Fanfic Name / Nombre del Fanfic: Asian's Contributions

Chapter / Capitulo: Chapter 29

Author / Autor: Shark 1

Dedicated to / Dedicado a: Our fallen hero. Lost but will never be forgotten.

Rating / Clasificacion: O18 (Over 18 = Mayores de edad 18 años por tipo de lenguaje, violencia o escenas subidas de tono)

Adventure / Aventura

Fanfic: Azzedy was having the same dream he had after the death of Lieutenant Alphonsus. When he woke up, he turned to see his wife who is half awake. When she felt some movement, she opened her eyes wider to see her husband was looking at her. He pulled her closer and gave her a passionate kiss. When they broke up, she gave him a glare as they were catching their breath. “What was that for?” she asked him. “Just felt like it.” They continued to kiss until the alarm clock rang. She reached for it and threw it under the bed. They kept on until Azzedy stopped them. “I think we should get up now or we’re going to be late for the ceremony 2nd Lieutenant Jennifer.” “You’re right 2nd Lieutenant Azzedy. Shall we hit the shower together?” Azzedy was about to get up but Jennifer ran into the bathroom and locked the door. “Too slow. The offer expired.” She yelled from the inside. “That was less than ten seconds.” Then he heard her laughter as the shower turned on. 
In the Command Centre, General Maistroff was awarding two officers for their excellent performances in the line of duty. The recipients were Commander Alexander Hutchinson and Commander Helena Chase. After they were awarded, they saluted the General. General Maistroff walked towards an officer carrying a tray with a case on it. In the case lies a pair of Captain’s stripes pins. Maistroff took the case and walked towards Helena. “Lieutenant Commander Helena Chase, you are now promoted to the rank of Captain. Keep up the good work.” She accepted the case before saluting to the General.  
After they were dismissed, she then walked towards the conference hall where another award giving ceremony took place. At the entrance, Jack was talking to Izzy when Helena came to them. “Izzy, can you help me to put these on.” “Congratulations ma’am.” Izzy gave her a quick salute and a hug her before helping her with her pins. Jack was about to say something but Helena lifted her hand in front of his face. Izzy giggled looking at these two. They got it on just in time before Major Leonard came in. Everyone went into their lines as ordered.  
The Wolf Squadron was in the conference room to receive their awards for their outstanding performances. Major Leonard was there to present them the awards. The pilots lined up in a line in front of the officers. Leonard walked towards the pilots with an officer escorting him carrying a tray of medals. First, they’ve been awarded the RDF’s Medal of Distinguished Services. He stood in front of the line in attention as the newly promoted Captain Chase stood next to him. She cleared her throat while holding a piece of paper in front of her. 
“Will the names announced, please step forward. Lieutenant Commander Eric Summers, Master Sergeant Jonathan Thornton, Master Sergeant Cassandra James, Corporal Enrique Marques, Sergeant Oliver McKnight, 1st Lieutenant Jack Archer, 2ND Lieutenant Izzy Randal, 3rd Lieutenant Azzedy Azhar and 3rd Lieutenant Jennifer Abdullah.” The announced pilots complied with the order but still standing at attention. 
Major Leonard walked towards them with an officer holding a tray of red casings. First, he stopped at Eric. “Lieutenant Commander Eric Summers, you’ve been promoted to the rank of Captain.” Eric saluted as the Major puts the pins on his uniform.  
Jonathan Thornton, Cassandra James were promoted to 3rd Lieutenants, Enrique Marques was promoted to Sergeant, Oliver McKnight to Master Sergeants, Izzy to 1st Lieutenant and the Azhars to 2nd Lieutenants. Major Leonard approached Jack as he saluted. “Lieutenant Jack Archer, you have been promoted to Lieutenant Commander and you will be second in command of the Wolf Squadron.” He saluted the Major and gave Captain Chase a smile. They took one step back to return to their positions in the line.  
Major Leonard was about to give a short speech when Lieutenant Sarah Peterson came and reported to Captain Chase. Azzedy saw the looks on their faces and he knew it wasn’t a good one. After Helena told the Major, Leonard looked at the pilots and started his speech.  
“Ladies and gentlemen, I’ve just received a word that the SDF-1 and the SDF-2 has been totally destroyed.” Everyone was shocked to hear the news. “However, there are survivors but I’m sadly to inform you that we’ve lost Admiral Gloval. For the time being, General Maistroff will be in charge while the next person to replace the Admiral is still undergoing her medical checkup before returning to full active duty. As soon as she’s on duty, I’m looking forward for you to give Admiral Lisa Hayes a full cooperation. Now the situation has become more complex. We’ve also been informed that the Zentreadi will try to decapitate our defenses and we need to evacuate the civilians as we know that they are coming with full forces towards our area. Dismiss and may god have mercy on our souls.” 
The pilots were about to excuse themselves when Helena called them. “Wolf squadron, I want all of you to be in the briefing room in thirty minutes.” “YES MA’AM!” They saluted her before leaving the hall. Azzedy had a feeling that they’ll face the same thing they had on the day the TCS St. Joseph met its fate along with most of its crew.  
Jennifer saw the looks on his face and pulled his arm into hers. It startled him a bit but he smiled at her. “You seemed spooked.” “It’s nothing. It’s just that the demise of the SDF-1 reminded me of our friends’ tragedy.” As they entered the briefing room, they saw the Eagle squadron was already seated. The squadron is being led by Lieutenant Commander Mike Howard. His squadron was well known for their search and rescue expertise. After the usual salute when Captain Chase arrived, they got down straight to business.  
While Captain Chase was giving out the details, Azzedy was holding his wife’s hand tightly while his mind wondered elsewhere. He was on the beach looking towards the ocean when he heard a few familiar voices were laughing and enjoying themselves. He was about to turn around to see them when he heard Helena’s voice calling him. 
When he came back to reality, everyone was looking at him including his wife. “Are you alright Lieutenant? You seem to be distracted.” “It’s nothing ma’am. It’s just that I didn’t expect that the war isn’t over yet.” Helena gave him an assuring smile. “I’ve heard about your last battle before you joined the RDF. From my point of view, they did the right thing and that is to save the people they cared even if it means sacrificing their own.” Azzedy nodded and held Jennifer’s hand gently now.  
“Now, as I was saying. The Eagle squadron will lead and assist the evacuation of Granite City while the Wolf Squadron will defend the main entrance of the borderline heading towards Base 6. Two Monster Destroid units are already there. They will assist you in any way they can but they’re also vulnerable without your support. Please keep one another covered. You’ll be launching in thirty minutes. We can’t afford to let Zeraal win or the whole human race will extinct. We’re the Earth’s last hope. Dismiss and good luck.” 
They all left the room more determined than ever especially the Wolf squadron. After suiting up, they assembled at the airfield before their mission. All the pilots were down on one knee around Eric. “Listen up. I just want you to know this will the most dangerous mission as we’ll be facing everything Zeraal has. We must face them no matter what in order to save thousands of innocent lives.” He paused for a moment before he continued in a soft tone. “Good luck guys. All of you.” He pulled each of them up while shaking their hands. All of them boarded their fighters except for the Azhars as they were in a moment of their own. Jennifer looked at him with a glassy looks in her eyes.  
“No matter what happens, I’ll always love you.” “Hush now. We’ll make it.” They embraced each other hoping that what he had said is true. Jack was assigned the VF-1J but in his red, white and black line scheme. “Now this is a fighter.” After all the fighters were taxi towards the runaway, Eric’s YF-1R was the first to take off then it was followed by the rest. 
After they were airborne, they headed towards the borderline and saw two Monster Destroid units were already in position. “Wolf 10, you’ll lead Wolf 11, 12 and 13 to give us air support. The rest of the squadron will come with me to take out the battle pods and reentry pods.”  
Jennifer was checking his weaponry when Jack came on her tech channel. “Heads up guys, here they come.” She looked at her scanners and saw dozens of readings in multiple sizes. The dogfight immediately became intense and dangerous. Eric constantly came on their tech channel telling them to keep on fighting. “Stay focused. We can’t let them win.” As the battle goes on, their tech channels were busy with them calling one another informing the other of incoming bogeys, some were asking for assistants and some even saw their friends getting fried in their own cockpit. Wolf 16, Jessica Alberts saw a few of the pods were outnumbering Wolf 19, Timothy Jackson near the Monster’s gate and dove in to help. She was a little too late when Timothy’s Battloid burst into pieces. A few pods were heading there and she switched to Battloid mode and crashed in on them. Izzy saw the situation and was about to land when Jessica came on her tech channel. “Blast them!!” “I can’t get a clean lock!” “JUST DO IT!!!” She was holding on to the few battle pods with her arms. “WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!” Izzy closed her eyes and fired a barge of missiles towards them. None of the target survived.  
The number of reentry pods was increasing. Jack saw a few battle pods managed to slip through and closing in on one of the Monsters. He broke formation and used his missiles to wipe them out. As the number of enemy rises, the veritech fighters were decreasing. The Wolf squadron was pinned down with the Monsters taking heavy damage when Captain Chase came on their tech channel calling them for a retreat. Eric refused to retreat and so were the rest of them. “We’re not done yet.” “I said get your people out of there. We’ve fought hard but we can’t hold them off much longer. The rest of the squadrons and Destroid units were already dispatched to provide cover fire.” Eric had no choice but to order a retreat. “Everybody fall back!” When they were already cornered between a wall near the entrance, Eric knew their time is near and he is not going to die without a fight. 
“Hold them with what you’ve got!” They used their gun pods and their guardian missiles to hold them at bay until support arrives. Moments later, their back up arrived and they retreated as ordered. Jack and Azzedy landed their battloids next to Hiro’s Spartan while providing cover fire while the rest move towards Base 6. “Jack, get your people out of here. We’ll cover your tail.” “Eddy, you heard the man.” They switched to fighter mode and fled with the rest of the squadron. 
As the remaining of the Wolf Squadron took off, Eric’s fighter was about to take off from the ground when it burst into flames thanks to a few barge of missiles from the fighter pods. When they’ve reached the tunnel leading towards Base 6, they saw the Destroid units were already outnumbered. Azzedy dove towards the other end of the tunnel and switched to battloid mode to provide cover fire. Jack, Izzy and Jennifer saw him down there went in to assist him. “Hiro, move!” As soon as the Destroid units had made it through, Jack, Izzy and Jennifer took off in their guardian mode. Azzedy stayed to make sure that no one was left behind and saw more of the battle pods were coming. He was about to move when one of the pods managed to fire a wave of missiles towards him throwing his battloid towards the tunnel’s wall. It wasn’t a direct hit but it was enough to damage his cockpit area and decapitated one of his battloid’s legs before falling to the ground. He tilted up a bit and destroyed the pod with his gun pod. 
Jack, Izzy and Jennifer were yet to realize that they’ve left one man behind. Azzedy knew if these pods get through the tunnels, the base will surely over run by them. Jennifer was looking for her husband and saw him back at the tunnel. “Eddy we are leaving!” When her husband didn’t respond, she turned around to get to him. Izzy saw her actions and scolded her. “Jenny! What are you doing?! Get out of there!” “I won’t leave him!” Jack and Izzy turned around after her. “Eddy, we must get out of here.” She was shocked to see her husband’s face was messed with blood from the top of his right eye. “I can’t. My actuators are gone but my weapon systems are still online.” “If you’re staying then I am too.” Jack’s battloid landed next to her and grabbed her guardian’s hand. “We need to get out of here or we’re all going to die.” “Like I care!” Azzedy gave her an assuring smile despite coughing out blood as he tries to speak. 
“Jenny, then care about the thousands of innocent civilians who will be killed if you guys don’t survive today.” “Then we’ll hold them off together.” Azzedy pretended to move his battloid’s arm but he reached out for Jennifer’s cockpit capsule ejection system. She’s locked in with no controls only with her tech communicator’s online inside her cockpit. “Izzy, you know what to do.”  
Jennifer had lost control of her emotions. She started to punch, shout and banged her consoles in frustrations. “Eddy, please don’t do this! Don’t leave me!” “I never will. I’ll always be with you.” He kissed his finger and put it on the tech screen where her lips were. She saw his tears were starting to form but he was still smiling. “I’ll always love you.” “You’ll be alright Eddy.” Azzedy took her gun pod and smiled. “Now get out of here.” Izzy picked up Jennifer’s capsule before the three of them flew off towards Base 6. Jennifer still keeps her husband’s channel on line. She wanted to see his face for the very last time.  
Azzedy saw his wife was in tears on the tech channel. He tilted his battloid up a bit higher before picking up his gun pod and Jennifer’s as he smiled evilly. “Alright you ugly idiots! Come and get me!” He saw more of the pods came in and shoot them with everything he’s got. “You like that?! How’d you like that?! Oh you want some of this too? C’mon! Come get some!” Jennifer was still watching her husband’s transmission on the tech channel. The tunnel was getting packed with destroyed pods but they’re still coming. He looked at the tunnel’s ceiling and saw the pressurized nitrogen pipes. He aimed his gun pods towards it. “Go to hell!” He pulled the trigger rapidly as the explosion incinerating the tunnel leaving nothing survived. 
Jennifer saw her husband’s last moments until the tech channel showed nothing but static. She switched the channel and sat quietly and felt numb. Eventhough she was looking calm on the tech channel, Jack and Izzy could feel their friend’s sorrow as Izzy dropped the tears of her own. The sun was setting, and they were nearing Base 6 when they saw a lot of helicopters and large transport trucks were unloading thousands of civilians into the shelter. They were about to call in for landing when a Zentreadi Quadrono pilot Kyora showed up with a dozen of fighter pods. 
“Hello Jack, ever since our last battle, I thought only of you. Perhaps this is what you people call love?” “That’s not love Kyora. That’s what we call psycho. Guys, defend the shelter, I’ll handle her.” “Let’s make a deal. If you win, my forces will retreat. If I win, well, all of you will die.” While Jack encounters the Quadrono, Izzy and Jennifer stood by the shelter in case any of the fighter pods tries to get a cheap shot. 
Jack’s fighter was running low on fuel and ammo. He kept on strafing around to get around her back. He faked a fall and landed on his back. Kyora took the bait and hovered right above him. She was about to take her aim when she saw the gun pod’s barrel was aimed straight to her face. Jack pulled the trigger and down goes the Quadrono. 
Captain Chase came on his tech channel telling him the status. “You did it! Zeraal’s forces are retreating. You guys earned an R n R after that one.” As they landed on the airfield, they saw only six Wolf pilots had made it including them. Jennifer’s capsule was taxied by trailer to her slot and climbed down. She paused for a moment to see the empty slot next to her which was used to be her husband’s. She shook head and continued to walk towards the locker room. She changed into her uniform and was about to leave when Izzy patted her back.  
“I’m sorry about Eddy. Everybody liked him.” Jennifer smiled and gave her a hug before she left. On the exit, Jack was waiting for Izzy on the outside with a box in his hands startled when he saw her. “Jenny, these were his belongings. I’m sorry.” Jennifer launched herself into him and held him tightly. She cried and sobbed into his shoulder. “God he loved flying with us Jack. I missed him so much.” Izzy walked out of the locker room and saw the scene. She couldn’t hold her tears as well and joined the hug. 
Moments later, they were paged to report to the Command Centre. When they got there, they stood at attention and saluted the officers in front of them along with the other three surviving pilots of the Wolf Squadron. After their salute was returned, Captain Chase approached them with another officer carrying a tray with medals on it. Jennifer’s mind was floating away. “Great, two awards in a week. If this war goes on I think we’ll have awards everyday. Eddy would’ve loved it.” She thought to herself and smiled. She came back to reality when her name was announced. “Lieutenant Jennifer, you’re awarded the Titanium Medal of Valor.” Helena gave her a smile of sympathy. “I’m sorry about your husband. He was a brave soldier. I thought you might want this.” As she handed her a Purple Heart in a case, Jennifer took it and saluted her.  
“I’d like to congratulate you on your safe return and your success today even though most of you who were involved couldn’t make it back. We have the enemy on the run and tomorrow, we will strike them with everything we’ve got. You’ll report to the briefing room at 0800hrs tomorrow but for now, get some rest. Dismiss.” They saluted and left the Command Centre. Jack and Izzy invited Jennifer to join them at the Mess Hall for dinner. There, she was playing with her food when she heard the song by Minmei titled ‘To be in love’ began. “Guys, I think I’ll turn in early right now. I’m beat.” As she left, the two shook their heads and felt sorry for her. As she was walking back towards her quarters, the song continued in her head. She smiled as she remembered the day he sang a song to her in the Mess Hall and then on the chorus, he was joined by the entire academy. Without her noticing it, a lot of soldiers were talking among themselves saying that they’ll be glad to take her husband’s place when Hiro shut them up. 
“One more word out of you I’ll personally transfer you to kitchen duty.” The young soldier gave him a cocky look and smiled to his superior. “If I’m not mistaken sir, you also had a crush on her when she first stationed here. And besides, her husband wasn’t a man material after all.” “That is where you are wrong. He’s a better man than any of you because he went back to rescue my unit when we were outnumbered in the tunnel today while you guys ran off saving your own backs!” The soldier’s cocky smile disappeared from his face and looked at the floor. As the situation was controlled by Hiro, Jennifer stopped in front of her door way and rubbed her face with her hands. 
She walked into her quarters and felt the scent of her husband was still there. She closed the door leaned against it and sighed deeply. She shook her head and kicked off her shoes before undoing her top uniform. As she dropped herself on the bed, the memories of her first encounter with Azzedy, the time when he was trying hard to get her attention during the academy days, their first flight together, their assignments on the TCS St. Joseph, their arguments, his jokes, their weddings and even their last happy moment before his fateful mission were running through her head.  
She turned her attention towards the box Jack gave her earlier. She brought it on the bed and opened it. She saw his recently awarded medal, their wedding picture, his toiletries and his uniform. She took the uniform with her on the bed and held on to it tightly as she cried her heart out.  

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Author email / email del autor: affendeykadriATyahoo.com