By the time Eva and the others landed and taxied into the hangars, the Falcon had already docked and started unloading its cargo. The eight pilots, accompanied by Sky Keeper, all began to make their way down to the dock where they hoped they might find the Captain to shed some light on the situation. Initially, nobody said anything as they walked, but eventually, they began to speculate amidst themselves what was going on.
"Look, whatever it is, I just hope they brought the supplies they were going to bring in the first place," Clown said. "We used up just about all of our ammo and fuel during that sortie, which means we'll be up shit creek if someone decides to bomb us again."
"Well, I still think it's important that we figure it out," Boggard replied.
Sky Keeper nodded in agreement. "If they decided to change their mind about this in the middle of this charlie-foxtrot, whatever the reason, it must be important."
"I'm sure they'll tell us soon enough," Charger reasoned. "I doubt they'd come all this way just to keep it a secret."
Magic scoffed. "I wouldn't put it past them, to be honest. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if that's exactly what they do."
"It's like Clown said; regardless of the reason they're here, let's just hope they brought more supplies with them," Eva pointed out.
"Hey, I wonder if we'll be able to finally get some new planes," Poet speculated. "It's been so long since we've all been flying the same thing."
"Didn't Rourke say that they lost all their pilots, though?" Lucky asked.
"Pilots, yes, but I'm sure they still have some spare planes," Footpad pointed out.
Eva sighed. Just when things felt like they were beginning to make sense, it all started to fall apart. First, Free Erusea was back and trying to kill them, and now there was some unknown factor that was so crucial that it warranted sending in an aircraft carrier all the way from Osea in the middle of a comms-blackout. With everything that had happened to Eva and the others in the last few months, she couldn't help but continuously fear for the worst-case scenario. At some point, Lucky seemed to notice her apparent distress, and he offered his hand, which Eva gladly took. Once again, Lucky calmed her down, and she flashed him a grateful smile.
When the group arrived at the docks, they looked around, observing all the hustle and bustle of crewmen unloading supplies until they spotted the distinct figure of Commander Knight talking with two men. The first of which, wearing a navy officer's uniform, was undoubtedly Captain Rourke, although he was far shorter than Eva pictured him to be. As the group got closer, she realized she had no idea who the second man was. He wasn't wearing any military uniform- just a dress shirt and khakis, but he appeared to be giving a very animated explanation of something to Knight. Although, Eva couldn't make out what either of them was saying.
"Ah, there you are," Knight said once he noticed the pilots. He turned toward the two men he was previously speaking to and gestured to all of them. "This is Kestrel Squadron, Mage Squadron, and Sky Keeper," he introduced them before looking back at them. "Everyone, this is Captain Rourke, and-"
"Mr. North?" Eva turned around at the unexpected voice, which, shockingly, came from Lucky.
The man laughed. "No need for formalities with me. David is fine, but yes. It's been a while. I thought you wouldn't remember me."
Lucky shook his head. "I'm not gonna forget you or what you did anytime soon," he promised.
Poet loudly cleared his throat. "So, Lucky… care to introduce us?"
The man looked at them with a pleasant smile and waved. "My name's David North. I'm from the OIA's Advanced Weapons Analysis Division. AWAD for short."
"David was the one that helped us turn the tide in Lucky's court hearing back on the Kestrel II," Charger explained.
"I'll be honest, when we heard that the Kestrel II sank, I thought you guys were done for," David admitted. "Needless to say, we were all pretty surprised when we found out a squadron made it out of there." Suddenly, a realization hit him, and his eyes scanned the group. "Where's Vortex?"
The mood darkened instantly, and Eva sighed. "He was shot down about two weeks ago," she said without so much as making eye contact with him.
David nodded. "I see. Well… I'm sorry for your loss." Another realization struck him, and he looked at Eva with a curious look. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you the pilot everyone's been calling the Blue Kestrel?"
Eva nodded sheepishly. Even with how long everyone had been calling her the Blue Kestrel, she still hadn't gotten used to it yet. "Uh, yeah. Yeah, I am."
"I've heard a lot about what you've done over the past few months, as well as what you've seen. If you wouldn't mind, I'd like to ask you some questions," David said. "It'd make what I'm here for a lot easier, that's for sure."
"And what exactly are you here for?" Footpad asked, raising an eyebrow in his direction.
David looked around before turning his attention back to the group. "I'd rather not say right now. I don't want to risk starting a panic," he explained in a hushed voice. "I'll explain later, but I believe if I'm right, the war might take a turn for the worst."
Footpad rolled his eyes. "Great. Because that's what we need in addition to all the shit we've got going on," he muttered.
"Well, at least you'll be stocked up to take on whatever's coming," Rourke pointed out. "Even though all of our pilots got shot down, we still brought plenty of planes with us, as well as ammo, fuel, and other supplies."
Knight nodded. "Good, we were starting to run low on just about everything, so that'll come in handy." Then, he turned toward the pilots. "Now that we have supplies, you'll be going back out on more sorties, so prepare yourselves for that. For now, though, go get something to eat. You've earned it," he said with a smile.
"You want to ask those questions you have for me now?" Eva asked David as the others started to head back to the barracks. "Don't know what it is you're looking for, but I'll do my best to answer."
David shook his head. "Thanks, but I'm going to go get settled in first. I'll try and find you when I'm done."
Eva shrugged. "Suit yourself," she said before turning around and breaking into a light jog to catch up with the others on their way to the mess hall.
Sarah let out an exasperated sigh as her eyes wandered around the mess hall. By that point, dinner was over, and Diamond, Lucky, and Charger had all left, leaving her and Poet alone at their usual table. As tired as Sarah felt, though, she didn't feel like going to sleep just yet. And judging by the look on Poet's face, she could tell he didn't either.
"Hey, Magic, do you think we'll ever see Rogue Squadron again?" Poet asked out of the blue.
Sarah hesitated before giving her answer. Eventually, she looked up at him and frowned. "Well, it'd be more convenient if we didn't, but this is us we're talking about, so we always have to account for the absolute worst possible outcome." Her voice rose more and more as she spoke. "Because apparently, we must've pissed off some cosmic force or some bullshit, so things just keep getting worse, so to answer your question, yes. I do think we'll see them again because why the hell would things ever go our way for once?" she snapped.
After realizing how aggressively she came off, Sarah broke eye contact and leaned her head against the table. Poet looked slightly taken aback by her remark, which only made her feel more guilty. She didn't mean for him to get caught in the crosshairs of her pent-up anger, but it happened all the same.
"I'm sorry," she finally muttered after a heavy sigh. "I just… I'm tired- tired of all this. Just went it looks like we're about to reach the light at the end of the tunnel, some new bullshit throws a wrench into our plans, and I'm fed up with it."
Poet nodded as he stared blankly at the wall. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I just- I ask because, well…" His voice trailed off, and his expression softened.
"You don't wanna leave things the way we did?" Sarah finally realized.
Poet looked down at Sarah with a glare. "I want those bastards to pay for what they did to Trench." A look of hopelessness replaced the anger on his face. "He was… he was one of my best friends, and I let him down. I just don't want his death to mean nothing."
Sarah didn't know what to say, but she felt guilty for bringing the topic up. "I'm sorry, Poet," she murmured. "I wish I could do something to help."
Poet shrugged. "Well, just talking about it helps a bit, so in a way, you are."
"You guys mind if I join you?" Sarah jerked her head up toward the source of the voice to see Footpad standing above them.
Sarah looked at Poet for his reaction, and as she saw his look of indifference, she turned back to Footpad and nodded to one of the empty seats. "Go ahead."
Footpad sat down with a heavy sigh. "Do you ever just feel… tired? Like, first the war breaks out, then the satellites go down, and now we have some potentially game-changing factor, and it just feels like too much."
"Ditto," Sarah replied. "I just wish this could all be done and over with."
"I didn't even want to be in the Air Force for that long, and now I'm fighting in the middle of a huge war," Footpad continued. "I've still got my mom to take care of back home."
"I know what you mean," Poet chimed in. "My sister was expecting when I shipped out. She's bound to be due any time, now."
"Well, I suppose that's just another reason to make sure you get home in one piece," Sarah said, smirking as she gave Poet a light nudge on the shoulder. "Same goes for you, too." She glanced over to Footpad. "I think I speak for everyone here when I say that we've probably had enough death in the last few months, so let's make sure we don't have to put up with it anymore."
Poet nodded. "Amen to that," he agreed with a smile.
Eva shut the door to the hangar behind her, and as she turned back around, she couldn't help but let her lips curl into a smile. Five F-35Cs sat in the hangar where Kestrel Squadron's old planes used to be, along with several spares. She'd always wanted to fly one, but it felt so surreal to actually have one sitting in front of her. However, it wasn't quite ready to fly just yet. Eva's eyes drifted across the hangar until she spotted what she was looking for. It wasn't until much later, when she was hard at work, that she heard a knocking at the hangar door.
"Come in!" Eva called out without looking up.
"Lieutenant Kidd? Is that you?" Eva quickly recognized the voice of David. "I thought, if you're not too busy, that you could answer those questions I was talking about earlier."
Eva looked up and wiped a layer of sweat off her forehead. "Go ahead. I can talk while I work," she said.
David gave her a curious look. "Are you…?"
"Yeah. Been working on it for a while now," Eva answered before he even finished his sentence. She made one last adjustment with the brush in her hand and stepped back to admire her handiwork. "Hopefully, it shouldn't take too much longer. All I have left to do is the wings." She turned from the vertical stabilizers with blue tips and a kestrel on them and toward the blank canvas that was the F-35s wings.
David cleared his throat. "So, I've read a lot of the reports from your mission files, and there was one thing that stood out to me."
"Which is?" Eva asked as she started to cover the wingtips in blue.
"You seem to have come across what's believed to be an experimental Erusean fighter multiple times. Is that correct?" David asked.
Eva stopped mid-brush stroke and looked back at David. "Yeah… I've seen it a few times now." She nearly forgot that the last time she saw that plane, and by extension, Zero was also the last time Vortex was alive, but now that it was in her brain, she couldn't get it out.
David reached into the folder he was carrying and pulled out a picture. "Did it look anything like this?" he asked as he showed Eva the photo.
Even with how blurry and out of focus the picture was, Eva could still recognize the distinct shape of that plane anywhere. "Yeah. Yeah, that's it," she replied with a nod before turning back to the wing she was painting.
A slight smile spread across David's face. "Then it's true. I knew I was right!" he exclaimed. "This picture was taken near the start of the war about four months ago. In fact, it was taken by a crew member aboard the OFS Falcon when they unsuccessfully tried to open up a second front on the west coast of Usea."
Eva scoffed as she finished painting the right wing and moved around to paint the left one. "Gotta admit, those boys must have one hell of an AA battery if they were able to drive him off."
North raised an inquisitive eyebrow at her. "What do you mean?"
"The pilot of that plane is a mercenary, only in it for the money. The only way I've seen him withdraw without completing his objectives first is if he's forced to retreat," Eva explained.
David shook his head. "No, it was the other way around, actually," he corrected her. "This plane had them on the run and forced them to retreat. Several crew members even reported that the plane had a perfect shot on them to finish the carrier off but didn't take it."
Eva blinked in surprise as she looked up at the analyst. "Are you sure? That- that doesn't make sense." Was everything she knew about this pilot wrong? Eva couldn't help but deny the possibility, but it still stayed in her brain nonetheless.
David's initial reply was a simple nod. "There were too many reports saying the same thing for it not to be true."
"So that's why you're here, then? Chasing after this elusive fighter and the merc that pilots it?" Eva asked as she put on the finishing touches to the livery that her plane had been sporting for so long now.
David's eyes shifted, observing every corner of the hangar. "Not entirely," he admitted. "I suppose this is a longshot, but it's worth a shot. Would you happen to know about anything by the name of Project Freedom?"
"Project Freedom?" Eva echoed. "Never heard of it."
David shrugged. "Well, it was a longshot, but I was hoping someone here might know something. Truth be told, I'm beginning to wonder if it even exists. I was so sure when I left to come here, but now I don't know." Despite how serious this project sounded, David looked disappointed, which Eva didn't understand one bit.
"Probably for the best if you ask me," Eva said as she looked over the final product of her work. "Last thing we need is another wrench thrown into all of this."
David nodded. "I suppose you're right, but even if I am wrong, which I'm still not sure if I am or not, there's still this fighter to worry about."
"If he pops his head up again, we'll deal with him," Eva promised before letting out a massive yawn. "Now, if you've got no more questions for me, I'm gonna hit the hay," she said as she stretched her arms out.
"If I think of anything. I'll be sure to let you know," David promised. "And thanks again, Lieutenant Kidd. This really is important."
"You can just call me Diamond," Eva assured him. "More used to that. Anyway, goodnight, David," she said, giving him a brief wave before turning to head out of the hangar and back into the barracks for a nice, long rest.