Chapter Three: End // Begin

Within five miles of the airbase, Tex lowers his altitude to landing height. He lines up to the runway dropping his throttle down and fighting to keep his airplane level. Once within two miles he drops his landing gear, and slowly pulls back on the throttle as he makes his way onto the dirt landing strip. 

"Almost there, come on you got this- Hold her steady… and we're down.'

Proud of himself, he taxis his aircraft to his hangar, stopping before it and turns the breaks on and shuts the power off. After completing his post flight checklist, he hops out of the aircraft and finds his brother standing in awe.-

"How in the world did you manage to do this to the plane…?'

"Got shot up by a Jet.'

"Looks like you got shot by a tank!'

"Might as well have been one.'

"Well how'd you fight?'

"Well I went a little bit like this, and he went like this, and I went 'pow pow pow' and killed him, then his friend got pissed and went to me like 'bang bang bang-' he said mockingly, using his arms and hands as representation

"Oh shut up Tex, you goofy flyboy.'

"What? You asked how'd I fight.'

"You knew what I meant, now you better go to your debrief before I steal your landing gear.'

"Better than just falling off.'

"You're something special aren't you.'

"I'm everything special," Tex smiles, and walks off to the tent.

Tex finds himself in his tent where he had bunked with Cowboy, he sits on cowboy's bed staring off into space and time itself.

"Why did you have to die… you crazy bastard…'

He stands up, and goes to his trunk. Tex opens his trunk with a key, and grabs a spare key for Cowboy's lockbox. Tex would go over and open the locked trunk belonging to his wingman and best friend, and he would dig inside the box looking for his final letter- but instead he finds one addressed to him. Tex grabs the letter and sits on the messy bed once more, and opens the letter and begins to read. His eyes rapidly move back and forth the page as tears begin to well up, ready to burst into a river.

The letter read out,

Dear Arno,

Thank you for being there with me throughout these last few years, I must say it has been very overwhelming fighting this war; and I know by you reading this letter that I have been killed. Do not worry about it brother, I just hope I died protecting you, and even I know that's far fetched. I've kept your secret all this time, nobody knows you're a kraut unless you've told them- and they don't know your real name. They all think you're still Arthur. You're a good man, and you're a German I actually can consider family. You will not find a letter to my family, as you're the only thing I got close to family. Have Phantom take my place, he'll make sure you live.

Goodbye, Arno.

   Legends never die.

His eyes erupted with tears, he lays the letter next to him and falls back onto the bed. He tries to wipe away the non stop flood leaking from tear ducts, but fails horrifically. Tex breaks into a sob, the gut-wrenching sound of a man losing his grip on himself fills the room. He beats the mattress senselessly whilst cursing it to hell, begging for his best friend back.

"Warum Gott… Warum hast du meinen freund genommen…? Gib ihn jetzt zurück!" He shouts, reverting to his birth language to demand his friend back, but despite his anger and pleads to God- Cowboy is still dead. Several soldiers run into the barracks tent and go to Tex.

''Major Jameson, are you okay? We heard German from here.'

"Yes… everything is fine, go back to your post.'

They would look at eachother, and head off back to their respective posts, leaving the pilot alone once more.

"Why did you have to die…'

The broken aviator wipes his tears, and stuffs the letter into his bedside chest. He marches out of his bunk and disappears into the blinding light emanating from outside.

"Colonel.'

"What is it, Arthur?'

"Give me clearance to go fly.'

"Are you in the right condition to fly?'

"You know me, Colonel, I can handle myself.'

"Just don't get yourself into trouble.'

"Thank you, sir.'

"Get out of here before I change my mind.'

Tex heads to his plane and examines it, several pieces are still being replaced by his crew and it's not in flying shape in the slightest.

"Hey brother,'

"Yeah, what do you need?'

"What are you trying to do?'

"I'm taking my plane.'

The young man laughs, "Are you joking?', and when he meets Tex's serious stare he stops.

"Please tell me you're joking…'

"I want my plane.'

"I can't do that, but lemme tell you what- I can give you the spare.'

"That's fine.'

"It's right there, all fueled up and it even has bullets in it's guns. Don't waste them though.' he had pointed at the aircraft in question "Now go so I can work on your plane.'

Tex marches to the spare plane, and gets inside of it.

"Let's see…' He goes over the startup checklist systematically starting the aircraft and getting prepared for takeoff.

He taxis onto the runway and with full power takes off into the sky.

An aviator's true home is the sky- they live among the clouds alongside the birds. Ultimately, an aviator longs to return home in order to die a rightful death. The end of all life is death, and first and foremost as a soldier Tex has become accustomed to death- and some fellow soldiers even consider an escape from the pain and sorrow of war in order to cope with the loss easier. Normally, the dead end up as statistics, a mere tally on a board sitting alongside a faceless name. Tex thought as the others, The dead are lucky. However, it's not the same whenever the corpse beside you- or the burning body falling out of the sky- was a living breathing person who through chance became your family suffering through the same hell you find yourself in. The image burns through his mind, a brother by choice, yet truer than blood, coated in a shiny coat of fuel set alight falling from two planes that had collided and met in fiery inferno.

"At this rate, I'll be with you soon brother."

Tex spent his time in the air flying low to the ground over neutral airspace looking at the remaining untouched world of beauty seemingly trapped in time- unchanging despite the destruction laying waste on the civilizations right beyond their border. A sparkle catches his eye, and he finds himself gazing upon a small castle overlooking a small well kept, yet clearly abandoned town from the time of the medieval ages. Tex grabs his map and jots down the path to this village, sure to come back later. Circling around the site several more times, he witnesses a group of knights donning platemail armor and bearing swords march out of the castle escorting a finely dressed woman. Even from a distance, Tex could easily tell that the woman being escorted through the town was a princess to an empire long past. He passes by the castle slowly, trying to watch the armored escort march out, but is distracted when a loud Ding! is heard from his wing. Tex glances over and sees an arrow lodged between two of the aluminum alloy plates that cover the aircraft. He laughs and speeds off to the nearest airbase surprisingly only 5 miles out from the lost realm.

Tex gets in line and begins to descend, dropping his landing gear and pulling back on the throttle. Landing is second nature, the hard part will now be finding a parking spot on the unfamiliar airbase. He taxis around the airfield, making several passes before finding a parking spot for temporary fighters. Overall, nobody bothers him and he is able to quietly shut down his aircraft and grab his gear. Once out of his plane, he stuffs the flight gear back into the cockpit, making sure to only grab his map, a Colt M1911, a few magazines and a shoulder holster he left in his bag. Armed with only a handgun and the clothes on his back, he goes and grabs a nearby unattended Willys MB Jeep and starts his way to the town. 

Nearly two miles out from his destination, the environment looks completely different- No more scorched forests, no more trenches, and no more death. Every yard Tex progresses, the forest surrounding the village looks more and more like a fairytale or a dream world of peace and delight. Parking right outside of the town's outskirts, he grabs his equipment and looks up to see a castle sitting atop a hill at the center of the miniature kingdom. He looks around, the streets are empty yet the memory of life holds steady with the astonishing unweathered appearance. Tex walks through the labyrinth of businesses and houses, reading wooden signs hanging down from perches- some of them in old English, some in old French, and even a few in old German. The town clearly once upon a time was a melting pot of the three different cultures, several varieties of banners bearing family crests with different origins such as Franconian or English hang in certain sections showing a clear distinction between the cultures as well. Tex decides to press onward and continue to the castle.

Tex scales a series of stairs on the ascending path towards the summit of the hill, and he is surprised to see that there were two knights resting upon the final steps guarding a gate. The armor-clad knights reveal little regarding who they were or how they physically appeared, however their coarse voices did leave little to the imagination. Tex knows they're watching him, the two guarding the gate itself didn't move or react to him, however the loud clanky armor made it clear that the soldiers behind him were slowly turning to him and following him. He grabs hold of the gate and gently pushes it inward, amused to see the gate unlocked and vulnerable. His amusement only further continues when an armored man on horseback approaches the gate bearing a Germanic knight's tunic and mantle bearing his family's coat of arms.

"Who dares trespass upon this royal estate?' the knight yelled.