Sky King

Part Six: War For A Pilot

Two months have passed since the night of Ace's admitting his suicidal depression to Amarra with no contact yet from the military. He knew they were in a preparation period, training new soldiers and refining equipment for combat, so maybe that was why they hadn't sent him a letter yet. The pilot was glad they hadn't gotten in contact, spending the grand majority of his time with Amarra and occasionally Ed when he came to visit, boasting about his newest conquests of women at bars or clubs. Most of his stories were fairly vanilla, with the few extremely odd tales of times he met a woman with a penis or a gross woman that used plastic surgery to modify her body into looking like a cat, whiskers and all.

"I may like anime, but real life cat girls are a big no from me dude. Get that weeb furry shit out of here," Ed said when telling that particular story, actually getting a laugh out of Ace. It felt good to feel genuine happiness alongside the two, something he hadn't felt for ninety percent of his life.

With the suitcase of money the pilot had received months ago, he had bought a microwave, a small table to set the television Ed had gifted him on, a decent amount of new clothes, and of course food for himself so Amarra didn't have to constantly bring things over. Hell without her, he would have forgotten to eat overall. He just didn't see it as an important thing to remember.

One night, as the two lay nude next to each other in his bed, just having completed another round of intercourse, Ace heard the engine of a vehicle come down the street and stop in front of their complex. He couldn't hear anything else, only the engine roaring away as whoever it was drove away. Ace had an odd feeling and quietly slipped out of the blankets, dressing himself in sweatpants and not bothering with anything else. Silently, he exited the apartment and took a look around, not seeing anything out of the ordinary. With a confused raise of his eyebrows, the pilot walked back up the stairs to his home and stopped. A white envelope lay just outside of his door, apparently out of his peripheral vision when he had exited to investigate. Before even bending down to collect it, he could see the Syncaire Military Insignia printed on the corner in the moonlight, knowing exactly what this was now. He frowned, closing his eyes with a sigh, and returned to his apartment, locking the door shut. Amarra heard the click of the lock and rubbed her eyes, sitting upright as the pilot sat at the edge of the bed.

"What's going on?" She asked, yawning. Ace didn't answer and tore the envelope open, unfolding the letter and reading over the call to arms. The day after tomorrow he was to report to the Karris Military Airfield for briefing on the first attack of the Hellot Islands.

Amarra wrapped her arms around his neck, bare breasts against his back, and read the contents of the paper over his shoulder. Immediately after finishing, she tightened her hold.

"It was a matter of time," Ace said, feeling his girlfriend start to sob on his back, "in the back of my mind I knew this would come sooner or later,"

He turned himself around and peered over the crying woman, marveling her wonderful body before lifting her chin and stifling her crying with a kiss.

"Nothing will take me away from you. Not a single thing. I will fight for this country but I promise you that I will return. Last thing I want is for you to be alone," he said, her hands on his chest as he lay her back down, making sure her legs were open just enough for them to go another round.

Her moans were soft and short, trying to stay quiet, as the walls were pretty thin throughout the entire apartment complex. Night faded into morning, morning into day. They spent all of this last day together, trying to stay positive as the next day loomed right around the corner.

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Heading down the stairs outside, flight suit over his shoulder, Ace took a seat in the awaiting jeep, closing the door and watching Amarra wave from the top of the stairwell. He couldn't bring himself to look long, telling the driver to go. A short trip later and the pilot found himself standing among hundreds of uniformed men, divided into groups based on branch. He stood among the blond haired Air Force, looking at a wooden stage set up in front of all of them. A podium was atop it, the white bearded General Axios ready to give a speech from behind it. Everyone stood at attention, hands at their side, the general being handed a microphone by his adviser.