Flush (Part 2) (1/1)

The Mirage landed right as the rescue helicopter touched down on the helipad. Handong slumped back on her seat. overcome with fatigue as her Mirage was slowly towed into the hangar. From the cockpit, she bit back a yawn and watched as two pilots, covered in desert dust stepped out. It was Junhoe and Chanwoo. And then a few guards ran over, two of them escorting the two pilots out of her sight as she shut down the engines, the muffled whirring of the turbines ceasing as she kept her eye on the helicopter. Four soldiers stepped out after. Two each lugging a body bag, which the guards then lifted on to carts before they too disappeared from her field of vision. Turning her attention back to her instruments, she undid her helmet, setting it in her lap. Still 1 million more to go. She glanced at the calculations on a notebook she kept in her breast pocket. Yes, her bounty was given a big discount but the fact that she had to pay for the Mirage and its weapons after losing the Phantom, it meant nothing as she was now back to square one. Handong's bounty had dropped to one million. The cost of getting a new plane raised it to 1.3 million, the amount she had left to pay off, just before the Phantom got shot down. Her eyes slowly shut themselves, despite her attempts to force them to stay open.Someone rapped on the canopy, making her awaken with a jolt. She reached for her pistol out of reflex, then relaxed as she stared back at a mechanic, motioning for her to open the canopy, which she did with a wordless nod before climbing out, sliding down the ladder before quietly exiting the hangar, to the locker rooms, and then back to the barracks for some well deserved rest-"So what's your bounty at now?" Taehyun had asked, nursing a lit cigarette from a pack that Hanbin had managed to smuggle in past the guards. Handong grimaced at the bitter smell, waving her hand in front of her face to ward off the smoke before turning in the other direction."Ugh he could have gotten you some better smelling ones. But anyways. I'm back to 1.3 million. You?" She leaned back against the door frame, drawing in a sigh, along with the smoke from the cigarette which ended up giving her a coughing fit. "1.05 million. The mechanics seem to keep finding something wrong with my F-5 every time I come back. So the maintainance costs keep adding to my bounty." "Looks like we're both gonna be stuck here for a while." Another sigh. Taehyun had offered Handong a cigarette which she politely refused as she then stared outside at the setting sun. "Heard Hanbin's already hit the 900k mark.""Which means he is going to be the first one out of this shithole. Don't get me wrong, anarchist. But I'm getting a bit tired of all this. Of all the near-endless missions and the never-ending pressure to pay off our bounties.""I feel you. But the moment you run, every other mercenary pilot on this base will be gunning for you. Sure you might be able to outfight them all. Until you run out of ammo." "At least I'd go out with a bang. And in a literal blaze of glory." She laughed, closing her eyes as her thoughts wandered. "Those mercs that are always getting sent West.. If that Kazama guy the other mercs talked about was here, I bet he'd put up one hell of a fun fight. But. I really need to get out of here as quickly as possible with little fuss. My former unit's already picked up my scent and they're gonna be gunning for me every damn chance they get.""You never told me about your flight leader." Taehyun had put out his cigarette, tossing it aside as he glanced over at Handong. "Oh him? I'll be honest, I never saw a reason to. It's a long story. A really, really long story. Now that I'm all the way out here, I just wonder what I saw in him back then. He changed too much."And as if she knew what her wingman was about to ask, she added: "We were together for a while. But I felt it wasn't really going further emotionally. I could put up with his personal ideals and beliefs but his obsession with the project was just the final nail in the coffin."And before Taehyun could reply, he caught sight of two guards, along with the dust-covered forms of Junhoe and Chanwoo approaching the barracks, Hanbin and Mino in tow. "Well, isn't that a sight for sore eyes? I'm glad you bastards are alive!" Taehyun broke into a chuckle, giving Chanwoo a crushing bear hug as Handong stood up, giving Junhoe a handshake, before briefly embracing him as well. "Well, we missed our ride and our hosts insisted we stay for dinner." Chanwoo shrugged. "Wouldn't be alive if Hackerman and Mino bailed us out. Thanks. We owe you two.""We're all buddies in this unit. No sweat." And as if to interrupt the reunion, one of the guards muttered, something about the base commander wanting to meet Handong. And so she followed, noting the fact that she didn't have to have both hands zip-tied behind her back any more. -The guards led her to the base's sickbay where the base commander was waiting with another pair of guards. "Lieutenant Han. Ah I was looking for you." He then reached down, unzipping one of the body bags, exposing the uniformed corpse within. Handong raised an eyebrow as she glanced at the shoulder patch of the dead soldier. "Now you're not in any trouble but I was hoping you'd know something about our friend and his buddy here."She leaned closer, examining the corpse, chuckling to herself at the fact that the dead soldier had been stupid enough to not remove the People's Liberation Army patch from his shoulder. "Commander. I'm afraid I don't know this man personally but I can tell you that there is proof right here that my home country is sending military support for the rebels. This man here was foolish enough to leave his PLA patches on and I can bet you his buddy's also packing the same patches. The PLA and PLAAF wouldn't be foolish enough to set up base here in Asran so they'd be based across the border.""Would they have happened to be looking for you?"

"No. My unit officially doesn't exist outside of the Air Force. So they would have sent PLAAF commandoes after me. These two goons here are Army Special Forces grunts. As to why they would be here, I couldn't tell you. The People's Liberation Army has numerous reasons to send troops over. These two, could have been just on a search-and-rescue op for all we know." "I see. I'll go inform High Command. You should get some rest, Lieutenant." And then he turned away, as the guards escorted her back to the barracks. -The trio of J-7s landed in a cloud of dust as the sun set. Minghao had gone straight to his quarters after debriefing. He laid there, staring at the ceiling. Still cursing himself for the rookie mistake that cost him the fight with his former wingman. He replayed the images in his mind, reflecting on his flying and what he thought he could had done better. I got complacent. Complacency kills. But then again I did train her after all. You might have lucked out this time, Lieutenant Han but the next time we meet, I'm ensuring your luck won't save you.And then he closed his eyes, a satisfied grin crossing his lips as he figured out a plan to defeat his former wingman. It wouldn't be easy but as long as she would be shot down, it wouldn't matter to him how difficult it would be.-A blue and white F-20 approached the base. Immediately a pair of interceptors flew alongside it, the pilots then breaking off after getting a good look at the garish paint color and the unicorn emblem of its tail. The pilot was Shin Kazama, a veteran of the previous civil war. His F-20's garish livery was purely unmistakable. After more than a decade after he left, Shin had decided to return to the skies over Asran. Many veterans of that war had returned, unable to adjust to normal civillian life. And Shin Kazama was no exceptionFrom the ground, Handong merely observed, her eyes following the F-20 as it landed, then took off again into the air as it came in too fast before turning back around for another landing attempt. So this is the legendary Shin Kazama.  She had heard a little about the veteran pilot from conversations between Hanbin and the other Outlaws and how he got tricked by an associate of his into signing up as a merc for the Asranian Royal Air Force. He had managed to pay off his bounty by the time the first civil war ended but he came back to fight again. And today marked his second return to Area 88 after nearly two decades. She caught sight of the base commander striding towards the F-20 as its pilot stepped out, shaking hands with said pilot after. "Will you look at that. It's the legend himself." Taehyun peered over Handong's shoulder, making her jolt from the sudden intrusion as she shot him a glare, which went ignored as he stared out at the blue and white fighter."There are those that come back to the battlefield once or twice. But what could drive a man to return for the third time? Especially in a hellhole like Asran." "There are those that just don't fit in anywhere. And then there's those who have become so hardened by combat and the horrors of war, they struggle to adjust to life outside of the battlefield and often fail. Some like Captain Kazama return. Others just drift and drift till they're face down in some alleyway." "Sounds like you speak from experience." She turned to look up at him, an eyebrow raised. "I'll spare you the details but I was a drifter too. Did my two years and luck had decided to abandon me the moment my two years were up." "And so you came here to the desert where you might die alone on some sand dune without a proper burial." To which Taehyun responded with a chuckle. "Says the one who deserted.""Touche. But it's still better than facing a firing squad or being sent to one of those reeducation camps." And then a sigh before she chuckled as well. "Looks like we both don't have a home to go back to anymore. So what will you do once this war's over?""Me? There's plenty of conflict going on in this corner of the globe. Sooner or later someone's gonna be looking for hired guns. There's always demand for mercs. And you? Surely you don't have plans to wander the globe as a fellow soldier of fortune.""I might keep running. Maybe I'll be running my entire life cause half the PLAAF wants my head now. But at least I'll be free. Even if I end up dying here."