High Orbit over Mokan Airspace
FEM Xipe-Totec
Orca class Frigate
--2014--
Commander Vicente Martinez floated through the air towards his command chair on the newly acquired, space faring, frigate of the Mokan Space Flotilla. Formerly under the air force, the Flotilla Espacio de Mokastana had soon become a separate branch of the service. It was amazing how quickly things had turned around after Mokastana joined the CCA. The Mokans how had three 'StarPorts' in service, the Mokans possessed ships that could travel the stars to fill them with, the economy was up and the drug war was getting better day by day. Minus one little attempted coup, it seemed as if anything was possible. Things were looking up for the Mokan people.
"Vicente, Starport Rosewell is requesting clearance to send off another supply run."
His communication officer spoke up, with a crew of only six things tended to remain rather informal this high up. Even Vicente chose to float next to his chair rather than sitting down.
"Have the Haize vessels done anything new?"
"Tracking a few still in lunar orbit. South of the border situation appears normal. Commander Yu reports no change in status."
"How about things north of the of the border?"
"Morridane command shows clear skies for the next few hours above Rosewell."
"Sounds good, let Rosewell know they are clear for send off."
"Aye aye."
Commander Martinez looked out the ports towards dawn, the sun was rising again and he was in a perfect position above Mokastana to have a better view than any Mokan on Earth. Sure he could move his vessel and watch the sun rise all day if he wanted to(assuming military command approved, which they would not), but he enjoyed his geostationary orbit. It made him feel like days and night were still a normal thing in space.
Above the port hole, a picture board had been set up by the crew. Family members, lovers, friends below, group shots of people wishing the crew well on their maiden voyage. Among these pictures was an aged black and white picture from long ago: a gentleman smiling towards the camera waving one hand, with a helmet under the other. His brown flight gear looked worn and had no parachute, but the man still looked as if he discovered he was the luckiest man alive. Behind him sat a small bi-plane, painted tan and resting in a desert. Instead of the traditional Red Star that would be on Mokan vehicles, a black jaguar stood in attack position on the side of the plane. As the sun rose over the horizon and a new day began, this picture once again caught Martinez's eye. He smiled and spoke in soft voice that only no one overheard, and if they did, they would pretend they didn't out of respect.
"We've come a long way, wouldn't you say Grandpa?"
Air Base 16(Campo de Atalaya)
North desert of Mejiconorto,
Empire of Mejico
--1941--
A flash of a light bulb and Emanuel Martinez had to blink a few times to get his vision back. He hoped the Morridanes would not figure out how to weaponize such a thing because that would be terrible in the skies. The cameraman, a cadet by the name of Guerra , looked up over the camera and shouted to the dazed pilot.
"Excellente! The picture should turn out just fine. Thanks for letting me try out this new camera!"
"No problem, just make sure that if I become famous, you hold onto that picture."
"Of course Captain!"
With that the cameran began to take apart his apparatus and Captain Martinez turned back towards his aircraft and ground crew. The airbase may not have been much more than a few adobe style buildings and well meaning hangers, but the crews were some of the best men Martinez ever had to work with. As for his aircraft, she was a beauty. A Polikarpov I-5 fighter. Not the most advance fighter in the Mejician Army, but she still was one of the many dames that made up the bulk of the Mejican air power. Whether or not it would stand up to the Mordees up north was another question entirely, but one Martinez would answer if the situation called for it.
The situation in Tierra Nueva was getting bad, it was only a matter of time before the Alliance intervened. High command across the Alliance thought they had the ground forces to take on the Commonwealth, but sometimes he worried that many were overlooking the importance of aircraft. Sure the Surians were flying in some of their new I-16s as increased security, but the northerners had already been using single wing planes for a while now. The Morridane Hawker Hurricane and the Tanto Messerschmitt Bf 109 were big ones that came to mind.
These thoughts continued to plague his head as he talked over pre-flight checks with his crew. Shaking his head and not letting himself get to overloaded on political worries he focused back on the plane, talking with his engineer regarding the maintenance done to the engine and what that might mean in the air. Only when he saw people running out of the communication buildings towards the flight deck did the worries begin again.
"ITS HAPPENING! ITS HAPPENING! TIERRA NUEVA DECLARED INDEPENDENCE! WE ARE AT HIGH ALERT!"
Just as the junior officer ran out shouting the news to anyone within earshot, the alarm went off to signal all ground crews and pilots to be ready for immediate deployment. No one had said 'war' just yet, but if this wasn't the beginning of one Martinez would be, literally, pleasantly surprised.
