Prologue One

	Sunrise off the coast of Okinawa wasn't a new thing for him; he had seen it many times over. But today was different. "Here I am," he thought. "Captain Colin 'Cipher' Jackson. US Air Force, 67th Tactical Fighter Squadron, Garm Team Lead. I've been called the Dragon of the Round Table, I've been called both a deliverance and a demon. And a couple of days ago, I was probably considered dead to the world..." Jackson mused over the thought for a bit. By all accounts, he should have died in that blizzard. Seven Flanker-C's,  as well as Russia's own superplane, the Vampire, had fought him that day. Their piloting had pushed Colin to his limit, and it wasn't enough.

	"I should have died that day..."

	However, he had barely survived.  Luck was on his side. The Martians of Nova Prospekt had found him battered, bruised, and bleeding. They had taken the poor man in and mended his wounds until he came to. They helped protect him from prying Russian eyes and helped him escape. Even now, he thought, they were still protecting him through the black flightsuit and G-suit that he was wearing at that moment.

	"If it wasn't for A'laya and his men, I would have blacked out in that fight and crashed over the mountains, too."

	Colin had owed a lot to the Martians, but they weren't alone. The image of Colonel Yuri Tarasov flashed into his mind. Meeting Tarasov was supposed to be Colin's end. No Martian could go against their overseer, and Colin was sure he'd be interrogated and tortured. At best, he would be sent to the gulags he had heard about. At worse, he would be dead.

	And yet Tarasov colluded with the Martians, providing much of the cover that allowed Jackson to survive in Russia. Not only that, he practically handed Colin a Vampire itself, the very same one that he used fighting the same Vampire that had shot down his F-15C and the very same one that he was taking back over to Kadena AFB.
	Colin still couldn't make sense of Tarasov's motivations. The Premier of Russia, Stalin himself, was waging this war to pave the way for a second Martian invasion. A faction led by a Colonel Vladimir Putin was working behind the scenes to go against Stalin and Colonel Tarasov had thrown his lot with him. Jackson had heard that at Megalith, captured NATO witches that had been severely injured were given new life through cybernetic enhancements, and here at Nova Prospekt, Martians through A'laya and his crew were working on countermeasures for the rest of humanity. They wanted the war to be finished as quickly as possible, preferably before Stalin could damage the Stonehenge installations. And if finishing the war meant giving Russia's premier superplane to the Allies, so be it. In Colin's mind, the whole thing seemed to be some crazy ideas borne out of a bunch of madmen.

	"Maybe it really is because the Colonel owed my grandpa one..." Colin muttered to himself. In that case, he wondered how big of a favor his grandpa had done to make Tarasov become a traitor just to allow Colin an oppotunity to escape. Colin stared at the watch that Tarasov had given him and sighed. Trying to figure out the reason would only exhaust Colin further, and he decided to drop the subject.

	"Still, I have to thank Grandpa a lot when I get back."

	If the spooks didn't believe the whole Soviet plot, at least Tarasov handed him information stating that the Chinese, in concert with the North Korean People's Liberation Army, is preparing for a mass assault across the 38th Parallel of Korea, intending to swamp IJA and US forces out of the south. The information detailed which units would be involved and where they would strike, down to the last regiment. This info, along with the Vampire itself, would be more than enough.

	"Cipher, still hanging in there?"

Slash's voice knocked Colin back to reality. He fumbled for a bit before managing to speak something to him.

	"Yeah. Still here, Slash." Cipher said.

	"Good." Slash replied, sounding relieved. "We're nearing Kadena now, what's your status?"

	"Vampire's at bingo fuel, Slash. Thank God I see it."

	"Hey," Slash said jokingly. "Mind not turning this into a ball of flames? It'd be pretty embarrassing to lose a Vampire right now."

	Colin chuckled at Slash's comment, then answered back, "Hey, I might be tired, but I'm sure I can land this thing in one piece."

	"Haha, good to hear, Cipher." Slash replied. "And what are you gonna about her?"

	"Oh, her? I'll...I'll think of something."

	"I guess we can leave it at that." said Edge. "In any case, we should clear out, Slash."

	"Mmhmm." Slash replied. "<Okay, Ridgeback Squadron, let's get out of the way. We'll continue to provide air support until the Vampire lands, is that clear?>"

"<Roger that.>"

	The two-steelwing, two-witch squadron comprised of Shinden IIs flew away from the Vampire, raising their altitude for a couple of seconds before circling the airspace around Kadena for any threats. With air cover settled, Colin set an approach towards the runway and opened the frequency to the control tower.

	"Kadena Control, this is Cipher. Requesting permission to land, over."

	"Holy shit, it IS you, Cipher," said the air traffic controller, half-surprised at Colin's voice. "Jesus, man, we'd thought you were gone for good."

	"I got better." Cipher said boringly.

	"Yeah, yeah." There was a moment of silence before the controller spoke again. "Alright, you're clear to land. I must say, you've brought one hell of a homecoming gift."

	"It's good to be back." Cipher replied before setting the landing gear down. The Vampire landed on the runway smoothly and effortlessly. As Colin wheeled the plane out of the runway, he could already see a crowd following him. Some stood still while others jogged with the Vampire itself. And as the Vampire finally stopped, it seemed like the entire base came out to see the commotion. Many were stunned speechless at what they saw: the bane of Allied air forces everywhere was right in front of their eyes, piloted by a man thought dead.

	Colin popped the canopy open and sat there for a moment, trying to gather whatever strength he had to pull himself out of the cockpit. Try as he might, the flight and the battle with IIich was just too much for him, and he couldn't even lift himself off the seat. He decided to sit there, hearing the sounds of airstairs pulling up to the Vampire and the sirens of medical vehicles coming closer and closer.

	Finally, the sounds of footsteps came clanging towards Colin, until one person was within sight.

	"Hey, little bro." said the man. It was Colin's older brother, Riley Jackson, a Pararescueman. "Need a hand?"

	"Yeah, Riley." Colin replied. "I can't even get out."

	Riley grinned before he motioned some people on the bottom of the ladder to get up.  "Just like old times, huh? Alright, ya big baby, come on." he said, unbuckling Colin out of his seat.

	With the help of one of Riley's team members, Colin managed to stand on the stairs. The crowd watched as Colin and the PJ team slowly made their way down the steps before they hit solid ground. Colin took off his flight mask and helmet with his right hand, eyeing the crowd before him. They stayed silent for a moment before the cheers and the claps rang throughout the crowd.

	Riley and his teammate made their way through the crowd with Colin, heading over to a stretcher where Colin could finally rest and get some medical attention. As they made their way through the crowd, Colin thought something to himself...

"It's crazy...all of this started a few months ago..."