Princess's Last Flight
Foreward: A Final Farewell
Location: Approximately 240 Nautical Miles off of Hoshido's Eastern Coast
Date: 18th Of April; 3rd year of Open War
Time: 11:26 Local
Blue, infinite blue stretched out before them, the sun glinting off the ocean below and off the black bodies of the Nohrian patrol. The whistle and rumble of the aircrafts' engines and the periodic static of the radio had been the ambience for the past two hours, as the patrol encircled the 6th Battlefleet, the steadily approaching line of destruction flag-shipped by the great Battleship Brynhildr, under Admiral Leo, the feared strategist responsible for the devastating Nohrian Counterattack at the Sevenfold Sanctuary. Wispy white clouds dotted the horizon, where sky and sea seemed to meet almost seamlessly, and against that backdrop, the purple haired pilot could almost make out a few faint specks- shadows in the clouds.
Her brow furrowed as she stared at the dots breaking through the line. She threw a glance to her right. The black, and purple plane, tinged with sharp lines of red paint, marked distinctly with the words "Secret Dreamer" in ornate writing and starring a half-naked painting of the pilot of the aircraft, a woman with a sharp countenance, sharper tongue, and strikingly red hair; a cherry scarlet, the same as the striping encircling the plane's engine cowling and lining the tell-tale bent wings of the Nohrian fighter, and below the cockpit's glass were eighteen white marks- all the insignia of the Hoshidan Empire. A three-time ace, as was anyone in the squadron, VF-147, "Revenant Knights". The pilot had been looking forward and slightly down, not at first catching the look from the squadron commander, in her hand was a locket, and she had been looking at it for a moment as the flight had progressed on. Her eyes rose, and she looked towards her left, and caught sight of Captain Camilla's gaze. A small scowl appeared on her face as she looked back to her front, and her chest rose and fell as she gave off an annoyed sigh.
The reaction was all Camilla was looking for. She flipped a switch on the instrument panel of her own plane before gazing intently through a spyglass she pulled out of a pouch she kept on her drab gray flight suit. She stared intently through it, tweaking two knobs, one on the spyglass and the other on a gunsight, and slowly a glowing phosphoric crosshair began to display on the glass. She pulled back on the flight stick, putting her plane in a mild climb, gaining some altitude, but not explosively enough to signal the engagement. She smirked, almost sensually, increasing the throttle with her left hand and then, with a cold expression of voice, "Hoshidans." There was an immediate buzz of radio chatter. Planes began climbing all at once around her. "Keep formation, they're at least thirty thousand yards out- climb and increase throttle. Drop tanks on signal."
"Captain, I'm going to shoot more of them down than you," the red-haired pilot said sharply.
"This will be fun, won't it, Selena?" Camilla asked, as the planes climbed ever skyward.
Location: Suzanoh Air Base, Hoshido.
Date: 18th Of April; 3rd year of Open War
Time: 05:39 Local
There was a heavy atmosphere of tension on the airfield, though one wouldn't know it at a first glance. Airfield mechanics were making final preparations on a flight of Hoshidan Fighters, as the sun was just peeking over the horizon, turning the fair skies pink and light blue, which for want of the location's wartime guard, would make the runway almost picturesque. Suzanoh airbase sat at the end of the massive fortification which protected the great city of Shirasagi, overlooking a cliff that stood beside Hoshido Bay, the grand port, and home of Hoshidan commerce. Somehow, despite numerous Nohrian air raids through both the port city and the capital itself, and the grisly damage that the bulk of Suzanoh had taken, the airbase itself had gone unmolested. The walls of its compounds still retained their brilliant whites, which looked pink in the rising sun's light. Roofs were a cherry red, and all the base's hangars were surprisingly clean. The main runway's lights were lit, though the fighters were sitting engines off on the ramp, while the two-colored light of the control tower's beacon flashed though the lining of cherry trees a few hundred feet from the edge of the runway. With the blossoms in full bloom, it painted an easy on the eyes sight for any observer.
A light warm breeze flowed across the airfield as a few of the pilots walked towards the planes. Among them was a woman with fiery red hair, and fierce eyes. She wore a flight suit that was almost ceremonial in design, as opposed to the uniforms of the other Hoshidan pilots walking towards the planes in the moments before the sortie would begin. Her hair was short, and tied back, with a headband tied around her forehead, emblazoned with a fiery red on white crest of the country she would fly for. A white scarf hung loosely around her neck, and she held a fuzzy helmet bearing a brilliant star shaped crest upon its back. Her shoulders were covered in a flowing silken cover, on it, royal gold on a deep red which fit with the striking colors of her garb. As her boots fell beside the wheel of the plane a larger woman with a softened face stepped out from underneath the pristine white-and red fighter, having tightened one last bolt.
The stockier woman holding the wrench wiped a bit of sweat and grease from her forehead before looking the pilot in the eyes. Her own expression showed an air of sorrow as the two women's eyes met. "Princess Hinoka." She said, calmly, though there was a shakiness in her voice.
"Chief Nozomi… I trust she's ready…" Hinoka said, her own expression softening and looking away. "For her— for my flight."
"She is, Hino…" the woman said, pulling her hand from a glove and placing it upon Hinoka's shoulder. "You don't need to partake in the Special Attack Squadron, you're the Princess of this land."
"No, I do… this is for Kaden… for Selkie. For Mozu… Mitama. For Ryoma and Setsuna… for Shiro. For Sakura, Takumi, and yes, for Corrin— for the brother I should have had. For our mother, and father…" Hinoka shook her head, "For all the people of Hoshido. For all the death and despair this ugly war has brought us. I vow I will make it right and if that means giving my life in the Special Attack Squadron, then I shall. It's precisely because I am the princess that I must do this."
"I understand, Princess… it's just all of us wish it hadn't come to this. To think our Princess Hinoka is being sent up like this," Nozomi said, wiping a tear that had welled up in her eye
"Thank you, Nozomi." Hinoka said, taking a bow before pulling her arm into a salute, which was readily returned by the maintenance chief.
Behind her, two more pilots were approaching similar aircraft to her own. Ground crews were meeting with the pilots and giving reports, while the airfield control flashed signals to trucks on the ground. The sun had risen well enough to turn the pinks golden, as Hinoka made the final checks on her plane, and started the engine. It rumbled to life, belching forth a thin black smoke from its exhaust, dusting the taxiway with soot, and the propeller began spinning. It didn't take long for it to produce the low rumbling hum of the engine at speed, while Hinoka went over the pre-flight checklist, systemically verifying each function of the plane. Ground crew removed the tire chocks as soon as Hinoka had given a signal to them, sending the plane rolling down the taxiway. A group of Hoshidan civilians lined a fence just outside of the base as Hinoka passed, among them, several children, and all of them giving her a salute or just a wistful look. Not a one had a happy visage, reminding her of her terrible task at hand.
"In war there's two realities: Misery and death."
The plane stopped as it came to the runway, others like it lining up behind. A signal light ahead turned green, and Hinoka let off the brake. The plane accelerated, pulling her back into her seat, and soon enough she could feel the wings pulling the aircraft up, ever skyward. She pulled a lever, retracting the plane's flaps, and jettisoning the landing gear: they weren't needed, for Hinoka had no intention of returning. This was to be the Princess's last flight, and to Suzanoh, and soon to Shirasagi, which was growing ever smaller as the plane climbed skyward, it was her final farewell.
Author's Note: So, I've had this idea for a Fates 40's/Weird War AU for a long time. I originally was going to use a bunch of War Thunder Screenshots, tracing and such to do a comic, but that's so far above my artistic skill level, as to be impossible, but when I finally unveiled it, I realized how much I enjoy the concept. And so here I am. I've got two chapters written, and am on the third. Once the next chapter is up, story's rating will be upped.
