I'm grateful for everyone who read this story. Even if you just voted this story, I am appreciating that! Anyone, hope you enjoy this chapter!

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The faint roar of an engine caught the attention of the base personnel in a slightly cloudy afternoon in the Arabian Desert. The entire place went on full alert with the base's defense Sofreh Mahi drones rolled in to take off in defensive formations. Rizieq and his squadron took a break from their work to see what the commotion was about. I then pulled himself away from his computer to look out of the hangar and out at the runway with other ground crews and fellow researcher. I can see a A321 with a green cheatline on it's fuselage had just landed and was slowly rolling towards the apron. The members of the 101st TFS were side by side, patiently - yet eagerly - awaiting the plane with Rizieq in the front.

I wasn't aware of anyone coming out to visit, but nearly everyone else seemed expectant.

Perhaps the ground crew simply didn't bother sharing that sort of information with us scientists, or perhaps they themselves hadn't known until recently. But as the plane came to a stop, the imposing green circle, in which it's inside contained an Eagle of Saladin with the white Crescent and Star inside the shield glinting briefly in the sun, clearly showed that the newcomers were high in the hierarchy of the Caliphate. However, I am still puzzled about the unannounced visit. Then an unmanned ladder vehicle rolled into the front door of the aircraft.

I watched as Rizieq led the way into the plane to greet whoever was visiting, his second in command, Major Enver Duran trailed him. Out of the plane stepped a niqab-veiled woman holding three children, the older one, a boy is not older than ten while the second and third looked like twins with age not older than eight.

I realized that it's Rizieq's Arab wife and their children that he once told me. Followed his family were mostly women and children which then went into the awaiting pilots of the 101. Family gathering of the entire squadron.

After the family a group of soldiers in black fatigues descended from the plane with guns ready followed by a young man not older than thirty with a black tinted glass and traditional, but elegant thawb clothing. He waved his right hand into everyone in the base, his lips curling into a radiant smile as he went forward to inspect the base personally and soon greeted me also.

"Keep up your work so far and insha Allah we can turn the tide." said the man in English, the UCC's Minister of War, Rashid bin Zayed-al Husayni. One of the more public faces of the UCC along with the Grand Mufti of the Caliphate he often visits troops in the frontline in the absence of the Caliph and rest of the the government, which opt to remain in the capital. It wasn't a surprise that thanks to his frequent visit that so many people respected him.

Just the night before, however, I listened to Rizieq's conversation about his increasing desire to at least be able to see his homeland once more to his fellow pilots.

Then the Minister began to address the assembled airmen and officers more thoroughly. Honestly, while I like his style, I wasn't much a political man even during my time in Japan. I joined the UCC only for sake of the cause itself, preferring to leave it's inner politics to those who are better suited in it.

I called my assistant named Hanifah, one out of the few women in my team, trying to be focused on a more urgent matter. A new, better performing flight suit for Rizieq and his men.

"Need something, Doctor?" she's holding the files she was carrying close to her. "If this is about the new flight suit for Aulia, tomorrow it will be ready just like you told me to."

"Excellent work" I told her in a cool tone. However it can't be helped that the kids of the 101 pilots outside are singing and some even dancing with a boy with the same age as Makhmud, Rizieq's eldest son, named Farid, son of Minister Rashid. After the latter's done with the adults he went over to look after the kids with his bodyguards.

I went back a little to the time that Colonel Rizieq told me about the matter. "My son Makhmud attended the same school as Farid."

Meanwhile Rizieq's wingmen all smiled at the scene while later on their commander joined in with the kids after gazing towards the blue sky for a moment, for sake of his children.

After a good one hour, it's time for the Minister and his entourage to part ways with the 101. As the plane took off with close drone escorts nearby I made my way into my office, just as Rizieq called me in his trademark gruffy voice.

"Good afternoon, Doctor Uwais, How has your work been coming along?"

"It's coming along as well as it can, I suppose," I told him. "We're still downloading some of the data from your last sortie, but they should be ready before the day is out."

"Well.. if it's possible, get it done faster. Still, at least there is a progress. But remember, those Zionists, usurers, and it's allies are getting stronger each day." he replied bluntly. I have been working with him long before the start of the war, and yet on the ground, he is less likely about his feelings while in the air, he's a different breed altogether. Nevertheless, his wingman and his family seemed to love and trust him all the same.

He glanced at me. "Did you need something?"

"Actually, now that you mention it, there was, and a very good news." I told him. "Your and your wingmen's new flight suit are on it's way and will arrive tomorrow." He kept looking at me that invited me to continue. "A lot of modifications were made to the original this time thanks to some captured Coalition's own articles. Hopefully it should be able to track your movements a lot smoother than before. Not to mention, it should be far more durable than the last."

His lips curved into a smile, then a hearty laugh. "Ha ha ha.. impressive, doctor!" This is what I want to, my works are able to make him laugh more. He took a deep breath before said. "Me and my men will be honored to try it out during sortie as soon as it arrived. Preferably against those Anglo-Zio infidels."

I tried to keep the shock out from my reply "Colonel.. you want to what?" He didn't repeat himself, knowing just as well as me that he had made himself perfectly clear. "With all due respect.. the suit needs to be tested first, sir. We need to make sure that it's in top condition. We don't know how it will affect your body or how it might limit your maneuvering. You already say that the Coalition is learning and getting stronger. Do you not remember your last two battle with those Indonesians, in particular Major Paulus Hutapea, the Angel of Azrael? The longer the war drags on we might all be dead -"

"Don't mention the name of that Nazarene to me, please." his voice turned cold. "The faster we collect the data, the quicker the war comes to an end. You said it yourself when we first agreed to serve as your test subject."

"True..." I admitted, my gaze lowered. "As much as I want to cut back our losses during battles, you should keep mind of your body as well. The Caliph's ordered me to keep you on top. Otherwise, you know the consequence of failure to do so." Any adverse reaction could affect his and his men's flying and thus interfere with the data the drones received.

I was trying to sound more confident and caring than I actually felt. As ridiculous as it was and as dedicated as me was to this work with it's benefits along with my personal allegiance to the Caliph and to the Ummah, even there is such thing for a break once in a while.

The Caliph definitely has such time, so why I should not? I asked myself.

Like most people there is some time that I wasn't as invested in my duty as I normally was, as one without any place to call home. But I couldn't figured out why. For the time being, it might due to the fact that I am often only slept for four hours or less during the last week.

He paused for a moment. I hope he's come to his senses and give in, agreeing to the tests. But Rizieq was a stubborn man as an addition to his fanaticism and stood his ground. "We've been wearing those suits out testing them so often," he said levelly. "It will be better to see how it will hold up in an actual combat scenario as soon as possible. Those infidels had many pilots that could push us to the limits as well as that Nazarene in order to know how well the suit will hold up."

Stubborn bastard, I couldn't help but think to myself. You're going to get yourself killed early, honestly. I gave him a small nod. "Very well, then, Colonel. I'll inform you when the flight suit arrives..." No response came to this, so I went back to the hangar to look at my work as I reminded myself about the Legion to explain the reason of his eagerness.

The Quds Legion is loyal only to the Caliph, and furthermore any of his orders can over-ride others. Being chosen to fight and die under the white banner of the Legion is a great honor.

Somewhere inside me, he has a good point. He want to immediately use it in his sacred duty. On the other hand I wonder when he and Wise will meet again, though.

I can imagine what if he finally overpowered Rizieq and the rest of the 101 in a climactic battle somewhere above the Hejaz.. it means that the drones will also be fall. My hard work - my only legacy for this cruel world and in particular, to those who reject me because of my beliefs - would be for nothing.

While I still believe that the UCC can still turn the tide to at least, forcing a more lenient peace settlement with the Coalition, I can't help to not acknowledge the fact that inevitably, Rizieq will once again lock horns with Paulus. Not if, but when. From what I learned about Wise.. he had a blood-thirsty streak in combat.

I shuddered a little, before went back to check for any sign of anomaly on the data transfer, as cyberattack is a major threat to any unmanned air systems in the world.

...

Jinnah International Airport, affected by the fighting and was bombed several times by the Indians in the early phase of the war, especially during the Fall of Karachi have been repaired as fast as the Allied Forces can in order to serve as one out of several points for contract flight transporting Allied service personnel into and from the frontline, along with serving as another base for Indian fighters and tiltrotors.

We are all miss the Motherland. Unexpectedly I saw a group of uniformed Navy officers, which included a familiar face as we are heading for the waiting room.

"Going home too, Paul?" Asked Yoel to me and the rest of the 42nd entourage.

"Exactly"

"Yeah. thank God we're going to be on the same plane"

Yoel proceeded to introduce his fellow pilots from the 120 to those from my own who doesn't yet know the naval aviators.

"Capt. Bachtiar Tohir"

"I'm Capt. Ronny Patinassarany, nice to meet you Bachtiar"

"Maj. Evelyn Hardikusumo"

"You forget me? Major Yanuar Dharma, Evy. We finally meet again after a long time since Chandradimuka and the Exercise Sayap." The said Navy Major entered the Armed Forces Academy, the umbrella name for service academies in Indonesia, in the same year as me and Evy and some others.

Soon we enjoyed each other's company inside the airport's waiting room and twenty minutes later we are on board Airfast Indonesia (1) Boeing 787-12 that will bring us back to the Union.

As a precaution every military contract flight inbound and outbound from Karachi were required to have infrared countermeasure pods installed on their aircraft and we saw it in action.

"Fedayeen missiles inbound, all passengers, brace for possible impact!" The flight attendants warned us. We bowed and braced for any impact that might come akin to emergency landing position.

"Hang on!" said Major Yanuar.

We are totally on the mercy of the IRCM system installed on the Dreamliner.

"Way to go!" Pandu's shout were the relief to us, as he peeked at the window for a while and saw the missiles had, two in exact, gone wild and veered away from our plane; the laser had fried the seekers.

I can't imagine otherwise what will happen.

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I decided to took a newspaper as things calmed down, one and a half hour after takeoff with the plane safely out of the harms way. The plane itself has IFEs but I don't want to watch any movies yet.

"Manchester United is still going strong, isn't it?" asked Ronny, sat in my right side. With both me and him are soccer fans especially since our Academy days, we can talk about anything soccer for hours in a more peaceful times. And we are both fans of that English club.

"Exactly, with the trio of David Campbell, Enrico Santos, and Henry Young never played recent matches without any goals, even if it only one." I said. "And especially with defenders Tomoyuki Yamada and John Robinson decided to extend their contracts... their defense is well established."

As the plane is cruising we continued to talking mostly about soccer and the war effort in general, in particular the fall of Gaza Strip a day before to the Allies while enjoying the on-board meal.

"The so called Pallywoods got what they deserve. The blow from the so called Zionists and NATO with the Russians in Syria left it to those two, had finally put an end to that ugly product of the KGB." I said to Ronny with relief.

"Really?"

"If you read more you know that the man who started this whole Palestinian stuff is backed by the Soviets (2)."

"Yasser Arafat?"

"Correct, Goalkeeper."

"Palestine.. " he nodded before replied at me "Maybe this is the reason why we don't send anyone to Gaza or Syria for example. Or anywhere in the Levant."

"What some people will say if we are openly fighting on the ground with the Israelis? I don't mean those who're in bed with those jihadists by the way."

"And that's why those people are under Swiss protection in the Motherland."

"To hell with those conspiracy theories. Israelis are willing to left us in peace and we should to. Look at the mullahs in Iran for example of the contrary. Furthermore, there are only one Jewish state, unlike the Arabs. No offense, okay?"

"Anyway" said 1st Lt. Arif, which listened to our conversation intensely, especially because he also a soccer aficionado himself, but his main European favorite club is Serie A club Juventus instead of Manchester United. "I really need some good sleep, Captains, so if you want to continue talking soccer or other things, keep your voices on the minimum. And wake me up one hour later if you wish."

"Alright, Lieutenant" I replied.

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"Dear passengers, in the few minutes we are going to land at the Sultan Aji Muhammad Sulaiman International Airport, in Balikpapan. Please fasten your seat belt, make sure that the table tray and your seat are in the upright position, and the window shade is up. All personal electronic devices should be turned off and headphones removed. Thank you" The familiar announcement only means one thing.

Home sweet home!

We are all still in our uniforms.

When the plane fully stopped. "Dear passengers, we gladly welcome you to Sultan Aji Muhammad Sulaiman International Airport in Balikpapan, The time is now 18.35 Central Indonesia Time. Before we disembark, we are having a minute of silence for every service personnel, men and women, of the Indonesian National Armed Forces, law enforcement forces, and allies, which had fell in the line of duty over the course of our history. Thank you for flying Airfast Indonesia."

I can hear a bit of sobbing, as my friends and fellow soldiers remembering their fallen comrades. But I also grateful for those who survived.

A surprise awaits us in the arrival pick up area. Journalists. But the most heartwarming is finally I can see my family again. Including Petrus and Gloria which had taken a day off their studies and jobs in Jakarta just for me, and for Gloria, his boyfriend. She is the first who hug me upon exiting the arrival hall before kissing Yoel in the forehead followed by Petrus, my eldest brother Daniel and his wife, and my parents.

"Praise God, Paul, you are safe! And you too, Yoel!" My mother in particular burst to tears upon embracing me and Yoel, which basically had become the part of my family despite not yet married with Gloria; as well as my father.

"Here's a welcome drink from us. Indonesian water!" Gloria and Petrus both pulled out a bottled mineral water and gave the bottles to Yoel and me respectively.

Sure we've drink "Indonesian water" from the taps inside the airport building; but in particular Yoel, we appreciated the gesture.

After photo taking and dealing with the journalists, including from the Radio TNI and TV TNI; the Armed Forces' radio and television network respectively, itself part of the Armed Forces Information Center, me and Yoel part ways to rejoin our unit and undergo quarantine and medical examination process, before our unit members went their separate ways, too.

"Major" said Capt. Pandu, had also hugged his parents. Meanwhile, his brother Calvin, and his girlfriend Selvy, went all their way from Makassar just for him.

"Yes?"

"If you have time to go to Makassar, Major, don't forget to come to my workshop and have some tea. Especially as I heard you are to be sent to the Staff College in Bandung."

"I hope so." Pandu's parents have a specialty workshop for car modifications, along with service and spare parts in general. He had shown me several of the products, and he also loved talking about car modification outside the base. In fact he once told me that if he back then doesn't pass a test for the Air Force Academy he might help his father and brother in the workshop.

He also once told me that he have been ticketed twice for underage driving and illegal racing during his rebellious high school days. As he entered his third year he made an about-face, but his need for discipline were noticed by his parents and teachers that end in his decision to join the Armed Forces.

Yoel is enjoying the off time in Jakarta as most of his family including his parents are now live there, while I am going for Tarutung, a town in Tapanuli Province. Home of my ethnic group, and in which one of my uncles is a preacher in the one of the local church and a beekeeper. Speaking of my real hometown, ethnically speaking, the city government had planned for a parade to welcome us, but the city's parliament vetoed the proposition, according to my aunt, citing a need to conserve fuel and electricity along with security risk, as two separate suicide bombings, both targeting churches have occurred before in two separate places by UCC symphatizers; one in Surabaya and one in Poso, without any deaths. Furthermore five more plot to blow up churches were foiled nationwide.

If only peace can last forever.

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