Eva took a seat in the briefing room between Lucky and Magic. The place wasn't all that special. It was just a small room with a large screen in the front and chairs on either side of the room, with a single aisle down the middle. Nexus Squadron was sitting in the front row of chairs on one side of the room, and Meteor Squadron was seated at the row across the aisle. After a few minutes of unusually awkward silence, the door behind them opened, and the officer running the exercise, Captain Waller, walked up to the front of the room.
"Good to see you're all here. Now let's get this show on the road," Waller said in a neutral tone. "You know why you're here: a standard training exercise. You'll all go up and fly in opposite directions before turning around and meeting head-on. You'll be going up without missiles, just in case. Each squadron will be on separate radio channels to communicate with each other, but I'll be speaking with all of you on our regular open channel. To 'shoot down' the enemy, you'll need to maintain radar lock on your target's aircraft for five seconds. After that, I'll announce it over the radio, and they'll land on the carrier." He powered up the screen and pulled up two lists. "Your formations are the standard ones listed here."
Two columns appeared on the screen. One was titled Nexus Squadron, and the other was titled Meteor Squadron. Eva's eyes went down the list of Nexus Squadron: Vortex, Charger, Poet, Magic, Lucky, and Diamond.
"Now, let's get you all up in the air," Waller finally said.
All of the pilots stood up and started making their way to the hangar.
As Eva walked alongside the others, she felt the same giddy feeling that she did when she went up the day before. After all this time she had waited, and all the effort she had put in, she was finally going to dogfight. It had been her dream since she first went to flight school. Even if it wasn't an actual dogfight, Eva was still very excited. Her mind raced around with so many different thoughts, although none stayed in her brain's forefront for very long. She put on her flight gear, and this time, she didn't even feel much of a difference in weight. Lucky noticed her inherent eagerness and let out a small chuckle, and Eva couldn't help but laugh along with him. To her, everything about his laugh just made it contagious. Whether it was how it sounded or the face that he made when he laughed, it was like the stars had aligned to create the perfect laugh. As both squadrons arrived at the hangars, Domino looked over at Vortex with a smirk on his face and did a sarcastic bow.
"Please, after you, sir," he said in an attempt at a posh accent.
Vortex returned the bow and stepped into the hangar. "Why, thank you, sir," he said in an equally terrible posh accent.
Just like before, they went up in groups of two, with Eva and Lucky being last.
"Lucky your callsign is Nexus 5, Diamond yours is Nexus 6," Waller said over the radio.
"Nexus 5, wilco," Lucky replied.
"Nexus 6, roger that," Eva said before slipping on her oxygen mask.
They went through some last-second flight checks and took off into the skies.
As Eva picked up speed and altitude, she felt the same exhilaration as before. It was a feeling that she would never forget. As she and Lucky slid into formation behind Magic and Poet, Eva realized that this was the first time that all six of them were finally flying together. It felt nice. They continued flying straight out, away from the carrier until they received word from Waller.
"Nexus Squadron, Meteor Squadron is airborne. You're free to engage," he told them.
"Roger that," Vortex replied. "Alright, let's go get 'em." He turned 180 degrees, and everyone else followed close behind as they made their way back toward the carrier.
Eva looked down at her radar and saw six blips heading straight for them. "So what's the plan, sir?" she asked Vortex.
"Charger, you're gonna hit 'em head-on, and I'll cover you. Our job is to try and scatter them as much as possible, which is where the rest of you come in and start to pick them off," Vortex said in a clear and concise tone. It was no wonder he was the squadron leader.
"Man, you just know how to make my day don't you?" Charger said, laughing.
The dogfight commenced right above the carrier, and they all went to work. Charger sped up and started going after one of the other pilots, while Vortex tried to get the fighter off Charger's tail. Three of the other Meteor Squadron pilots split off and started engaging the others. Eva pitched her nose almost straight up to avoid their lock.
"Diamond, I've got two on my tail. I need a little help here!" Lucky called out.
"Hang on, Lucky. I'm on my way." Eva rolled her plane upside down in one fluid motion and pulled back on the stick until she had completely turned around. She moved right side up again and made her way towards Lucky.
"Vortex, they have a lock on me, where are you?" Charger asked in an irritated tone.
"Just try to shake him off, I've got my hands full," Vortex replied as he tried to outmaneuver one of the other fighters behind him.
"Meteor 5 downed by Nexus 2," Waller informed everyone. "And, Nexus 2 has been downed by Meteor 2."
"Hold on, Magic. I'm locking on to the guy on your tail. Just try to get him off you." Poet said, trailing behind one of Meteor Squadron's fighters. Suddenly, the plane pulled its nose straight up, dropping its speed, and Poet flew right past him. "What the hell? How did he do that? He's got a lock on me!"
"Nexus 3 has been downed by Meteor 1," Waller announced.
Eva saw the maneuver out of the corner of her eye. It was fairly impressive, but for the most part, she was too busy trying to get the two fighters off of Lucky's tail. Finally, she got within range, and a beeping sounded off in her plane. Eva counted down to herself, "five, four, three-" The other plane made a sharp turn that broke her lock. She took a deep breath and followed suit, quickly regaining her lock. "Five, four, three, two, one!"
"Meteor 3 downed by Nexus 6," Waller's confirmation made Eva practically glow with pride.
"Nice job, Diamond!" Lucky praised her. "Now, help get this last guy off my tail."
She increased her speed and tried to get in range of the other plane. Meanwhile, Vortex was chasing a target of his own. He finally had them right where he wanted them and got a lock.
"Nexus 1 has downed Meteor 2," Waller said. "And Nexus 5 has been downed by Meteor 4."
"Shit, sorry, Lucky. He was a little too slippery, but I'll get him for you," Eva said, trying to reassure him.
"Ah, you did the best you could. Don't worry about it," Lucky replied.
Eva quickly glanced down at her radar and saw another fighter headed her way. "Magic, I've got one headed my way. Wanna take him out for me?" she asked.
"On it," Magic replied. "I was just about to try and get him anyways." She made a hard left and tried to intercept the fighter.
Eva took a deep breath and focused on the one she was chasing down. Her radar lock's beeping briefly went on and off several times as the other pilot broke her lock. Suddenly, she heard an alert in her cockpit. She had someone locking onto her. She accelerated forward, trying to get out of range of her pursuer and get close to her target, but Eva's alert quickly shut off.
"Meteor 6 downed by Nexus 4," Waller announced.
"Thanks, Magic!" Eva said, accelerating just a tad more. "And now I've got this one." The beeping of her radar lock stayed on this time, and she counted down again. "Five, four, three, two, one!"
"Nexus 6 has downed Meteor 4."
"Alright! Just one more and we win!" Magic chirped. However, their small victory was short-lived.
"Magic, you've got one headed your way, break!" Vortex warned her. Magic tried to outmaneuver the incoming fighter, but it was too late.
"Nexus 4 has been downed by Meteor 1," Waller said.
The plane started making its way toward Eva, who went straight up into the sky.
"Keep calm now, Diamond. There's two of us and one of him. We've just gotta- ah shit!" Vortex's words were cut short. It turned out, as Eva went up, the fighter turned toward Vortex and got behind him with a tight loop around.
"Meteor 1 has downed Nexus 1."
"Damn, it's all up to me, I guess," Eva said, a hint of nervousness in her voice. She looked at her radar and turned toward the last signal that wasn't hers. "Let's see what you've got, Domino."
She came up below him and got a lock. "Five, four-" He quickly pitched upward and looped around behind her. Eva tried to outmaneuver him and twist around to get behind him, but he matched every move she made. Finally, he started locking onto her. She had an idea that she wasn't sure would work, but at this point, she had no other options. She pitched her nose straight up, and her speed dropped. This time, Domino was the one to go right past her. She quickly lowered her plane and locked onto him. "Five, four, three, two, one!"
"Nexus 6 has downed Meteor 1." Even Waller sounded both surprised and impressed. "That concludes the exercise. Nexus 6, Meteor 1, you're cleared to land."
As soon as Eva had her helmet off, everyone ran up to her. Vortex laughed as the others hoisted her up. Eva thought it was a bit gratuitous, but she didn't say anything. If anything, it felt a bit surreal to her. A few days ago, she hadn't even flown once, and now here she was being treated like she had just won a war. It felt nice more than anything. After a few seconds, she jumped down.
"That was amazing, Diamond! How'd you do that?" Lucky's eyes were glowing as he spoke. He looked reminiscent of a child looking up to their idol.
"I just saw Domino do it earlier. I- I didn't really think about it, I just did it," she tried to explain. She still didn't feel like she was translating the thoughts in her mind into words very well.
Domino approached the group and stood next to Vortex. "That was some impressive flying out there," he told Eva. He looked over at Vortex and gave him a nudge on the shoulder. "It looks like you've got some good pilots with you."
"Well, you're not so bad yourself," Poet said.
"Yeah, he's right. You're all pretty good pilots. We'd fly with you and your boys anytime," Vortex added with a smile.
Domino nodded and turned his gaze back to Eva. "So, how'd you learn to do that?" he asked.
"Well, actually, I learned it from you," she admitted.
Domino's face turned to one of intrigue. "Really? What do you mean?"
Eva felt her face getting red. She wasn't used to being the center of attention. At least, not among people she didn't know that well. "I uhh saw you use the same move on Poet earlier."
"That's amazing," Domino said, looking impressed. "Attention to detail like that is important as a pilot, so is adapting to the situation like you did."
"Yeah, you did pretty well out there, Diamond," Vortex praised her. "Let's go see if Waller needs anything else from us, and after that, we can go grab some food."
Author's Note: And so the pre-war mini-arc comes to a close. The scene is all set for some spicy drama. I hope you're all enjoying the story so far because I'm certainly enjoying writing it. I'd also like to thank everyone who's been leaving reviews. I'm certainly taking all your critiques in mind when I'm writing the next chapter, and I enjoy reading your guys' thoughts on the story. The next chapter will be Kestrel II's equivalent to Operation Deer Horn, so be ready for some more action.