Chapter Fifty-Four: King and Lionheart

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Shilage, Erusea.
October 24th, 2019.
0605hrs.

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The early morning skies over Shilage combined with the landscape looked like something straight out of a painting. They arrived just in time for the sunrise, met with pastel shades of pinks, blues, and yellows, and it was hard not to want to take a moment just to admire it. But as soon as the thought crossed her mind, Naomi had to remind herself the reason they were here. And it definitely wasn't for sightseeing. Given the circumstances, she would have given anything for that to be the case, but there wasn't anything that could be done about that.

Strider Squadron led the way, Golem Squadron keeping a tight formation not far behind them, while Cyclops led the transport further away. It kept them safe and out of any potential fights, leaving the vanguard with enough distance to clean up any hostiles long before they would ever run into them. Of course, they were still within range to radio them, needing to keep up communication in case they somehow ended up in over their heads.

If anything messed up, Naomi was ready to throw the whole mission for their safety, considering the people that had come along. Major Grimm and Bandog had volunteered for the mission, and then her father went and asked to join them. It complicated things even further, but they all stayed focused on their mission. Although the passengers she personally knew didn't change anything, she was still worried about dragging a transport through Erusean territory and then leading them right to Mr. X's front door. Nothing would have changed even if it was just Major Grimm and his men.

The whole mission had her on edge, feeling more scared than she ever had before. She was worried about everyone. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, Naomi glanced down at her radar as she eased off the throttle. One by one, the rest of Strider Squadron followed her lead, likely seeing the same thing she did. Several blips finally appeared ahead of them, and a few seconds later she picked them up on her HUD. Keeping herself steady, she announced to everyone, "Looks like we've entered the AO. Pretty sure they'll be spotting us shortly, so everyone keep your heads up."

"We've had our heads up since we left Tyler Island," Húxiān said, her voice sounding flat. She was likely trying to keep her exhaustion and frustration at the whole operation from showing, just like the rest of them.

"Have to, waltzing into enemy territory like this. Wouldn't wanna push our luck more than we already have, right?" Knocker was the next one to speak up. It almost sounded like he was back to his normal self. Cool-headed, focused. It was hard to believe that that same man had barely been holding it together when he volunteered to fly the mission. Naomi was glad he was keeping his head, at least for now, but she was barely keeping it together herself. She wasn't in any place to judge. He went on, getting right down to business. "How are things looking for us up there, Long Caster?"

"There's no Osean forces in the region ahead. We've got no allies here. So, no need to ID your targets," Long Caster informed them after a short pause, not sounding anything like himself. Even if they all more or less decided they had to do this, it didn't mean they had to be happy about it. Their HUDs were promptly updated, the targets ahead of them all marked down as hostile. "From what we can see, we've set a number of priority targets, focusing mainly on their anti-aircraft weaponry. The only thing you have to worry about is avoiding any collateral damage once you reach the castle. I'm sure I don't have to tell you that we're not here for the civilians."

"We know, Long Caster. Don't worry about us," Jaeger said, trying to sound reassuring.

"Right. Sorry…anyways, you're all good to go now," Long Caster said, clearing his throat and pulling himself together. "Get to work, team."

"So, we clean up, then we capture the base and take the fuel and supplies…" Count said, letting out a breath. He sounded more nervous than usual, though less scared than he had over Farbanti. Naomi wished she could find some way he wouldn't be worried at all, but she figured that was impossible. He hesitantly continued. "And then we throw everything we can at that son of a bitch Mr. X if he shows up. That's the plan, right Trigger?"

"Just about, I guess," Naomi said, trying to sound more confident than she felt. Truth be told, she wanted them to leave Mr. X to her. She wasn't going to have anyone else put their lives on the line, be it to look out for her or to play bait. If he showed up, it all ended here. She took a deep breath, lowering her nose and making a dive below the clouds as they approached the first group of targets. "We're closing in. Last chance to turn back before we throw our morals out the window…"

"That ain't funny," Count muttered in response, lowering his own altitude and following her lead. As usual, he stayed close by her side in the air.

"He's right. You take if you wanna live," Húxiān said, doing her best to sound casual and brush it off. But she knew just as well that no matter how they dressed it up, there was very little justification for this. If there was any at all. She went on with an almost personal anecdote to make her point. "That's how it was where I grew up. It's nothin' new, you just gotta take whatever shit hand you're dealt."

"Yeah, well, we all know that by now. I was only double-checking mission orders," Count said. Letting out a frustrated huff, he quietly added, "Here I was thinking I left my life of crime back in Spare…"

"Let's just focus on the mission. We can worry about atoning later, once this is all over," Naomi said, not that the thought Count had voiced hadn't crossed her mind. But if she thought about it any further it would just be one more thing driving her past her breaking point. Right now, they were only doing what they could for the good of themselves and the people relying on them. She leveled her Raptor out, beginning a low approach and ignoring the altitude alert warning her to pull up. "Go sparingly on your missiles. I'd like to not take any more than we need. That being said…Strider 1, engaging."

Steeling herself, Naomi switched her target to the AA guns waiting up ahead, leaving the watchtower be and shooting straight past it. Maybe she'd regret it later, but she already felt sick over this entire thing, so she left it alone for the sake of her conscience. The distance between them and their targets closed in a matter of seconds, the familiar, steady tone sounding in Naomi's ear. Taking a deep breath, she let her missile fly, trying to make the process as quick as possible. Sure enough, it found its target, striking the AA gun and sending it up in a burst of smoke and flame, completely trashing it. No turning back now.

One by one, the rest of Strider and then Golem Squadron followed suit, none of them exactly equipped for air-to-ground combat but not having much of a choice in the matter. Given the last two operations, they didn't have them in large supply, and certainly not enough to equip everyone with them. Whatever had been left at the base they were on could only outfit maybe one or two pilots from Golem Squadron, and given that Knocker wasn't nearly as worried about their enemies on the ground as he was in the air he told Naomi that he and the others would fly with the HCAAs they had. To balance things, Count, Tabloid, and Lanza were all carrying a set of pulse lasers. Naomi had hers, alongside QAAMs, but she was going to hold off on using them until absolutely necessary.

Firing a missile each, her allies picked off the AA guns and military vehicles scattered around a small town they were flying over. In just a few seconds, the first enemy group was almost completely wiped out, save for the few APCs in the center of the town. They made it difficult to get to them, and Naomi wasn't interested in making another run just to gun them down. They probably could have taken them out with some precision, but it just wasn't worth the risk for something that wasn't exactly a threat to them or their mission.

As Naomi banked, turning to get back on their original course, Boggard spoke up. There was uncertainty in his voice as he did. "Er, hey, Trigger, what're we supposed to do about those guys down there? Are we gonna leave them alone or…"

He trailed off, but she didn't need him to finish to figure out what the 'or' was. It wasn't exactly hard to understand. "There's not really anything they can do to hurt us," Naomi replied, already setting off towards the hills ahead. Count and the rest of Strider Squadron followed her quickly, while it took a few moments for Golem Squadron to regroup. "Just forget about them. There's no point."

"Can't argue with you there," Footpad said, letting out a sigh. "It's not like they can put up much of a fight against us…but even so, are you sure they won't be an issue later?"

"You said it yourselves, there's not anything they can do to put up a fight," Count told him before Naomi could say anything, not sounding irritable with him but just equally as tired about the whole ordeal. "And I'm pretty sure they aren't gonna be able to do anything to stop us from taking that castle of theirs. Don't waste your energy worrying about them, it's just not worth it."

"All we'd be doing is adding more fuel to these fires, and putting more blood on our hands," Faun muttered darkly. He'd been so much more quiet than he usually was, and being more introspective than his other wingmen had finally come around to bite him. Naomi wondered how hard this was for the rest of Golem, but none of them seemed to have an interest in saying much these days. He continued, trying to sound a bit lighter. "It's pointless to even consider it. Trigger's calling the shots out here, so what she says goes."

"Faun's right. And even if that wasn't the case, I find it hard to disagree," Knocker said, the first of Golem Squadron to regroup after their run, trailing close behind Naomi and the rest of Strider Squadron while his wingmen hurried to catch up. He almost growled as he added, "We've got bigger fish to fry. These guys aren't doing anything to keep us from that."

No one said anything else on the matter as they all set off towards their next targets, tucked away behind a series of hills. Unlike their previous battlegrounds, Shilage seemed removed from the war. There was no fighting here prior to the LRSSG arriving, at least not on that particular day, and there weren't missiles and gunfire flying in every direction. Aside from the various checkpoints along the way, the stockpiling base up ahead, and the raid that was about to take place, it was hard to believe anything from the war had ever reached this place.

There were stretches of farmland and small towns, scattered across the countryside. Most of them didn't appear to be occupied by military forces at all, likely well-enough removed from all of this fighting. Below them, there were mainly what appeared to be back roads, offering a scenic drive with endless trees. In a more peaceful time, Naomi figured that this would be a pretty ideal place to visit and get away from the world. At that moment that wasn't the case, judging from the various non-military vehicles along the backroads running past the farms.

There wasn't any question that they would be left alone, but Count pointed them out anyway. "There are more vehicles along the roads. They don't appear to be military," he said. "I'm guessing there's probably more of them. We oughta be careful."

"Why would anyone be driving anywhere right now?" Boggard asked as they flew over the road in question.

"I'm willing to bet they're Erusean refugees, much like those waiting for us back at the base," Jaeger answered, quicker to assess the situation than the others. "They probably came here to get away from the war, and now they must be fleeing since the conflict got worse. Or rather, since we brought the conflict to them."

"That makes me feel better about all of this," Húxiān mumbled sarcastically. She took a deep breath. "I know we didn't have a better choice, but man it feels like things are gettin' worse and worse."

"No use in a pity party for ourselves right now," Footpad told her, but he almost sounded like he was trying to be reassuring. "It's not like we're going out of our way to murder civilians, so let's just get this all over and done with."

As they all soared over the hills, leaving another watchtower untouched, they were met by the sight of another town. It was larger than the first, with what looked to be one or two neighborhoods, along with a larger group of military vehicles than the first. On the outskirts there were several AA guns, SAM sites, and a handful of APCs, and in the center of the town were a few tanks hiding out. A couple of AH-64s were already airborne and moving towards them, already tracking them on radar along with the SAMs, but Jaeger and Boggard both switched to their special weapons and took the helicopters out from a good distance before they could pose a real threat to them.

Meanwhile, the rest of them made a move on the ground targets, trying to clear the path for their transport as quickly as possible. Naomi and Count went for the SAM sites first, while Knocker and Faun carefully went after the tanks. Naomi dove for the first SAM site, taking it out with a missile and pulling up sharply, grunting as she did it, moving onto one of the others. Count dodged a missile from the one he was targeting, barely able to roll clear in time and keep it from clipping his wing, but he was back on course with a frustrated growl. He lined up his shot, taking it out with his gun and pulling clear from it, moving onto the next one. One by one, they worked together to wipe out the SAMs all around the perimeter of the town.

Over with the tanks, Knocker and Faun kept precise and coordinated movements, Faun remaining close to Knocker the entire time. Without question, Faun followed Knocker into what was almost a straight, vertical dive, clearly trying to work together to avoid hitting any of the buildings below. Given the amount of anti-air weaponry along with the APCs and tanks, Naomi wondered if it was possible they could have already evacuated people from these areas before the LRSSG even thought about coming here, but it was better to be safe than sorry. They couldn't take any chances.

As soon as Knocker had a lock on the first tank, he fired and immediately broke from his dive as it went up in flames, leaving Faun to do the same. Both of them hit their targets, without any direct harm to the surrounding buildings. Given the amount of space between the tanks and those buildings, it likely wasn't an issue, but no one was going to get careless or sloppy after their reluctance to even go on this mission. The pair went to circle back around, leaving Footpad to wipe out the third and final tank while Jaeger and Húxiān worked with Boggard to clean up the remaining AA guns surrounding them.

An unfamiliar voice came over the radio, on an open channel, the sound of missiles screaming in the background almost drowning out what was being said. If Naomi had to guess, he was likely in the watchtower or APCs they left alone. He spoke firmly, sounding like he was trying not to let his nerves get the better of them. "Unidentified aircraft in violation of Shilage airspace, identify yourselves and cease fire immediately or we'll be forced to open fire!"

"Seriously? What're they talking about, they already are firing on us?" Count groans, and as if right on cue a spray of gunfire from the last remaining AA gun flew between him and Naomi, causing the two of them to break in opposite directions to avoid it. Before either of them could recover and take it out, it was cut off by an abrupt missile Húxiān fired.

"Yeah, you'd think they'd have given us that warning a little sooner," Naomi huffed, leveling her plane out again after she'd banked to get clear of the AA gun's attack. She checked her radar, then her HUD, finding nothing remained that was any threat to them. Their missile alerts had stopped, meaning all the SAMs were taken care of. All that was left were the APCs, making the already pointless warning even more unnecessary. "Not like it matters much now."

"The enemy is scared and confused," Long Caster said, having been silent the entire time. Or at least as far as Naomi knew he'd been silent, though she worried briefly that she might have zoned out if she didn't even hear him calling out any warnings. Not that they had much to worry about at that moment. "I'd assume we took them by surprise, at least initially. From the looks of things, this faction isn't as organized as the others. They're just trying to keep a low profile and survive, same as us."

"It makes sense. This is they're homeland, we're the invaders," Jaeger pointed out, reluctant to admit it but doing so anyway. It wasn't anything they didn't already know. "Given this nation's history, they've been waiting for an opportunity like this for some time. And we just came in and wrecked it."

"'An opportunity like this'?" Boggard echoed, sounding bewildered.

"I'm guessing it has something to do with this 'faction split from the Erusean military' or whatever we're calling them," Count said, but he didn't sound certain about it. With the way things were, it was pretty hard to be certain about anything, beyond what they already knew and figured out. "According to that guy on the radio, I'm willing to bet that Shilage didn't just break away from the military, but from the entire damn country."

"You'd be correct, more or less. At least based on my limited understanding of our intel…and then all of this. The autonomous state of Shilage used to be a nation, possibly as old or older than Erusea," Jaeger explained, more well-informed on the situation than Naomi was. They'd read the same intel, but beyond knowing that it had supplies they needed and a man she had to settle a score with she didn't read too far into the history. Jaeger, however, recalled it all with perfect clarity. He likely knew some of this beforehand. "It was annexed by Erusea following a power struggle not that long ago, but regardless the region has always leaned towards independence. They've been desperate for it for years. So much so that those wishing to restore their homelands – to break free from Erusea's rule – flock to it."

"So we aren't just fighting a bunch of Mr. X's lackeys out here?" Boggard once again was the one to ask the questions.

"No, not necessarily. From what I know, their core consists of officers from Voslage, the nation that neighbored Shilage. Well, still does, but as a part of Erusea," Jaeger said, beginning to sound almost uninterested in the topic. "They've been outspoken for years about their disdain for Erusean rule. They've had their culture suppressed and their language nearly erased. Not unheard of, but nonetheless a reason to fight."

"So they're our enemies then?" Húxiān asked in a way that sounded like she almost didn't want the answer. She probably already knew it.

"They're our enemy's enemy," Long Caster replied, sounding somewhat like he normally did. He added, "But unlike the saying, they're not our friends. But we can worry about that later…right now, you've got a handful of interceptors in the air. A small flight of Gripens inbound."

"Just what we needed…alright, everyone, heads up and back in the game," Naomi said, already picking up the aircraft on her radar. Down below, in the fields they were flying over, there were more vehicles and artillery that she chose to leave alone, focused solely on the approaching aircraft. The rest of Strider Squadron followed her as she raised her nose, gaining altitude to meet the interceptors right as they broke through the clouds, everyone prepared for a dogfight.

Although there were only three of them, she couldn't help but find herself on edge. Even more than when they first arrived. There was a growing pit in her stomach and a knot in her throat, her nerves already trying to get the better of her. She okayed the operation, she knew what might be coming, she knew what they had to do, and yet she still felt nothing but dread as they continued further into Shilage territory.

Almost as soon as they were within visual range of the Gripens, Naomi's radar lock warning went off and she cursed as soon as it was replaced by a missile warning instead. The Gripens fired a volley of missiles and SASMs at them, forcing Naomi and her wingmen to abruptly bank to evade, releasing their flares along with it to get themselves completely clear. The enemy fighters shot right past them and immediately went nose-to-nose with Golem Squadron as Naomi pulled her Raptor back around, Count and Jaeger the first to regroup behind her. Húxiān pulled her Eagle back around last.

Together, Knocker and Faun split off the Gripen's apparent leader, forcing him to break off from his wingmen and into a climb. One of them moved to follow, but by the time he reacted Naomi was already on his tail and he wasn't able to pursue Knocker or Faun. The second Gripen tried to shake her, but it didn't take her much effort to stay on his tail. She eyed her weapons reserves, wondering if she should risk using either the pulse lasers or her QAAMs on an enemy fighter that she could easily out-maneuver, but she also wasn't sure she wanted to drain her missile supply or machine gun any further. In the few split seconds she spent trying to make a decision, Húxiān had swooped in on one side and Count on the other, both of them corralling the Gripen and keeping the pilot from slipping away.

In what felt like an eternity but was really only a few seconds, Naomi opted to wipe the enemy out with her machine gun, figuring it was the safest bet. Although she was already feeling the strain of flying that day even from a few minor air-to-ground attacks courtesy of her stress and nerves, it wasn't a difficult target to take down. She lined up her shot, Count and Húxiān able to read both her movements as well as the Gripen's movements and make sure she had an opening, and pulled the trigger. The Gripen's pilot tried to evade, but his reaction time was too slow, and the spray of gunfire shredded his engine and a portion of his wing when he attempted to turn. Naomi broke off her attack as the aircraft began to trail smoke and the pilot punched out, Húxiān and Count following her close behind.

The first Gripen that Knocker and Faun had been chasing after didn't take much effort for them to knock out. He only climbed so far before he broke off, trying to lose them in the clouds, but while Faun halted his pursuit Knocker continued to tail the enemy fighter. Faun waited it out at a lower altitude, allowing the Gripen to get on his tail and chase him, but Naomi realized it wasn't much of a chase. Almost right as the Gripen leveled out and tried to lock onto Faun, Knocker emerged right behind him from the clouds, taking the only shot he had at that angle. He fired a missile and it streaked through the air, striking the Gripen in the lower fuselage. The pilot barely had enough time to eject before the aircraft became nothing more than a crumpled, flaming mess of debris.

Knocker leveled out his Super Hornet as Long Caster announced the kill. Although Naomi never really doubted him, it was reassuring to see her previous commander hadn't lost his skills in a dogfight. If anything he'd improved even more in the few operations they'd flown together since Naomi was assigned to the LRSSG, and it set her mind at ease somewhat. All the while she was worried about keeping all of them safe, Knocker, Clown, and Fencer were doing just fine keeping their own wingmen safe and handling themselves in the process. It didn't mean she could stop worrying about them, but it did mean she was willing to worry less.

"Third bandit was splashed," Footpad announced suddenly, having worked together with Jaeger and Boggard while Naomi and Knocker were preoccupied. Naomi had barely caught a glimpse of their fight, between her own target and then Knocker and Faun's short-lived dogfight, but they'd all three maneuvered well together. Footpad easily adapted to both Jaeger's textbook flying style as well as Boggard's impractical, aggressive style. The result making for surprisingly good teamwork. The three of them easily outmaneuvered the enemy, and Naomi had looked over just in time to see a brief, erratic display as the three of them fired on the Gripen. Footpad's missile connected first, as far as she could tell. He sounded almost relieved as he spoke. "I think that should be all of them. Long Caster?"

"Affirmative. We're not picking up any more aircraft around your current location, but that isn't to say they're all we have to worry about," Long Caster quickly informed them, obviously trying not to completely jinx them. They still needed luck on their side, no matter how quickly it kept running out. "There's more resistance on the ground up ahead, and I'm sure they'll have air support once we reach the castle. Don't forget where we are."

"It's pretty hard to forget that," Naomi said, practically mumbling the reminder. She checked her radar, circling back around to get back on course. There was another cluster of enemies dead ahead. She could picture the map from the briefing in her head, almost like it was right in front of her. It was probably one of the only things that didn't feel like a complete blur. Judging from the terrain and the amount of enemy groups they'd run into, she knew exactly where they were. "This group up ahead should be the last step before we reach the castle."

Húxiān was the first one to answer her. "Doesn't feel like we've been at it that long," she said. "Are you sure about that?"

"Yup. Just trust me on it," Naomi said, but even she had some lingering doubts. She may be able to visualize things like that, but it didn't mean it was foolproof. This was something important to them as well as difficult, though, and she tried to keep track of what they were walking into. Although mostly confident, she still quickly asked, "How's it looking up there Long Caster?"

"Trigger's right, you're just about halfway from the looks of things. And speaking of 'halfway', getting there is only going to be half the battle," Long Caster told them, having a bird's eye view of everything that served them better than their own radar and Naomi's memory. That's what he was there for after all. "I don't want to stress you guys too much right now, you've got enough on your plates as it is. Just…keep watching your backs."

"We're doing our best down here, buddy. Didn't Jaeger tell you not to worry?" Count said, trying for a lighter tone to ease the tension. Not exactly gentle, but not harsh or playful either. "Just try to relax."

"In his defense, that's a pretty tall order," Knocker said through a sigh.

Jaeger forced a dry laugh. "Exactly. Relaxing is just about the last thing on anyone's mind these days."

"It's not our first rodeo, Long Caster. We knew the risks from the start," Naomi said. She was sure Cyclops Squadron and those aboard the transport were hearing all of this but keeping out of it, and they were probably worried about the same thing. So she finally addressed what they were all thinking and were all too afraid to say, once again making it a point to keep her voice steady as she spoke. "If Mr. X shows up I'm going to put an end to it, alright? I promise you I'm not losing anyone else."

Everyone went quiet, likely because none of them knew how to respond. There wasn't much time left before they'd be right over the next cluster of targets, but right before they were within range Long Caster broke the silence. He sounded different, not back to normal but not as down as he had before. "I understand. Sorry, Trigger, I'm not trying to worry any of you," he said, but there wasn't any time for Naomi to reassure him he had no reason to be sorry before he added, "You're approaching the next checkpoint. Keep clearing the way."

"Wilco, we're on it," Boggard called out in response. "What's our plan, Trigger?"

Naomi looked at her radar and then at her HUD, noting the various locations of the enemies scattered around the fields below, all of them spaced out. All of the high priority targets were yet more AA guns and SAM sites with a few tanks here and there. They'd be in range of the former before too long, so she had to think and talk quickly. "If we split up we could get it done in a run or two. Same thing we did with the first group," she said, trying to get it all out. "Knocker, you and Golem go for the tanks, Jaeger and Húxiān can handle the AA guns, and Count you and I can go after the SAMs. Everyone got it?"

"Righto, Trig, let's finish it up," Count called out, the first to sound off. The others followed one by one, splitting off just as they were told.

Golem Squadron split into two separate directions to wipe out the tanks, Knocker and Faun heading to the left while Footpad followed Boggard to the right. Jaeger and Húxiān didn't have far to go, circling the perimeter to target the AA guns as they were told. As they flew past, the SAMs turned to target them, as the two of them were the closest targets they could lock onto. They both ignored them, heading right for their targets and leaving the rear to Naomi and Count as the two of them came up close behind.

As they made a hard and fast approach, Naomi pushed into a sudden dive, grunting at the abrupt change in direction but powering through the building discomfort, and in a matter of seconds she locked onto one of them and fired off a missile. The missile struck its target, sending it up in a burst of flame, smoke, and rock. Her flyby caught the attention of one of the others, her radar lock warning blaring and forcing her to climb and evade. Count had moved with her, and he covered her just like she trusted him to do, taking it out before it could get a solid lock and fire. Two down, two to go.

The two of them circled around and made another pass, almost identical to the first one. Naomi made a low and fast approach and wiped out one of them with a spray of gunfire, while Count followed close behind her and fired on the second one. His missile struck dead on, just like before, eliminating the last SAM site. Meanwhile, Golem Squadron had made quick work of the tanks, knocking them out in a similar fashion. A pass from each of them, a missile each, and they were destroyed. Jaeger and Húxiān finished wiping out the AA guns right as they finished up with the tanks, circling around to form up with Naomi and Count once again. Just like before, the APCs were left alone, though they were still retreating following the loss of their air defenses.

Naomi pulled up and leveled out, staring straight ahead as she waited for the others to follow. The river that wound around the countryside ran straight through the town the castle was looking over, and although it was faint she could just make out their destination. Or at least the hill it sat on. They'd be there in no time, flying over the town and wiping out its anti-air units. They'd reached the final step in the operation, and there was no sign of Mr. X, yet she felt especially uneasy moving forward. Like she was going to be sick. Her breathing was shaky, but she pulled herself together before she said anything.

"Here we go, guys. We're approaching the castle now," Naomi said, swallowing her dread and preparing herself for a fight. They didn't have long to talk, so she had to be quick. Her thoughts drifted to the rest of their companions, Cyclops, and Major Grimm and Bandog, and her father, and she knew she needed to check in on them before she lost her chance. "The last step…Long Caster, how are Cyclops and our transport holding up back there?"

"We're holding up fine out here, Trigger, just keep your eyes on the prize." It wasn't exactly all that surprising when Fencer's voice came over the radio, well aware they were within range of radio communication but far out of the way. She just wasn't sure how much they were listening in with how quiet it had been. He suddenly gave an awkward, almost guilty sounding laugh. "Well…that's a pretty poor choice of words, but you get what I'm saying. Wish there was more we could do to lend a hand."

"Same here, but if it makes any difference we're all rooting for you," Tabloid spoke up next. Naomi wondered if she should have reassigned him to Strider for the operation, recalling how he'd helped in Yinshi Valley. He could hold his own against them, but the same could be said about the others. He was fine staying in the background for this one, as far as she could tell. "And hey, if Mr. X shows up…don't lose your heads out there, okay? You too, Trigger. Keep yourself alive."

Lanza joined in next, trying his hardest to sound optimistic. "He's right. We're counting on you, boss, so bring it home."

"She's not gonna let us down. None of them are," Skald quickly added. "Anyways, we oughta stop talking their ears off…"

Naomi couldn't keep herself from smiling slightly even though no one could see, her chest almost aching. That tightness in her throat returned, but for a different reason this time. It wasn't exactly grief, but it wasn't happiness either. They were about to take this castle, to raid supplies, but they also had a chance at closure if Mr. X had the nerve to show up. But there was also so much on the line. It was terrifying, overwhelming, and painful for a hundred different reasons. Nevertheless, just like she did before, she pulled herself together for them. "You guys are making me blush," she told them with a breathy laugh, hoping her voice hadn't cracked when she said it. To Strider and Golem she added, "Well, you heard them. Let's get this over with."

"Let's hurry up and capture this base so we can take the fuel and supplies…heh…shit…" Count had tried to make it sound encouraging, but he gave up and spat out a string of curses instead. There wasn't any way to dress it up and make this look nice. Or even sound nice. The only somewhat, possibly justifiable fight they had here was with General Shilage and his wingmen, and even then that was pushing things. "This whole thing is bullshit."

Faun was the first one to reply, quick to agree with him. "Honestly. I feel like we're a group of burglars."

"Don't say that, you two. This is for our survival," Jaeger said, trying to sound reassuring. It wasn't the best, but it almost did the trick. "We already went over it. There's nothing else that can be done about it, so let's just get through this."

"I know I said this ain't nothin' new to me, but I never said I liked having to do this kind of stuff," Húxiān muttered in response, sounding unusually hesitant. Still, she didn't back down. "But we know. 'No other choice' and all that jazz…it just sucks, y'know?"

"It doesn't change anything. There are people out there that have done far worse over less," Knocker argued, grasping for anything to paint a better picture. He knew very well he was doing a poor job of it, but no amount of complaining was going to change their circumstances, so they could either find some way to fix the problem or roll over and die. Truth be told, if it weren't for her wingmen and the refugees, Naomi would have almost been content with the latter option. Knocker kept her from dwelling on the thought for very long, quickly adding, "Trigger, you got a plan or are we just hitting and running as much as we can?"

Naomi took a look at her HUD, once again not having very long to think before they'd be within range. She was pretty sure their enemy already knew they were there by now, so it was probably even less time before they'd get someone in the air to intercept. And she didn't want to give them too much time for that. Surveying the area ahead, her HUD, and then her radar, she quickly devised a plan. Or some base of one she pulled out of her butt. "Split up and attack however you see fit, but I'm heading straight for the castle. Same focus as before. Prioritize their air-defenses, and leave anything that isn't a threat to us alone. Got it?"

"We're with you Trigger," Count said with a sigh, although he didn't hesitate. Just as before, the others sounded off one after the other.

"Good. Strider Squadron, Golem Squadron, engage!" Naomi didn't have to tell them twice. She throttled up, yawing to the right ever so slightly to adjust her aircraft's approach, and once more she did her best to calm her nerves before she dove into the action.

The entire town and castle were surrounded on practically all sides by anti-air defense measures, ranging from AA-guns and SAMs to AD tanks to the modified XSAMs they'd seen from time to time. Given the LRSSG's initial approach, it allowed them time to get a few aircraft in the air as well. A pair of AH-64s, AV-8B+s, as well as two F-16s starting their takeoff, were all preparing to move and intercept them. As soon as the eight of them were within range their radar lock and missile warnings began to go off like crazy.

Golem Squadron split off to handle the air support so Naomi and Strider Squadron could clean up things on the ground. Boggard and Faun both switched over to their special weapons, locking onto the AH-64s with their HCAAs and letting them fly, only one of them successfully making contact with its target. The second was able to evade, just barely clearing it, forcing Boggard to try his luck again. Meanwhile, Knocker and Footpad engaged the Harriers together, separating them from their wingman and making it a one-on-one fight before the F-16s complicated things. With how they handled the Harriers, able to adapt and outmaneuver their enemy, Naomi was certain that the F-16s wouldn't be too much of a challenge for them.

Strider Squadron broke off into their usual pairs, with Jaeger and Húxiān heading in opposite directions to wipe out the AA guns and tanks scattered around the town. Luckily, they seemed to be concentrated on the outskirts, save for a handful outside of buildings. As the two of them began to pick off the targets on the ground with a quick yet precise hit-and-run tactic, they took great care not to accidentally destroy any of the trucks and tents down below. They didn't have to be told that they weren't a threat, it was obvious. Almost painfully so.

Naomi followed through with her own plan of storming the castle first, Count right behind her while the rest of their comrades took care of the rest of the defenses scattered around the town. She would have preferred a dogfight over surface attacks any day, and she was sure Count felt the same, but the stress and anxiety building up day by day was starting to take a physical toll on her. If she had any chance of protecting her wingmen from Mr. X and that 'Sol Squadron' of his then she had to pace herself. She couldn't risk losing anyone else, let alone losing them to him. The entire mission would be a waste if they were overpowered.

The two of them targeted the XSAMs first, positioned at various points around the castle walls and atop the tower. They made low and fast approaches, only breaking off and restarting their approach when they needed to evade an oncoming attack. Although they were trying to preserve their chaff and flares, it wasn't an easy task, and abrupt climbs and sharp turns were only going to take them so far. Naomi could grit her teeth and take her chances, but she wasn't going to expect them to do the same thing. Something that she was sure wouldn't sit well with them, considering they were out to watch her back as much as she was out to watch theirs.

In only a couple of minutes, the XSAMs and the AD tank outside of the castle had been wiped out, and they were well on their way to securing the castle. At least, it looked that way for just a second. Right as Naomi gunned down the last AA gun in the castle's courtyard and was about to announce their progress the forces down below pulled out what had to have been their remaining SAMs, likely a last ditch effort. But that pit in her stomach was starting to irritate her again, as though something wasn't quite right. She couldn't help but voice her frustration. "Aww, dammit. Of course this couldn't be that easy…"

"New hostiles showing up on radar, all aircraft confirm. I'm hoping this'll be the last of them, but…" Long Caster said, hesitating. Barely a couple of seconds went by before he finished his thoughts. "Well, I have a bad habit of jinxing these things, so it's all up to you guys. Take care of 'em, gang."

"Right, we've got this," Count said, trying to sound confident as he circled back around to make another approach.

"Whatever you do, be careful. Hey, and quit pushing your luck with those missiles," Naomi said quickly, almost scolding him, and while she said it to Count specifically in that moment it was really something that went for all of them. Most everyone else wasn't dealing with hyper-accurate SAMs, though, but she wasn't about to single anyone out. "That goes for everyone. Evade like hell and release flares if you have to. I've made it clear I want you all coming back in one piece."

"Jeez, Trigger, you're starting to sound like a mother hen," Boggard scoffed, his comment only briefly lifting Naomi's mood. While the rest of Golem Squadron gave tired laughs at her expense, Naomi and the rest of Strider Squadron's laughs were short-lived. Maybe it was because Boggard made them realize how much she had sounded like Wiseman in that moment, or maybe Naomi was kidding herself for even comparing herself to him. But that's what came to mind, no matter how hard she tried to push it down.

"How many times do we have to get onto you and Long Caster for worrying so much, hmm?" Jaeger said after a couple of seconds, spoken through what sounded like a sad smile.

"We're all going home. Promise," Count said. And at the worst possible moment he was fired on by the XSAM he was approaching, forcing him to break off and evade. As he tried to outrun the missile, Naomi immediately banked and throttled up, wiping out the XSAM site as quickly as she could before it could fire another missile for good measure. She also tried to clean up the rest of them. Count grunted and cursed as he and the missile twisted through the sky. "Shit, these things are stubborn!"

"Gah, Strider 2, shake it off! Evade, dammit!" Naomi said, feeling her throat tighten. What could she do, aside from yell at him to do what he was already doing? Right as she considered trying to shoot the missile out of the sky somehow, regardless of how impossible it may have been, Count released flares and pulled his Eagle around to safety. She felt instant relief wash over her, as well as exasperation, replacing the hopelessness that had started to take over. "God, you scared the shit out of me Count! What the hell did I just say?!"

He swooped down to pick off the last XSAM site as she had to break off her approach to shake the lock it had on her, somehow managing to sound both annoyed and apologetic when he finally answered. As well as out of breath. At least he wasn't too shaken up by the sound of things. "Sorry, Trig. You oughta know by now something like that ain't enough to take me out," he said, forcing a dry laugh. "You can yell at me later, alright? Let's just finish things up here."

"This is Golem 1. I think we've managed to clear everything out," Knocker announced, him and Footpad having finished off the enemy air support in no time. Faun and Boggard had rejoined and paired up to take on the F-16s two-on-one. There hadn't been much for them to do after except keep an eye on Strider while they finished up. "Are things alright on your end?"

"We've cleared out the tanks, just have a few more AA guns to handle, and it looks like the area around the castle's been cleaned up too," Húxiān announced her and Jaeger's progress, giving a slight huff. Jaeger, meanwhile, was busy finishing up. "Trigger, Count, anything with you two?"

"Almost there, we missed a few tanks at the base of the hill!" Naomi announced, already making a dive for them. But the atmosphere was starting to feel overwhelmingly unsettling, not to mention almost frustrating. She'd come all this way and there wasn't even a sign of General Shilage's wingmen. There was no way they got this far just to let her come in and take their supplies like this without putting up a real fight. She wasn't going to let them take her by surprise again and take her wingmen from her. She fully expected them to be there, and she kept checking her radar for new contacts even as she focused on the targets on the ground. "This feels off…Long Caster, are you seeing anything on radar?"

"Standby," Long Caster told her, likely getting to work to check and confirm his answer. A moment or two went by before he had an answer for her, and it wasn't what she had hoped for but it was what she expected. "We've got movement at the base of the castle. Keep your guard up, this could be it."

"You heard him, everyone," Naomi called out, and everyone sounded off in response. She readied herself for a dogfight as she and Count made their move on the remaining tanks.


0650hrs.

The battle erupted before they could even prepare, confused and scared shouts the only thing heard over any radio or across Sol Squadron's makeshift hangar.

"Why aren't Wit and the others airborne yet?!" a soldier that had retreated down to the freeway called out from the tunnel entrance, rifle in his hands. As if that was going to do much against their attackers.

A transmission over the radio came through from another unit. "There are four aircraft but one is causing us the most grief!"

"Let them have our lives!" one of the Voslagian commanders snapped in response, his voice cutting out to static as an explosion went off in the background. "As long as our nation stands, the young will carry on!"

Wit sprinted to the entrance of the tunnel, near where his own fighter was parked, overshooting it to catch a glimpse of the chaos waiting for them in the air. Behind him, his wingmen were all hastily suiting up and getting started on their pre-flight checks, rushing through the motions as the sense of urgency and fear their comrades on the ground felt began to affect them on some level. Wit kept his cool for their sake, only wanting to assess one thing before he took to the air.

Eight aircraft roared overhead, two of them right overhead, attacking the forces positioned around the castle. Wit stared up at the sky, wide-eyed, desperately trying to make out the aircrafts' markings, but it was difficult to catch a glimpse of anything. He could barely identify the aircraft they were flying, let alone their affiliation or if Three Strikes was among them. There was a roar and scream that Wit could feel all the way down to his bones, right before a missile slammed into a tank positioned on the winding road above them that led to the castle. It was like the earth was shaking around them, the lights in the tunnel briefly flickering.

As the smoke cleared and Wit collected himself, he spotted the aircraft responsible for the attack. An F-22 abruptly pulled up from its descent, that awful, bone rattling sound the only thing that could be heard. It drowned out the confused chatter and cries for help, drawing Wit's attention to it. A completely silver livery, no red wing, but there was no mistaking the claw marks on the Raptor's tail. He felt like the breath was knocked out of him, and he was frozen in place for a few seconds before the aircraft flew higher into the sky and disappeared around the other side of the hill, out of view, the fast fading sound the only indication it had even been there.

Wit spun on his heel and desperately searched for someone that could relay a message for him, his thoughts racing as he remembered Mihaly. Their leader wasn't there, or not at the castle, he was set up safely away from this temporary base for easy access to the Strike Wyvern, but Wit had no doubt in his mind that as soon as he learned of their attacker he would come to their aid in an instant. But in the meantime, the rest of Sol Squadron needed to fend off her and her wingman, at least take the latter out of action to keep them from targeting Mihaly. There wasn't much time, and this could very well be the only chance they had.

He started forward, initially heading towards where Seymour was about to climb into the cockpit of his aircraft, mainly because he spotted one of the mechanics right next to him. He didn't get very far and didn't watch where he was going, colliding with a member of the maintenance crew. Both of them were nearly knocked off balance, but were quick to recover, the soldier immediately apologetic. She began to apologize profusely and back away, but Wit grabbed her by the shoulders. Not aggressively, but a fast enough movement that she picked up on the urgency of what he was about to say.

"There's not a lot of time. I need you to get in touch with the unit waiting out by the airfield for me!" Wit said, raising his voice so he could be heard over the chaos. His wingmen, hearing him, were all looking his way. He continued, not paying them any mind. "Please, we need General Shilage in the air ASAP! Tell them that Three Strikes is overhead. Go!"

The soldier paled at the mention of Three Strikes but she gave a frantic nod, easily slipping out of Wit's grasp and changing her course to follow through with his request. Well, it had been more of an order, but he hadn't intended for it to sound that way. Everyone that was in the vicinity and had been paying attention all gave concerned and confused murmurs, except for the rest of Sol Squadron. They were all up in their aircraft, canopies still open, staring down with fear and anger written all over their faces.

Wit paid them no mind, heading for his own plane. He'd already suited up, having had only one goal as soon as he heard they were under attack. But he'd assessed the situation and sent the news off to Mihaly. All that was left now was to protect what was left of the town and their forces and buy their leader some time. He rushed over his pre-flight checks, getting everything fired up and online as quickly as he could so they could get into the air. But just as soon as he and the others were preparing to take off, the voice of one of the Voslagian controllers rang out in his ear. "Cancel take off, conditions are looking grim. Sol Squadron, please stand by."

"Negative," Wit answered immediately, processing the order and trying to stifle his annoyance. He wasn't going to stand by. He refused. Not when they were this close. Quickly, he continued, "This battle's over if we don't get up there, along with hope of restoration. And we need to buy Miha– I mean, General Shilage time. They'll be made to pay for what they've done to our people today."

"Throwing away your lives does nothing to help us," the man said, sounding frustrated as well as concerned. "You have no idea what monster is waiting for you out there!"

"Don't worry. As long as we accelerate inside the tunnel, they won't be able to shoot us down that easily," Wit said, trying to reassure not only those on the ground but also to set his wingmen at ease. Assuming there were any reservations among them. As the four of them went about preparing for takeoff, he quickly said to them, "Leave Three Strikes to King, we'll take care of her wingmen. That's how we'll cripple her."

"Are we sure about this?" Roald asked, almost sounding hesitant.

"There's no need to get King involved," Hermann added, the exact opposite of Roald in that moment. He was coldly confident and ready for a fight, but there was no telling how much of that was an act. "Not when we've taken them on before."

"Mihaly himself would give this order. I'm not going to defy him, not when he's been waiting for this moment. Our fight may be with her, but she's still his opponent," Wit told them, and none of them gave it another thought. He wouldn't let them get away without paying. He wasn't going to back down. He wasn't going to let them take their nation from him. Just like Mihaly wasn't going to let that usurper take his throne in the skies. Taking a deep breath, Wit began to taxi his plane forward, already accelerating like his life depended on it. In a way, it did. "Sol Squadron, moving to intercept!"

The last word from control quickly followed his announcement as Wit pulled up, lifting his nose off the ground. "Sol Squadron, airborne! Shoot the invaders out of our skies!" a different man than the one before said, and quickly added, "Godspeed."

And one by one they lifted off into the sky.


0700hrs.

Naomi's attention was drawn to the tunnel at the base off the hill as a flight of four Su-30s took off from within. As soon as they appeared on her radar, she circled around to get a clear view of them, counting them as they appeared on her HUD. There were only four of them, and she had no clue if General Shilage was among them or not, unable to see if any of them had the orange wingtips he did. They'd know soon enough, she guessed.

"Looks to me like our friends might have finally decided to join the party," she announced to the others, keeping distance between herself and the four of them as they shot up into the air. They weaved around each other in perfect harmony, their skills clearly not having diminished any in the past month. For some reason, she felt like the exhaustion she'd felt before was starting to lift, and she guessed it was the result of her adrenaline starting to kick in. "We're gonna have a dogfight on our hands."

"Trigger's right. Their interceptors are in the air…we've got four Su-30s on radar," Long Caster announced, quickly catching up and clearing up any uncertainties. He tried not to hesitate as he told them, "There's one less than they had over Farbanti, if these are even the same guys. That just doesn't seem right."

"I can't imagine who else would be out here, given that the country used to be theirs," Jaeger observed, he and Húxiān rejoining with Naomi and Count. He sounded winded, but he kept himself focused on their new enemy. "Besides that, getting to takeoff speed inside the tunnel is insane. Given their previous 'demonstrations', I'd say it's safe to assume they'd be able and willing to pull a stunt like that off."

"Doesn't matter who they are, we've got a job to do," Knocker said. Then in a low voice, almost growling, he added, "Besides, if it is them then we can't give them a chance to get the upper hand. Otherwise we're all dead."

Húxiān stifled a laugh, but it made its way out in the form of a short scoff. "We took 'em on once, we can take 'em on again. Right?"

"I'd bet on it," Count agreed. As the four aircraft got in formation, ready to come back around, Count throttled up ever so slightly to pull his aircraft closer to Naomi's wing. They all seemed antsy, practically chomping at the bit to get the fight started, Count voicing what was probably on all their minds. "Trigger, what's your call? Are we doin' this or not?"

"Two-on-one, just like over Farbanti. Watch each other's asses and don't give them an opening," Naomi said after only a moment's hesitation. It had worked well enough for them before, so she was willing to try it again. And judging from Mr. X's apparent absence, she felt somewhat better about taking them on. It would be easier to keep an eye on the other's that way. But she had a gut feeling he wasn't far behind them. "Expect the unexpected and just…stay alive."

Naomi took a deep breath and pulled up, bracing herself for a dogfight. The others followed her lead, Golem Squadron splitting off into opposite directions to try and form a perimeter around their new opponents. Maybe even try to get on their tails. The four Su-30s met Strider Squadron head on, Naomi's missile warning blaring in her ear. She could have easily been in range before they were, but she realized they were firing blindly at them, maybe their idea of a warning. She cursed under her breath and pulled up, rolling clear just for good measure, the rest of Strider quick to follow.

She leveled out, then banked to get her plane at an angle, hoping to catch a glimpse of their livery as she flew past them. Sure enough, as the eight aircraft shot past one another she was able to clearly see their markings. Even for just a split second. Naomi recognized them, having a clear image of their aircraft even if she didn't have the same fight with them that she had with their leader. There was no doubt about it, it was definitely the rest of Sol Squadron. They were confident, she could give them that much.

Sol Squadron split apart, heading in opposite directions just like Golem Squadron had done. Quickly, the eight of them reacted, quick to pair up and split the enemy squadron apart just like Naomi had told them. Knocker and Jaeger went after one, Faun and Footpad went after his wingman, while Húxiān and Boggard went after the third, leaving Naomi and Count to chase down whichever one was leading the current formation. Keeping them all apart wasn't an easy task, as they seemed determined to do the same thing to the LRSSG, but Naomi wasn't going to allow that to happen.

After what seemed like an endless series of twisting, climbing, diving, with neither party able to get a clear shot in, Naomi felt sick and frustrated. Just as she had the urge to start firing, regardless of how bad a shot she had or how much ammunition she was wasting, a new voice came over the radio. Over an open channel, the voice of a young man firmly told them, "Osean aircraft, you are in violation of Shilage airspace. Cease fire and withdraw immediately or we will be forced to shoot you down."

"This is the Osean Long Range Strategic Strike Group," Long Caster announced just as firmly, keeping his voice level. He almost sounded commanding. Not exactly scary, but it wasn't something Naomi was used to from him. "Land immediately and hand over your planes and base to us, or else we'll have no choice but to use further force to take it from you."

"Hah. So, you really are the Snowbirds, aren't you? The mighty squadrons led by the infamous Three Strikes. But have you forgotten? It's absurd for you to be talking so tough after losing one of your leaders over Farbanti," the man said, keeping the same tone the whole time in spite of the words he was saying. He stayed calm, solely trying to get a rise out of them. And Naomi hated to admit that it was working. He continued. "We'll remind you what happens when you let your ego get the better of it. Shall we see what happens when you lose your other leader, then?"

"You bastard!" Count snarled at him, giving the guy exactly what he wanted. In response, Count made a sharp turn and almost collided with the Su-30's wing, forcing him to veer off and giving Naomi an opening. She took it on instinct, barely aware of what had happened, pulling up to follow the enemy aircraft. But he pulled a sudden Cobra maneuver and evaded the missile, flying over Naomi. Count gave a frustrated growl, and still speaking over the open channel spat, "Dammit! Keep evading you assholes, but you're still gonna pay!"

"Count, keep your head! He's just trying to get under your skin…" Naomi growled, finding it hard not to be annoyed herself. These guys knew exactly what they were doing, but she couldn't let them get away with it. She pulled a hard turn, trying to get sight of where the fighter went both to regroup for another attack and to keep him off her tail. And away from her wingmen. Something that was easier said than done.

The twelve aircraft danced around the sky together, the Sol Squadron members eventually finding a way to slip away from their respective LRSSG pairs, making Naomi's original strategy fall apart in the blink of an eye. The structure to the fight seemed to fall apart, each group more concerned with posturing than an actual dogfight. In Naomi and the others' case, they were trying to intimidate them into surrendering, and whatever their enemy was hoping to accomplish with their blind firing and close calls was a mystery to her. But whatever it was, it didn't sit well with her. They had the luxury of wasting missiles that the LRSSG did not have, which made it a lot harder to intimidate them.

Naomi was able to consistently get a lock on at least one of them, but every time she thought she had a solid shot they found some way to evade at the last minute. And if she wasn't trying to stay on top of one of them then they were trying to corral one of the others. Count and Húxiān had an easy time evading and holding their own without her help, with Knocker and Faun right behind them, but the others were beginning to struggle some. Even Jaeger, more seasoned than any of them, was barely keeping up with the constant, abrupt evasive maneuvers. Trying to scare them off was going to be the death of all of them. Something had to give.

"Look below! You defile this country!" their current 'leader' spat over the open channel once again, cutting himself off briefly with a pained grunt as Naomi got on his tail. She got a solid lock and fired, forcing him to drop flares and shake her off. She let him go, and he continued with his taunting, sounding more strained than he did before. "As long as you're here this country will never know peace! All you're doing is keeping the flames of war burning!"

"Jeez, these guys are getting on my nerves…" Boggard grumbled, shaking off a missile lock from one of them. He sounded exhausted. "Are we playing their game or what?"

"No. We can't keep up a pace like this forever, not without a goal. Or this is going to end in a draw," Naomi said with a huff, taking a deep breath. She pulled up sharply, picking up speed and trying to outrun a missile fired at her. The strategy worked, buying her some time. If nothing else, they could always just fly faster than them, but that was only helpful if they planned to retreat. "It's time to see if they're all bark and no bite. Make them stop throwing their shots and turn this into a real dogfight. Any complaints?"

"Fine by me. I'm done with this shit," Knocker said. Right as he said that, he pulled the same Cobra maneuver that the Sol pilots were so fond of, flying past one of them in the blink of an eye. He lined up his shot and fired with his machine gun, strafing the aircraft's wing. Not enough to take it out of commission but enough to slow it down. "It's easy when you take off the kid gloves. Let's get 'em, Trigger!"

Naomi cut off the fighter that Knocker had been tailing as he moved to evade, trying to regroup with his wingman for support. They didn't give him the chance to do that, Count and Jaeger quickly cutting off any other routes he could take to evade their fire, leaving him only able to fly and roll in an attempt to shake any lock on him. Naomi didn't let up, matching him move for move with only some difficulty, waiting for the perfect timing. She banked to follow him, getting a solid tone after several moments and firing as soon as she did. The pilot attempted a roll to evade, but the missile slammed into the already damaged wing, taking most of it off in the process. There was no way he could recover, quickly punching out while Naomi and the others flew clear of the wreckage and his chute.

The remaining three tried to regroup following the loss of their comrade, but once more no one present was going to allow that. Faun maneuvered around their three-man formation, cutting the third one off before he could fully join up with his wingman, while the other two went for those closest to them, which happened to be Húxiān and Footpad. Count came to their aid, approaching the two Sol aircraft head on and firing wildly as he went, forcing them to break off their approach and giving Húxiān an opportunity to help Count keep them from going after the others, without having to be told.

Regardless, Long Caster called out what orders and encouragement he could, keeping them all on their toes. "Don't let 'em work together," he said, but that was already a given at that point. "Back up one another and don't let your guards down!"

"We're doing our best down here!" Húxiān grunted, firing a missile at her target once she thought she had a lock. He easily evaded. "Damn these arrogant bastards…they're better than they were over Farbanti."

"They're just a bunch of pricks, acting like they're knights of the sky or some shit…all high and mighty. Pfft. I hate 'em even more," Count said, jumping on the tail of the aircraft that had evaded Húxiān's shot. He stayed glued to him, following him the whole way, letting out what almost sounded like a laugh or a scoff. It was an odd mix of victorious and furious. He wasn't speaking to them over the open channel they were using, choosing to mock and taunt them behind their back. Naomi would rather have that then have him provoke them to their face and put himself in their sights. "You wanna play like that? Alright, I'm a wild gunman then, time to shut your mouth!"

As he said that he fired off several shots from the pulse lasers fixed under his Eagle's wing, hitting his opponent's tail, then fuselage and wing when he pulled evasive maneuvers. He let out a cocky laugh, and Naomi felt a strange sense of relief and pride wash over her as he managed to score a hit. He kept on his opponent's tail, with Húxiān backing him up, and the two went about trying to finish the job. Meanwhile, Footpad, Boggard, and Jaeger through their teamwork managed to slow down his wingman. Faun broke off his pursuit of the third aircraft as Naomi and Knocker moved in on it, leaving it to them and allowing him to help Count and Húxiān. It seemed easy to get the upper hand in the fight, even as Sol Squadron realized what was happening and moved to retaliate.

Naomi and Knocker chased the third aircraft high up into the air, stretching themselves out away from the others by a good distance, which would have made Naomi nervous if not for the fact that Mr. X wasn't there. She was uneasy by his absence, but as things stood with their current fight she was willing to keep up their pursuit. The pilot pulled up into the clouds, Knocker following him closely while Naomi braked and altered her course slightly, keeping just below them. She monitored their every move, watching as Knocker fired off a missile and the Su-30 released his flares and dove back towards the ground.

Seizing the opportunity, Naomi jumped on him, switching over to her own pulse lasers and firing, searing off the tip of the aircraft's wing. Trailing smoke now, he was still flying, pulling off his descent and trying to evade once more. Naomi had a shot, but something made her ease up, glancing up and over her shoulder at Knocker. He was catching up to the two of them once again, forcing his plane to give him everything it possibly could, on the verge of burning the engine out. Something she'd never seen from him, used to her being the one pushing her aircraft too hard. He needed to settle some kind of score, even if it was only with the General's wingman, she had to give him something.

"Knocker! I'm gonna open him up, you try and finish him off!" Naomi called before she could stop herself, doing exactly as she said she would. She took a deep breath, feeling absolutely exhausted but knowing their job wasn't over. She throttled up once more, not quite pushing her Raptor to its limits but making sure she could outrun him. Then, once she had a clear image in her head of what she was going to do, she pulled her nose up and increased her speed even further. She made an almost terrifyingly close pass in front of the Su-30's nose, pretty sure she almost collided with the thing, and the abrupt movement forced the enemy pilot to brake to avoid colliding with her. This was it. "Knocker, now!"

"On it!" Knocker said, the confusion from the Sol pilot as well as the fact Knocker was practically right on top of him gave him little time to react when Knocker managed to get a solid tone. He fired right as the Su-30 began to turn, attempting to evade. There wasn't enough time to accelerate and get clear, and the missile slammed into the engine. The pilot had enough time to eject, while the wreckage of his plane fell down towards the countryside in a ball of fire. Knocker pulled clear and gave a short laugh. "This is Golem 1, target is down!"

The others all gave their own cheers, Naomi unable to keep herself from joining in, no matter how she tried. She gave a tired smile, one that he couldn't see but it was hard not to put on something, chuckling. Then she circled back around, heading back to where the last two were stubbornly avoiding sharing the same fate as their wingmen. "Alright, two more! Let's finish this up!"

The victory was a short lived one. As Naomi and Knocker began to pull back around, the remaining two suddenly began what looked like an attempt to disengage and withdraw. She was about to tell the others to ease off, but something else caught her attention. Following an abrupt change in the atmosphere, her HUD began to glitch out. Not severely like when the satellites had gone down over Farbanti, but enough to be a hindrance. At the very least, an annoyance. She began to look around wildly, confused. Her missile warnings had stopped, there was no indication of anything nearby, nothing in the sky at all. Then her HUD flickered out almost completely before returning to normal, but that wasn't what knocked her breath out of her chest.

There was a sudden, sickening cracking sound in the air as a series of shockwaves ripped through the sky right in front of her, shaking her aircraft and rattling her chest. It was something like what had been heard when Stonehenge fired on the Arsenal Bird. Naomi felt like everything just froze for a minute as she realized how close it had come to hitting her aircraft. Then her next instinct was to immediately scan the skies around her, making sure everyone else was still flying. All of them were fine, which should have relieved her, but before she could ask Long Caster what had happened there was a new voice over the open channel. One that made her blood run cold.

"A miss, as expected. But a lucky shot would be boring."

General Shilage had finally caught up to them, and he wanted her to know that. Naomi could feel her heart already pounding in her chest and she began to wildly look around, trying to get a visual on wherever he was in the sky, but there wasn't anything that she could see in the direction the shot seemed to have come from. The sun made it hard to see anything, and the fact she was starting to panic didn't help matters any. Finally able to find her voice, she called out, "Long Caster, what the hell just happened?!"

"Looked like some kind of energy weapon…" Knocker mused, having been almost right beside her plane when it happened. If he'd flown a little farther ahead he'd have been the target, whether an intentional one or not.

"No, it looked like a railgun," Jaeger said, thinking the same thing Naomi had been thinking. "Long Caster?"

"Strider 1, you have a bogey approaching at high speed! Bearing 090, straight from the east," Long Caster informed her, quickly assessing the situation and trying to verify what was coming their way. "This…it isn't like any aircraft we've seen before. It's definitely not another Su-30, not at that speed and definitely not with that kind of weaponry."

Naomi squinted against the sunlight, finding it hard to see even with the visor on her helmet making it somewhat less painful to stare at. She banked and turned her nose towards the sun, finally able to see something on her HUD, and as the aircraft came closer she could just barely make out the shape of it. Once again, her instruments began to glitch out, this time alongside a high-pitched ringing that made her ear ache. She moved to evade, banking right as the same crack from before sounded, the shot barely missing her wing.

As she continued her turn, intending to circle back around, the unidentified aircraft closed the distance between them in a matter of seconds. By the time Naomi rounded out her turn, pointing her nose back towards the sun to meet her opponent head on, they were both well within each other's range and the aircraft made a sudden, steep shot upwards. Although it wasn't a good idea, she matched the movement, pulling up into as steep a climb as she could manage. She craned her neck, trying to keep her eyes on him, grunting as she pulled her Raptor up and then around to follow him, managing to get a solid missile lock.

The lock lasted only a few seconds, because just as rapidly as he had climbed, Mr. X's new aircraft arced backwards and into a dive, quickly moving out of Naomi's range. She hadn't expected that, almost feeling her jaw drop as she jerked her head over her shoulder to try and maintain a visual on him. He was on her tail in an instant, firing just as soon as he had a lock, the alarms in her cockpit as well as the ones in her head all immediately screaming at her to evade. She grunted, pulling out of her climb and trying to twist around the same way Mr. X had done. Although his plane allowed for more maneuverability, Naomi was still able to pull it off to some extent, her heart and head both pounding as she did so.

With only a few seconds before he would no doubt counter, Naomi took that time to pick out each and every one of her wingmen from around them, all of them now moving in to try and offer support. The remaining two aircraft from Sol Squadron were going about a full withdrawal now, still on radar but having disappeared from the fight not long after Mr. X arrived. Whether he sent them away or they were turning to run, Naomi had no idea, but in her gut she had a feeling it was the former. His wingmen had always tried to keep up with him, at least during every fight she'd had with him. No, he wanted the battlefield to himself. And Naomi wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.

"Look at the color of that plane!" Boggard called out, and while it was obvious to Naomi who the newcomer was, she remembered that Knocker and Golem Squadron hadn't been present over Farbanti. They'd never heard his voice. Not like Strider and Cyclops Squadron had. "Gray body, orange wingtips, just like that damn Su-30 pilot!"

"It's the flames of hell…" Jaeger muttered darkly.

"So it's him?" Footpad asked, almost sounding like his voice was shaking. Whether because of anxiety or anger. Maybe both. "You're all sure?"

"That voice you all heard a minute ago is the same one we heard after Farbanti. Trust me, I'm not gonna forget it anytime soon…" Count said, his tone of voice the same one he'd responded to the Sol Squadron pilot from before in. Nothing but anger, even in his flying. Naomi caught a glimpse of him making an approach as she continued to tangle with Mr. X, neither of them able to get in a hit yet. Count's voice changed, trying to sound more confident and less angry. "C'mon, it's time for payback!"

"I'm with you, Strider 2," Knocker called out, but Naomi wasn't able to see where he was. "We've got him outnumbered, he can't get away this time!"

The two of them were the first ones to even almost succeed in getting close to the two of them, Naomi still trying to get a solid lock on the seemingly hyper-advanced fighter while he effortlessly dodged her attacks and attempted to be the one to score the first hit. Mr. X broke off his pursuit of her suddenly and changed course towards where Knocker and Count were attempting to fly through and find an opening while the others began to form a perimeter. Naomi's instincts kicked in, checking to see if there was any more speed her aircraft could give her. Not much, but it had to be enough. At this rate Avril was going to kill her, but Naomi was sure she'd understand. In any case, that was the least of her worries.

Naomi didn't know the aircraft's missile range or the range of that railgun it was apparently flying around with, so she wasn't sure if she could even make it in time. But whatever happened, the only thing on her mind was cutting him off from her allies. It felt like her entire aircraft was rattling again, almost like it was crying out for some kind of mercy between the speed and sharp maneuvers just like how Naomi's muscles were killing her, but she didn't let up. She switched over to her QAAMs, getting a lock albeit at a questionable angle and firing one. Almost as soon as she did she was practically right on top of Mr. X's plane, switching to her guns and firing erratically in hopes of hitting something until she was forced to pull up.

As she pulled up, just barely avoiding colliding with Mr. X's plane, he banked in the opposite direction and did the same to allow him to evade the QAAM as well as climb up to meet him. Either way, Naomi accomplished what she'd set out to do even if she hadn't hit him with something that could do much damage. The important thing was he'd been forced to break off his pursuit of the others, but in spite of that victory her nerves didn't settle any. She huffed, scanning her radar and craning to check what she could see over her shoulder fast enough to give herself whiplash. When she spoke, she tried not to sound angry or nervous but ended up almost snapping at Count and Knocker anyways.

"Both of you, get the hell out of here and regroup with the others!" Naomi said, gritting her teeth and grunting to roll and evade an incoming missile. At least now Mr. X's attention was back on her and not on them. She checked her radar once again, checking to see if her wingmen had done what she'd said. And not exactly to her surprise they hadn't broken off. She cursed under her breath, taking on a sterner tone, "Did you hear me? Disengage now."

"We're no good out here! None of us can even get close enough," Húxiān called out, trying to convince them to listen to Naomi and break off. "We'll only be getting in the way! We're good pilots, but we ain't that damn good."

"The rest of us can form a perimeter to catch whatever slips through. Even if it ends up costing us our lives," Jaeger declared, and Naomi was about to protest the last part but he didn't give her the opportunity. "But it won't come to that. Just leave it to Trigger. She's made it through two fights with him already, if anyone can handle it it's her."

"Dammit!" Knocker sounded like he kicked something in his cockpit, but he complied a moment later, setting his reluctance aside. Apparently Jaeger's speech got to him. Otherwise she doubted he'd be willing to let go like that. "Golem 1, breaking off…"

Naomi waited barely a second, already knowing Count well enough to know he wasn't going to do the same. The fact he didn't respond proved her right. "Count. Now."

"You're out of your mind if you think I'm letting you handle this alone! I'm staying right here, right alongside you. I'll draw him in and you can get your shot," Count said, proposing the exact same strategy that Wiseman had. Judging from the slight tremor in his voice, Naomi guessed he was well aware of that. He went on, stubbornly continuing his attempt to catch back up with them while Naomi tried to buy him time to pull out of the fight. "I already lost Wiseman, I'm not about to lose you too!"

"And I'm not about to lose you! Don't think for a second I'm going to let you play the bait!" Naomi snapped, raising her voice slightly. He could hold his own against Mr. X, Naomi didn't doubt that, but she wasn't going to let him try the same stunt that killed Wiseman. And unfortunately, she wasn't even sure what she had to do to beat him, let alone what else Count could do. She was behind Mr. X now, trying to get a solid lock, firing a QAAM and watching as her opponent dodged with ease. Frustrated with Mr. X as well as her wingman's stubbornness, she called out to Count, "I need you to look after the others, just like at Farbanti! Now break off before I shoot you out of the damn sky myself!"

"Dammit, you dumbass!" Count snapped, then he went quiet for a few moments. She glanced at her radar, watching as her wingman broke off and turned back towards the other. As he turned to rejoin the others, he added, "Don't let us down, Trig. If you even think about dying I swear to god I'll kill you. You got that?"

"Roger that. I'll be fine, Count, just trust me," Naomi said, unable to keep from breathing a sigh of relief. She even managed a small smile to herself.

"I know…I do, but…doesn't mean I like this," Count said, likely just to get the last word in. He'd already lost the fight with her and he knew that, otherwise he wouldn't have broken off like he did and followed the order. Once again, she knew she was asking for his trust in a sticky situation and it was a lot to expect of him. It wasn't the first time and it certainly wouldn't be the last, but even if she felt bad constantly doing that to him she was glad he listened. Even just once. She didn't want to worry about him any more than she had to.

Turning her attention back to the fight, Naomi dropped into a sudden dive to follow Mr. X as he dove down towards the countryside below. She had no idea what he was trying to do, but she guessed it was his attempt to lose her, which she wasn't going to allow. He wanted to fight her so badly he wasn't going to run. And she wasn't going to make it easy on him. She switched over to her pulse lasers, figuring every missile shot was going to be trashed. She had to go easy on those and see if she could cripple him to the point he couldn't evade her missiles. Besides, he wasn't the only one with a few tricks up their sleeve. She followed him, watching him level out and figuring out he was about to pull up again. He moved the same way over Farbanti. This time, she knew how to deal with it.

Carefully, Naomi began to pull up before he did and she angled her nose in such a way she could easily hit him as he began to climb again. Same principle with the gun, keeping it ahead ever so slightly to be able to hit a moving target. Not right on top of him but not too far to get a clean shot in. He came into her sights and she fired as soon as she had the shot, only managing a few glancing blows to the aircraft before he arced up suddenly. As he did this, not only was she aware of what he was about to do but she noticed a bright, blueish-white light from the belly of his plane. A cannon, which she already realized he likely had, but she hadn't noticed the light when he was against the sun like before. Naomi's HUD and sensors began to glitch out again and the sharp whining sound grew louder as Mr. X completed his maneuver.

In the blink of an eye, his fighter arced over her in the same Cobra he'd done countless times before, gliding past her. Shit, shit, shit. Naomi had to think of something and she had to think fast, because if she didn't then she was going to be dead in the blink of an eye. And she couldn't die. Not here, not when she'd gotten this far. She braked hard, her Raptor's speed plummeting in the awkward climb it was in until it finally stalled. In one fluid motion her nose was facing the ground and the stall warning went off. Naomi grunted and gritted her teeth, praying not only that the stunt would work but that she could recover as the aircraft. The crack sounded out and her aircraft shook violently, the shot very nearly hitting her but just missing it. It was hard to tell by how much, and the moment she realized she was still alive she was more focused on recovering her plane from its stall before she crashed.

Naomi was able to get her speed back up, pulling up and practically gasping for breath through gritted teeth as gravity continued to prove itself to be her enemy. But that gave her hope. If she was feeling the strain then there was no way that General Shilage was unaffected. She was much, much younger than him and she could endure this as long as she needed to. She'd done it before, in a worse plane in a worse place. But he was arguably more stubborn here than he'd been over Yinshi or Farbanti, especially with how he stayed glued to her tail even after she dodged the shot from that railgun of his.

He managed to strafe her with stray gunfire and a moment later Naomi's missile warning went off, but she released the remainder of her chaff flares and braked again, sending him and his missile flying away from her. She leveled out once more, now on his tail, following him as he sharply turned back towards the east. Naomi couldn't see her HUD very well, having to rely entirely on the tone indicating her lock. She fired, pretty sure she had a good angle, but he quickly proved her wrong as he climbed unscathed past the sun.

"What the – dammit!" Naomi cursed, checking her missile reserves. If he was going to keep that up, she'd be out of missiles before long.

"Mr. X is ascending rapidly!" Húxiān called out, watching the fight from where she and the others flew about, helpless to do anything.

"The missiles went straight for the sun!" Footpad added, as if anyone paying attention couldn't see it. She tried not to be frustrated with any of them, knowing very well who she should be mad at at that moment. "I knew this guy was no amatuer, but still!"

"Keep your eye on him, Trigger, don't let him throw you off!" Faun encouraged her, sounding unusually furious. She'd never heard him that fired up before, expecting that from Count or Boggard or even Footpad over him. His encouragement worked, though, reminding her of just what she had to do and renewing her determination.

Naomi knew it was probably a careless idea, but she took it anyway, pulling up and following Mr. X into the sky. She got a lock with her regular missiles and fired both the instant she did, immediately switching over to her QAAMs and firing one of those as well, and for good measure she switched to her pulse lasers as well and tried to line up a shot. Spamming weapons wasn't exactly a smart strategy, but she didn't know what else she could do. Something had to get through. Even he couldn't evade an entire volley like that. Her plan worked, more or less, as he dropped flares and pulled evasive maneuvers.

One of her missiles looked like it managed to connect, but she realized it hadn't directly struck his wing like she had hoped. Instead, it appeared to explode in the proximity of his aircraft instead of hitting it dead on. The QAAM had a similar outcome, while the other missile she'd fired trailed off and didn't make any kind of contact. He wasn't able to evade her pulse lasers either, and Naomi managed to score a few hits before he rounded on her, his nose pointed at hers and her missile warning going off a moment later. Naomi broke off, frustrated that he didn't seem fazed too badly.

"Dammit, it's like he's invincible!" Naomi spat, dodging the missile he fired at her.

"That bastard's moving in a way that minimizes the damage even when he's hit!" Count said, his voice a mix of frustrated and confused. He recovered quickly, raising his voice slightly as he too tried to encourage her. It was enough to keep her from losing her head. "Even he can't last forever. Just keep firing those missiles until you blow him to pieces!"

Once again, it sounded like Mr. X was getting ready to fire the railgun and her HUD and instruments proved that, but Naomi had quickly figured out a plan. The railgun didn't work like a missile, so he had to have a clear, head on shot and even then it was easy to evade. But for him, if he had a chance of landing that shot, he couldn't evade. He couldn't break off, or else he'd completely trash the shot. If she could time it just right then she could also get a clear shot in. Taking a deep breath, she pulled around again and met him head on, trying not to focus on the light from the railgun's cannon. The volume of the whining got louder in her ear, indicating her time was running out.

Throttling up, Naomi switched to regular missiles and forced herself to stay on course. Worse case scenario, they collided with each other and both of them lost, best case scenario her plan actually worked. The tone sounded in her ear in the knick of time, cutting off in an instant as Naomi fired a set of two missiles and immediately rolled clear of the shell the railgun fired a second later. She heard the crack again and once more felt her aircraft and chest tremble in response, unable to tell if her own shot had missed or not as it drowned out any explosions. But judging from the cheers that followed, Naomi rightfully guessed one of her missiles managed to make contact with him.

"Strider 1 scored a hit!" Long Caster said, immediately confirming her guess to be true. She felt a rush of relief and excitement, but she couldn't get ahead of herself. Long Caster spoke again, this time over the open channel that they'd briefly communicated with Sol Squadron over and the same that Mr. X had used to announce his arrival. He attempted to sound professional. "Unidentified aircraft, this is AWACS for the LRSSG. You can't keep this fight up much longer, so just land your plane and surrender. Why do you feel the need to continue fighting on your own?"

"That's funny." Mr. X's voice was quick to follow, and Naomi felt a chill run down her spine. Even his voice was enough to get to her, and she wondered if he knew this. Not like she could tell him to just not talk. "It seems like one of your pilots is also fighting alone."

"She's not alone," Long Caster replied, but Naomi cut in before he continued.

"Look around you. I'm not alone, General, and I won't ever be. My wingmen won't abandon me," Naomi said, feeling her whole body trembling. She was furious but she also felt like she was on the verge of crying, but she kept herself steady. She wanted to yell at him, to scream and tell him to just shut up and fight her but she knew that would only be showing him that he got to her. She had to force herself to be calm. "And I won't abandon them. So if you think I'm letting you take me down then you're dead wrong."

"You got that right!" Count joined in on the conversation. He chuckled darkly as he addressed General Shilage, almost as if he was smirking as he spoke. His tone was a mix of confidence and fury. "Bastard. You think you're king of the skies? Just wait 'til Trigger's done with you!"

"I see…perhaps it would have been better to entrust the future to pilots like that," General Shilage responded after hesitating for a few moments, almost sounding like he was recalling some kind of fond memory. His tone completely changed, almost sounding soft. But as quickly as it had changed, he went back to his usual detached confidence. "Very well. Let me test you, then, to see if you're truly worthy. Prove to me here and now that you're the ace I believe you to be, and that our time hasn't been in vain."

"Go get him, Trigger!" Knocker said, not bothering to disguise his anger.

"Fight's on, old man! You're not getting away from me again!" Naomi snapped at the General, not caring to listen to him anymore and not wanting to let down her men. She throttled up and went back on the attack, the two having been idly circling each other for a few moments. In the blink of an eye she was on his tail. She managed to catch him off guard to her own surprise, going guns on him and managing to strafe him again, but she had to pull up and break off to avoid colliding with him. She braked, trying to get a visual on him again.

"Heh. Not bad," General Shilage almost praised her, sounding almost genuine if that's what he was going for. But at the end of the day it was just another taunt. And one that was unfortunately almost working. Naomi gritted her teeth, getting sight of the General's aircraft once again, having put some distance between the two of them. She switched over to her QAAMs and fired off the last two, and Mr. X immediately moved to evade. He banked to the left and then dove towards the ground once again, one missile shooting past while the second managed to clip the tail of his aircraft. It sounded like he grunted in pain before he said, "Well…enough playing nice, then. Let's finish this, shall we?"

"You managed to score another hit! Your missile hit, Trigger!" Footpad called out, sounding almost hopeful.

"He's still flying, but his plane's been damaged! You can take him, Trigger, finish him off!" Jaeger said, joining in to offer his own encouragement.

Naomi followed Mr. X into the dive, though she knew she probably wasn't going to get a good opening. She hadn't before, but that was before he'd presumably been slowed down by that shot. Her missiles were dwindling, only two remaining. Once those were gone, she'd be left with her gun and pulse lasers, but she couldn't worry about that. Not yet. She had to focus on the task or else none of her weapons would be of any use. Just like before she waited, pitching her nose up when the time was right as General Shilage began his climb, locking on and waiting. Then as soon as she heard the tone, she fired off the last of her missiles, staying on his tail and switching over to her pulse lasers in case the missiles weren't enough.

One of them struck his left wing, blowing the tip of it off while the other missile shot past him. He was slowed down, and forced to evade while Naomi tried to line up a shot with the pulse lasers. He stubbornly refused to let her have a clean shot. "Dammit…seems this weapon won't be enough to take you down, Three Strikes," he said to her suddenly, and it shouldn't have surprised her. But something about his tone was different. Like he was beginning to feel the strain. "This aircraft is my body…if they are not enough, then I must put my soul into it."

"The plane is only as good as their pilot," Naomi retorted, grunting as he rolled and she matched his movements, the world spinning while her stomach tightened. "And even you can't keep this up forever! King of the Skies or not!"

"This is my home, Three Strikes, and you are not the first usurper. There are pilots like you in every generation," General Shilage said, his voice becoming calm and clear. In the blink of an eye, in spite of the damage dealt to his plane, he managed to pull off another Cobra, forcing Naomi to go on the defensive while he leveled out. Her missile warnings went off and her HUD began to glitch out once again. In a dark, confident tone, he finished what he'd been saying. "And I felled every last one of them."

"Not all of them!" Naomi snapped, her thoughts racing as she searched for a solution. It was like her life flashed before her, thinking of her father and brother, then of Kathryn and her squadron, then of her wingmen from Spare and the LRSSG. Champ, Wiseman and Brownie, Count and the others. Aces. Pilots just like her. And people that she had to avenge and protect. "And not me!"

Naomi didn't have time to talk herself out of her plan. She braked to lower her speed, intentionally stalling her aircraft and sharply pulling her nose up. Only instead of the Cobra maneuver, she went for the Kulbit. As she maneuvered to complete the loop, her whole body protested the maneuver, and in spite of her best efforts she let out a mix between a cry and a growl through gritted teeth. Her breathing became labored as she fought to keep herself conscious, but tunnel vision was already starting to set in. She saw the advanced fighter shoot by underneath her, trailing smoke from his wing but still flying, and she knew she didn't have much time left.

After what felt like an eternity, the loop came to a close and she leveled out right behind Mr. X now. Quickly, as her peripheral vision started to return and her lightheadedness faded, Naomi lined up her target and fired like her life didn't already depend on it. The General didn't have time to process and counter, much like many of his victims, and the lasers tore right through his engine. The back of the aircraft ignited and burst into flames, spinning out of control and dropping into a fiery dive to the earth below. Naomi's nerves were still shot, in disbelief she'd seemingly managed to pull it off.

It wasn't until the cheers of her allies erupted in her ear that she realized she'd actually succeeded. Long Caster was the first one she could hear. "That's a hit! The unidentified aircraft is going down!" he said, almost through what sounded like a smile. He also sounded out of breath, as if he'd been holding his breath up until that point. "Strider 1 did it! Trigger got Mr. X!"

"She got 'im!" Jaeger cheered.

"Hell yeah! Trigger has splashed a bandit!" Count said next, the relief in his voice enough to rival Naomi's own relief.

"Damn…that was insane…" Húxiān breathed out. She sighed, her tone softening as she added, "Way to go, boss."

"Is it…is it over? It's really over?" Naomi was amazed by how instantly she lost control of her voice, fully aware of how meek she sounded. But she was scared and still on edge, her body still in fight mode even though it was coming off of the adrenaline high. She watched the wreckage, leaving behind only a trail of smoke. The reality of it began to set in, barely speaking to anyone in particular as she went on. "I…I got him."

Things were quiet for several seconds as everyone else truly processed it. When the silence was finally broken, it wasn't by any of her allies, but by the pilot she'd just defeated. The General's confidence was gone, replaced by the voice of a man who's age and ego had finally caught up to him. "Can you hear me, pilot with the Three Strikes?"

Naomi blinked, hesitating. Her brain was starting to slow down, words not coming out. For some reason, the only thing she could manage was a simple order. "You…General Shilage," she said, stumbling over the words. "Eject. While you still can."

He gave a tired laugh, as though she'd told a joke so bad he couldn't help but give her a pity laugh in response. "I've made a great deal of mistakes in my lifetime, Major. And some of them I can't rectify…" he said, drawing in a breath. "So I'm leaving it in your hands…put a stop to the drone production."

There was a crashing sound and the transmission cut to static, shock and confusion setting in once again. Naomi remembered what they knew about the drones being developed, and the prototype they'd run into during their transfer. She knew Sol Squadron had played some role in it, but she never would have thought that Mr. X himself would suddenly…turn on the program like that. Then again, nothing in the war made sense.

For a few seconds everyone was too stunned to say anything, until Faun broke the silence. "That's…that was a message to Trigger," he said. "So what the hell does it mean?"

"Something tells me this war isn't over just because we shot down Mr. X," Count commented. All of them knew that probably wouldn't be the case, but it would have made things so much easier if it had been. They weren't that lucky, though. When Naomi didn't say anything, Count prompted her. "You holding up over there, Trig?"

"I'm fine," Naomi said, trying not to hesitate for too long. She took a deep breath, getting back to what they originally came here for. In the chaos of the fight, she'd almost forgotten, but now she needed a distraction. And that meant finishing her job. "Long Caster, if they don't already know then give Cyclops Squadron the all clear to rendezvous and land. And once they do, I want someone to go out and find the wreckage of that aircraft."

No one questioned the last part, but she was sure they wanted to. She had her reasons, and she'd explain if they asked, but they didn't. Instead, Long Caster complied, sounding too tired himself to start questioning her. "Roger that, Trigger. We'll guide you all somewhere to land."

Naomi banked away from the sun, back towards the castle, the others having caught up and regrouped once Mr. X had gone down. They hadn't ended the war, but at least that fight was finally over. She should have been happy and yet all she could feel was a stabbing sense of anger and grief, like everything over the past several months was beginning to build up to an overwhelming level.

Just like always, she forced it down and let it form a knot in her throat. At least it was better than the alternatives.


Author's Note: Once again displaying my obsession with folk rock through my chapter titles. This time the namesake is a song of the same title by Of Monsters and Men (a band that itself was the namesake of Operation Fisherman's chapter). Been obsessed with the song for several years now and I've known since the Spare Arc that Lost Kingdom's chapter had to be named after it. Mainly because I associate it with Naomi so much, too.

ANYWAYS. This one was something else, lemme tell y'all. It had to be perfect and just how I pictured it and I would accept nothing less...it's definitely not perfect, but it is how I pictured it so I'll take it. The important thing is that I'm very happy with the result and I had fun writing it. My perfectionism sets unattainable goals so I have to compromise or else I get nothing done. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also worth mentioning that I have a rough estimate of how many chapters are left and I'm losing my mind over it. We have some downtime and then it's off to the Lighthouse and I'm freaking out in every possible way I can. But enough of my rambling.
As always, I hope y'all enjoyed!