It was unnaturally quiet as Nexus Squadron entered the briefing room. The pilots of Meteor Squadron were already there, and Waller was as well. Eva couldn't help but feel saddened by watching Lucky walk in with his head low and avoiding everyone's eyes. While everyone else sat in their usual spots, he chose to sit as far back as he could, away from the others.
Waller started with a deep breath. "Firstly, I would like to commend all of you. You managed to weaken Farbanti's ground defenses severely, and you completely neutralized their drone launching capabilities." He paused for a long while. "However, there's no way that we can consider this mission a success. In addition to most of our aircraft sustaining massive damage, we failed to take the Erusean Military HQ, not to mention that Eclipse Squadron is dead. Plus, the bombing of civilians has turned the opinion of neutral countries against us." Waller's eyes looked up and toward the back of the room. "Lucky, you are suspected of intentionally murdering Eclipse Squadron. The same goes for your bombing of civilians. There's going to be an inquiry, and probably a court-martial."
Eva couldn't stand the thought of Lucky being court-martialed and sent off to prison. He was no criminal; he was probably the nicest of them all. She looked back at him to see his reaction. Tears welled up in his eyes as he tried feebly to come up with a response, but nothing came out of his mouth. He simply stood up and walked out of the briefing room.
Waller looked as if he was about to say something, but Vortex stopped him. "Let him go," Vortex said. "Just… let him go."
Waller looked down at the floor. "You're all dismissed. Except for you two." He pointed to Vortex and Domino. "We need to formulate a plan now that we only have a few pilots that can fly."
Eva paused as she stood outside Lucky's room. She had looked everywhere else for him, but this was the only place she hadn't checked. She hated seeing Lucky like this, but she'd be hating herself if she didn't at least try to make him feel better. Eva had never seen him this sad about anything. She understood where he was coming from, but it still felt weird to her. She took a deep breath and gently knocked on the metal door.
"Go away, Poet," Lucky said, his voice muffled by the door.
"It's not Poet," Eva replied. "It's me. I just wanna talk to you."
There was an awkward moment of quiet until the door slowly opened from the inside. Lucky quickly avoided Eva's eyes. "Came to talk to the war criminal?" he asked bitterly.
Eva felt her heart sink at Lucky's tone. He really was taking this hard. "You're not a-"
"Does it matter? I pulled the trigger, and that's all that matters, to them anyways," Lucky interrupted her. He turned around and sat down on the bottom bunk and buried his face in his hands.
Eva cautiously followed him into the room and shut the door behind her. "But it does matter," she gently told him. "Because you weren't trying to kill them." She sat down next to him on the bed. "What if the Eruseans hacked your missiles' targeting or something. We don't know what happened, so it's not right for you to blame yourself."
Lucky wiped tears from his eyes as he looked straight ahead at the wall. "I just can't stop thinking about it. Some innocent civilians are dead because of me. I could've just killed an entire family, and that's saying nothing about Eclipse Squadron. They had people waiting for them back home, and they'll never see them again. All because of me."
Eva could feel a tear rolling down her cheek, but she quickly brushed it off. It hurt seeing Lucky this way. He didn't deserve to feel like this; it just wasn't fair. Eva put her hand on his shoulder. "Listen…" She tried to figure out the right way to word what she was trying to say. "I know you're not guilty, and you should know that too. But no matter what happens, you should know that I'll be here for you, and so will the others. Because guilty or not, you're our friend, and nothing is gonna change that. So don't think you have to do this alone, because you're not alone."
Lucky's eyes met hers before he quickly looked away again. "It's just- I can't…" he fumbled over his words no matter what he tried to say. He let out a heavy sigh and nodded. "Thanks, Diamond." For the first time since they got back, a smile appeared on his face as he looked up at her. "Thank you," he repeated.
Eva stood up. "Don't mention it," she told him. The heartfelt smile she had turned into a playful smirk. "Come on, let's go get some food."
By the time Eva and Lucky arrived at the mess hall, the sun still hadn't risen yet, so the room was empty. There wasn't much in the way of food, just a few things that didn't get eaten before. However, while both pilots said they were going to the mess hall to eat, neither of them grabbed anything. In the three weeks that they had been at sea, the mess hall had turned into Nexus Squadron's preferred spot to meet. Perhaps it was the familiarity of the place and the memories they had there that made them gravitate toward it. Eva and Lucky sat across from each other at their usual table. Neither of them said anything. It was just nice to have a chance to relax after everything that had happened that day. Having two sorties in one day took a lot out of Eva, so she would gladly accept a break.
"There you two are!" Magic's sudden voice cut Eva from her thoughts. She turned her head to see Magic and Poet coming into the mess hall and sitting next to them. "Are you okay, Lucky?" Magic asked.
Lucky faintly nodded. "Yeah. I'm fine," he answered. "I just needed some time to process everything is all."
"Alright, but if you do need anything, don't be afraid to let us know. We're here for you, man," Poet chimed in.
Eva flashed Lucky a smile with a friendly 'I told you so' look on her face. "Where's Vortex and Charger?" she asked, observing the absence of their other two wingmen.
"Vortex is still with Waller and Domino, and Charger is with him. They shouldn't be too far behind, though," Poet answered.
Eva felt a feeling of dread as she thought about whatever they were going to do next. They failed to take the capital, so what else was there to do? Perhaps they had reinforcements coming, but even then, Erusea had quite the defense. It would take a lot for their capital to fall., but whatever happened, she just hoped that they didn't lose anyone.
The four pilots talked for a few minutes before Vortex and Charger joined them in the mess hall.
"Aren't you guys tired? It's like, two in the morning," Vortex said, barely suppressing a yawn.
"Can't sleep," Lucky answered.
Vortex gave him a sympathetic look. "Listen, Lucky. I just finished talking with Waller, and I'm going to stay grounded and help you with the inquiry," he told Lucky.
Lucky had a look of surprise on his face. "You don't have to do that. You should focus flying," he finally managed to say.
"I do have to do this," Vortex insisted. "I'm your squadron leader, so it's my job to make sure that you're ok."
"Plus, since my bird's out of commission for the time being, I'll be there too," Charger added. "We've got your back." He gave Lucky a friendly nudge on the shoulder.
"So uhh… what's gonna happen with the rest of us?" Poet asked.
"Since most of Meteor Squadron's planes are needing repairs at the moment, you three are going to be flying under Domino and Torch in Meteor Squadron," Vortex replied, gesturing to Eva, Magic, and Poet. "As for your next mission, Waller will go over that at your next briefing, which is in two days."
Eva felt put at ease by the thought of not having to go up into the air for another two days. She felt exhausted, so she much appreciated having a break. But at the same time, she was curious about what would happen flying under Domino. He was undoubtedly an impressive pilot, maybe even as good as Vortex, so perhaps Eva would be able to pick up a few skills from him. It was then that Eva realized how much she appreciated Waller. Despite how quickly everything had gone wrong in the span of a few hours, he was able to keep a clear head and formulate another plan. They were lucky to have him.
"Well…" Charger said with a yawn as he stood up. "I'm gonna go hit the hay," he announced.
"Same here. Good night everyone," Vortex said, going with Charger back to their room.
Before long, everyone else did the same, and the mess hall was once again empty.
Author's Note: Sorry that this chapter is a bit short, I just thought that it felt right from a pacing standpoint. P.S. Thanks for 500 total views, you guys are awesome.