Eva let out a sigh of relief as she finally lifted the weight of her flight gear off her shoulders. Now that it was off, she could finally feel like she was able to breathe easy again. She didn't have to feel like any of her wingmen could die at any second and that she had to watch over them whenever she was able. Now that she was actually leading the squadron, Eva realized how much work it was. It made her appreciate Vortex's dedication even more than she already did.

"Man, it sure was crazy out there for a bit," Lucky remarked as he climbed down from his F-35.

"No kidding," Magic agreed. "Y'think we're gonna figure out what the hell was with those railgun shells getting lobbed at us?" She took off her helmet and brushed a few loose strands of black hair out of her face.

"I'm sure David'll figure it out eventually," Lucky said with his signature optimistic smile as he took off his flight gear. "He's a pretty smart guy. After all, I'd probably be in a prison cell or something if not for him," he pointed out.

Charger, who already had everything off, opened his mouth to reply, but he stopped himself when he saw Captain Garth speed-walking into their hangar with Clown Boggard and Footpad behind him. Rather than saying what he initially planned to, he decided to call out to them with a simple, "What's up?"

"I think you guys might wanna check this out," Garth explained as he gave a curt nod in the direction of the docks.

Clown looked at the Kestrel Squadron pilots with a confused expression and shrugged. "Said the same thing to us. I tried asking what he means. He just insists we see it for ourselves."

"Well, if you insist, I guess," Eva said, briefly glancing back at the others to gauge their reaction before following the group.

As everyone followed Garth down to the docks, Eva wondered what he could possibly have to show them that was so important. She also couldn't help but get a feeling of déjà vu from only a few days ago when the Falcon arrived. That day had made the situation so much more complicated than it already was, and Eva was already worrying that the same thing would happen this time. She was tired of worrying about everything, but she just couldn't help it. After Vortex got shot down, it felt like everything had been flipped on its head, and as much as she tried to move on from it, she just couldn't.

Once the group got closer to the docks, Eva tried standing up on her toes and raising her head up into the air to try and see what it was that Garth wanted them to see. Despite how hard she looked, though, she couldn't see anything aside from the POWs getting off the Falcon. Even as they got closer, she failed to see anything else. Although, one of the prisoners did look vaguely familiar. She was pacing around with no sense of rhyme or reason, and Eva could just barely make out the nervous expression on her face. Just as she was about to realize who the woman was, Boggard practically yelled her name out in disbelief.

"Brownie? Is that you?" he asked as everyone quickened their pace to meet her.

Brownie looked over at them with an almost frightened look on her face before relaxing upon realizing who it was. "You guys are still here? I was starting to worry," she admitted in a relieved voice.

Clown's face darkened. "We are, but… we're about all that's left to tell you the truth," he said. "We lost Gargoyle Squadron, Knocker, Faun, Vortex, and Trigger."

Eva winced at the mention of Trigger. Hearing his name was like pouring salt on the wound. All she could think about was how things would've been different if they had just gotten back to Fort Grays a little faster. Maybe they would've been able to turn the tide in Trigger's hearing, just like David did for Lucky. Now, though, it didn't matter. They were too late, and Trigger was dead because of it.

"On the bright side, at least Nexus Squadron made it back alright," Footpad pointed out. "They're going by Kestel Squadron now, though."

"Is that so?" Eva jumped at the sound of a familiar voice she thought she'd never hear again. Her head snapped toward the direction of the voice, and sure enough, she saw none other than Torch hopping toward the group on crutches. "And here I was, thinking I was the only one that made it out that day. Glad I was wrong, though."

"Holy shit. Torch, you're alive!" Charger exclaimed as he rushed over to the other pilot.

All of the pilots from Kestrel Squadron couldn't stop grinning from ear to ear. They were no longer the only ones to have made it off the Kestrel II. Not only that, but not everyone from Meteor Squadron had died. The revelation made Eva too happy for words. She considered the loss of the Kestrel II one of, if not her absolute biggest failure, and even though everyone else was still dead, she could rest just a little bit easier knowing one more person made it out alive.

"So, spill it," Poet said, looking at Torch wide-eyed. "What happened?"

"Well, truth be told, it's a surprisingly long story," Torch admitted as he shifted his weight onto one crutch. "And I am damn hungry, so how about we catch up over some grub?"

"So now that the Arsenal Bird is here, we've gotta deal with a shitload of drones, too," Charger explained, gesticulating wildly as he continued his explanation of everything they had been through. "By that point, though, we basically succeeded because there was no way Justice could've gotten all the way to Stonehenge in such a short amount of time. Regardless, we had to take it on anyway."

"It was absolutely insane," Poet added. "My missile alert wouldn't shut up. We had at least four dozen drones in the air, plus a ton of missiles and lasers from the Arsenal Bird- complete chaos. Diamond and Vortex were tearing shit up, as per usual, and quite frankly, I think if the Arsenal Bird didn't deploy its shield, they might've even taken it down before we had to back out."

"Man, that sounds crazy," Torch said as he listened to the group tell their story. He rested his elbow on the table in the mess hall they were sitting at and put his head into his hand. "I assume that's when you got transferred back here?"

Magic shook her head. "Nope, not even close," she said, finally sitting down on one of the chairs, albeit backward, as she joined into the re-telling of their story.

Eva smiled as she listened to them recount their battle in San Salvacion. Charger's animated expressions as he finally got to talk with one of his best friends again, Poet's occasional eager comment as he added to Charger's story, Magic's amused smirk as she shook her head at the pair's antics, and Lucky's smile that he had perfected by that point- that smile that Eva loved so much, all of it just made her feel at home because she was. She had heard the phrase, 'home is where the heart is,' so many times throughout her life, but at that moment, she finally figured out what it truly meant. It didn't matter where Eva was in the world. As long as she had those five with her, she would always feel like she belonged. It was like they were a piece of her she didn't even know she was missing, and that piece made her whole.

By that point, Charger and Poet had gotten to the part of the battle where she and Vortex were facing off against Zero. Charger used his hands to try and replicate the maneuvers all three planes were pulling in that dogfight, and Poet talked about what the other planes and the people on the ground were saying as they danced through the sky. That's when Eva realized something. Maybe it was a fluke or just plain luck, but somehow, they had become some of the most experienced pilots in the war. The five of them had taken on Arsenal Birds, legions of drones, elite squadrons, an experimental superplane, and more Erusean fighters than she could count, and they came out on top every time. When Eva first left Fort Grays on the Kestrel II, she never would have thought in her wildest dreams that she'd be where she was now, and she owed it to her squadron- no, her friends, that she was able to make it this far.

The group continued to explain their story, and they did their best not to omit a single detail. They talked about the transfer to Tyler Island, their duel with Rogue Squadron as the satellites went down, the mission to rescue the troops at Expo City and Vortex's death, and the Free Erusean attack before the Falcon arrived.

"Jesus," Torch finally said. "You guys really have been through it all."

"No kidding," Brownie added. "I can't even imagine having to deal with all of that."

"Well, we ain't done yet," Clown said. "We've still got a war to finish and plenty of planes at our disposal, so you wanna help us end this?"

Brownie smirked as she looked across the table at Clown. "You really think that even if I did have a choice, I'd say no?"

Torch sighed longingly. "I wish I could rejoin you guys back up there in the skies." He glanced down at his legs with a disappointed look on his face. "Sadly, I think my wings have been sufficiently clipped."

Charger gave him a friendly nudge on the shoulder. "Don't worry. We'll keep things interesting for you. I promise," he assured Torch. "Even if you're relegated to watching from the sidelines, I'm sure Knight'll find plenty for you to do to help out here."

Torch gave Charger a slight nod. "Yeah, I guess. It's just not the same, y'know?"

"Yeah. I know exactly what you mean." Eva jumped in. "Being grounded after I had to eject was pure torture. Do you know if the damage is permanent?"

All Torch could do was shrug. "I still have to visit the infirmary here to see what their verdict is, but the ones that found me seem to think so. Chances are, I'll end up in a wheelchair."

"Shit, Torch. I'm sorry," Poet murmured. "I wish we could've done more."

"No need to apologize. It's not like it was your fault or anything," Torch said dismissively. "Just how the chips fell, I guess." He looked up at the clock on the wall. "Speaking of the infirmary, I should probably start heading over there now."

Charger jumped to his feet. "I'll help you, c'mon."

As Charger and Torch left for the infirmary, everyone else slowly started filing out of the mess hall in groups. Clown, Boggard, and Footpad headed over to the barracks with Brownie to help her get settled back in, and Poet and Magic went off to check on their planes in the hangar, leaving Eva and Lucky alone in the large room.

"Long day, huh?" Lucky said with a smile as he stood beside Eva. "Worth it, though, in my opinion."

Eva put her arm around Lucky's waist and pulled him in close so she could rest her head on his shoulder. A few hairs fell in front of her face, but she made no effort to brush them away. Lucky looked down at her and gave her a brief peck on the cheek, causing Eva's cheeks to get even more flushed than they already were. Everything about Lucky felt so soft to Eva, his hand stroking the back of her head, the shoulder she was leaning on, and his lips all felt smooth like polished stone, and she loved it.

"He'd be proud of you, y'know," Lucky finally said after the silence lingered for just a moment too long.

Eva looked up at him with a confused look. "Huh? What do you mean?"

"Vortex," Lucky clarified. "You've only been the squad leader for, what, less than a week? And already you've proved several times over that you were the right person for the task."

Eva smiled and let out a soft chuckle. "Right. And I'm sure you have no bias in coming to that conclusion whatsoever," she said as she reached up and gave him a brief kiss on the lips. Suddenly, the familiar feeling of doubt crawled into her mind. It felt like her heart weighed the same as a boulder and sank into her stomach. The smile on her face slowly dissipated, and she pulled away. "But, uh, I really don't think I have," she admitted, shifting her gaze away from Lucky. "Hell, I've barely done anything in the two missions we've gone on."

Lucky gently pulled her gaze back to his. "Hey, don't sell yourself so short," he told her gently. "You did well out there."

Eva let out a defeated sigh. "I- it's just… Vortex made it look so simple, and now that I'm the one actually giving the orders, it just feels… wrong."

"Vortex had years of experience with this kinda thing. You've been leading a squadron for less than a week by now," Lucky pointed out. You can't possibly expect to be as much of a natural at it as he was, but with that being said, I think you're doing just fine now, and no. There's no bias in that statement whatsoever," he said, smiling as he leaned down and gave her another kiss on the cheek.

Eva didn't bother replying, mainly because she knew he was right. If Vortex were still here, she knew he would probably be beaming with pride when he saw the work she was doing. Eva may not be able to live up to Vortex's memory as she perceived it, but she didn't need to. And as she sat there, leaning against Lucky's shoulder, she realized that was just fine with her.