Mobius Squadron: Shattered Skies

Chapter 44: Homecoming

Mobius 1

The night had been chaotic. The ground personnel gave Mobius and the others the first choice for barracks as all they wanted was to bed down. The planes were stored in secure hangars, sealed in concrete to withstand the bombs. The dawn didn't wake Mobius, but the sound of turboprops spooling down did. He sped out of the building to see a C-130 pulling up and offloading personnel. All five pilots were there, all of them still in the baggy green flight suits. The commander, crew chiefs and maintenance crews headed off the Hercules, all heading to their respective places either the buildings or hangars. Mobius headed off to the hangar where his F-22 was being stored. The concrete building was being filled by several maintenance technicians and one crew chief shouting at the top of her lungs in order to get them all set up. "Come on, move it! Not much scenery to take in so you shouldn't be getting distracted!". Mobius just stood at the entrance, watching the organised chaos unfold. The F-22 was showing the damage of the burst of 30mm in the engine section. "You've got some explaining to do!" Rebecca exclaimed as she marched towards Mobius. "Why do I feel like we've done this before?" Mobius asked as Rebecca haranged him about the damage caused. That stopped her, as she looked rather embarrassed at that point. "Quite a while" she answered. Quite a while indeed, as that had happened after the attack on Rigley, Mobius' second sortie. "Well, a promise is a promise. So tomorrow, I'll show you around" Mobius said. Rebecca's eyes lit up at that. She thanked Mobius repeatedly before he managed to extricate himself from the grasp of his crew chief. Turning away, he saw several of the maintenance crew mouth 'thank you'. He was blissfully ignorant of the worry they had for Rebecca. By day's end, all the personnel and planes from the Valley had transferred to San Salvacion. The ISAF frontline continued west.

Yellow 13

It was bland. That was Yellow 13's first thought as he looked at the new base he had been ordered to. It was north of Farbanti, and Yellow Squadron was there to protect the capital. 13 could have snorted in disbelief. What were 5 planes going to do against the juggernaut that continuously pushed aside all the Erusean defences. Whenever something stalled them or was a serious threat, they called in The Ribbon and that was it. He vaguely remembered an intelligence report on him. Mobius 1. Apparently a member of a squadron that had been completely wiped out by 13. He paused and thought back. Yes, it was the one raid that had gotten close to Stonehenge. That had been a good fight, and it appeared this new pilot was living up to his predecessor's reputation. 13 sighed as he laid back, his body sinking into the chair in the ready room. Even 48 hours later, the events of San Salvacion still tore at his being. Memories flashed past one by one. The boy first catching his eye in the Sky Kid Bar, them playing together, 13 and 4 saving him from his uncle, that picture they had taken with the four of them: 13, 4, the boy and the barkeep's daughter. All whizzed past in his mind's eye. 13 then heard a voice calling him. It was the adjutant. A pair of new pilots had arrived and 13 was to instruct them. Not everything lasted forever. The rate of rotation was so high that 13 was the only permanent member of the squadron. But, that was how it was going to be according to the higher ups in Farbanti, and he wisely chose to accept it. Erusea's premier ace sighed to himself as he got up and walked over to two new faces, arms bearing the Aquila patch. It had certainly been a long war.

Mobius 1

The next day dawned with the sounds of celebration echoing over San Salvacion. The ISAF liberators were being given a very warm welcome by the city's population. Crowds were piled onto the streets, all repeating the same anthem the pilots had sung over Comberth. In the middle of it, Mobius 1 was guiding Rebecca through his hometown. He lacked the usual flight suit, instead donning some jeans and his Ribbon emblazoned hoodie. "Well the people are certainly happy" Rebecca commented as yet another person excitedly shook Mobius' hand and thanked him for saving them. He smiled in return. He could've sworn he spotted Sky Eye going along with the crowds earlier. The main sights he had planned to show were the government complex, Old Towne and then ... his home. It was odd to think of it that way, but he wanted to see if his family was still there. "Come on, still got to get through the tour somewhat quickly" Mobius gestured with his hand as he said it. Rebecca followed along as Mobius navigated the crowded streets. The wrecks from the fighting had been cleared up very quickly. In fact, aside from a few blast marks, you could hardly tell that a fierce night battle had been fought there just over a day earlier. Mobius stopped just outside the government complex, where the crowd's epicentre seemed to be. "What a building" Rebecca spoke as she managed to take in the sight fully. Suddenly, the two found themselves swept up in the crowd. Someone had recognised the Ribbon Insignia, and the two found themselves the centre of attention. Mobius was looking for a way out when a hand grabbed both him and Rebbeca, dragging them out of the moshpit. "That's another one you owe me for" Sky Eye said as the crowd started moving away to other parts of the city. Mobius just nodded his thanks before grabbing Rebbeca's hand and moving towards Old Towne. By the time he got there, his crew chief's face was bright red. "Alright, this is probably one of the city's most popular places" Mobius said as Rebecca regained her composure and looked around. The apartments had a rustic look about them and were all covered in ISAF and San Salvacion flags. That part of the tour concluded, Mobius had one place left to go. As they started walking Rebecca asked "So what's this final place we're going to?" Mobius took a breath and then answered. "My family's home". The look of shock on his crew chief's face was priceless. "Wait, what!" she exclaimed, a look of disbelief making its way onto her face as the two of them kept walking. Mobius hadn't been in this area since, well since forever it felt like. The scenery invoked memories of a time long past, a time when he would look up at the sky and envision a future flying through the clouds, drawing sharp contrails in manoeuvres with his fellow pilots. Now that he had achieved that dream, the thought seemed almost nostalgic. The signs of the city slowly thinned out, replaced with even more trees, as the pair found themselves close to a lake. There were burnt houses across the way, but the cluster that Mobius was steering them towards was intact. On the front porch of one of them, was a man. He had greying hair and was reading through a book of some kind. Mobius' pace quickened the closer they got to the house. He was excited, that much Rebecca could tell. The man heard the footsteps and looked up from his book. When he caught a glance of Mobius' face, a look of disbelief took over. Mobius ran up the steps of the porch, just as the man rose from his seat. The two collided into a hug. Tears were welling up in both their eyes. "Hey dad" Mobius finally got out as he broke from the embrace. The older man just looked at him in disbelief. His legs suddenly gave way, and both Mobius and Rebecca dived forward to stop him from hitting the porch. They lifted him back into his seat as the man finally spoke. "We were so worried" he got out in between the tears. Mobius just nodded, then gestured to Rebecca. "This is my crew chief, Rebecca". The aforementioned crew chief reached out a hand to shake the old man's. A grin appeared on his face. "Nice catch son" he said with glee. Mobius' cheeks went beetroot red at that statement. "W-well it isn't like that" he hastily explained, much to the amusement of both his father and Rebecca. The man stood up and opened the door and gestured for the two of them to enter. The house was sparsely decorated, a few photos or paintings here and there but apart from that, there was nothing. A woman came out of one of the rooms to look at what was happening. When she saw Mobius, she went through the same reaction as the man. The ace was enveloped into a crushing bear hug. "Yep, good to see you Mum" Mobius managed to wheeze out. The woman launched into a tirade about keeping in contact next time, and then released him and turned to Rebbeca. "And you are?" she asked. "Rebbeca, this idiot's crew chief" was the answer as the two women embraced. "Come on and sit down you two" Mobius' mother finally said as they entered a room with a table. Currently occupying the table was a girl in her teenage years, and a boy of around 11. The boy was playing with a toy that Mobius soon recognised was a model of his Raptor. The light blue '01' on the nose, the ISAF triple arrow insignia on the wingtips, and the Ribbon Insignia on the vertical stabilisers, all those details were present. Both of them looked up and, in what was a now standard reaction, raced over and embraced Mobius. The boy then extended his toy for the ace to see. "Quite the toy" Mobius said as he took the moment to fully appreciate the details. "Yeah. Hey, you have the same symbol on your jumper" the boy exclaimed. Seemingly overjoyed at the return of his older sibling. Mobius just nodded. His sister was talking with Rebecca, trying to find out what had been happening over the past year and a half since she had last seen him. After they were all seated, his father asked "So, we know you're a pilot. Which squadron?". Mobius responded nonchalantly "Oh, I'm part of the Mobius Squadron". Several jaws dropped. "You're Mobius 1?!" the young boy exclaimed excitedly. The realisation that his toy was that of his brother's aircraft was probably shocking to him. Mobius nodded and began to regale them with the tales of his exploits for the last several months. North Point, Rigley, Mt. Schezna, The Blockade, The Petro-chemical complex, Comberth, The Solar Facility, Comona, Bunker Shot, The Tango Line, Escort, Stonehenge, The Gnome Ravine, The cruise missile interception, all of it. Rebecca would interject when he left out some details. The look of concern on his mother's face when he told of the first encounter with the Yellow's, his father's awe at the landing of ISAF on the beaches of Southern Usea, his sister's intrigued expression at the dodging missile, his brother's sparkling eyes at the furball over the Comona Islands. It was good to be home. The sun was setting by the end of Mobius' grand recount, so he and Rebecca stayed with his family for dinner. After that they had to get going back. Before he left, Mobius' father took him aside for a quick chat. "I see the way you're looking at that girl son. Don't wait forever." Mobius was flustered at that, but quickly adapted and assured his father about it. They left towards the airport, now an airbase technically, through the cold night. Rebecca was chilly, so she pressed up against the ace for warmth. Mobius just didn't react, but continued like this the whole walk back. After they separated back at the airport, Mobius went to the rec room quickly. To his expectation, Sky Eye, Omega 11, Rapier 12, Halo 4 and Viper 9 were all eagerly awaiting news. What surprised him was the commander waiting there as well. After he relayed the day's events, he received a slap on the back from Sky Eye. "You're getting closer my friend. Keep it up". Mobius just tiredly nodded, before heading to his quarters and collapsing. Once he had left, Sky Eye turned to all the others and pocketed $20 from each. His faith in Mobius was well placed it seemed. The commander smiled at the exchange and ordered them all off to sleep. He needed some himself.