Finally. After several months the Emerald's Edge had returned home to Gelinkos. And its crew couldn't be happier to see their friends and family that they left behind.

The massive warship landed at the newly constructed airstrip built over the ocean and the crew began exiting the ship in groups.

"Ah back home" Hideki said in a fake exhausted tone "Clean air, warm sunny beaches, beautiful women in bikinis absolutely nothing could be better".

Jay noticed that Kira gave Hideki an annoyed look which confused him for a short time before he shrugged it off "So what are the two of you going to do for the next couple of days?"

Kira looked down at Jay and gave him a 'I have no idea' smile. "I'm probably going to go see my mom with Kai; I can imagine she's pretty worried about us".

"I'm gonna go see my folks as well. After that I'll probably just kick back on the beach or something" Hideki said before turning to Kira "Unless you'd rather have dinner Kira".

Kira gave a friendly scoff as she walked past him "Maybe one day, but not this day".

"See ya Hideki I'm going to go have some fun" Jay smiled leaving Hideki alone to plan his day.

"Well I guess it's just me then" Hideki said to himself before walking off. "What's that?" he wondered stopping in mid step when he noticed another war style ship docked at the other port base far into the distance.

Shrugging it off Hideki continued down the pier and back to the mainland.

Arriving at the end of the pier Hideki met with his parents James and Millie Hemmings.

"Welcome back son. How was it?" Hideki's father asked.

Hideki shrugged "Nothing too bad just a few fights with whatever those machines are".

"So no news on what they are or why they attacked us huh?" James asked his son.

Hideki shook his head "No. Nothing".

Hideki felt his stomach turn as he lied to his parents. He didn't like it, but he along with everyone else on the Emerald's Edge were forbidden to tell any civilian about what the true purpose of those strange machines was.

"Well it doesn't matter. I'm just glad you're home safe" his mother said before the three of them walked back to their car to head home.

A few hours after returning home, Jay was wondering the halls of the Vrede airbase while his father was in a meeting with the higher ups. Meimei his mother was restocking and ordering medical supplies which left Jay alone for a while.

Hearing a couple of people talking at the end of the hall Jay rounded the corner to see 2nd Lieutenant Eric Flynn talking with another man that he didn't recognize, but it was obvious by the way he was dressed he was a military soldier.

"Lieutenant Flynn" Jay called from the corner before walking over to them.

"Oh Jay what's up?" Flynn asked as the young pilot walked over to him.

"Just walking around for now. Who's this?"

"Oh yes. This is umm…" Flynn was thinking for a moment trying to remember the man's name "Right this is Ron Yeul. He's a soldier from a distant planet called…Tarak was it?"

Ron nodded "Yes Tarak. We were tracking some kind of strange machines we encountered, but we lost them somewhere around this part of the galaxy".

"Well by the way you were describing them" Flynn began they sound like the same things that attacked us".

"Eric" someone called from the other end of the hall.

Looking down the hall the three of them saw 2nd Lieutenant Arthias Flynn. Eric Flynn's younger brother.

"What is it Arthias?" Eric asked when his brother got closer.

"Commander O'Brian what's to speak with you about something".

"What about?"

"I'm not sure. Something about switching squadrons I think".

Eric sighed "Very well. Hey, Jay why don't you show our guest around for a bit".

"Don't have anything better to do" Jay said before the brothers Flynn walked away.

"Well let's go" Jay said in a bored tone turning around and walking back the way he came with the Tarak soldier following behind him.

Showing Ron around the airbase Jay explained several things making sure that he didn't say anything he thought to be classified or important.

"This is our medical facility" Jay said opening the door to the infirmary of the airbase "I'd like to say you'll find the best of the best doctors here, but I'm not sure what the rest of the galaxy holds".

Ron gave a smug smile as he watched the doctors walking slowly around the infirmary checking all the equipment even though there weren't any patients. "I love to see hard working men go about their business" Looking down to Jay he grunted before looking back at the doctors "Men are the best of anything".

Jay didn't comment he was a bit confused as to what Ron meant, but didn't care to say anything. Nodding his head behind them he turned around to lead Ron out, but was met by Caitlyn Bourne, leader of the Skeleton fighter squadron and heir to the throne of the Saris royal family.

"Something I can do for you princess?" Jay asked meeting her eyes.

"Yeah, you can help me with some squadron reports" Caitlyn told him before looking behind him at the Tarak soldier "Who's he? He looks like he's freaking out".

Jay looked behind him to see Ron with a terrified look on his face, like he had just seen some kind of monster.

"Yo…Ron you feeling ok?" Jay asked turning to face him.

Ron didn't answer he looked at Caitlyn with a frozen, frightened expression.

Caitlyn took a step forward and said his name "Uh. Ron are you ok?"

Ron snapped he screamed "Stay back". Quickly reaching around his waist he pulled out his combat knife and held it tightly in his hand "Monster!" he screamed as he swung the knife at Caitlyn.

The second Ron stepped forward with his knife poised to attack Caitlyn; Jay hit him dead in the center of his neck with a curved right hook. Ron stumbled to the side and fell over a bed cart before choking uncontrollably.

"Are you all right Caitlyn?" Jay asked quickly turning around to face the princess.

Caitlyn nodded "Yeah I'm fine, but what's with him?"

Jay shrugged "I have no idea. You'd think he never saw a woman before. Regardless we'd better report this".

Caitlyn nodded before ordering two of the doctors to detain the Tarak soldier.

The two of them quickly left the infirmary and immediately heard several gunshots from down the hall.

"This isn't going to be good" Jay said sprinting down the hall with Caitlyn right behind him.

Arriving at the corner Jay cautiously peaked his head around to see Captain Elliot Kavai holding her arm and breathing heavily as she looked down at the body of another Tarak soldier.

"Captain Kavai!" Caitlyn called as her and Jay ran over to her.

"I didn't have a choice" Kavai panted "He drew his gun and shot me in the arm, I had to kill him".

"I'm starting to think we can't trust these guys" Jay said as he grabbed the emergency phone on the wall and called the Commander's office.

"Commander Kelthson" the Commander answered.

"Commander Kelthson this is Jay Masterson calling from the hall 4T-1 there's been some trouble".

"What kind of trouble" the Commander asked in an annoyed tone.

"Captain Kavai was shot in the arm and princess Bourne was attacked".

"What!"

"Yes sir. Two Tarak soldiers attacked both of them without warning. One is detained in the infirmary Captain Kavai shot the other in self defense".

"Very well" the Commander said "I'm sending a team down there to retrieve the detained soldier take Captain Kavai to the infirmary and don't breathe a word of this until I find out what's going on".

"Sir!" Jay said firmly before hanging up the phone.

"Well?" Caitlyn said as she continued to hold a torn piece of cloth over Kavai's wound.

"Let's get the captain to the infirmary. And we're not to tell anyone about this until further notice" Jay explained as he ripped off a piece of his T-shirt and tied it flattened over Kavai's wound as he walked her and Caitlyn back to the infirmary.

Back at the infirmary Jay, Caitlyn, Kavai and the medical staff waited in silence for any update on the current situation. First an hour went by and then another…Three in a half hours passed until a small group of Gelinkos soldiers entered the infirmary.

"We've got a serious problem" the first soldier said.

"What's going on?" Both Jay and Caitlyn asked.

"Those soldiers from Tarak found out that one of their soldiers was shot and killed and they immediately began firing on the base's staff.

"What!" Caitlyn cried.

"Princess Bourne" one of the soldiers said quickly rushing forward.

The soldier was wearing the specific uniform indicating that he was a personal royal guard for the Saris royal family. Kneeling down in front of the princess he said "I've been ordered to escort you to the Commander's office and keep you there until the situation has been dealt with please come with me".

Caitlyn gave Jay and Kavai a worried look, but they reassured her by nodding and she left with her guard.

"So what are we going to do?" Jay asked the soldiers.

"We along with the rest of the soldiers are ordered to capture and detain any Tarak soldiers we find we're not to kill them unless necessary. Commander Kelthson is trying to contact the leader of the Tarak ship that's docked at the pier, but no luck so far".

Without warning the entire medical building shook violently and an air raid siren blared throughout the entire airbase.

"What the hell?" one of the soldiers yelled before the building shook again.

"Air attack. All able pilots scramble immediately defend the base" the Commander yelled over the loud speakers.

"I'm going out" Jay said "Captain Kavai take care of yourself".

"Jay no" Kavai yelled, but her call landed on deaf ears Jay had bolted from the infirmary and was legging it down the halls making his way to the hangars.

The alarm continued blaring and the Commander of the airbase continued issuing orders for pilots to take off and support staff to help where needed.

Finally at the hangars Jay watched as the last fighter took off and yelled as he kicked the ground "There has to be another fighter somewhere".

Spotting one of the mechanics he rushed over to him and asked if there were any fighters left.

The mechanic was skeptical of answering considering Jay's age, but spotted Jay's military ID and told him there were no fighters left.

"That can't be. There has to be at least one" Jay cried.

"Well there is one, but it's…"

"Where?" Jay demanded cutting the mechanic off.

"It's still a prototype fighter are you sure you want to take it?" the mechanic asked.

"Where is it? We don't have time to be standing here".

The mechanic pointed over to the reserve hangar "The prototype fighter is in their, if you're going up take care it's had a test flight, but no combat testing yet".

Thanking the mechanic Jay quickly sprinted over to the reserve hangar and bolted in through the door. Looking up at the prototype fighter Jay was in awe. It had a slender body with delta style wings and its tail wings were sticking out in angles also in a delta style, it had dual air intakes under the wings and a dark green color scheme.

"Let's get to it" Jay said climbing the ladder and into the fighter.

Looking around the controls he took them in until he was sure he had them memorized.

Activating the fighter he activated the radio as he taxied onto the runway "This is Jay Masterson. I'm taking off".

"Roger that Masterson. Take care of yourself up there" the control tower replied as Jay's fighter began roaring down the runway.

Once he lifted off the ground and the afterburners kicked in Jay announced "I'm air born radar team give me the position of the nearest enemy formation".

"Bearing 280, altitude 6000".

"Roger that. On my way" Jay replied as he flew toward the battle.

Leveling himself to the altitude level of the enemy and the Gelinkos fighters Jay entered the battle.

The air battle waged on, regardless of there reasons for attacking Tarak was losing the battle at a fast pace. "Enemy threat level has dropped below 60% all units continue with the operation".

"This is Captain Rainer. New enemy formation approaching from the east".

"Captain Masterson here. Rainer fall in next to me we'll intercept them head on".

"Dad be careful" Jay said after shooting down his third enemy.

"I'll be fine you just worry about yourself Jay".

As Jay's father and his former wingman flew off to intercept the enemy Jay focused on the enemy in front of him as he and the handful of Gelinkos fighters continued to shoot them down one by one with little effort.

"Are these guys really pilots?" one of the fighter pilots asked.

"Fool 4 don't get overconfident just shoot them down" Fool 1 ordered.

"Roger that captain" Fool 4 replied.

The battle continued for another hour until it became clear that Tarak was not going to win the battle and they began to retreat.

"The enemy is retreating" Captain Rainer called over the radios "Should we pursue?"

"Negative" the AWACS pilot said "Let them pull back we have another problem to deal with. Our early warning satellites have spotted a formation of those mechanical creatures approaching at high speed".

"Are you serious!" Skeleton 3 cried "I'm almost out of ammo I'm returning to base to rearm".

"All damaged and Winchester craft return to base to rearm and refuel" the AWACS pilot ordered "Any fighters too damaged to continue combat are barred from taking off again".

In a massive aluminum cloud the fighters returned to base to rearm and refuel, only four pilots returned to the sky.

"Captain Masterson here I'm heading back out"

"Captain Rainer here I'm taking off"

"Jay Masterson here I'm taking off as well"

"Kira Esperer reporting. Sorry I'm late. I'm going up".

"What the?...Everyone take off immediately" AWACS cried.

Too late, the harvest fleet had already attacked the airbase. Several hangars were leveled and many more were extremely damaged due to the previous attack and now the runway was too damaged for any additional aircraft to take off.

This attack seemed too much of a convenience for the enemy; they were waiting for this opening.

"They've crippled the runway we can't take off" Fool 1 announced before his radio cut to static as his fighter was destroyed on the runway.

"We've lost the ability to launch any more fighters" AWACS said "The four of you that managed to get up are our only hope take them out I know you can do it".

"Roger that" Jay's father said as he set himself in front of the four plane formation with Rainer to his left, Jay to his right and Kira on Jay's right.

"All right you three let's do it. Engage and destroy all enemies" Jack ordered.

"Roger" the three wingmen said in unison before separating from each other and engaging the enemy.

With the new battle now underway everyone on the ground watched in timeless anticipation praying that the four fighters above them could stave off the enemy.

"Rainer here, splash two targets".

"This is Kira, confirmed kill on two enemy targets".

"This is Jay. I've shot down another one"

"Enemy threat levels are dropping keep it up you four destroy them all".

"Dad to your left" Jay cried.

Looking up to his left side Jack jerked his fighter's flight stick to the side narrowly avoiding a kamikaze attack by one of the harvest drones "Thanks for the heads up Jay".

"Kira here, another four enemies downed"

"This is Captain Masterson. I've shot down another group".

On the ground the anticipation of everyone around the base as well as across the city was growing more and more as the four planes above them were shooting down the enemy one by one it didn't seem possible for just four pilots to take on so many opponents at once and still succeed.

"That's another one for me" Jay yelled before shooting down three more "Make it four"

"Kill confirmed" Rainer cried.

"Enemy threat level has dropped under 10% now's the time. Destroy them" AWACS ordered before seeing a large signature on its radar "Hold it. I've confirmed a large hit on the radar heading for your position. I can't tell what it is, but it's definitely the enemy".

"Leave it to us" Jack said after shooting down the last enemy "Return to formation and follow me".

The four planes returned to formation with one another as they flew head on to meet the new enemy.

"What is that thing?" Kira cried seeing the massive ship ahead of them.

"I'm getting multiple hits on my radar their all coming from that thing" Rainer said.

The massive enemy ship ahead of them suddenly began spewing hundreds of enemy drones from both sides as it continued to advance towards the four fighters.

"A carrier?" Jay wondered "This isn't looking good".

"Just focus on taking down that carrier Jay" Jack ordered as the formation once again split up.

Immediately entering combat once again the four pilots shot missile after missile scoring direct hits on the carrier, but only minor visible damage was shown.

"This is a tough one" Rainer said before taking down a pursuing enemy.

"Stand by analyzing the enemy craft" AWACS ordered as it began running scans of the carrier ship.

Continuing to shoot down cube type after cube type while waiting on the analysis of the enemy to be complete the four pilots reserved their ammunition as much as possible, but if they didn't end this battle quick defeat was certain.

"Anytime now!" Jay yelled after his ammo count for his machine guns zeroed out.

"Analysis complete" AWACS announced "The enemy carrier has a weak spot on its front side at the head of the ship. Strike it with everything you've got".

"You heard the man all units attack" Jack ordered "Give it everything you've got don't let up until its dead".

The four pilots once again targeted the carrier and open fired on it while evading the smaller enemies around them.

"We're sending reinforcements from the Emerald's Edge just keep going until they get there" AWACS announced.

"JUST DIE ALREADY" Rainer yelled in frustration after firing the last of his missiles.

"Captain Rainer out of firepower retreat from the battle at once" AWACS ordered.

"Take it down guys" Rainer said as he flew down to low altitude and fled the battle.

"Two minutes until reinforcements arrive just keep firing".

"I've got a lock" Jay and Kira said in unison as they locked on to the enemy carrier "Fox Two".

Firing a single missile each everyone watched as time seemed to slow down as the two missiles flew towards the enemy carrier.

The second the missiles hit the carrier several explosions began chaining throughout the ship the damage had finally been done.

"Damage confirmed" Jack yelled as he flew by the carrier's head "It seems to have lost the ability to launch additional drones".

"BLAST IT OUT OF THE SKY!" AWACS ordered in an overly charged tone.

Both Jay and Kira flew side by side with their fighters on their sides as they locked onto the enemy carrier one last time "Locked on" Jay yelled.

"Fire!" Kira cried as they both pressed the release button for the missiles.

The final two missiles sped toward their target just as the glare from the setting sun reflected off of them giving them for a brief second a light of hope just before they impacted on the enemy carrier destroying it.

"Enemy confirmed destroyed WE DID IT!" Kira cried just as the reinforcements arrived to mop up the last of the enemies.

Hours later a massive party was held at the air base celebrating the victory that the Gelinkos Air Force rightfully earned after a long day.

There was a lot of talk around the entire base about the events of the day from the arrival of the Tarak fleet, to their attack and of course the four lone pilots that fought back and entire harvest fleet alone. There was even talk wishful talk about those four pilots becoming a new squadron one that could lead the Gelinkos Air Force to victory.

At about 4 a.m. Jay had groggily stumbled into the crew quarters and collapsed on one of the beds completely exhausted.

From outside the room both Kira and Hideki watched as Jay collapsed on the bed immediately falling asleep.

"He really had a long day" Hideki joked.

Kira nodded "Yes he did. Everyone did" Kira paused as she smiled at Jay as he slept and then looked over to Hideki "Today's his birthday you know. Think we should do something special for him?"

Hideki nodded before getting an evil grin on his face "I can think of a few things".

"Not like that" Kira said immediately cutting him off "I mean something more than just the usual. After everything he's done he really does deserve something special you know".

"Yeah I know, but so do you, you've done just as much" Hideki told her.

Kira shook her head "Thanks, but I haven't done nearly as much as he has".

Stepping away from the door and closing it Kira and Hideki walked down the hall to the next crew quarters.

"All the same" Hideki began "The two of you are the most important people in my life. And there's nothing I wouldn't do for either of you…" stopping to look Kira in her eyes Hideki continued "Especially you Kira".

Kira's heart stopped as she heard those words "Hideki…" she said quietly as he reached over to her and gently pulled her to him.

Closing her eyes Kira accepted Hideki's embrace and the two of them stood there as if the world around them no longer existed, it was just them together.


A/N. Aaaand finally there's chapter 7. Enjoy, read, review, love, blah blah blah all that jazz.

It took me forever to find a basis for the chapter and this is what I set on.