in this stupid war?” Eric mumbled as he stared at his trembling hands.

“Heh…is my only skill to kill people? Is that all I’m good at? WHEN WILL THIS WAR END?!” Eric screamed loudly as he punched the hard metallic shutters on the hanger wall.

The collision caused the metal to vibrate sending out a sharp echoing sound to emanate through the hanger.

            As the war continued to linger and escalate the second round of the Azure Cup began. Every pilot remained oblivious to just how chaotic the war was becoming, their minds were all focused on the tournament and who would prevail. The second round for Section ‘A’ was to begin the following morning. Barely anyone could contain their excitement. The news reports of the assault on Evo were pushed aside by reports of the first round of the Azure Cup and the upcoming second round. The matches were listed on every news station across the globe;

‘A-1’
Zach Orion vs. Leo Ombra
Heather Pertencia vs. Michelle Dolce

‘A-2’
Chris Procella vs. Caleb Prodito
Ryan Houston vs. Solice