Ace Combat: Demons and Ghosts of Razgriz

Prologue/Chapter One

Fifteen years ago, There was a war.

Well, war has broken out here many times before. They've tried to invade the south-lands through the northern valley time and time again.

Luck was never on their side though, and their victories didn't last long.

They didn't realize that times had changed.

Facing one defeat after another, loosing territory, and watching their nation dwindle, they built up their industrial strength to unprecedented heights, and used it to wage one final battle against the world.

That was fifteen years ago.

They fought ferociously, but were utterly defeated.

The Belkans then committed the unthinkable, they used nuclear weapons on their own soil.

Seeing this tragedy unfold before their own eyes, the victorious nations vowed to throw down their weapons.

The world was once again at peace, and thanks to them, it seemed as if it would last forever.

On a distant island, far away from civilization, the protectors of the peace take to the skies

Lt. John 'Blaze' Marshall continued to walk through the halls of Sand Island Airforce Base. He and Lt. Alvin Davenport had just arrived here from Heirlark Base. In a couple of F-5 Trainers that someone had recommissioned out of nowhere. Suddenly, Davenport came out of nowhere and put his arm around Blaze's shoulder "Hey bud, settled in alright?"

Blaze sniffed, "Chopper, when was the last time you took a shower. If the base commander just happened to walk by, he would have the both of us on kitchen duty for a month."

"Ahh! Don't be such a worry-wart Blaze." Chopper stated in a whiney tone.

"Chopper, the higher-ups here are different than they are at Heirlark. Captain Hamilton is alright, but the Colonel here, even though he puts Jabba the Hutt to shame, could have your ass for taking a leak without a hall-pass." Blaze noted as he walked.

Suddenly a voice spoke. "Yeah, and he's a real bastard too." These words came from a Captain that had just come up from behind him. "Captain Jack Bartlett, your new trainer, and the man you're gonna kiss up to at all hours of the day. You ever trash talk me on the base, and I'll make you fetch my slippers every morning at the crack of dawn."

Marshall saluted. "Sir!" John stated as he came to attention, and noticed that Chopper forgot that little protocol and kicked Alvin in the foot.

Alvin stood at attention. "Sir!"

Bartlett spoke, "Now that's better. Since we got introductions out of the way. We can move on to the important stuff. You've got a mission with me nuggets. Command just told me of some kind of spy plane flying around in our airspace. So I'll need pilots for an intercept, and since you're the only pilots I can find around here, it looks like you're it. So stow your gear and get your flight suits on." A young woman walked up from behind Bartlett. "And say hi to Lieutenant Nagase. She's quite possibly the only other pilot on this island that has managed to stay alive thus far." Bartlett excused himself. "I want you all in the Briefing Room in thirty minutes." Bartlett stated.

Both John and Alvin looked at Kei, like they had never seen a woman before. The only thing they could do is say hi.

Kei just smiled, "Hello Lieutenants, it looks like you better get moving. Captain's orders." She turned around and proceeded toward her quarters. Alvin stood there and watched her, and it took John to slap him in the head in order for him to snap out of it. "I saw her first Romeo."

Alvin spoke, "Well I got news for you, she's off limits. She's on our squadron you know." John spoke, "Yeah, yeah. But I still saw her first." John proceeded toward the quarters. "In your dreams Blaze."

Blaze and Chopper continued to watch their squadron commander, sitting on a chair, and staring at the ceiling while completely spaced out. This spectacle managed to get chopper's complete attention. He learned to Blaze at his left and spoke, "Is this guy for real?" He whispered.

"Yeah, I am for real Davenport." Captain Bartlett stated as he stared at the ceiling. "So zip it and pay attention." He then looked toward the pilots. "I know you don't like this, but we're short on people. Starting tomorrow, all you nuggets will be sitting alert. So stay glued to me out there. Nagase!."

"Sir!" She said simply. "You'll be flying number two on my wing. Gotta keep an eye on you or who knows what you'll get yourself into. Blaze, Chopper, you two are also on my wing, don't make me regret it.

Bartlett spoke again, "Alright Nuggets, dismissed"

John and Alvin were walking toward their fighters when they discovered what they were going to be flying. "Aw c'mon, give me a break man. Can't we fly something more modern than these things?" Alvin stated with an annoyed tone.

"Hey, they may be old, but they still work." An elder bald man in a Squadron technician jumpsuit stated as he walked forward. He held out his hand to Blaze, "Second Lieutenant Peter N. Beagle." He introduced himself. "Or you can call me Pops."

Blaze smiled, "Second Lieutenant John Marshall, Callsign; Blaze, and this guy is Second Lieutenant Alvin Davenport, Callsign; Chopper." Blaze took his hand and shook it. "So, are they read to go?"

"Yup, they'll do the job for now. That, and these are the only fighters we have for the moment. Four Tigers and the Captain's Phantom." Pops stated.

Chopper then spoke, "Wow, we must be so important that we get such state of the art equipment. Maybe I should write my congressmen and tell him to stop sending us crappy..."

John kicked his leg again. "Owww!" Chopper yelled. "Don't mind him, he'll take the Tigers. Won't you Chopper?" John glared at Alvin, "Sometimes Chopper here doesn't know when to shut his mouth and respect his elders."

Pops chucked at this display. "It's alright Lieutenant, I'm quite used to this banter from pilots by now, I used to be a pilot, once upon a time, but eventually you loose your wings as you get older." Pops turned and looked into the sky. "Hmm, clear skies. You won't have much cloud cover in order to loose bandits, but you will always have the sun. Always keep track where it is. If you can get it behind you. All the better to blind your opponent." He stated. "Well now, I have more work to do, good luck with your mission."

John and Chopper approached Bartlett and Edge, who had just emerged from a hanger. "Alright, now we come to the most important decision of the day, finding out who gets to fly tail position." Bartlett stated with a smirk as he held out some straws. Nagasse drew one straw, followed by Blaze and Chopper. However, it was Blaze who drew the short straw." Bartlett spoke, "Well kid, looks like you're on the tail position, may you rest in peace."

"This is Heartbreak One of Wardog Squadron, we're approaching the target." Bartlett anounced over the radio. The AWACS responded promptly. "This is AWACS, Callsign Thunderhead, Roger, bring the target to the ground. Do not fire at the target. Repeat, do not fire at the target."

"You got that Nuggets?" Bartlet asked. "Wardog Two roger." Nagase stated. "Wardog Three roger." Chopper stated. Blaze's mind was preoccupied at the moment, he didn't respond immediately.

".. Wardog four, hello, you better be marking our tail son." Blaze responded. "Roger. Shape up, fly straight, and don't fire. Got it." John stated in a annoyed voice. Bartlett smirked in his cockpit. He liked this kid.

"Man, I'm glad you drew the short straw instead of me today." Chopper stated. "Second Lieutenant Alvin H. Davenport. Zip it. You need a nickname too?" Bartlett responded. "I respectfully ask to be called Chopper sir. I'm afraid I may not be able to respond to any other Moniker."

"Hmmm. That dose fit you well. I got a better nickname for you, but I'll keep it to myself. Okay?" Bartlett stated. "Oh cut me some slack man." Chopper responded.

"Tally ho, we've got company." Bartlett stated.

The Blackbird came into view. "You're forbidden to fire until I give the clearance, understand?"

Blaze responded. "It's a blackbird, what are they going to do, snap photos of Chopper and show them to my mom?" Bartlett held back chuckle, and Blaze could swear he heard a giggle from Nagase. "Trust me, won't let you down. Now where's motormouth chopper?"

"Wha?.. That's your name for me?" Chopper said incredulously.

"You got a knack for comic dialog, mind sending the surrender request for me?" Bartlett resonded.

"Oh no, please, age before beauty..." Bartlett responded. "I'm real shy around strangers ya know."

"Shees.. Testing, testing... Attention unidentified aircraft set your course for our beacon immediately." Chopper continued, "Uh, we will direct you to the nearest airfield, lower your gear if you understand."

There was no response, and the scene became uncharacteristically silent. Suddenly, Thunderhead chimed in. "Warining, we have four unknown bogeys approaching. Approaching unidentified aircraft on vector two-eight-zero, altitude six thousand, hold your fire until orders."

"Crossing the pond to fly cover for their spy plane huh? Now there's a fighter pilot worth his wings." Bartlet stated. "You're not to fire until I say its ok, got me?" Blaze responded, "Uh, they got missiles and guns Sir." Bartlett responded. "It's okay, trust me." He said in a reassuring voice instead barking at Blaze, and he was beginning to trust this man more and more. "Understood." Blaze continued to fly toward the bandits, they came into view, and just as Blaze expected, he saw tracers fly by his tiger. "Dammit! We're under fire!"

"All planes weapons safe. Hold your fire." Thunderhead responded. Chopper spoke, "C'mon, those aren't blanks they're firing at us!"

"Shut your yap and return fire." Bartlett stated. "I'm not going to watch any more of my pilots die." Thunderhead responded, "Captain Bartlett you have been given a direct order." Blaze spoke. "They're trying to kill us out here! Why don't you get your thunderhead out of your ass and do something useful, like get us some reinforcements." Blaze twisted to avoid an incoming missile launched by one of the fighters. "Easy there kid." Bartlett stated with a smirk. "You remind me of me. But that mouth of yours is not going to get you promotions."

Blaze managed to get a lock on a Mig-21. "Gotcha!" He fired a missile at it and it vaporized, in fact, the squadron was doing pretty well against them. The Squadron managed to deal with the first wave, and now a second wave was coming in.

"Wardog! I ordered weapons safe for all aircraft. Do not fire at the targets." Thunderhead stated again in a more forcefull voice.

Blaze responded, "And what are we supposed to use? Harsh language?" He turned toward the incoming fighters and fired a missile off toward one of them as they approached. "Ha! Gotcha." Edge, Bartlett, and Chopper each took one of the remaining Migs, after they were thrown off balance when Blaze took out their squadron leader. "Nice, you nuggets are better than I expected." Bartlett stated as they continued to dispatch the Migs. The last one was taken down by Edge."

"All unknown bogey aircraft destroyed." Thunderhead stated.

"This is your Captain, can you hear my voice?" Blaze responded, "Right her Sir."

"Good, looks like we can all hear each other." Bartlett responded. "You all alive? Good, nice work nuggets. Well, to commemorate the fact that we all made it back alive, I'm going to let you keep your nickname, from now on, I'm going to call you kid. Got it? Good."

Chopper spoke, "Man, I swear..."

"Bartlett!" The Base Commander's voice thundered toward the pilots that had just landed. Bartlett turned around. "Let me handle this, you're all dismissed."

"C'mon guys, we don't wanna stick around for this." Chopper mentioned.

Edge smirked as the pilots moved off. "So, tell me about yourselves." Both Blaze and Chopper turned around. "Oh us?" Blaze stated to which Chopper interrupted. "We're only the awesomest pilots ever to come out of the Hierlark air force academy. That's all." Edge giggled a bit. "So, you two are from Hierlark? Do the locals still scowl at you when you mention the words 'North Osea'?"

Blaze smiled, "Oh yeah, one time, Chopper here even tried saying it over and over again, right behind the stingiest Belkan you ever meet, and he got put into the local lockup for vagrancy when one of the local police officers overheard it."

"Hey, they dropped the charges, remember?" Chopper stated. "So, what is there to know about you Lieutenant? I imagine you've had plenty..."

At this point, Blaze grabbed his head around his arm. "Can you excuse us, it's about time for my little adoptive bro's daily noogie." Blaze proceeded to give Chopper the grandfather of all noogies as he struggled. Nagase held her hand over her mouth and giggled.

Nagase then spoke, "Alright you two, settle down." She said as she broke the two up. "You two seem real close."

Chopper smiled, "We kinda just fell in with each other at the academy. Bunkmates and everything. Blaze here made sure I became a fighter pilot, and it wasn't easy, so he's my official adoptive bro."

Nagase spoke, "I joined the Air Force because I wanted to transfer into OASA."

Blaze spoke, "So, wanna fly in space huh?"

Nagase nodded, "Oh you better believe it, and flying for the air force is a good way to do that. Space is just so wonderful."

Blaze had always known that the Osean Aeronautics and Space Administration usually recruited from the military. He had even toyed with the idea of going into the space program himself. Perhaps flying the Arkbird. He spoke again. "There is nothing like looking the Earth from space, and knowing, that it is what we must all share."

Nagase smiled and nodded as their eyes meet. It was like both of their minds synced in that single moment. Something they both had in common. "We'll talk later, I think." Nagase stated. "See you both in the lounge." She walked away.

Blaze watched her, and Chopper watched her swaying hips. Blaze finally reached over and grabbed Chopper's ear. "Ow! What was that for?" Blaze spoke, "For being a perv." He held his finger up. "You can be a pervert with any other female on this base. But she's off limits."

"Alright, alright." Chopper stated.

Author's note: I've proofread this chapter a bit and cleaned it up a little, it should be a more easy ready. And the next chapter is coming soon. I've had a few tough assignments, not to mention I was away for Spring Break. If any of you notice anything I can improve upon, go ahead and put it in the reviews.