Short Stories-Kai Ships Only! Volume 3

🌐Beomkai- Surviving

"Ace" was the nickname given to Kamal when he became the greatest fighter pilot the world had ever seen. He didn't become that way because he loved his country or because he wanted to be the best. It was simply because he wanted to survive. He was just better at surviving than the enemy.

One morning, his fleet launched an aerial assault on the city just ouside of the enemy capitol territory. What should've been a shock for the country, became a shock for them. The enemy somehow knew they were coming. Rockets began flying in all directions. Missiles tailed them through the clouds. Devices were employed to fuck with the avionics in their systems. It was chaos. The worst Kai had ever seen.

His fellow soldiers began dropping out of the sky, one by one, like ducks during hunting season. Kai attempted to remain calm while zipping through the air. Everyone was chatting in his ear. As time went on, less voices were heard.

The sinking reality that he might be the only one left, began to dawn on him when only silence responded back. "Hello? Hello?! Bunny? Zelda? This is Ace! Do you copy?!"

Nothing.

A rocket collided with a missile behind him. The explosion caused his plane to shake as he endured 7 Gs escaping the blow. "BUNNY! ZELDA! THIS IS ACE CHECKING IN! DO YOU COPY?!"

Still nothing.

Abandoning his mission was illegal when he wasn't given a direct order to. The only problem was that no one was telling him anything. He also couldn't stand the thought of abandoning his squad if they were alive. Those people have saved his life on countless occasions. They were his family. You don't abandon family when they need help. "THIS IS ACE STILL ACTIVE! PERMISSION TO RETREAT TO FRIENDLY AIRSPACE! DOES ANYONE COPY?!"

Nothing.

Kai temporarily shut off his microphone to yell "FUCK! FUCK! FUCK! FUCK MY FUCKING LIFE!"

Another rocket missed him when he launched one back. He was running out of weapons from trying to defend himself. Then, out of all things, a bird struck one of the engines. His plane began to falter as he worked to recover from the blow. "MY RIGHT ENGINE IS DOWN! PERMISSION TO RETREAT BACK TO BASE!"

Everywhere he flew, a trail of black smoke followed. The stealth capabilities that his plane once had were now useless. Since the enemy could see where he was, more ammo started to fly directly at him. It wasn't long before his second engine was blown. "MY LEFT ENGINE WAS STRUCK! I NEED TO LAND!"

It took everything that Kai had in him to pull himself together and fly towards the forest near the border of the country. "THIS IS ACE REPORTING DOUBLE ENGINE FAILURE! I'M GOING TO TRY TO LAND NEAR THE EASTSIDE BASE BUT I'M NOT GOING TO MAKE IT! FIND ME! PLEASE!"

When a third rocket hit the belly of his aircraft, he knew he was fucked. The plane was swirling in a deadly tailspin towards land. The G force had Kai nearly unconscious. With his last bit of energy, he ejected himself from the seat and deployed his parachute. The fire from the left engine, caught onto his chute in the process. He started sobbing from knowing he was about to die.

Just as he reached the treeline, his parachute finally gave out from the flames. A loud explosion came from the distance. He assumed that was his plane. Black smoke distrupted the crystal blue sky. Soon, the cloud drew larger when the forest began to burn.

The flames from his parachute, chased Kai from the top of the treeline to the bottom of the trunk. His clothes were on fire while he worked to cut himself free. When his knife wasn't fast enough, he grabbed his gun and shot the bands chaining him to a firey death. Fire kissed his hands before his feet touched the ground. His dog tags fell off in the chaos. He didn't have time to mourn them. Naked and terrified, he ran.

His feet coated themselves in black powder as smoke chased him through the forest. He could feel the heat on his back. It was tempting to stop running and accept his fate but something in him told him to keep going. His mind wouldn't give up even though his body was begging him to.

When a road came into view, he fell to his knees and crawled to the other side. Dehydrated and exhausted, he passed out when was he safely away from the flames.

Beomgyu was in a royal suit, sitting in the back of his limo, when he saw a naked blonde on the side of the road. He was headed towards the capitol to assist his father in leading the war after he successfully predicted an aerial attack this morning. Though he didn't have time to stop, he told his driver to anyways. A group of royal guards asked what the issue was when they stepped out of their cars. His only response was, "see if he's breathing."

Kai woke up when someone abruptly touched his neck. Pure fear shook his body when he saw the royal son. One of three faces most prominent in the war. One of three who every soldier knew because those three were high on the hit list. Richard Choi, the Presidential King, Beomgyu Choi, the son, and Seung-Cheol Choi, the military General. Terrified, he laid completely still. There wasn't much he could do with ten guns pointed at his head.

Beomgyu asked "so he is alive. Can you speak? Can you understand me?"

Kai gave the smallest nod.

Beomgyu turned to his bodyguards and whispered "do you think he's one of them?"

"No Sir. They were all killed by our successful defenses. Our enemies will be much easier to deal with now that their greatest pilots are out of the way. A successful victory."

"Indeed." Beomgyu faced the blonde and offered his hand. His guards were ready to yank him away but he insisted. "Come with me. We'll get you clothed then we'll send you home."

Kai bit his tongue from not knowing if the older was serious. Still scared, he slowly sat up and inched backwards.

Beomgyu started to talk to him like a wounded animal. "It's okay. We're not going to hurt you. Are we?" His guards concealed their guns. "I just want to help you. I'm sorry those disgusting people burned the forest and bombed the city. We'll make them pay a thousand times over for what they did. Was your home burned? Is that what happened?"

Kai was thanking his mother for forcing him to learn their language before he was sent off to war or else he would've been absolutely screwed. Being mute was keeping him alive so that's what he chose to do going forward. He offered one small nod then took Beomgyu's hand.

Beomgyu did not expect the blonde to be taller than him when he pulled him to his feet. He looked so small on the ground. "Do you have any family that we can call?"

Kai shook his head "no" then started to cry. The adrenaline was gone. His real emotions bled through. Being the last confirmed member of his crew caused him to sink into a deep depression. Not knowing how to contact his base or his family, only made it worse.

"It's okay." Beomgyu took off his suit jacket and wrapped it around the blonde. "You can stay with me for now until we find you a place to stay."

Kai was lead into the back of the armored limo and encouraged to sit next to Beomgyu. What he didn't expect, was the Prince to wrap his arm around his waist. He flinched from the touch.

Beomgyu pulled his hand back. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." The blonde was looking at him with a mix of concern and curiosity. "I'm not them. I'm not going to hurt you."

Kai sighed. He wasn't the enemy. Beomgyu was. Choosing to be silent was killing him inside but it was the only way he could see to stay alive. Shoving his other emotions down, he decided to be tired instead. His head rested against the back of the black leather seat then he quickly fell asleep.

Beomgyu knew the blonde was out when the taller's head fell onto his shoulder. His cheek then rested against the stranger's forehead while he watched the window. They were set to arrive at the capitol building in thirty minutes. After they did, he would ask the blonde one thing he was dying to know. His name.