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(On the outskirts of Oured, Osean Federation - January 6, 2025)
The busy traffic began to build up on the roads leading to the nation's capital in the early minutes after the sun began to rise from the eastern horizon. The honking of horns echoed through the polluted air as vehicles, cars and trucks alike, stopped in wait. While there were a few construction projects ongoing, a recent road accident began to make things worse for some. Those people were fearing that their bosses would reprimand them or worse, fired on the spot.
"C'mon, c'mon!" One of these office workers shouted in his green sedan. "Dammit, I'm going to be late!"
Outside of this typical situation, the radio station began to start broadcasting the hourly news. "For today's news updates: a container ship registered to the Kingdom of Sapin reported a strange sighting of a "ghost ship" within the Ceres Ocean, the first of such incident in two months. Authorities have launched an investigation into this incident…"
On the opposite lane of the freeway, traffic continued to run smoothly. Some of those using that lane were heading home after completing their dreaded "graveyard shift." The late night hours struck a good toll on their capabilities. Yawning and drowsiness plagued the returning workers as they continue to fight back.
However, within that lane, a blue sports bike manned by a young man clad in a white helmet, black-and-white motorcycle jacket, and black pants weaved through the traffic. The man in question was heading to a nearby airbase to resume his duties as a fighter pilot for the local fighter squadron of the Osean Air Defense Force.
XXXXXXX
The rider pulled his bike towards the local diner to get some breakfast. The business became busy as the holidays officially came to a close. When he entered the establishment, the atmosphere became chatty and somewhat ambient due to the jukebox being played on the distant left of the door. Shouting from the waiters and the cook filled the air as they delivered the orders to the right customers.
The man took a vacant barstool and began to grab hold of the menu being folded and placed neatly on the counter. He quickly made up his mind and began to get the attention of the waiter behind the counter. "Excuse me, waiter?"
"Yes sir, what can get I for you this fine morning?" She responded after arriving.
"I'll take the ham-and-cheese omelet, and I'll get the OJ." He forwarded his order.
She wrote the order on the paper. "Anything else?"
"That's all."
"That will take 10-15 minutes."
"Take your time. I'm reporting to the airbase at 9."
The waiter felt intrigued by his job. "Ohhh...so you are a fighter jockey?"
"Yep." The airman nodded after hearing her answer, which was a correct guess.
"Hehe." She mirthed briefly. "I'll have your order prepared." She left the pilot to relay the omelette order to the cook. "One ham-and-cheese omelette!" She shouted while tearing the paper to leave it for the latter to read.
As the pilot tapped his two right fingers against the metal counter to the tune of the jukebox, frantic shouting from outside subtly penetrated the music-oriented atmosphere. Some of the nearby customers and waiters who were able to hear it turned their heads to the direction of the windows. Those that turned to see the commotion caught a glimpse of three men running and shouting. As well, visible bystanders felt confused while looking at the scene.
One of them approached the group and touched him by the arm in an effort to extract some information. "Hey, what's your problem, buddy?"
"That blue-haired chick...we have to run!" It was all he could answer and he pointed at the direction of the supposed threat. After noticing "her" as briefly stated, he continued fleeing with his friends. "Aaaaahhhh!"
The woman felt dumbfounded and the nearby citizens took noticed of the "girl" in her late teens, dressed in a white one-piece dress and black pantyhoses. Her hairstyle was a combination of a ponytail and two narrow sections of her hair place in front from her forehead. The most unusual feature was her bright blue hair color.
"What's going on between you and those guys?" The female bystander asked the girl after approaching.
"Oh, nothing. Those guys were morons when they tried to attack me." She told her side of the story with a shrug on the incident. The last parts made the bystander gasp.
"Ah! Are you okay? Do you need a doctor?" She began to quickly get her cellphone from her sling bag.
"Relax, I'm fine. They should be having nightmares for a while."
The statement dumbfounded the concerned citizen again. "Huh?!"
"Nothing. You can go on with your day." She left before proceeding to the diner entrance.
The bystander remained puzzled as to how she remained calm while fending off three men that attempted to attack her.
"She must have watched too much TV." She thought of a guess. "But what program…?"
The blue-haired girl looked around to see the diner returned to being business as usual. The incident quickly passed but a few of those customers were left asking for answers. One departing customer wearing a red-and-white trucker cap a brown jacket turned his head with a puzzled face.
She approached the barstool on the left side of the fighter pilot as he was still waiting for his order by reading a newspaper. The girl happily took her seat and the waiter approached her seat to ask for the order.
"Good morning, ma'am. What can I do for you today?" Armed with her pen and notepad, she asked the girl.
"Do you have the menu?"
"Right over here." The waiter directed to the menu on the girl's left side. She handed it over. "Take the time you need."
"Thank you." She cheefully accepted and began to read the menu. A musical hum was performed by her vocal cords to help her pass the moment.
The pilot slightly withdrew the borrowed newspaper from his face to turn it towards the girl. "Uh, excuse me...miss?"
"Hmm…?" She quickly responded.
"You must be the one that some people outside talked about, right?" He asked.
"How did you know that?"
"The last guy who used to occupy your seat turned to see what's going on." He began to elaborate. "I asked him about this after hearing some unusual chatter, and he told me you are the one of some interest."
"Hmhmhm…" A nervous laughter was uttered. "Maybe I used too much force to scare the attackers away…"
The pilot widened his eyes in surprise upon hearing the incident. "You were attacked?!"
"Almost… But after showing them my power, the tables turned on them." She shrugged off.
"You can't be serious!? You must be practicing self-defense for a while."
"Hmmmm...maybe." She closed her eyes for a moment.
The pilot felt confused about what happened between her and the three men. How she was able to fend off her would-be attackers will remain a mystery to other people like him and those that met her before.
"Anyway, maybe I should be proud that you were able to fend them off." He decided to congratulate her on this small victory. The mood on his face also changed to a more merry expression.
"Thank you...uhh…" Her face began to turn slightly red in apparent embarrassment.
"Are you okay?"
"Ummm...well, it's very kind of you to say how well I did back there."
"Hmhmhm. Just calm down."
"Oh, alright." She prepared another question. "By the way, if you don't mind, may I have your name?"
The request struck him. In his childhood days, his parents advised him not to talk to strangers if any given situation would be used to take advantage of him. The moment, however, remained personnal and the pilot was old enough to handle on his own.
"Aoi… Aoi Yukimura." He introduced his name.
"Takao… Just call me by that name." She followed.
Immediately after, the waiter carrying Aoi's order arrived. The plate was carrying the weight of the hearty dish as steam continued rising from its nicely-browned skin and oozing melted cheese. The fragrance touched his sense of smell gently, which meant that he can enjoy for the time being.
Unbeknownst to the two, she was enjoying the moment.
"Well, well, are you two a lovely couple?" The waiter commented, betraying her restraint.
Aoi and Takao were caught off-guard. "What?!" They simultaneously uttered. Both of their faces began to turn red.
"Uh...we aren't lovers, I swear!" Aoi swinged his hands in denial.
"Yeah, what he said." The girl sided with the pilot. "We haven't even get to know each other more."
"Hehehe." The waiter chuckled. "I'm sorry, I'm just enjoying myself."
"Well...that's okay. It's just that we are a bit careless."
"Speaking of which, don't you have your duty to perform in a while?"
"I know, I know." He quickly answered. "Thanks for telling."
"No probl'm." The waiter then left.
At the same time, Aoi began to eat in a quick pace. Takao felt bothered by it.
"Aoi, try to slow down." She suggested. "You might choke."
"Sorry…" He apologized before doing the action again, making his voice muffled and limited. "I don't want the higher-ups shouting at my ass if I'm late."
All the girl did was continue to watch in concern for the remaining few minutes of Aoi's time at the counter. After drinking the last of his orange juice, he uttered a big "ah!" in subtle triumph. He then began to grab hold of his wallet before beginning to pay the bill.
"Listen, Takao, I just want to thank you for that talk we have."
"Oh, no need to mention that." She replied with her head lowered in slight embarrassment. "I also want to say thank you for accompanying me. If only it would last a bit longer…"
"Maybe I'll bump into you again when I'm off-duty." Takao giggled after hearing his hope.
"Hope so, too."
Aoi shuffled his wallet to look for the right amount of cash to pay with. After a moment, he brought out two Ƶ10 bills. They were then gently slammed onto the table. At the right moment, the waiter took notice of Aoi's action.
"Done already?" She asked.
"Yeah. I'll pay the bill."
"On it." She took the money in order to complete the transaction.
It took a short while before the final receipt and the change arrived at his place.
"Here ya go. Go dance with the angels, you two." She said some well-wishes. The particular line she mentioned came from Emmeria, popularized as a symbol of defiance by the country during a recent war with Estovakia. However, the waiter made it mean, "good-bye and good luck."
"We will." Aoi responded before he began to leave Takao, his seat and the diner in general.
Before that, Takao managed to make him stop for a moment.
"Aoi?"
"Huh?" He turned his head towards her.
"Be careful out there." She said her encouragement.
Aoi nodded warmly before continuing with his journey. He opened the door and passed through it. A moment later, it slowly closed.
For Takao, she felt a feeling of warm company thanks to him.
(Undisclosed air force base)
For a time, the base remained on its current state of alert while hosting many military aircraft. Despite peacetime controlling the minds of personnel for the foreseeable future, there is virtually no slacking off. Any of it can endanger the safety of Osea and world peace, after a conflict between the nation and the Kingdom of Erusea rocked the globe once more.
Aoi arrived at the base with more than enough time to spare. Before entering the base, he presented his proper documents and identification to the guards manning one of the gates. With approval, he gave the pilot the go-ahead to move on.
A short time after arrival, he went to the locker room to change to his flight uniform. It was decorated with the insignia of the 140th Tactical Fighter Squadron, also known by their usual name "Glaive" due to the titular weapon being imprinted on the logo.
"Aoi!" Someone called his name.
He turned his head to see another young man with the same haircut. His height is slightly higher than Aoi's.
"Rupert." He replied back. The two then made a fist pump as a greeting before exchanging chuckles. "Man, it's good to see you."
"How's your time with your family?"
"Well, it went well. I managed to get my little sis that bow she asked for." He detailed some of his experiences in the Christmas season.
"Did she shot a bull's-eye?"
"She didn't, yet. Unexpectedly got a little weak, so she called it off for now."
"Oh, I understand." Rupert responded.
"And, how's that honeymoon?"
"It almost turned into a disaster. One moment we were relaxin' at the beach, the other…" The colleague paused for a moment. "...bird crap rained on us."
It was enough to surprise Aoi. "Yuck! That's why you never went online for a while?"
"Yeah, it's a bit humiliating...to say the least. But, hey, we all have some form of bad luck."
"Guess so."
"By the way, you heard about that recent "ghost ship" sighting, right? It's currently the talk of the town right now."
"I did. It's strange." Aoi agreed.
"Two sightings in the same ocean within two months. Do you think somethin's weird over there?" The colleague began to wonder.
"Not much. At the very least, the guys at the west should be able to confirm."
"Yeah...probably." He then remembered something. "That reminds me…"
"What is it, Rupert?"
"We have a new squadmate joining us. And she's a hotie." An enthusiastic grin was formed on Rupert's face.
"A hot chick? You're joking, right?" Aoi felt surprised.
"I'm not, I'm serious. Go see for yourself at the briefing room. Capt'n's waiting for us."
XXXXXXX
The two pilots approached the entrance to the flight briefing room. Aoi offered to opened the door.
After doing so, the sight of an almost-empty room greeted their eyes. The only one occupying it sat at the chair a row behind the front ones. The occupant stood up and turned to politely greet the two men.
"No way…! You're…" Aoi tried to tell Rupert that he was right about a young woman joining the squadron, but he stumbled.
She had a slightly curved body, unusual for female personnel, that would raise some red flags for some; however, she was accepted into duty. Her light-brown hair hanged down from her head, and the remaining inertia that made the strands quickly died down.
"So, you must be 2nd Lieutenant Aoi Yukimura, I presume?" She asked him.
"Yes, ma'am. I'm Aoi Yukimura." The lead male pilot confirmed.
"I'm 2nd Lieutenant Azusa Kirishima, pleasure to make your acquaintance." She offered a handshake that Aoi later quickly accepted.
"Yeah, me too."
"Pilots, I hope that you are fully acquainted with one another." A voice filled with some authority caught the pilots' attention. They turned to see veteran captain Eleanor Mitchell, a dark-skinned woman in her early 40s. Per protocol, they saluted in front of their commander.
"Captain, we are all assembled and we just started to get to know each other." Rupert confirmed.
"Good. I hope that Kirishima has a bright career ahead of her from now on, and I want everyone to support each other as always."
"Yes, ma'am." The male pilots affirmed.
For a while, nothing unusual will come in the way of the squadron. But, things will turn weird, if not typical.
XXXXXXX
A/N: Okay, so the first attempt of an Ace Combat/Arpeggio crossover doesn't seem feasible. The next logical conclusion is to go back to familiar ground, that is fighter jockeys. And, for a small change of pace, the flagship aircraft may not be using glorious slice of 'Murica. If not, that's okay.
And, apologies if this chapter is short. It's a prologue.