Eva's heart was pounding. Not out of excitement or exhilaration like in the past week, but out of fear and anxiety. Waller had called all of the pilots to an urgent briefing, and Eva could tell it was critical by the tone that he spoke in. However, he had yet to arrive at the briefing room.

Eva looked over at Magic, who was sitting next to her. "What do you think this is about?" she asked.

Magic shook her head. "Honestly, I have no idea. It could be anything."

"Whatever it is, we can handle it," Vortex cut in. "So try not to worry too much. You always want to go into the sky with a clear head." He cracked a faint smile. "Besides, if we couldn't handle it, then Waller wouldn't be briefing us for a mission, would he?"

Eva nodded. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense." She had to admit; Vortex was good at his job. She couldn't imagine having to lead a squadron of six pilots.

Suddenly, the door behind them opened, and Captain Waller stepped into the room. He quickly walked down the aisle between Nexus Squadron and Meteor Squadron and went over to the wall to dim the lights. Three high-pitched beeps sounded off on the screen as Waller logged into the terminal

"Alright, everyone's here? Let's get this started," Waller said, looking around the room. The screen displayed a map of Usea and zoomed in on a small peninsula in the southeast. "Moments ago, the radar site west of Fort Grays Island went silent after unidentified aircraft approached the area, leading us to believe they attacked it. If this is true, then that means the Usean Ceasefire Agreement has been broken for the first time in over a decade." The area marked on the map as the radar facility suddenly turned red, and the display zoomed out to the full map of Usea. "We've also lost communication with our garrison at Anchorhead Bay, and the IUPF airfield to the northeast of Farbanti." The locations Waller just mentioned turned red as well. "This is not a drill," Waller said. "Both squadrons will sortie and investigate the two silent positions in our area. Meteor Squadron will investigate Anchorhead Bay, and Nexus Squadron will investigate the airfield." The screen showed two blue arrows, and they split off to move toward the red zones. "We don't know what's going on, so I must emphasize the rules of engagement. Under no circumstances are you to fire unless fired upon, am I understood?"

There was a small chorus of "sir, yes, sir"s.

Suddenly, a shaft of light poured into the room as the door flew open. A young officer stood at the doorway. "Sir! We just received word. Fort Grays is under attack! Bombers are inbound, and the base is scrambling fighters."

Waller growled. "Shit!" He turned his attention back to the pilots. "All pilots, get into the air ASAP. Assume aircraft at your objectives are hostile, but that doesn't change a thing. Do not fire unless fired upon."

All twelve pilots stood up and saluted the captain before leaving the room in two-column lines.

Out of all the things Eva expected the briefing to be about, a war's possible start was not one of them. Doubt flooded her find. What if she did something to set everything off? What if she or any of the others died? Eva shook her head to herself. She simply couldn't allow that to happen. Eva smiled a bit as she looked at her friends ahead of her. They were her best friends, and there was nothing that she wouldn't do for them. But at the same time, she wondered if that would be enough. None of them had any idea what they were about to do. Eva shuddered at the thought that this could be one of her last moments in life.

"Alright, listen, everyone," Vortex started. "This is some serious shit. A lot could happen, and a lot could go wrong."

"You worry too much, Vortex, we'll be just fine," Charger said with a smile. He clearly wasn't as worried as Vortex or Eva were.

"It's my job to worry," Vortex said bluntly. "You guys are my responsibility. All I'm saying is don't do anything stupid, and stay close to me."

Everyone quickly got into the air, and for a while, Nexus Squadron and Meteor Squadron flew together in the same northeasterly direction. Before long, Meteor Squadron split off and headed east.

"Good luck, and be careful out there," Domino said.

"And you as well, keep your heads down," Vortex replied.

For the rest of the flight, there was an awkward silence that filled the air. The only thing Eva heard was the roar of her engines, which was muffled by the cockpit. She was tempted to break the silence and clear the air, but she wasn't sure what to say, and she presumed the others were thinking the same thing. Sure, she could talk about the mission, but that would probably end up making her more nervous than she already was. She thought back to Vortex's advice at the briefing about going into the sky with a clear head.

Nexus Squadron made landfall between Dennis and Farbanti, as they chose to go around Erusea's capital. If they were going to war with them, that was the last place any Osean pilot would want to be. They were still several kilometers north of the airfield when suddenly, Eva was cut from her thoughts by a beeping in her plane. She looked down to see that it was her radar causing the disturbance. Two squadrons of fighter jets appeared in the north, and they were heading right for them.

"Vortex, do you see that?" Eva asked, her voice faltering a bit.

"Yeah. Let's go check it out. Everyone remember to hold your fire," Vortex said firmly. "Waller, this is Nexus 1, we have airborne contacts on our radar, and we're moving to investigate."

"Affirmative Nexus 1, try to establish contact with them," Waller replied.

Vortex turned in the direction of the other planes, and everyone else followed right behind him. Eva's heart pounded harder and faster in her chest. Nervous would be an understatement. She was scared. She tried taking a few deep breaths to calm her nerves.

"Unknown aircraft, this is Nexus Squadron of the International Union Peacekeeping Force. Please identify yourselves," Vortex said over an open radio channel.

The only answer they got was silence. Both groups of planes were getting closer to each other. Eva saw the blips appear on her hud. They displayed the distance from her plane, as well as the aircraft type. In this case, one of the groups was flying F-16Cs, and the other was flying Su-37s.

"Unidentified aircraft, please respond!" Vortex said in a more directing tone.

Again, silence greeted them. The distance between the two groups of aircraft got smaller. Suddenly, a monotone beep sounded off in Eva's cockpit. It was a radar lock warning.

"Shit, they have a lock on me!" Lucky said before Eva got a chance to say the same thing.

"Everyone, evade!" Vortex's voice hid a slight hint of panic. "Waller, this is Nexus 1. Unidentified aircraft have a radar lock on us. Are we cleared to engage?"

Eva rolled her plan on its side and made a sharp left turn to evade the enemy. The two groups of aircraft split up, and two F-16s went after her. The lock warning started up again.

"Nexus Squadron, you're cleared to engage. Take 'em out," Waller finally replied.

"I need someone to get these guys off my tail," Eva said as she pitched up into a loop. She saw an enemy fighter on her radar, and it was heading right for her. She rolled to the right and waited for it to pass her before quickly turning and getting behind it. She made a glance behind herself to see if the other two were following, only to see one of the F-16s explode.

"That's one bandit off your back, Diamond," Poet said as he went down and looped back around to go after an Su-37.

"Thanks, Poet, I owe you," Eva replied as she turned her attention back to the F-16 in front of her. She took a deep breath as she got a solid lock on her target and fired two standard missiles. They quickly found their mark, and the F-16 in front of her exploded. Eva was about to report her success when her plane informed her that she had a missile coming up behind her. She quickly dove down and banked right. The missile had lost its mark, but the F-16 was still behind her. She decided to use the maneuver she learned from Domino. Eva quickly straightened her plane, and once her pursuer did the same. She threw her aircraft straight up, dropping its speed significantly, and the enemy fighter flew right past. As Eva saw the F-16 fly in front of her, she looked the plane over. Its tail had the Erusean flag on it. She wasn't exactly surprised that it was Erusea, but the whole situation still shocked her. She shook the thoughts out of her head and leveled her plane out behind the enemy, locking on and quickly firing another two missiles at him, which promptly sent the F16 spiraling toward the ground in a fireball.

Eva looked up at Vortex, who had just downed an Su-37, and saw another closing behind him. Without a moment of hesitation, she made a sharp turn up and to the right and went to help him. Vortex turned to his left, and the Erusean fighter behind him made the same turn. Luckily for Eva, this meant that their back was facing her. She accelerated as fast as she could until she finally got a lock. She held it for just a few more seconds so she could get closer. This time, she fired one of her special weapons, a QAAM. It was much faster than her standard missiles, and it destroyed the plane in one hit.

Lucky formed up next to Eva after destroying one of the F-16s. Eva looked both around the sky and on her radar to determine where to go next. Vortex was going to help Magic take out two F-16s, and Charger and Poet were separately engaging two of the Su-37s. The other two were flying in formation over to Charger and Poet.

"Come on, Diamond, let's go," Lucky said, turning to face the Su-37s.

"I'm way ahead of you," Eva replied, already turning to follow Lucky.

The pair quickly accelerated and got within range, but they saw them coming and split up.

"I'll take the one on the right. You take the one on the left," Eva quickly said before splitting off from Lucky and pursuing the Su-37.

She started to lock onto it, but they went up and into a loop. Eva followed after them, making her loop much tighter and ending up right behind her target. She locked on and quickly put another two standard missiles right into them, and Lucky took out the plane he was chasing at almost the same time. Eva turned her attention back to her radar. Charger and Poet had taken out the last of the Su-37s, and there was only one F-16 left, and it was on Magic's tail. Eva was about to help, but Vortex pulled off a rather impressive maneuver to get behind the F-16 and finish it off with a QAAM.

Eva let out a heavy sigh of relief as the radar showed nothing but their signatures.

"Waller, this is Nexus 1. All hostile aircraft have been destroyed," Vortex said.

"Roger that Nexus 1, RTB."

"Uhh, sir, what about the airfield? Isn't that our primary target?" Vortex asked, clearly confused.

"We received intel from command. I'll explain in the debriefing. Meteor Squadron is already on their way back," Waller explained.

"Affirmative. We're on our way."

By the time they made their way back and landed, Meteor Squadron had already been there waiting for them. Together, all twelve pilots went to the briefing room, where Waller was already waiting for them.

He took a deep breath. It was clear he had a lot to say, and he wasn't sure how to say any of it. "Both of you encountered hostile aircraft on the way to your objectives. We have confirmed these to be Erusean planes. Osean Command has told us that Erusea carried out attacks all over Osea and Erusea using precision drones, including attacks against our naval ports. We're still assessing the damage, but at this moment, we may be the only Osean aircraft carrier still seaworthy. Erusea has taken over most of the Usean continent, as well as the International Space Elevator. It's official: the Kingdom of Erusea is now at war with the Osean Federation."

Author's Note: Hi everyone. I know it's been a while, definitely longer than I had planned, but I've been busy with school as well as dealing with a few personal issues, but chapter 4 is here. Additionally, the series has just hit 400 total views, and I can't thank you guys enough for reading. I truly hope you enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it. I'm gonna start working on chapter 5 as soon as I can, so be on the lookout.