Disclaimer: I do not own Advance Wars and am not making any profit off of this.

Chapter 18: The New Faction

It was a fairly long flight, and Sonja had nothing better to do but sit quietly and wait. The merc looked out into the inky blackness. He couldn’t see the horizon anymore, and had stopped looking for it. Instead, his attention turned to his instrument panel. Finally, Sonja decided to give talking a try.

“Where are you taking me?”

“You’ll see.” he said, not turning from the panel.

“Who are you working for?”

“I’ve been employed by the National Federation of It’s None of Your Damn Business.”

That pretty well told Sonja that any further communication with him would be wasted. They flew for a few more minutes, before setting down. When the helicopter was fully settled on the ground and the propellers stopped spinning, the merc turned to her and gave her a smug grin. “End of the road, princess.” He walked over to uncuff her from the rail, when he saw something in her eye.

“Ya know sweet cheeks,” He warned, “if you try to bolt, I can practically guarantee that one of the sharpshooters outside will put a bullet in that pretty little face of yours in no time flat; so don’t even try it.”

Sonja had thought about it, but he was right. He could very easily shoot her in the back if he chose, but he had already proven to her before that he was faster and stronger than she was. She decided against running. Even if she could escape from him, where could she go? She didn’t even know where she was. She also figured that her friends would be looking for her. If they could save her from the clutches of Lord Sturm and this…jerk…before, they could do it again.

-----

“I would like to thank you for your insight.” Nell told Seymour. He smiled slightly at the comment.

“I only wish that I could provide more accurate information.”

“If you ever change your mind, the offer still stands.”

“I appreciate that. If you need any further advice, insight, input, or opinions, feel free to contact me. I believe I gave you my contact information earlier, did I not?” He said, raising from his seat and walking to the door with Nell.

“You did. Perhaps we will call on you again. Now if you will excuse me, we must resume with the meeting.”

“Wait!” Kanbei interrupted.

Seymour stopped and turned towards him. “Yes?”

“I understand that you have valuable knowledge?”

“I have knowledge. Whether it is valuable or not is purely subjective.”

“I must ask you to reconsider. We need all of the help we can get.”

“There is no reason to believe that I will be any more instrumental in the ensured welfare and safe return of Commander Sonja than anyone else. I have no more or less experience with this particular adversary.”

“But you have knowledge of military technology that would be useful.”

“A lot has changed since…”

“Please.” Kanbei interrupted, “Please help me find my daughter.”

Seymour hesitated a minute before speaking, probably measuring the pros and cons of this undertaking, as well as the logistics of the situation. Well, that’s what Lash saw in his face.

“Very well. I shall provide what assistance I can.”

Nell and Seymour walked back to their seats.

“Okay, let’s take what we know” Nell said. “Remember that Seymour explicitly said a Type II Utility Helicopter. This means that it is a light helicopter with a range of a little over four hundred seventy kilometers…”

“That’s great.” Max said. “But we don’t use the metric system anymore. We use miles and yards now.”

“That equals two hundred ninety-three miles.” Seymour replied. Everybody turned and looked at him. “It is difficult being a scientist without being able to make conversions. The helicopter would also have a maximum speed of one hundred sixty-seven miles per hour.”

“But where could it have gone?” Sami asked.

“I feel that the islands to the west of Green Earth would be prime candidates.” Eagle said.

“Indeed they would be.” Seymour agreed. “However, there is one other location that they could have gone to. But the chance is remote, so I would concentrate on the islands first.”

“Well,” Rachel said, “what are we waiting for?”

-----

Great Western Sea: Sector 6, 5 years Pre Macro War.

“Enemy ships are closing in!”

“What is their range?” Cervantes asked back.

“We have two cruisers at five thousand meters. Heading four-one-three mark two.”

“Firing control, can you get a fix?”

“Aye sir. Awaiting your command.”

“Fire at will.”

Cerv turned to Falcon. “How are your flyboys doing?”

“They’re ready for some action.”

“Good.”

“Sir! Enemy subs closing! Bearing three-seven-four mark two-nine-three.”

“Order the Jabberwock and the Charlemagne to intercept.”

“Aye sir. We also have three enemy battleships inbound range eight thousand meters.”

“Send the Harlequin and the Terra Prime to keep them busy.”

“Aye sir. Deploying subs.”

“Order all ships to engage.” Cerv said. “Let’s see them take on the might of the Green Earth Navy.”

The thundering of ship cannons filled the air. There were splashes where the shells missed, but also great explosions where they impacted the Green Earth ships. Cervantes’ ship rocked with the blast of three successful hits to the bow, and a small cruiser’s bridge was struck by a direct hit. Flames, glass and debris flew everywhere as the small ship’s upper decks burst into flame. And enemy sub was moving to intercept the front battleships, when another cruiser cut it off and launched a salvo of anti-sub missiles. Shortly after, a pillar of water shot up, indicating that the sub was destroyed. The battle raged on. Battleships sank cruisers, cruisers sank submarines, and submarines sank battleships. This was not a fight; it was a hellish game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.

-----

The helicopters flew out to the staging area.

“Close up formation.” Bulldog said. “Alright Commander, you’ve got a buncha bad boys out here with nothin’ to do. Awaiting orders.”

“Concentrate your firepower on the battleships holding back. Watch for enemy cruisers and air units.”

“Yes sir. Okay guys, let’s sink some ships. Adjust heading to zeero-wun-fower mark niner.”

They pointed themselves toward the ships and gunned the throttle. It didn’t take long for them to reach the ships, which were hanging back to avoid direct conflict. “Break now! First group, follow me. Second group, you’re gonna take on the support ship to the left.

“Yessir. Engaging enemy ships.”

The helicopters broke formation and began to engage their targets, in the hopes of lightening the load for the fleet. The swooped down on the ships’ radar and fired a series of missiles to disable it. By this time, the armed soldiers on board came out firing whatever weapons they had available. The pilots swung around for another pass. They still had a ways to go…