The Razgriz Aces [Book 2]

Reprisal

"Terrorism and deception are weapons not of the strong, but of the weak."
~Mahatma Ghandi
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 Grimm

The coin landed on the tail's side. The commander grunted and announced, "All right, your mission is to neutralize the gas that has been deployed in Bana City by what is believed to be Yuktobanian terrorists. I don't like it, but we're short-handed in Oured right now, and you're the best we have. Don't fuck this up!"

He dismissed us with a wave of his hand, and we scurried to the SUV, desperate to get out of the stuffy courthouse. once again driven by Nelson, and to Ellington Field, where we would be assigned aircraft and instructed on our mission.

The car ride to the base was surprisingly short, not that I minded.  Nelson had a way of making all situations unnaturally and unnecessarily awkward.  Even Chopper was silent and that's unheard of (literally).

When we pulled up to the base, we were escorted by a man named Ivan Tronsicslav.  He was tall, about six feet, and he appeared to be on the younger side with dark brown hair, blue eyes, and a peach-colored fuzzy thing as his mustache, which made me wonder if he was a true brunette.  I wondered what part of Osea he was from because he had a slight accent that I couldn't quite place.  Maybe he was from the east coast.  I also noticed a scar on his right arm but, I had been taught that you don't ask scar stories until you're considered friends with the person, and we were definitely not with Ivan. In fact, I doubted anyone in Oured was our friend right now, except maybe for Genette's boss, but he had no idea any of us were here in the first place.

"Hello," Ivan said. "How are you today?"

"We've had better days," Blaze replied, giving him a small smile. "How has your day been?"

"Rough."

"Oh? How Come?"

"I'm a defector from the Yuktobanian Air Force.  I didn't approve of my country starting a war with yours, so I defected and came to fight for Osea," Ivan explained.  I felt my mouth drop slightly open at the bombshell he'd just dropped on us. No wonder I heard an accent!

"I see. Well, I'm sorry you had to leave your country, but we're grateful you're helping us," Blaze told him sincerely. "You wouldn't happen to have any insider info about why they started the war, would you?"

Ivan shook his head. "No. We were kept in the dark as much as you."

"Didn't think so, but it was worth a shot."

Ivan opened his mouth to continue the conversation, but he was interrupted by the Base Commander instructing us to our planes in a tone that clearly said he wished he could be dealing with anyone but us. 

Unfortunately, we didn't get to choose our planes. We were given MIR-2000s, which looked like they hadn't been flown in years. They were equipped with neutralizers instead of missiles, although we still had our guns working in case any enemies came after us.  As we pulled onto the runway, the briefer came on. Unlike ours on Sand Island, this one didn't clear his throat before he began, so I would've paid no attention had he not had such an obnoxiously loud voice. "A group believed to be a Yuktobanian commando force has carried out a terrorist attack with chemical weapons.  The site of the attack is the college town of Bana, located to the south of Oured.  Plumes of nerve gas are currently billowing out from several locations around the city.  We must neutralize the gas from the air as quickly as possible.  Capital District Air Command will provide specialized aircraft equipped to deploy canisters containing a neutralizing agent.  Drop the neutralizing agent from the air over the smoke from the gas plumes.  Keep the gas from spreading further around the city."