A/N: This is an AU to another of my fics, Clouded Skies. If you want a better understanding of the story, I suggest reading through that and then coming back to this.


Dawn rose above Farbanti, stretching its pink-orange hues across the landscape. The city was still mourning- recovering from the attack the Oseans had made just two weeks ago. Since then, though, all had been quiet. It almost felt like the Eruseans hadn't declared war on the world's largest superpower. However, that was soon going to change.

It started off as a sound so faint that it could barely be heard. Then, gradually, it got louder as the source of the noise approached. Before long, there was a low rumble in the air for all to hear. A low rumble turned to a deafening roar, and finally, twelve fighter jets shrieked through the open skies, all sporting Osean markings. The fighters were divided into flights of six. The ones leading the charge flew F/A-18Es while the other six, flying just below and behind them, were flying the twin-seated F variant. All of them had been launched from the aircraft carrier just a few miles out, which was soon to join them in the heat of battle.

"Alright, Farbanti's on the nose," the lead pilot of the Echo Hornets, better known as Vortex among his squadron, reported. "We've got one shot at this, so let's not screw it up."

"And remember," Domino, the flight lead of the tandem-seated hornets, chimed in. "The most important thing is that we all come back safely. Don't take any unnecessary risks."

"Captain Waller, what's your status?" Vortex asked.

The response from the captain of the carrier that they had come from, the OFS Kestrel II. "We're inbound- should be there in three minutes, tops. Go ahead and start the party without us. You're free to engage."

"Wilco, Meteor Squadron engaging," Domino reported as the flight of F/A-18Fs dove down toward the ground.

"Nexus Squadron, engaging," Vortex called out as the six F/A-18Es lit their afterburners and sped forward, maintaining their original heading.

As Nexus Squadron approached the incoming hostiles, the pilot in the trail position took deep breaths, hoping to steady her nerves. "Alright, Eva," she muttered to herself. "You've got this." She tightened her grip on the control stick before pushing forward to follow her squadron into the fight. "All right, let's do this." Her plane lurched forward as the afterburners lit, sending her speeding toward the first wave of enemy fighters.

Originally, Meteor Squadron was supposed to be the one establishing air superiority while Nexus engaged the targets on the ground. However, last-minute logistical issues forced them to reverse their roles. Eva had no problems with this, though. In her minimal experience, she preferred dogfighting to ground-pounding anyway. The diamond emblem she had painted on the nose of her plane glinted in the early morning sunlight as she rolled onto her side and turned hard to the left with her squadron toward the bandits as they came into range. The fight was on.

Four Mirages had already taken off from the airport in Farbanti and moved to intercept the Osean fighters. Eva followed her squadron's lead as they all let loose a volley of HCAAs at the bandits, forcing them to evade as Nexus Squadron went after them. As the Mirages split off into different directions, the six Super Hornets did the same, going into elements of two and giving chase. Eva stuck close behind her wingman, Lucky, as the two of them dove down toward the Mirage closest to the ground. The bandit tried its best to get away, but the two pilots had stuck themselves firmly on its tail, waiting for just enough of an opening to take the shot. Finally, that opportunity came, and Lucky let loose an STDM. The heatseeker quickly found its target and began to close in. Flares lit up the sky as the Mirage tried to defend itself, pulling higher into the sky. Eva reacted a moment later, pulling her plane up and putting her nose right on the bandit's path, and letting out a hail of gunfire. With nowhere else to turn, the Mirage flew right into the tracers headed its way and began spiraling down toward the ground below.

"Diamond heads up! Bandit closing in on your six!" Nexus 4, Magic, warned her.

As if on cue, Eva's radar sprang to life, blaring nonstop to warn its pilot of the incoming missile headed their way. The young pilot wasted no time in reacting- her left hand already reaching for her countermeasures while the right yanked back on the control stick, forcing her plane upward. As her Super Hornet arced straight up and then back around, she looked over her shoulder, judging which way the Mirage on her tail was moving. The enemy pilot mimicked her movement perfectly, staying firmly between Eva's tails, despite her best efforts to jink. Tracers flew past her cockpit, but just before they could close in on her, they stopped. Eva looked over her shoulder once more to see the Mirage plummeting to the ground in a ball of fire. A few seconds later, the Super Hornet that shot it down, marked as Nexus 3 on Eva's HUD, flew past the space the Mirage had occupied just a few moments prior.

"Thanks, Poet," Eva sighed in relief as she formed back up with Lucky. "I owe ya one."

"Heh, I'll hold you to that once we get back," he replied with a chuckle before turning away with Magic close behind him.

"Waller, we've taken care of the first QRF fighters," Vortex reported as he and Charger caught the last Mirage in a pincer attack. "Requesting bogey dope."

"Roger that. Looks like the main force is inbound- two flights coming from Farbanti Reconstruction Park. Intercept and engage," Waller ordered. "Meteor 1, STATREP?

"All ground targets in and around Silver Bridge have been taken care of," Domino reported. "We'll meet up with Nexus Squadron at the park to clear the ground defenses there before closing in on the HQ."

"Copy all. Kestrel II is entering the AO now. We'll be providing whatever fire support we can give," Waller informed everyone. "With any luck, we should have Farbanti under our control within the hour."

"Hey, Waller. Do we have any status updates from the Fort Grays aircraft?" Charger asked.

"They've made contact with a small airborne patrol over Chopinburg. Nothing else aside from that."

The prospect of the war being over so soon after it had started made Eva giddy. At that exact moment, there was nothing she wanted more than to put this whole situation behind her. It almost didn't feel real. After two long weeks full of close calls with death, all that was left to end the war was one last mission. Pushing a deep breath in through her nose and out into her oxygen mask, Eva squeezed down on the control stick and followed her squadron over to the last of Farbanti's air defenders.

One by one, the bandits appeared on Eva's HUD. Eight planes in total- four MiG-29s and four Su-30s. A radar warning in her cockpit, notifying her of a missile lock from the ground, was quickly silenced as Meteor Squadron moved in below, sweeping through the last of Farbanti's ground defenses. All that was left was to splash eight bandits.

As soon as the eight Erusean fighters came into range, they split off from one another as they dove and climbed in every direction to catch Nexus Squadron off-guard. Vortex and Charger went high, pulling almost straight up to intercept two of the Su-30s, while Magic and Poet went straight ahead after the other two, leaving Eva and Lucky to go after the MiG-29s. Eva followed her wingman in as he dove down to catch the lower pair off guard. A pair of HCAAs flew off his pylons toward the trailing bandit, and he immediately pulled back up to engage the other two. Eva did the same, just as Lucky's missiles found their target, but unlike his, her missiles chose to pursue the chaff the enemy Fulcrum left behind. She cut back on the throttle, bleeding off speed as she turned to follow the bandit. Refusing to let themselves be caught, the MiG-29 started jinking, narrowly avoiding the bursts of gunfire Eva sent their way. Then, she let out a longer shot, and while the Fulcrum tried getting away, she sent a pair of STDMs right at them, and moments later, the jet was no more.
Eva looked up above her to see Lucky twisting and rolling with the last two Fulcrums, doing everything he could to get a clean shot off on even one of them. Pulling back the stick and pushing the throttle all the way forward, Eva started climbing higher and higher. She positioned herself directly underneath the enemy fighters, and once she was in range, she struck. First came a volley of two HCAAs, then she fired a pair of STDMs at the second bandit and, for good measure, a quick burst from her guns to finish them off. Both MiG-29s, caught completely off-guard, had no time to react, sealing their fate.

"Whew, thanks, Diamond. Good shooting," Lucky praised her. "Was starting to get a little dicey there."

"Well, we're in the clear now," she replied, looking down at her radar to see nothing but friendly air contacts. "Is that all of them?"

"It is indeed," Vortex confirmed. "Waller, this is Nexus 1. We've established air superiority over Farbanti."

"Meteor 1 here; all ground targets have been taken care of as well," Domino chimed in. "Now, let's end this thing once and for all."

Waller let out a sigh of relief. "I couldn't agree more. Eclipse 3, you're cleared to land. Breach the Erusean Military Headquarters and end this war," the captain ordered.

A lone SH-60- the only survivor of the blue-on-blue during the first raid- began its approach. "Solid copy, we're Oscar Mike- should have boots on the ground in two minutes tops."

"Good. As for the rest of you, make your way to the HQ and standby for- wait," Waller interrupted himself. "Nexus Squadron, be advised; you've got a bogey inbound from the east at high speeds. Stay on your toes."

"Just one?" Vortex asked. "Can't say I like the sound of that. Everyone, get set to engage." The tone in his voice was about as serious as Eva had ever heard coming from him.

Looking down at her radar, Eva saw a single hostile contact fast approaching. Her heart raced as she sped forward to catch up with the others. The fact that it was putting Vortex on edge didn't help to alleviate her fears, but after looking to either side at her wingmen, she convinced herself, at least partially, that they could handle whatever it was that was headed their way. She took another deep breath, and as the contact marked as "UNKNOWN" appeared on her HUD, she followed the others into the fight. The bandit went head-to-head with the six Super Hornets, flying straight at them until Nexus Squadron was forced to split off in different directions. The unknown fighter flew straight through their formation, pulling up high to the right as he turned back around to engage.

"Shit! I'm in his jetwash!" Poet cursed as his F/A-18 began to spin uncontrollably. "I'm losing altitude!"

"Poet, try to save it. If you can't, eject," Vortex ordered. "The rest of you- don't give this bastard an inch. Don't let him take a shot at Poet. Domino, we could really use your help here."

The six F/A-18Fs were already inbound. "Hang in there, Vortex. We'll be there in just a second."

Charger grunted as he made an aggressive turn to follow after the bandit. "Jesus, what the hell is this thing anyway? It doesn't look like anything I've ever seen before."

"I can't get in close," Magic growled. "He's too quick."

Diamond watched the fighter twist and turn around Vortex, and finally, she saw her chance. "I'm going in," she announced, lighting her afterburners as she climbed up to meet the fighter. "You with me, Lucky?"

"Right behind you, Diamond. Let's get 'im," her wingman assured her.

"Just be careful, you two," Vortex insisted. "Please."

Eva charged after the mystery fighter, dumping two HCAAs and a pair of STDMs as they hung a right turn to chase after Charger. Flares lit up the morning sky, and the bandit spun upwards, evading the missile with ease. Eva pulled up after him with Lucky close behind, but by the time they had the fighter in their sights, they were already on their way back down, forcing the two Super Hornets to break in opposite directions as the bandit went right between them.

Not wanting to give them an inch, Eva quickly inverted and yanked back on the stick, following the unknown aircraft on its downward trajectory. Her eyes stayed glued to the target as best she could, which was no easy feat considering its maneuverability. The plane was white with orange trim, and there was an emblem on the tail that Eva could only barely make out: a pair of zeros linked together to resemble a sort of crooked infinity symbol. However, she didn't have a good look at it for long, as the fighter quickly rolled onto its side and turned sharply toward Poet.

"Fox 2! Fox 2," Lucky called as an STDM flew off his pylon, streaking past Eva and curving toward the enemy. The bandit dropped flares, rolling into a turn as they evaded and moving away from Poet in the process, but once they straightened their plane back out, a second missile sped forward, nearly hitting if not for the flares the bandit dropped at the last minute.

"Have no fear, Meteor Squadron's here," Meteor 6, Onyx, announced as the Foxtrot Hornets charged at the unknown fighter.

Vortex let out a sigh of relief, seeing the odds turn that much more in their favor. "Good, we can ease off a bit. What's your status, Poet?"

Nexus 3's initial response was a series of grunts as he put all his might into recovering. "I've almost… got it!" he announced as the F/A-18E pulled back up less than a hundred meters from the ground. "Now let's finish this asshole."

The Super Hornets all regrouped with each other, and Eva took advantage of the moment to regain her breath. Going after that bandit with Lucky took a lot out of her, but now that there were twelve of them and only one bandit, she hoped that things wouldn't be as bad. She readied her HCAAs, waiting for a solid lock as the mystery fighter approached head-on when suddenly, they broke off, turning quickly up and to the right, going full speed toward the direction it came from.

"Looks like we've got 'em on the run," Vortex observed.

"Serves the bastard right, thinking he could take us on by himself," Poet remarked, still breathing heavily.

"Well, now that that's out of the way, we can focus on ending this thing at long last," Domino said.

"Break! Break! All aircraft, scatter immediately!" Waller ordered.

Magic groaned. "Oh, come on, what now?"

"You've got projectiles inbound to your position! Get out of there now!" the captain replied, the urgency in his voice growing exponentially with each passing second.

Red circles appeared on Eva's HUD, and she found herself right inside one of them. Panic set in as she turned toward the edge and pushed her throttle as far forward as it would go. Waller continued counting the time until impact, which didn't help her nerves at all. She watched her radar as he counted down from five. The time she spent crossing the edge of the circle felt like an eternity, and with one second to spare, she made it. Then came the bright flashes of blue that filled the sky. Eva's plane shook as the massive explosions echoed into the distance.

"What the hell was that?"Torch demanded.

"Some kind of burst missile, I guess," Charger spitballed. "Did we lose anyone in the explosions?"

Before Eva even got a chance to look around and answer the question, Domino spoke up. "We lost Meteor 5," he said- voice heavy with remorse.

"Shit," Vortex growled. "Waller, what the hell fired those missiles?"

"Ah damn, it's entering the AO now- bearing 110. Stay alert," Waller answered.

Eva looked in the direction Waller specified, and it didn't take long for her to spot what was coming. A massive white shape broke through the clouds, temporarily blocking out the sun behind it. The propellors pushing it forward were too far away for Eva to see, so it looked to be powered by nothing but spite. Then, smaller white shapes fell from beneath it like teardrops. They all stopped for a moment, hovering mid-air before speeding forward toward the twelve pilots.

"Holy shit, that thing is massive!" Onyx exclaimed. "And look at all those drones."

"Waller, we've got eyes on the Arsenal Bird. We need to withdraw. We don't have the numbers or the firepower to take them on," Domino insisted.

The captain was silent for a moment before sighing. "Dammit. Eclipse 3, disengage, and return to the carrier at once. We're getting out of here. Nexus, Meteor, we need you to buy us some time to get clear of the city. Once we're out, withdraw as fast as you can. Good luck to you all."

As the first wave of drones approached, Eva did her best to stay calm. All she needed to do was buy the carrier a few minutes to get away. After all, they've made it this far already. A few minutes wouldn't be so bad. She tried drilling this into her head as much as she could, but as the MQ-101s kept coming, she didn't know how much she believed herself. Regardless, she didn't have a choice. The drones were coming into range, and the fight was on once more.

"Hey, look at the front of the Arsenal Bird," Poet called out. "What is that?"

"Everyone, get out of the way, now! It's probably some kind of weapon charging up," Vortex warned.

Magic grunted. "A bit hard when we've got all these drones coming after us. I can't-" The other pilots were powerless to do anything but watch as a beam of light shot out from the front of the Arsenal Bird and sliced Magic's Super Hornet in two like wet paper.

"Magic!" Eva called out, not sure if she was hoping to get a response or not. "Nexus 4 is down. Say again; Nexus 4 is down!"

"There's nothing we can do about it. We've got more UAVs coming in," Domino reminded her.

Eva did her best to stay focused, launching two STDMs at the pair of drones coming right for her before breaking off to engage more. It didn't take long for both missiles to knock their targets out of the sky. Eva hardly even acknowledged the kill, though. She was already firing HCAAs at another two drones, although, unlike the first pair, they both took the hit, moving into evasive maneuvers with smoke trailing behind them. Eva turned hard to the left, barely managing to catch the first drone in her sights with guns, immediately pitching straight up and looping back around to do the same to the second drone. As she sped by the crumbling wreckage of the second drone, though, she spotted a swarm of MQ-101s boxing in one of the pilots from Meteor Squadron just out of range and was forced to watch as one more came in for the kill shot.

"Meteor 3, bandit on your six! Evade now," the younger pilot cried, already knowing it wouldn't matter.

"There's too many! I can't get-" were the last words Meteor 3 spoke before static replaced their voice.

"We're dropping like flies here," Torch growled. "We need to get past these UAVs."

"Heads up, we've got incoming!" Lucky warned. "Missiles launched from the Arsenal Bird. Evade now!"

Eva tightened her grip on the control stick, briefly worrying that she was going to rip it off its mount as she threw it to the left. The missiles from the Arsenal Bird went straight up from the position they were fired in. Then, they arced through the air, curving down and over toward the scattered and panicked Osean fighters. Eva's radar warning beeped faster and faster as two missiles closed in on her tail. She looked as far back over her shoulder as she could, watching them get just close enough. Then, she threw her stick to the right, rolling her plane over to the other side and turning hard. The missiles turned to the best of their ability but finally lost their target and went careening off into the blue sky.

"Is everyone still in this?" Eva asked.

"I took a hit, but I'm still in this," Charger reported.

"Same here, bring 'em on," Onyx chimed in.

"Alright. Torch, Poet, we're closest to the Arsenal Bird, so we'll get in and do as much damage as we can. Everyone else, take care of those UAVs," Vortex ordered. "Watch each other's backs."

"More drones coming our way. Get ready, everyone," Domino said, already turning to meet them head-on.

"What? But we haven't even dealt with the first ones yet," Meteor 5 protested. "They're still all-" he tried continuing before the laser on the Arsenal Bird went right through his plane."

"Shit! Meteor 5 is lost," Onyx reported as he moved clear of a drone closing in on him.

Eva tried taking as many deep breaths as she could, hoping it would do at least something to steady her nerves, but the constant weight of the g-forces pressing down on her wasn't making things any easier for her. She was too busy trying to calm herself down that she barely even heard Lucky warning her about the drone that crept up behind her. By that point, though, it was already too late. There was a loud thud, and several warnings started blaring in her cockpit.

"Diamond!" Lucky cried out. "Are you okay? Talk to me!"

Eva put a hand up to her chest. She could feel her heart pounding even through the layers and layers of flight gear. "I uh… yeah. Yeah, I'm alright," she finally breathed. She looked down at her instruments, surveying the damage. "Looks like I'm down an engine, but I think…" she glanced down one more time. "I should still be airworthy."

"Well, don't take any unnecessary risks. We've already got- wait," Torch interrupted himself. "What's that light above the Arsenal Bird? Some kind of ring of light."

"Shit. I don't like the look of that. Torch, Poet, break off now," Vortex ordered.

Poet grunted under the stress of g-forces. "Hang on, just a few more seconds. Then I've got this big propellor."

But Nexus 3 was flat out of time. Just as he was trying to break away, an orb of energy sprung out around the Arsenal Bird. Poet only lasted a few seconds before it cooked his plane into a fireball. Meanwhile, Torch, who was struggling to get away on account of the missiles coming after him, didn't fare much better. Within just a few seconds, both pilots had vanished.

"Shit!" Vortex cursed. "This can't be happening."

"Waller, we're down to six planes, and three of them are damaged. We are out of time," Domino insisted. "We need to withdraw now!"

"Alright. It looks like we're far enough away from that behemoth that the carrier is safe," Waller reported. "Now get out of there. Run like hell," he ordered.

Vortex took a moment to regain his composure. "Alright. Charger, Diamond, and Onyx, retreat to the carrier as fast as you can. Domino, Lucky, we'll be the rearguard. We gotta buy as much time for them as possible."

"Wilco. I'm right behind you, Vortex," Lucky assured his flight lead. "Let's go."

Eva splashed one more drone with a pair of HCAAs and turned in the direction of the carrier. She reminded herself over and over that she just had to get back to the carrier. The other three would keep them covered. Even though every part of her was saying to stay and help Charger and Onyx escape, she pushed the throttle to max and let the afterburner on her one engine carry her away. The other two did the same, and with the rearguard putting up a good fight, Eva thought for just a moment that they wouldn't lose anyone else. Poet and Torch would be the last. She hoped so thoroughly that it would be the case. Then, she saw more hostiles on her radar.

"Guys, we've got bandits from due south!" Charger warned before Eva got the chance. "Looks like they're trying to cut us off."

"Not gonna happen," Vortex decided. "Lucky, hang back and deal with the last of these drones. Domino and I will help the others."

Eva saw the flight of 16 appear on her HUD- eight Su-35s and eight Rafales. She looked down at her radar, and a haunting realization set in: Vortex and Domino weren't going to make it before the bandits were on them. She had to do something. After everything that had gone wrong today, she couldn't just stand by and watch everyone get shot down after they were so close to making it out. She took a deep breath and turned to face the bandits head-on, readying the last of her HCAAs.

"Shit, there's more!" Onyx cried out, forcing Eva to look back and see a squadron of Su-57s sneak up on the damaged Super Hornets. "They're already on us. We need help now!"

Eva's missile alert blared once more. She could hardly hear it amidst all the other warnings in her cockpit. Just barely, she managed to drop enough countermeasures to defeat the missile's lock, but the Su-57 on her tail was already close enough for guns. Tracers rattled her plane, and more warnings started up. Some of her displays even began to lose power. She realized that this was it- it had to be. They failed. Then, more tracers cut through the sky. Only these ones were aimed at the Felon. To her relief, Vortex swooped in with perfect timing.

'You alright, Diamond?" Her squadron leader asked.

` She looked down at the few instruments still left on. "Not for much longer, I don't think," she admitted.
"Then get back to the carrier," he told her. "Charger. I'm coming for you next."

"Shit! They're already on me. My bird's too sluggish to-" He was helpless as two of the Su-57s converged on him and finished him off. Vortex's missiles- joined soon after by Lucky's- were just a few seconds too late as the two stealth fighters exploded.

"I took another hit!" Onyx cried out. "They're firing again!"

Domino sped forward as fast as he could, cutting through the last Su-57's path and dropping flares. Unfortunately, the missile that the bandit fired locked onto him instead and smashed right into his tail. "Dammit!" he cursed. "Onyx, bail out! I'm doing the same. I'll try to find you on the ground." His radio cut out, and two parachutes began floating to the ground.

Meanwhile, Onyx's plane continued to lose altitude- smoke and flames spewing out of both engines as it hurtled toward the earth. "I can't eject! The handle's not working! Gotta pull up." The last Foxtrot Hornet was sluggish to raise its nose, but it delayed its crash just long enough for the pilot and his WSO to eject, leaving just three planes left.

Vortex, Lucky, and Eva had finally begun flying over the water. They were almost in the clear, but they weren't out of the woods yet. Eva was trailing behind, and the bandits behind them were quickly gaining on her. It was only a matter of time before they converged on her like a pack of carnivores trailing sick prey. She was about to tell them to keep going without her when suddenly, Vortex pulled up and looped back around, straightening his plane out as he started flying back to meet the rest of the bandits.

"Don't stop, and don't follow me," he said before either of the last two pilots could say anything. "Just go. I believe in you two. Don't stop fighting the good fight, and keep the fallen in your heart."

Neither Eva nor Lucky said anything or tried to change their heading. They knew there was nothing left for them to do. All they could do was limp back to the Kestrel II, leaving their squadron leader behind, along with the hopes of an early end to the war. Eva looked down at her hands, touched her face, and breathed slowly. She was alive, but what good did that do? There was nothing left for them to do. They lost.