Drachma War Camp

Zane blinked and took hold of the blimp. "As if you won't make it alive."

He blinked. Or maybe... crap, I forgot to tell him that the Drachma'n soldiers are manning the birds. And that the commander spearheaded the attack.

Ace held onto the wheel of the craft as he felt it free falling towards the ground. He could barely see at all in the snowy blizzard he was stuck in. The engine roared to life and he could feel the makeshift airplane starting to level out.

"Wooh!" Ace yelled. His body shivered as he turned the plane back toward the Blimp. He could easily make out its shape among the snowy white storm ahead of him. Thunder ripped through the air and he shivered as he thought of getting struck by lighting. "That would not be good," Ace thought.

He jetted his plane back behind the Blimp and saw them. At least three giant birds flying around the back of the blimp, talons out, cawing away through the snowy blizzard. Ace pulled out his mini gun and started firing on them. "Here we go, red leader, going in!" Ace yelled.

Zane maneuvered the blimp, the lightning barely missing it. So close.

Glancing, he could barely see Ace's plane through the weather. And there was nothing else he could do but try to get the blimp not hit.

Which probably won't last for long. I'm not exactly a pilot.

"It's so cold!" Ace yelled as the snow covered his window. He zoomed in close to the birds before him and launched several rockets. "Are people actually riding those monstrosities?" Ace asked in confusion.

A giant talon encircled around him and he accelerated. "Wow, too close!" Ace panicked. Ace quickly dived towards one bird and unleashed a bomb attack on it. The bird screeched in the air but fell towards the ground.

"I got one!" Ace screamed. "I got one!"

Oh, he got one. About time.

A bird slammed on the blimp and made it tilt a little but Zane was able to get it back together, just in time. "Tch, and just how do you use the weapons in this thing anyway?"

Ace smiled as he watched the bird fall to the ground. "Yes! This thing did it," Ace cheered.

Ace flew the airplane back up. "Now, the next bird is-"

The plane lurched forward and Ace screamed as he saw a Talon wrap around the plane.

"Oh, that's not good," Ace said.

The blimp descended. This is bad. Then a giant bird bumped into it, and Zane was forced to risk with the controls just to find the weapons.

He pushed the buttons, flipped some switches in hopes of getting the bird off the blimp. An explosion behind and a loud screech from the bird. Without the added weight and force, he was able to make the thing ascend again.

That Ace. He should hurry.

Ace was helpless as the stupid bird held onto the airplane. He accelerated the engine and did everything he could to make it take off faster but the bird's grip was solid on the small jet plane he'd created.

A bullet pierced through the hulk of the plane and whizzed past him. He looked to the sound of the shooting and saw the commander standing atop the bird aiming a gun at him. He couldn't believe it.

He wasn't sure how, but with the random pushing of buttons and stuff, he was able to fend off a bird from the blimp. I just hope I didn't do anything stupid to hurt the blimp.

That was when a new bird dived towards the blimp and used a talon to destroy the iced window. A woman jumped in a second later.

"Drachma'n soldier," he muttered to himself and sighed. Fighting with girls wasn't really a hobby but that doesn't mean he won't fight.

"But darn, I can't fight and man the blimp--," then he saw from the handle not too far from his sight. Auto pilot. Right...

"Let go!" Ace screamed as he punched the talon of the giant bird. "Stupid!"

The bird didn't let go and he could feel himself getting sick as the world around him danced back and forth with the birds flight. A giant beak made him scream as it smashed through the window in front of him. "AHHHHH!"

He shot his guns and the bullets ricocheted off the beak. The bird screamed and let go of Ace and he felt himself jetting away from the scene with no control. Ice smacking him in the face from the heavy hail and open window.

"Great..."

She brought out a gun and started shooting at him. He avoided the first few shots and just deflected the other bullets with his dagger.

Running towards her, he kicked her gun off her hands and knocked her out. "Killing isn't really my thing, if I can help it."

He threw the girl out of the blimp, believing the bird would catch her. "Stop coming back, soldiers."

Ace finally leveled the plane off and got it to fly. "Boy, this thing was already a scrap job," Ace thought, "Now this thing is practically coming apart."

Ace pulled the plane up and aimed at the bird in front of him. A firing off missiles and bullets sent it squawking to its doom. "Got another!" Ace cheered.

"Now where's that one with the commander on it?" he thought. The snow smacking him in the face was making it really hard to see. When he could see something besides white again he realized it was the giant bird's mouth wrapping around the front of the airplane.

"Oh DANGIT!" Ace yelled.

He didn't want to rely on alchemy, but with so much ice and with really nothing else to do, what with the blimp on auto pilot, he sighed.

I guess, I should really help out on getting those birds off our tails. Besides, how am I going to make good money out of a damaged blimp?

He walked towards the broken window, the snow coming in and the wind strong. As a bird's talon was about to hit him, he quickly tapped it with his gloved palm and ice gradually covered it. It fell down into the pits of the mountain, as it eventually been covered by ice whole.

Zane watched as it fell down. I wonder if I can find that sometime and sell it?

Ace's ears burned as the bird squawked in front of him. "Stupid birds. Remind me to have lots of chicken when this flight is over with," Ace growled.

He pulled the trigger of the plane and unleashed a series of rockets at the bird. It let go of the plane and flew away. Ace followed it and launched the final rocket. He could see the commander's eyes widen as the rocket exploded and took out the bird and her with it.

"Goodbye sweet," Ace said as he flew the plane back towards the blimp. "We did it!"

Zane resigned to use alchemy once in a while when a soldier came inside the blimp and every time, he threw them out of it.

And where the hell is that Ace? He's playing too long.

He vaguely remembered the crates at the storage room. I wonder how he handled the commander, hm...

Ace zoomed around the blimp another time. Even though he couldn't see anything, really, he felt certain that the birds were gone. The squawking from before had ended. He flew inside the blimp and carefully landed it. As the wheels hit the ground he smacked the alchemical circle he'd drawn into it. It split back into metal pieces and Ace turned around and glared at Zane.

"It's FREAKING COLD OUT THERE!" Ace screamed.

He glared back. "And you think it wasn't here?!" The gaping holes by each windows let the cold breeze and snow come in.

Zane pointed at the blimp controls. "Drive."

And with alchemy, finally closed all the holes in the windows, now that there were no birds anymore to keep destroying them. "What now?"

Ace took the steering wheel. "Yes, I was in a big protective blimp while Ace had no windshield and was getting hit in the face with Hail. Clearly it was evenly matched, Pedro."

"Stop complaining. You chose to go out there, Roberto," he said, sitting by a corner, finally relaxing. "I'm surprised you were able to actually hurt a girl, though. Your lovely commander."

"You did good creating an airplane and flying it in a blizzard and killing three giant birds that tried to eat you alive," Ace muttered to himself. "Oh thanks Pedro! Just doing my part."

"It was your decision to do that. Nobody forced you," he replied. "But good job."

Ace relaxed at the helm and sat down. "We're nearing the Blimp race," Ace said as he checked the meters. "And we're coming out of the blizzard."

"Blimp race?" Zane asked, forgetting for a second that that was the reason they stole the blimp in the first place. "Oh. Ah, yeah, that's good. How long till we get there?"

"I'd give us 3 hours or so," Ace said. "Which is good because I'm getting hungry and I have a feeling they'll have sub sandwiches there."

He nodded and realized he was just as hungry. "Maybe we should have taken in a bird and cooked it," he said.