How Skies Unknown Should Have Ended

Extra VII

How SP Missions Should Have Ended

Matias Torres collapses to the floor like a sack of potato, because he's Force-choked by Darth Vader for his incompetence of failing to capture Millennium Falcon…nah, hand-chocked by Trigger for his incompetence of failing to double-check commandoes hidden in replenishment crates. "This is the last one." Trigger takes the deceased captain's cap, dusts it off, and puts it on his own head as sitting in captain's chair, explicitly declaring he is Alicorn's captain now.

Count: "So what we should do with these?" The floor is littered with corpses, corpses of the submarine's crew — correction, former crew, since they're either shot, stabbed, or beaten to death, a few of them with worse luck, are chocked dead or got their necks snapped. Well, just like aforementioned, they really should have double-checked the replenishment crates before taking them in, for the possibility of harmful contrabands such as commandoes with the intention of killing them all and taking over the vessel.

"Stuff them in torpedo tubes and eject into water, after we hit high seas." Trigger answers casually and kicks the dead body of Matias Torres: "But I do suggest before that, gouging out his eyeballs and cutting off his hands and keep them intact." Well, can't blame him for an elephant won't care about the ants squashed under its feet.

"Interesting fetish. War souvenirs? I remember some hunters love to arrange preys' heads on walls."

"No, my friend, I'm not a psychopath. Every vessel's captain has a safe for classified files, since no keys found in this one's pockets, my best guess is he uses fingerprint scan or retina scan for the same purpose."

"Never doubt a genius." Count shrugs.

"Nor upset him." Trigger adds: "Especially if he's capable of raping…ripping through entire Usean Continent in four hours, guns only, and without a scratch."

"Wiseman here." A voice from speakers: "We have the sub, reactors, mechanics, fuel, air, weps, are functioning normally."

"Copy. Stand by." Trigger nods to Count, and the latter opens a channel to harbor authority of Port Artiglio for him: "This is Alicorn of Alicorn-Class, affiliated to Erusean Royal Navy. All system is a go, Request permission to set sail."

Port Artiglio: "Permission granted, good luck. Say, your accent is so heavy today."

Trigger: "Well, it has reasons, you know COVID-19 is a harsh mistress." Count tries his best to refrain himself from bursting into laughter.

"Then remember to put your breathing mask on."

"Same to you. Live long and prosper." The newly-self-proclaimed captain does a Vulcan Salute, even this is not a video communication.

So the gigantic nuclear submarine sets its course to open seas and moves out like a rooster in a hen house. Well, given the size and armaments of the sub, it do makes other vessels in the port like hens and itself like a rooster. Having no idea of what had transpired onboard, some port staff even waves their caps to Alicorn until it disappears underwater.

"Trigger, you might be interested in looking at this." Hours later, Trigger casually leans his back in captain's chair and is checking a navigation chart, also hums the infamous anthem of Imperial Japanese Navy "Gunkan Kōshinkyoku", but his leisure is interrupted by Wiseman, who presents several pieces of paper: "We opened Torres' safe by using his retina, it seems the old good captain was up to something big."

"Guess we have to forget the scheduled fishing trip with the hospitality of allied fleet." After finishing reading, Trigger says.

Count: "What is it?"

"The entire crew, I mean the previous crew, obviously was preparing to go rogue when they were still alive. They planned to rendezvous with Erusean fleets gathered in Anchorhead Bay, but that's only a pretension. The real intension is to meet up with secret agents to load up supplies and nuclear shells for the primary weapon. After that, the sub will break off from Erusean jurisdiction and go its own way."

Wiseman: "What're we going to do?"

Trigger: "Since we had taken the vessel, how about we take the nukes as well? And mess up Erusea fleet really good during the process?"

"I'll check the onboard fighters to ensure they can be launched at any time." Wiseman leaves.

"Sure, you do that." Trigger turns to Count: "Count, will you be so kind to set a course to Anchorhead?"

"Aye, sir."

So Alicorn arrives at Anchorhead just like it was scheduled to, and still recognized as ally by the parking fleet. After assuming position, four Rafale Ms, piloted by Trigger, Count, Lanza and Húxiān respectively, take off to raid the port, while Wiseman leads another team to get the cargo. Fifteen minutes later four aces come back with triumph: Entire port razed and all ships sunk, every specific Erusean military leaders on assassination list is killed. On the other hand, Wiseman's group runs into some troubles, as the agents refuse to hand over the items once recognize they're not Torres' men, so they have to take them by force — namely shoot them dead.

"Neutron shells, not traditional nuclear warheads, but equally deadly." After leaving Anchorhead, or the ruins of it, the crew begins to examine the stuff: "They kill humans, but not the ground, by penetrating structures with high-energy neutron radiation."

"Any idea of what are these for?"

"Oured of course. Or maybe you think that Torres wanted to end the Rosa Cossette D'Elise's reign of terror?"

"Not a bad idea to me. We can threaten Farbanti with these nukes to force Erusea to surrender, a 'Ten Million Relief Plan'."

"But neutron shells are never fired to any live targets, we don't know the actual effect."

"So we will test them on Cape Rainy, any objections?"

Spring Sea, 3000 Kilometers from Farbanti

September 19th 2019, 17:10

Count: "They refuse to surrender."

"I somehow expect this, never take a hint, Eruseans are known for." Trigger still sits in Torres' seat in Alicorn's helm, with a tablet in hands showing the coordinates throughout Farbanti which will maximize the lethality of neutron shells.

Wiseman is standing beside Trigger: "Order from Oured. They had grown tired of the continued existence of Erusea. We're authorized to fire."

"Very well. You take my seat, surface and fire when ready." Trigger stands up and hints some fellow pilots of LRSSG to follow him: "You, hangar, now!"

Once again Alicorn surfaces, with its 600mm main railgun deployed. Trigger and his followers takes to skies to destroy any unexpected visitors, for example, Sol Squadron: "Five Erusean fighters approaching from east, ETA two minutes."

Already too late, when a bolt of light pierces the cloud.

The End

Ending Theme: Gunkan Kōshinkyoku