- - -

"I hate this graveyard shift business! They should be paying me extra for this…"

Colonel Mikhailov was a base commander overseeing the first line of defense against the rebellion expanding throughout Northwestern Estovakia, confirmed to be a revival of the Lyes United Front. Being the base commander, Mikhailov was responsible for the safety of all the pilots and aircraft housed in the base. With the Central Estovakian Defense Brigade force being present as a precautionary measure in case of a Lyes invasion, he faced an even heavier burden then usual. For that reason he took it upon himself to not only go about his responsibilities as the base commander, but also oversee that his control room staff was monitoring everything going on in a five-hundred mile radius west.

"Can you believe those guys are back for more? To think they were seriously putting issues aside after the Civil War for the 'better of Estovakia' in 'helping out' our takeover of Emmeria. They might have lent us a few of their Ace pilots, but otherwise they made no contribution! It was our own youth from the South and the East who took the bulk of the fighting over in the frontlines! Even my son…"

Mikhailov was an embittered old man. Although he was one of Estovakia's top aces and battalion commanders during the Estovakian Civil War, he declined taking over the command role over the Aggressor Brigade that lead the assault on Gracemaria, believing his age had caught up with him. Instead he took a desk job in central Estovakia which was, ironically, now caught up in the heat of things. With the loss of his son, shot down over Gracemaria several of months ago in the Emmerian counterattack, Mikhailov began to regret not taking part in the campaign, believing he could have saved his son that way.

"I'll never forgive those Lyes bastards…"

Lieutenant Dorvic, a young man also apart of the control room staff, had never felt comfortable around his base commander. Sharing the graveyard shift with the Colonel this time around made him feel even more uneasy and tense than usual.

"It'll be okay," he whispered to himself, "he won't do anything to you as long as you don't screw up…"

Suddenly, on the radar console before him, several of unknowns appeared moving from the west. He immediately realized it was an enemy attack, and was left paralyzed in fear, "S-sir… you might want to take a look at this…"

Dorvic closed his eyes in fear as he heard the rash, loud footsteps of his superior coming from behind him.

"Damn it!" the Colonel exclaimed, then picking up a telephone from the console adjacent to the radar console, "This is the Base Commander. A massive movement of enemy aircraft has been detected five-hundred miles west of the airbase - it's most likely an attack! We're scrambling all aircraft! All takeoff personnel report to your posts on the double and prepare for takeoff procedures. First Battalion of the Central Estovakian Defense Brigade, report to the main hangar, board your aircraft, and launch immediately. The rest of the brigade is also recommended to board their aircraft now and prepare for takeoff procedures. Upon takeoff, gain altitude as quickly as you can and prepare to engage the enemy forces. We do not know the full quantity of the enemy forces at this time, so prepare for anything. The AWACS of the Central Estovakian Defense Brigade will remain grounded for the convenience of all other fighter aircraft scrambling; all radar surveillance, command, control, battle management, and ESM will be headed by the airbase staff. Further orders will be relayed to all pilots after the entire first battalion has completed takeoff. Godspeed, everyone."

The Colonel went on to push a button on another console a few feet away, activating a warning alert system all throughout the airbase, including the control tower.

"I know it's hard, Dorvic, but focus. See if you can get any more information on the approaching aircraft," Mikhailov quietly spoke to his subordinate.

Despite how shaken he was and how irritated the alarms usually made him, Dorvic pulled himself together and gave his superior a sure nod. He wanted to do his best; although he felt extremely tense around the Colonel, he was more than confident on Mikhailov's ability to command. Dorvic did not want to let his superior down.

The next thing he would see on his radar, however, broke all certainty he tried so hard to build up.

"What the - there's so many of them!" Dorvic panicked in a near scream.

Aware of how uneasy Dorvic immediately became, the Colonel quickly approached the radar console. He himself was left speechless at the countless amounts of small dots that were approaching in very fast speeds. Making his way to the window facing the west, the Colonel then felt powerless at the spectacle of unnatural lights before him.

Starburst.

- - -

"Preparing aircraft for High-Velocity Outfitting Procedures," I announced on the radio, having the colossal, flying cruiser in sight.

"This is the Midair Refilling Platform H-VO X Crete, the platform's current velocity is 300 mph." Another voice responded.

For the past few weeks I have gotten used to the ADF-01 Falken over my daily military exercises. Things have otherwise become quiet between the Lyes movement and The Generals' Estovakia, so I nearly forgot about my horrible experience from a few weeks ago.

I'm still amazed at how advanced the aircraft is. If I don't handle it right, however, I could easily get myself killed.

One of the outstanding abilities of this aircraft is the ability to rearm and refuel in under ten minutes by using Estovakia's experimental H-VO Xs, flying platforms based on a past airborne command cruiser design that are now equipped to outfit aircraft inside of it.

"This is Uhlan 2, I have achieved plus-1 relative velocity and have switched on aircraft to autopilot, currently 100 yards away from entering the platform," this was my first time using the H-VO, so I was somewhat excited.

"Affirmative."

As my Falken slowly entered the platform, I was surprised to see how small the area itself was. I could hardly imagine flying into something like this manually - I'd probably crash.

"Your aircraft has attained zero-relative velocity. We're activating the extenders; please power down your aircraft, Uhlan 2. You will receive further instruction from the aircraft maintenance staff."

While the extenders attached to my ADF-01, I could feel a brief, sudden shake. I then realized it should be time that I power down my aircraft and leave the rest up to the maintenance staff. I noticed the aerial platform's doors closing behind and in front of me, allowing the maintenance staff to enter the area using an elevator coming from the upper levels of the aircraft.

A few moments later, I saw a ladder hit the side of my cockpit. A man then climbed the ladder and knocked on my cockpit. I lifted it up.

"What's up?" I casually asked the middle-aged, bald man with an interesting, English moustache.

"Outfitting your aircraft won't take too long, but that's not why I'm here. I've actually been told to relay orders to you."

"That's a little weird isn't it?"

"Well, I guess it's more convenient for the brass. Anyway, some urgent things have come up."

"What do you mean?"

"Apparently, the Lyes United Front has taken full authority over the political and military infrastructure in the north and western regions of Estovakia. Having obtained the military facilities in those areas, they've already mounted a full-scale invasion against us. They're trying to completely overthrow The Generals, I'm guessing. Anyway, we have an airbase a hundred miles away in Central Estovakia that seems to be their first target, and 25 of our air force's current strength is based there. Although they've managed to scramble some of their aircraft, a lot of the airbase was destroyed in a missile attack made in anticipation of the assault, including the control tower and radar. They were also unable to scramble their AWACS on time, so our forces there are in quite a predicament. Having no ESM or any kind of effective control guiding them, whoever is left there seem to be in a crisis situation. We cannot afford them to let them fight and die in vain. They're completely unprepared. Your orders are to fly over there, allow whatever forces are left there to retreat, and fight off as much of the preliminary invasion force as you can. Don't stick around too long though, because although your Falken is an advanced aircraft, it'll probably succumb very easily to their numbers. Not only that, but at one point they may even go as far as to launch starburst against you. Once they figure out you're flying a prototype for us, they'll probably use extraordinary measures to get you downed to collect intelligence from your remains."

"Oh, so they've already given that thing a name, now?"

"Well, yeah. It seems like my guys are done, you know how you're getting out of here, right? First we clear out of the area via the elevator, and then they'll star raising the platform's doors. From there you'll have to power up and slowly accelerate your plane so that the extenders can disengage and you can safely exit the platform. Once you're a good distance away, you'll be leaving towards your objective destination immediately."

"I got it, thanks."

"Good luck."

The man, who was also probably the chief of the maintenance staff, gave me my helmet a good pat. Afterwards he closed my cockpit for me and began to climb down the ladder. A few moments later the ladder was gone and I saw the maintenance personnel reenter the elevator lifting them back up and out of the outfitting area of the platform.

After I realized they were fully past the ceiling, I power up my ADF-01 Falken. I saw the platform doors open before me and I prepared to accelerate my aircraft.

"Outfitting procedures complete, you're clear to go. Good luck." The voice of the platform's radio operator spoke one last time.

Slowly accelerating the plane out of the platform, I began to realize that it's already been a couple of weeks since my first combat situation. Recalling on the tension I experienced during my first operation, I felt my stomach begin to turn. I even thought I was going to lose my consciousness, until I heard a familiar voice on the radio.

"Let's not waste any time, son."