Stick With Trigger, And You'll Make It

The day after the air raid, both squadrons were huddled into the briefing room again. I had to sit front and center with Clown and the others due to our involvement in the response.
     "We are currently assessing the damage to the base. We have confirmed that the aircraft carrier Albatross was sunk. We know the attacking bogeys were from Erusea." Said the briefing officer. I looked over and saw Brownie droop her head in response to that. She seemed disappointed by that fact.
     "International Union Peacekeeping Force bases all over the Usean continent were attacked in the same way. The damage is severe. Many wars are lost by failing to recover from the opening blows. That means successfully retaliating was very important. You may have turned the tides of battle here. You have our thanks," continued the officer.
     "What about all the talk about drones?" Asked Knocker, still annoyed.
     "HQ has given no explanation on the concern with drones," answered the officer.
     "What about a declaration?" Asked Clown.
     "Coincidentally, the Princess of Erusea gave a speech declaring the war from Gunther Bay, simultaneously with the multiple attacks," answered the officer. I hesitantly stuck my hand in the air, wanting to ask something myself. "Trigger, there's no need for a hand. We're in a briefing, not a classroom."
     "Right, what's our next move then?" I asked.
     "The base commander is still figuring that part out, we will notify everyone when our next mission is ready," answered the officer. "If that's everything, you're all dismissed. Get your rest and relaxation, but remember, we are still on high-alert." Everyone stood up and started filtering out of the briefing room. I walked out alongside Brownie, hoping to ask her about her concerns.
     "Trigger, Brownie, I need to talk to you two," said Knocker. We stopped and walked back over to Knocker.
     "Yes sir?" We both asked.
     "Both of you seem to be very exceptional pilots," he said to us.
     "Thank you sir," we both said.
     "But you're a goddamn dumbass Trigger," he snapped at me.
"Excuse me?!" I exclaimed.
"You do not break formation, and you damn sure don't get cocky like that. Flying reckless is only gonna get people killed, whether it's you or your wingman," he spat at me. If it weren't for my reckless flying, those bombers may have hit us a lot harder than they did, is what I wanted to say, but I held my tongue for now.
"Yes sir," I said through gritted teeth.
"Dismissed," he ordered. Brownie and I left the room. I went to my dorm, and laid in my bunk. Just as I closed my eyes to get a little sleep, someone knocked on the door. I groaned and stood up to answer the door.
"Hey Trigger," greeted Brownie.
"What's up?" I asked.
"I came to see if you were as bored as I was," said Brownie.
     "Not bored, just frustrated," I said.
     "Then come on, get a bathing suit on and meet me over at the beach. The one to the right of the runway," said Brownie.
     "Seriously? The base is on high alert. Shouldn't we stay ready to fight?" I said.
     "You really Erusea is gonna attack here again within hours of losing so many bombers to you?" Boasted Brownie. "If it bothers you that much then you can bring your flight suit to put on quickly if need be." I shake my head a little but agree to go to the beach. Brownie leaves and I get into my duffel bag, digging for the swimsuit I had brought with me. I was an Osean by nationality, but I always would called my birthplace of Ustio my home, and my swimsuit coincidentally reflected that. The two piece swimsuit was pure black on the chest, with the emblem of Ustio's Air Force in the left half. The bottoms were particularly just the Ustio flag, three triangles in a rectangle. One red, one white, and one black between them. I quickly put on the swimsuit, but grabbed a tank top and a pair of fairly short shorts to go over the top of them. As I got back out to the tropical breeze, I felt a wave of calm hit me. After that close call with a missile I was a little shaken up but at least this should calm me down before the next sortie. I walked down the runway towards the beach, if you could call it that. The line of sand on the one side of the island was barely a hundred yards long and maybe 30 yards wide. When I got down to the beach I could see Brownie talking with two guys in swim trunks.
     "Hey Trigger!" She called out. "Glad you actually showed up." She was wearing a one piece swimsuit that was blue with a lightning design on it.
"So this is the chick who shot down all those bombers?" Asked one of the men.
"You're a hell of a pilot," complimented the other guy.
"Thanks, I'm guessing you're all from Golem Squadron?" I asked.
"Yeah. I'm Boggard, Golem 3," introduced one of them.
     "Golem 4, Footpad," said the other. I took a seat next to Brownie, the warm sand sending good feelings through my head.
     "What did you forget your swimsuit?" Asked Brownie.
      "Are you just wanting to see me almost naked?" I joked.
     "I mean, we wouldn't complain," said Footpad, hopefully joking.
     "You people are ridiculous," I said, before quickly discarding my tank top. The two guys seemed fairly interested at that point, and then I decided to mess with them and slowly take off my shorts.
     "Wow Trigger, you look like you belong on the cover of a magazine," compliment Boggard.
     "Yeah right, a pilot like me?"
     "Hey I could see it. 'The IUN's Hottest Ace' right on the cover," complimented Boggard.
     "What's with the Ustio flag and symbols?" Asked Brownie.
     "Oh, I was born in Ustio, December of '94. Moved to Osea in 2007," I explained.
     "Wow, so you were there during the Belkan War," said Footpad. "I bet your mom or dad have some stories. Wonder if they saw The Demon Lord?"
     "What's that? The Razgriz?" Asked Brownie.
     "You're thinking the Circum-Pacific War," said Boggard.
     "I'll handle this one. The Demon Lord of The Round Table. The Belkans had invaded all their neighbors for more land and he was their nightmare. A mercenary pilot flying with the 6th Air Division, 66th Air Force Unit of Ustio, was credited with an almost innumerable amount of kills across the war, particularly in an area known as B7R, otherwise known as the Round Table," I told the story.
     "Wow, he really sounds like a demon," said Brownie.
     "That ain't the half of it, his aggression in combat was unmatched. Some guy made a documentary about him. What was his name again?... Brett Thompson!" Explained Footpad.
     "Wonder if your parents ever saw him flying?" Asked Boggard. I snickered a little bit.
     "My father was a pilot during the war, and I think he did fly with him," I said, not quite truthfully.
     "What was the pilot's name?" Asked Brownie.
"No one knows. He was only ever known by his callsign and TACname: Galm 1, Cipher," said Footpad.
     "Not true, a select few know his name," I said.
     "Right, he had a wingman too, Larry Foulke: Solo Wing Pixy and Galm's number 2," said Footpad. "The two dueled each other after the war's end. And Cipher won." Brownie was in awe at the story, but I was getting a little bored.
     "Well, as long as I'm out here I'm gonna get a tan," I said. I took a towel out of the basket Brownie had brought and laid it out on the sand. I laid flat on my stomach facing the water and feeling the warm sun kiss my skin.
     "*whistles* I'm telling you Trigger, if being a fighter pilot doesn't pay, you'd make millions with those looks," said Footpad. I flipped my pony tail out of the way as I looked back the the Golem pilots.
     "I'm more than just a piece of ass you know," I said, jokingly flirting. I looked up the beach and saw another young pilot walking up to us.
     "Finally found you guy—holy shit!" He exclaimed. Everyone looked over to him as he dropped his towel.
     "Oh, hey Faun," said Boggard.
     "Does Golem have a number 5?" I asked.
     "Nah, he's a back-up pilot. In case a mission needs more numbers or one of us can't fly," explained Footpad.
     "Anyone care to explain who the babe is?" He asked.
     "Trinity Gardner. My TACname is Trigger. And according to everyone here, I'm 'The IUN's hottest Ace'," I introduced myself with a joke.
     "Well they're not wrong. God damn," said Faun. "So you're the pilot who knocked out all those bombers?"
     "In the flesh," I said.
     "Sexy and dangerous," I heard Faun mumble. To be honest, Faun was one of the more attractive men on base. He was well built, had a kind smile, and I might just get lost in those eyes if I were to see them up close. He had his hair in a high and tight cut, and it was a nice dirty blond color.
     "So does anybody wanna do volleyball or something?" Asked Brownie. I decided that I could still get a tan while getting a little bit of fun in.
"Why not?" I said. I stood up and walked back over to Brownie and the others. "Who else is in?"
"I'm in," said Faun instantly. "I call Trigger's side."
"Guess I'm stuck with Brownie," joked Footpad.
"I'll just sit back and watch the show," said Boggard. We all walked over to the net at the end of the beach and got ourselves organized to play.
"Serves up!" Shouted Brownie. The game was on and it was pretty even. For every time Faun and I scored, Brownie and Footpad would score right back at us. There was friendly banter and satirical flirting. It was almost dusk when we decided the next score would win.
     "Alright Trigger, serve it up!" Shouted Faun. I smack the ball hard into the air, soon moving so that I'm in a viable position when it's returned. Brownie quickly returned the serve trying to set Footpad up for a spike.
"I got it!" Yelled Faun, diving upside down for the ball. Being pilots it was easy for us to calculate the trajectory of things, so I'm sure everyone knew the balls was just going to hit the net and bounce back. I leapt forward as the ball came back towards me, just barely hitting the ball enough to send it over the net. The others must've been too awestruck that I'd returned the ball to even send it back. That, or the fact that Faun hadn't moved when I jumped and I landed right on top of him. I slowly pushed myself up from Faun, but then my prediction came true. Our eyes locked, and I instantly was lost. A deep brown ocean that I could almost dive into. I had guess he was equally entrapped in my eyes since he had a fairly obvious blush and didn't break eye contact with me.
"Sorry," I breathily said.
"You're fine," he said, just as flustered. After another brief moment of staring, I finally stood myself up and helped Faun back to his feet.
"We oughta get back to the barracks, it'll be dark soon and this beach is out of bounds after the sun sets," explained Boggard. We started packing up all of the towels and stuff. I got my tank top and shorts back on, and started walking my way back to the barracks.
     "Hey Trigger!" Called out Faun. I turned back and saw Faun run up to me carrying his bag.
     "What's up, Golem 5," I joked to him.
     "I was wondering, well... would you like to, maybe, get a drink sometime?" He asked me. So he wants to buy me a drink, does he? I'm not shocked, and hell, I'm not against that idea myself.
"Alright, I'll take you up on that. How does tomorrow sound?" I offered in return.
"Wait... really? I mean... yeah, of course. I hope you like the bar on base?" He quickly recovered from his trip-up.
"I don't think I have much of a choice on that. There's only one bar on base," I said.
"Right, have a good night Trigger," said Faun, as we parted ways to our separate barracks.
"Later Faun." I called out. The rest of the night was quiet, a nice calm. But I knew this calm wouldn't last. We were at war, and the calm always precedes the storm.