A Lost Ghost

Chapter 3: Viking Ready

Later that night, we were all called into the ready room. I come in a little later than usual and sit near the back, away from anyone who would even think about talking to me. We wait for a long, long time. I fold my arms over my chest and glance around to see if the XO and CO have already come in, and maybe I just missed it. But I don't see them at all. Finally, a pilot decides to turn on the TV. Everyone, including me, is instantly drawn to it as a news lady starts discussing the war. It's not really anything new, though. She just talks about how Russia and China invaded Mongolia. How Ukraine is close to pushing out Russia completely. She even mentions our training exercise with the Japanese and how it was a big success. Other than that, though, the war is pretty much at a stalemate. At least on our front. We haven't had much interaction with the Russians or Chinese other than a couple of bombing runs. I should count myself lucky. The news lady continues, and most of the pilots watch on and complain about how exaggerated some of her claims are. My eyes flick to Matrix as he twists around in his chair, his eyes scanning the room, probably looking for me. I look back at the TV, pretending not to notice.

"Attention on deck!"

We all shoot up and stand at attention as the CO and XO walk in. I study their faces. Both of them keep their eyes down, their expressions hard as they stand in the front of the room. The CO turns off the TV and glances over the room, his face hardening even more.

"As you were," he mumbles. We all sit back down. "Apologies for the delay, but it seems you finally have a mission to go on."

Everyone cheers. It's been weeks since our last mission. It's another bombing run. Nothing we haven't done a thousand times before. Except this time, some Japanese pilots will be joining us.
The XO pulls up a picture on the projector. It was a satellite image of some mountains.

"The target is here. Wedged between the Stanovoy Mountains in eastern Russia."

The CO zooms in on the picture, and wedged between two mountains is what looks like construction work.

"The Russians have just started construction on an airbase. If this airbase is to become fully operational, it could become a threat to not only our allies in the area but to us as well."

I stare at the screen and raise a brow. There are bases even closer to us than this one. Why would this one be such a threat compared to the rest? The CO glances around the room. He must be able to see the confusion on everyone's face because he says, "We think this is going to become much more than just a regular base. Our intelligence has led us to believe they plan on turning it into..."

He pauses for a moment, trying to find the right words. "Another Area-51, if you will. They'll be creating and testing advanced aircraft. This could very well be where that unidentified aircraft was born. So, I know you all will be looking for revenge."
Everyone in the room cheers. Except for me. I've never wanted to go on a mission so badly in my life. To get a chance at revenge might just help me find the courage to see Blaze. At least this way I can say that I avenged him in a way.
"Lucky for us, they haven't installed any anti-air defense systems yet, so this should be a run-in-the-mill for you guys."
They went on to explain how this would be a low-altitude bombing mission in order to stay below the radar. They also reviewed the weather, radio frequencies, formation, who would actually be going on this mission, and anything else we needed to know that could affect our flight. The pilots assigned for this mission are me, Dice, Hurricane, and SuperFly. We'd be leaving at 0500 hours. 5AM tomorrow morning. I took in a sharp breath as they dismissed us. This mission should be easy, but then again, this is the first time I've been that deep into Russian territory. That's the part that scares me. It was mainly a vast frozen wilderness, but still, this is war, and anything can happen to anyone.