The Sky isn't the Limit Anymore

by battlestar2586

This is focused primarily on my own character's and Mikumo's relationship, but will at times focus on Hayate and Freyja, and some other pairings. This will also include a story line that takes place AFTER episode 26, so if you haven't watched the anime, you might want to. Hayate X Freyja, OC X Mikumo, WILL include graphic violence, M-rated lemons and more. On (temporary?) hiatus

18. Chapter 18

Alright guys, I know it's been a while, but life really just doesn't give a f**k sometimes. I won't elaborate because I don't really consider what's been going the past 18 months as an excuse, but for those of you reading with a FFN account, you can PM me for the (non-confidential) reasons. I'll be trying to catch up on writing this story, but it may undergo some serious revision, if not an outright re-write. As for my dedicated readers who have been staying with this story despite the two year hiatus, I appreciate you; this one's for you guys. Hopefully my writing hasn't devolved but it has been some time since I last wrote a chapter.

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15 minutes before the collision, 1500 meters from the Aether

The space near the Aether was littered with the bullet-riddled pieces of various Nightmares, severed arms, legs, and destroyed gunpods filled the space. In the middle were Delta Platoon's Siegfrieds, all five of them in Gerwalk mode with their railguns and beam turrets deployed. Hayate and Mirage's Siegfried had their backs to each other, a position they commonly adopted. Arad and Messer's Siegfried floated next to each other, while Chuck was in the middle of the other four pilots.

Hayate wipes a beam of sweat from his forehead. "They don't stop coming. Do we have a plan, because for the first time ever, I'm actually running low on ammo, and I'm pretty sure you guys are too."

Mirage leans her head back slightly. "I'm in a similar situation, but we can't just leave Beta Platoon to defend the Aether themselves. They've been seeing just almost as much action as we have."

Arad hums in affirmation. "Delta-5's right though. As it is, nevermind ammo, we're all going to run out of propellant. We're going to need to regroup and rearm soon. Not to mention we're going to have to wait a bit for our reactors to recharge enough energy before we can get back into action."

Chuck clicks his tongue. "I just resupplied and repaired my bird too, and I don't think I'm much better off than you all."

Messer glances at his console. "My energy is at an acceptable level; I am running low on propellant and ammo, however."

"Wait, how are you not as drained as we are? You've been in the thick of it, same as us, and it's not like you haven't been shooting them. What gives?" Hayate asks incredulously.

Messer looks down in thought as Arad puts a thought out.

"They upgraded your bird, didn't they?"

"In all honesty, that didn't cross my mind until we started discussing this." Messer frowned as he said this.

"Were you aware that they made some changes?" Mirage asks her former superior.

"I..." Messer pauses, struggling to remember. "I'm almost certain they told me, but...it slipped my mind."

"You okay, Messer?" Hayate asks, concern obvious.

Messer leans back slightly. "You know what, Hayate?"

"What?" Hayate raises an eyebrow.

"I think I will take you up on that vacation offer." Messer says quietly.

Chuck, Mirage, and Hayate look at each other before turning to Arad.

"Oh shit." Hayate glances at Mirage.

"Sir, should we call for medevac?" Mirage asks Arad, her tone earnestly serious.

"I'll tell the Aether and Enterprise to have medics on standby." Arad says, punching a code into his console.

"Wait, what? I'm fine guys." Messer quickly looks between the four members of Delta Platoon.

"The hell you are." The four of them say in unison.

"This isn't funny. Hayate, stop screwing around-" Messer starts, clearly exasperated, only to see Hayate was dead serious.

"Do we need to drag you back to the Aether?" Chuck turns to Messer, his expression uncharacteristically serious.

"I..." Messer sighs, rubbing the back of his head, ignoring the fact that he was wearing a helmet. "Okay, I'll get checked up on, but you guys better not deploy without me."

"I doubt that'll happen, even if we wanted it to. We need to restock ASAP." Arad notes, frowning slightly. "However, having said that, the Aether was packed to the brim to bring all four Xaos platoons up here, so there isn't much in the way of supplies left on it."

"Major Molders, the Hermera will break orbit in 5 minutes, with most of our spare equipment, ammo, and fuel. Get ready to cycle all Xaos platoons to rearm and resupply." Ernest informs Arad.

"Roger that, commander. Good timing, too, we've exhausted a significant percentage of our supplies, so great timing. I'll see if the ISDF carriers can pull some of their squadrons to cover us while we resupply."

"I've already informed Lieutenant Colonel Takamura, he's sending both ACE squads to hold the Aether, minus First Lieutenant Schwernz. He is currently defending the Enterprise in his Konig Monster, so relocating him will be more trouble than it's worth. On a side note, the Enterprise is under heavy assault from Apex battleships and fighter squadrons, but their numbers appear to be waning. This should leave us with a brief window of time in which we can get the Aether within the Enterprise's, and to an extent, the ISDF fleet's defensive battery range without getting torn up in the cross fire."

"Understood. Any information on their ETA?"

"From the looks of it, the Hammer of Sol will be close enough to completely annihilate the Apex forces surrounding the Enterprise. I estimate no more than twelve minutes until ISDF reinforcements arrive. Hang in there, everyone."

"Understood." Arad nods.

"Yes sir." Hayate glances around.

Roger that." Mirage checks the status of her Siegfried.

"Aye sir." Chuck responds as he checks the radar for incoming Nightmares.

"We should be able to hold them off for twelve minutes." Messer notes.

Not like we have a choice in the matter; the problem is Walkure."

"Captain?" The pilots look at Arad.

"Our original plan was for Walkure to perform a tactical concert once the Aether linked up with the Enterprise; obviously, that hasn't happened yet. Now, we have two options: Walkure can either perform the minute we finish resupplying from the Hermera, or we can stick to the original plan. Naturally, I'm going to ask them what they plan on doing, because this pretty much revolves around them, but I wanted to know what you all think of the situation."

Chuck and Mirage remain silent while Hayate and Messer look at each other.

"What do you think, Messer?" Hayate asks quietly.

Messer's eyes widen briefly. "I don't know. Aside from the fact that their singing gives us multiple advantages, I...I honestly don't know if we have the capability to protect them from any and all attacks."

"Well, it's not like we've failed to protect them yet, right? It can't be-" Chuck tries to lighten the situation, but Hayate shook his head.

"That's not it. We have to protect them completely this time. Before, it was manageable when their stage got knocked out, because we were in an atmosphere and we could just catch them. Here, if we fail, they're going to get sucked into space and there'll be no second chances. I don't know if I want to risk all that just to have them perform ten or so minutes earlier than planned."

"Hayate's right. The circumstances are different. Our adversaries are out to destroy us completely, and I doubt they're going to leave at random like the Aerial Knights back then." Messer glances at the Aether. "I don't think we should move the timetable forward."

"Do you two feel the same way?" Arad turns to Mirage and Chuck.

"Given that Hayate and Messer both made valid points, I can't help but agree with them." Mirage says calmly.

"Yeah, there's not much else I can say that hasn't already been said." Chuck adds.

"Right." Arad says as he checks his console. "I'll take everyone's thoughts into mind when I debrief Walkure on the situation, but keep in mind, their choices carry as much weight as ours do."

There was a silence among the remaining pilots until Chuck speaks up. "Well, on the bright side, we'll get to see their reactions to Hayate's dancing when they do decide to perform."

The other pilots chuckle quietly.

"Well, I suppose that is a plus." Arad sighs, a grin on his face.

"I would tend to agree." Messer says, relaxing a bit.

"Kind of convenient for the Apex to not attack us while we were chatting." Hayate quips.

"I wouldn't hold your breath, Hayate." Mirage jabs at her former student.

"No shit, they're probably sending more fighters our way. Just thought I'd point out the convenient timing." Hayate flexes his fingers.

"Speaking of which, here they come." Chuck says as his radar blares.

"Delta Platoon, prepare to engage!" Arad orders to the nearby pilots. "Beta Platoon, hold the line half a klick from the Aether."

After getting acknowledged by the less so, but still exhausted Beta Platoon, Arad turns his Siegfried towards the incoming Nightmares, Messer at his side. Hayate and Mirage paired up just in front of them, Chuck hanging back just far enough to deny the Apex fighters the change to target him directly without facing the other four members of Delta Platoon.

"Chuck, how many hostiles are there?" Arad glances at the recon pilot.

"It looks like there are three squadrons of enemies inbound." Chuck says, checking his radar to verify.

"That's really not much, consider what we've just been through." Hayate points out.

"It doesn't look like they're moving up at all. Something's wrong." Mirage glances up at the distant star white Nightmares.

"There's no way that's all they're sending us. There has to be more than just three squadrons." Messer frowns.

"I'm counting on it. Chuck, set your scanner to maximum range pulses. Once we're engaged in standard combat distance, switch back to normal sweeps, with a high-powered pulse every 60 seconds." Arad turns to Chuck.

"Roger that."

"I thought the effective range of their long range missiles was limited by their fire control systems. If they're using standard units, they shouldn't be capable of engaging from as far as they have been." Messer says, his eyes on the Nightmares now advancing towards them.

"I thought so too, but based on the combat data I've been gathering from our latest engagement, I've noted that based on all the long-range ordnance fired at us, over half of the initial launch points were from well beyond their stated maximum range." Chuck rattles off his data.

As if on cue, the three squadrons launch their missiles at them, the clouds from the initial launch obscuring their positions. The recon Nightmare thrusts backwards in Gerwalk mode before launching more missiles. Chuck quickly realized he was being targeted again, this time by the Apex recon fighter.

"That didn't work the first time around, what makes you think it'd work now?" Chuck asks with a gritted smile. The Ragnan recon pilot switches to Battroid mode, marking all the missiles as the four Delta Platoon pilots open fire on the barrage of missiles heading their way.

After annihilating the swarm of missiles, the other four members of Delta Platoon back off slightly, only to get rushed by three Nightmares in Battroid mode. All three Nightmares fire their arm-mounted guns at Arad, forcing him to back off. Most of the shots missed, but one clipped the side of his Siegfried's head unit, knocking off two of the mounted beam guns. Three nightmares then proceed to pick Hayate, Mirage, and Messer, engaging the three in melee combat; the other 5 move to chase down Arad and Chuck, the recon Nightmare maintaining its distance. The first Nightmare charges straight at Hayate, sending a glowing right hook towards him. Hayate grins as he boosts above the hook at almost the last second, then jumps backwards with his engines, kicking the Nightmare's head in the process. Hayate takes advantage of the staggered enemy by shooting off all of the limbs.

Meanwhile, Mirage and Messer were engaging their respective Nightmares in close quarters combat. The Nightmare attacking Mirage swiped at her, its arm glowing green. Mirage blocked it with her Siegfried's arm, the shield effectively deflecting the Nightmare's arm. In doing so, however, her shielding arm was knocked away, leaving her temporarily exposed. The Nightmare then thrusts its gun forward, aiming directly at her Siegfried's chest. Mirage stiffened briefly before grabbing the barrel of the gun with her close arm, pulling her knife out with her free arm, and swinging it towards the Nightmare, knife glowing green. She cuts off the Nightmare's gun arm, sending it spiraling away from the two. The Nightmare then punches her in the chest, knocking her back and the knife out of her hand. Still reeling from the shock, Mirage struggled to regain her sense of balance as the Nightmare aims the large missile launcher on its remaining arm at her.

She shakes off the shock to find herself staring down four large barrels loaded with missiles meant for use against ships pointed at her. Instincts kicking in, she boosts upward at max initial thrust to avoid getting over-killed by the Nightmare; she succeeds in doing so, but the force of the explosion beneath her propelled her further upwards than she expected. Her Siegfried's head slams into a nearby asteroid, disorientating her and disrupting her head unit's camera system. Mirage groans as she struggles to regain her senses. Below her, the Nightmare looks up at her, aiming its missile canister in the process.

"Stay focused, Delta-2!" Mirage looks down at her attacker to see the arm aimed at her get blown off by a beam. She turns to see Messer's Siegfried in Battroid mode with its beam gun aimed at her Nightmare.

"Thanks, Delta-3!" Mirage manages before a Nightmare missing half of its Super parts charges at Messer from his blind spot, and bashes the back of his Siegfried's head unit with its extended missile canister, the armament glowing green.

"Lieutenant!" Mirage cries out.

Messer's Siegfried spins briefly before slamming into a nearby asteroid, the head unit temporarily rendered blind from the impact damage. Consequentially, parts of his Siegfried became lodged in the asteroid, rendering him immobile. Mirage cries out at seeing her former senior getting smashed into an asteroid. She aims at the Nightmare that blindsided Messer, only to get slammed by the armless Nightmare hitting her at its maximum thrust. Mirage groans from the impact, her vision blurry from being knocked around so roughly such a small time frame. The armless Nightmare continued to boost into her, the two battroids grinding against each other. Mirage struggled to push the Nightmare off of her, as it had pinned one of her Siegfried's arms against an asteroid, and the other could not generate enough force. Glancing down slightly, she aims at the Nightmare's legs with the hopes of destroying it.

She only manages to get a few shots off before another Nightmare comes from her left and grabs her free arm before jamming its gunpod at the underside of her Siegfried's chest, where she sat. Mirage pales as she sees her canopy crack and the side of her cockpit dent slightly from the impact. She quickly checks her container only to realize it can't be deployed in its current state. Mirage then turns to look at Messer who is in a similar situation, the Grim Reaper struggling to both free himself between the asteroid and stop the Nightmare from shooting him. She looks at her attacker slightly, gritting her teeth, anticipating her imminent death.

"MIRAGE! MESSER!"

The two pilots turn to see a teal and black Siegfried roar towards them, guns blazing. The volley destroys the dismembered Nightmare's engines, and a follow-up beam blast destroys the other Nightmare's gunpod. Before the Apex pilot can react, Hayate swoops in, his Siegfried still in fighter mode with immense velocity; just before colliding with the Nightmare, Hayate switches into battroid mode and hits it with a two-legged kick. One of the legs knocks the Nightmare's head clean off; the other crushing the lower cockpit mechanism of the Nightmare's battroid, causing the cockpit to fall into view awkwardly as it flies away from Mirage. Hayate keeps his momentum, switching to Gerwalk mode while using his boosters to carry him towards Messer and the Nightmare grappling him.

The Nightmare temporarily releases Messer to disable one of his Siegfried's arms with a shot from its gunpod. Before the Nightmare can inflict any damage to the Grim Reaper, his successor blindsides the Nightmare in a similar manner Messer was; the only difference was that Hayate spin-kicked the Nightmare's head off right in front of Messer before spinning once, pulling his beam gun from behind him and blasting the Nightmare into oblivion. Hayate grits his teeth before turning to the two pilots behind him.

"Are you two okay?" Hayate tried to keep the tension out of his voice, something his seniors picked up on.

"Y-yeah, we're okay, I think." Mirage says with a slight groan, holding the side of her head.

"I need a minute." Messer says with a similar sound.

"Delta-2, Delta-3 check in. Delta-5, status report. Is everyone alright?" Arad says through the comm line. The three pilots can hear gunfire and explosions in the background.

"Commander, Delta-2 reporting in." Mirage shakes her head. "I've taken some damage to my head unit and my cockpit. All other systems functional."

Messer exhaled softly. "Delta-3 reporting in. My head unit is partially offline, and I am currently lodged in an asteroid. I am still capable of combat."

Hayate looks at Mirage, seeing as she didn't need any help moving again, he turned towards his other senior. "Captain, Delta-5. No problems here."

Messer and Mirage look at each other through their holo screens, their mutual distrust of that statement obvious.

"Roger that. Can you help Delta-3 get free?" Arad asks as an especially loud explosion briefly muffles his words. Mirage glances up and sees a large explosion cloud. She spots Arad's Siegfried jet out of the cloud, followed by what she assumed were three more Nightmares.

"Yeah, I can. How's Chuck doing?" Hayate asks as he steadies himself on the asteroid Messer was stuck in.

"I'm fine, for now! These guys are persistent, though." Chuck says as he flies in view of the trio of pilots, two recon Nightmares close behind him. Both Nightmares were firing away at Chuck, preventing him from maneuvering towards them. The Ragnan pilot was offering a healthy amount of return fire, but it was clear that the pilots Delta Platoon had been fighting before were green as grass in comparison to the pilots they now faced.

"Delta-2, can you assist while Delta-5 frees Delta-3?" Arad asks, flipping over the trio chasing him, clipping one of them before being forced to back off.

"Yes sir, I'll get moving-" Mirage starts, but freezes as transforming her Siegfried into Gerwalk caused the cracks in her canopy to enlarge considerably, the damage reminiscent of spiderwebs splattered across her canopy.

"Mirage?!" Hayate turns toward Mirage and pales at the sight of her canopy's damage.

Messer cycled his Siegfried by this point, having restored some of his head unit's vision just enough to see the damage spread across Mirage's canopy.

"Hayate, go to her." Messer says, detaching the boosters from his Siegfried. This almost completely freed him, leaving only his container wedged in the asteroid. Seeing his beam gun floating nearby, albeit in pieces, he detaches the container, freeing his Siegfried from the asteroid.

"Delta-2, what's wrong?" Arad asks, having heard Mirage's gasp and Hayate cry out.

"M-my canopy is damaged...and it's getting worse." Mirage trails off as she watches the cracks slowly, yet painfully spread across her canopy.

Hayate switches to Battroid mode and hovers close to Mirage, the torso of his Siegfried level with Mirage's cockpit. "Messer, can you grab one of your boosters?"

"I had to detach them to free myself." Messer says as he flies towards them.

"Fuck, okay...hang on." Hayate says as he backs up. He transforms into Gerwalk mode before detaching his boosters. "Either of you know where the propellant tanks are on these things?"

"What? What are you planning, Hayate?" Mirage and Messer ask in unison.

"Something really dangerous and probably stupid." Hayate responds as he switches back into Battroid mode and grabs one of his boosters. With his free arm, he takes out his knife and slowly pries the casing off the top. It pops off with a hiss, revealing the inner mechanics and connections.

"Uh, what are you guys doing?" Chuck asks, dodging a burst of gunfire from a recon Nightmare and blasting a cluster of missiles near them.

"Whatever you plan on doing, make it quick. Actually, just make sure we can get my second-in-command out of there alive." Arad quips as he takes out a second Nightmare by dismembering it almost entirely.

"Hayate, you aren't thinking of burning the booster's propellant to fuse Mirage's canopy together?" Messer asks with some disbelief.

"You got any better ideas?" Hayate asks, using the knife to expose the gray powder filling the booster's propellant tank.

"No, but how can you be sure the heat from igniting it will be enough to fuse her cockpit? The glass that comprises our canopies needs more heat than one propellant tank from a booster can offer." Messer asks as he turns to scan the area for any Nightmares.

"Well, I've got two, and so does Mirage. That, and I checked out the material composition of our cockpits' canopies after you...left because I was a bit curious." Hayate closes off the other nozzles on the booster by crushing it with the flat side of the knife.

"Actually, how do you even know about this?" Mirage looks at her former student, trying to ignore the slow cracking of her canopy.

"I told you before, I worked a number of odd jobs. Welding just happens to have been one of them." Hayate answers, not breaking his concentration.

Messer gulps nervously. "And, uh, how long has it been since you've done this?"

"About two years." Hayate deploys his railgun on the arm holding the knife.

"Uh, Hayate?" Mirage stiffens at seeing Hayate aim a railgun at exposed propellant less than an inch from her. "Wait, are you seriously going to shoot propellant right next to me?!"

Hayate stops for a minute. "How else do you suggest I ignite it?"

"Wha- Do you have any idea how wrong this could go?!" Mirage cries out, her eyes wide.

"Yes, I fucking do, Mirage! But honestly, this can't go as bad as if you were to fly into combat with NOTHING protecting you!" Hayate snaps at Mirage. "You almost died, for Christ's sake! So did Messer! Again, actually! Do you seriously expect me to wait for something bad to happen to you guys before I finally get my shit straight?!"

The other two pilots go silent at hearing Hayate's outburst. It was at this point the two noticed Hayate was breathing somewhat heavily; stress evident in the young pilot's eyes.

"Just- just let me do this; I'll take responsibility if anything happens." Hayate says quietly, his body tense.

As he fires a single shot, grazing the propellant, the rear nozzles burst with pink exhaust. Hayate moves over to the damaged side of Mirage's cockpit, bringing the booster close enough heat the glass up. The orange glass immediately began to glow faintly as Hayate continued to hold the booster near the canopy.

"It's probably going to get warm in there, just bear with it for the time being." Hayate says tiredly.

Mirage hums in affirmation, looking up slightly to see the results. "I think you're pretty straight right now, Hayate."

Hayate exhales quietly. "That's not what you said five months ago."

Mirage smirks. "You needed a wake-up call. So I gave you one."

Hayate mimics the expression after a minute. "Yeah, I did."

Messer watched the two quietly as Hayate slowly fused Mirage's canopy. The Grim Reaper leaned back, looking at the various fighters clashing amongst the stars, then back at Hayate.

"He's different. For better or for worse; and I suspect it may be because of me. How do I fix the mess I've made when I can't even remember simple things?"

The original Delta ace is shaken out of his thoughts when a broadcast blares across all ISDF and Xaos channels.

"All units, be advised, an Apex battleship has collided with the ISDF Enterprise and dealt substantial damage to the runways near the crash site. Any callsigns not currently engaged with priority Alpha targets or tasked with assisting the Aether are to fall back ASAP to establish a perimeter around the Enterprise."

"What happened with the Enterprise?" Hayate asks as he flies over to Messer, Mirage in tow. Messer noticed the cracks on Mirage's canopy were almost unnoticeable, and that Hayate had left his boosters detached. Both boosters floated in the distance behind them.

"It appears an Apex warship hit the Enterprise. I suggest we finish off the remaining hostiles in the area and start cycling Xaos forces to resupply from the Hermera." Messer notes as Arad closes in, Chuck close behind him.

"You guys finished yet? We took them out, but the Captain and I took a hit for it." Chuck says as he and Arad switch into Gerwalk mode next to the trio of pilots.

"Looks like it. Everything alright, Lieutenant?" Arad asks, observing the multiple dents and scars on his second-in-command.

"As alright as it's going to get, sir; thanks to Delta-5's quick thinking over here." Mirage says, smiling at Hayate.

"What about you, Messer?" Arad turns and inspects the damage on Messer's Siegfried, noting the absence of his container and boosters.

"I've been better, but all things considered, I'm okay, mostly in part to Delta-5." Messer says with a small smile, glancing at Hayate.

"Don't butter me up now, guys." Hayate scoffs jokingly.

"It's good to see you're all in good spirits, but we need to get moving. I'm sure you all heard the ISDF broadcast about the Enterprise getting slammed by an Apex battleship. Beta Platoon went to resupply while we were occupied, so they should be close to done by now." Arad explains, glancing at the positions displayed on his console.

"Well, the good news is that the Hammer met us halfway..." Chuck trails off as the massive ISDF battleship, its massive beam guns and Destroids alike blazing away at the nearby Apex battleships, flies close to the Delta pilots.

"I wonder how many of those the ISDF have." Hayate thinks aloud, gaping at the battleship.

"I don't think they want to lose any, so we should probably get a move on." Mirage says, trying her best not to also gape at the silver and red battleship.

"Now's a good opportunity to get our forces resupplied and rearmed. Delta Platoon, get ready to move. All Xaos flights, status report." Arad orders, transforming his Siegfried into fighter mode, the four pilots behind him doing the same.

"Gamma-1, reporting in. Apex forces are closing in around the Enterprise; our platoon is running out of fuel and ammunition. ISDF forces are currently inbound from the Arcadia and Lionheart. More Apex stealth cruisers and Guantanamo carriers have de-folded into the battle space, but they seem to be focused on the Enterprise. Standing by to return to the Hermera on your order, Major."

"Alpha-1, reporting in. The Hammer of Sol has positioned itself in sector Juliet-8, with the Aether and Hermera. Our overall ammo and fuel reserves are low, but still serviceable. Standing by to return to the Hermera on your order, Major."

"Beta-1 reporting in. All Beta Platoon members have been resupplied and are readying to launch. Time until all members reestablish defensive line T-minus 5 minutes."

"This is Delta-1, copy all. Alpha-1, we'll resupply first since we're closer. When we're done, it'll be your turn next." Arad informs the Alpha leader.

"This Alpha-1, roger that."

"Gamma Platoon, standby for further instruction." Arad says before changing his channel. "Major Barchenowa, this is Delta-1; do you copy?"

There was a small burst of static, followed by a series of distant explosions. "Delta-1, this is Major Barchenowa. What is it?"

"We've managed to hold out long enough for our second carrier to break orbit and enter the battlespace for our forces to resupply, but Gamma Platoon is too far and too vulnerable to make it to the Aether unassisted. Seeing as how the Enterprise needs all hands on deck given the situation, do you think there's enough space for the four remaining members of Gamma Platoon to land and take a breather?" Arad and the rest of Delta Platoon turn towards the Aether and Hermera.

Illya pauses for a moment. "There's definitely room for them, but I'm not sure how well we can resupply and rearm them. I'll ask our flight crews to standby and see what we can do. Tell Gamma Platoon to relocate to hangar 1, Alpha 2."

Arad hums in affirmation. "Roger that, thanks. Were you made aware that the Hammer and our two carriers have successfully linked up?"

"Yes I was made aware. Do you have an ETA on when the they'll be able to link up with us? We're getting hit hard right now, and the captain of the Hammer has informed me that they can't assist us with their larger guns on account of friendly fire being highly likely, and their AA batteries can't reliably hit the fighters assaulting us."

"I can't say for certain when we'll arrive, but our carriers can match the Hammer's speed with no problem. Having said that, however, getting into position is almost definitely going to take more time, seeing as the Hammer's bearing is almost the opposite of the Enterprise."

"You're certainly right about that. Oh right, there's something I need to inform you about regarding Captain Okumura." Illya starts, a noticeable shift in her tone.

Arad frowns, unaware that the rest of Delta Platoon had tuned in to their conversation. "What is it? Does it involve that Apex battleship hitting the Enterprise?"

Illya pauses, an action the five Delta pilots take note of. "Unfortunately so. The Apex warship's collision point was along the hangar block where Captain Okumura's fighter was stationed, and just before the collision, he told me was getting ready to suit up and launch."

Arad's frown deepened. "Any word from him after the collision?"

"None so far. I've sent a team in to evaluate the damage and check for any...casualties, along with any possible boarding parties."

"How long until you get a status update from your team?"

"I sent them in right after the collision occurred, so it shouldn't be too long now-" Illya stops, making the five pilots listen in more intently, despite the fact they were almost within landing distance of the Hermera.

"Major Barchenowa?" Arad asks, his gut churning at the possibility of bad news.

"What? You're absolutely sure about that? Is that even- nevermind. Is everyone alright?" Illya rattles off questions to a person none of the five can hear.

"Major?" Arad asks again, this time slowly as the five begin the landing sequence.

There is a pause before Illya responds. "I'm here. This has certainly been a strange turn of events."

"What has?"

"Well, apparently the battleship that hit us and penetrated the Enterprise's hull had an operational turret that managed to survive the collision." Illya says calmly.

"What?" Arad and the rest of the pilots ask in unison before Arad frowns at the rest of Delta Platoon eavesdropping on their conversation.

"Yes, and, evidently, Captain Okumura managed to defend himself and the fifty or so crew in the hangar block from being annihilated, by its beam turret, no less, long enough for our engineer to blow it up. I imagine he's not happy about the ordnance lockdown..." Illya mutters the last bit.

"He did that?" Arad asks incredulously.

"According to the captain of the team I sent down there, along with 2nd Lieutenant Richards, whom I believe you've met." Illya responds, disbelief hanging in her tone.

"Briefly, yes. And any casualties?" Arad still could not believe what he was hearing.

"A few crew members and a soldier sustained injuries, the worst being a concussion. However, the fighter I had prepped for Okumura was rendered unusable in the chaos, so I'm authorizing him another one, albeit considerably different." Illya responds, calm returning to her voice.

Arad looks up briefly to see Hayate and Mirage almost literally dragging Messer toward where he assumed was the medical wing of the Hermera, while Chuck was helping the flight crews push carts of ammunition and fuel, along with a rack of tools to their Siegfried hangar bays.

"You're not sending him out in a pile of scrap, I assume?"

Illya scoffs. "Of course not. I just authorized him to fly one of our most valuable and powerful prototypes into battle."

"Which is?"

"A VF-25F modified and tuned with high-spec equipment and ordnance. It's incredibly well armed, as well. Would you like me to send you an overview of the design?"

"If you're willing to; I should have enough time to look it over, my squad and I are currently resupplying as we speak. By the way, I'd like to know some things about Messer, if you're willing to spare that information."

Illya stops for a moment after sending the overview of the VF-25. "I know we've got some explaining to do, but is now really a good time to discuss this?"

Arad couldn't keep a hint of gruffness out of his voice. "Well, no, not really, but it looks like my former subordinate is experiencing short-term memory loss, so if you've got anything about that, now would be a good time to tell me. You know, before he gets shot down. Again."

Illya duly noted both Arad's tone and the context of his previous sentence. "Give me a minute, I'm sending you a secure channel. I'm going to need you to authorize access on your end."

Arad hums in agreement, inputting his commander access codes, switching the two of them over to a line only the two of them currently had access to. "Alright, just tell me what you did to Messer and why. The when can wait."

Illya exhales softly. "Ok, we transplanted his lung and replaced half of his ribs while he wasn't completely unconscious. The reason for that is... well, back when Windermere was fighting its second pseudo-independence war, a group that was a part of the ISDF predecessor was on Al-Shahal when Delta Platoon was engaging the Aerial Knights on a recon mission. When Messer was shot down, our forces investigated the crash site where he landed and found that he was still alive after being hit by a CIW beam weapon, but if we didn't act fast, he would've died soon."

"And why didn't you tell us this? Any indicator that he was still alive would've saved us lot of stress and sorrow." Arad's voice was starting to leak anger.

"Because, we didn't want to compromise our secrecy. The NUNS wasn't any more more stable then than it is now, and the premature rigging and detonation of a reaction weapon on Ragna a couple months after didn't help that." Illya sighed, enjoying the conversation about as much Arad was.

"Ok, fine. You kept him being alive and whatnot a secret from us because you wanted to stay hidden. But I need to know, is his condition stable? And what had Messer been doing in the 6 or so months he was with you all?"

Arad heard someone quietly tell Illya that she was needed back on the bridge ASAP, and the platinum-haired Major snapped an "I know." to the one informing her. "First off, Messer was in a coma for three and a half months after we operated on him, the two and half months after that was us getting him reacquainted with his surroundings and making sure he was physically fit. Second, Lady M told us he would be stable long enough for us to, and I quote, 'join him with his goddess'. We have no idea as to what that means, all we know about his current condition is that he should be stable."

Arad struggled to process Messer being comatose for almost four months when the mention of her made his train of thought crash harder than a Macross attack. "Wait, Lady M? What does she have to do with all this?"

"Molders, you should understand by this point, that the collective human and zentradi medical advances can only go so far. We didn't have the technology at that time to save Messer ourselves; he was going to die within an hour of us getting to him."

"Well than how the hell did you save him? You said you operated on him, now you're telling me he should've died on Al-Shahal, which is it?"

"To be honest, I don't understand much about how this all happened. All I can tell you is that, according to the reports from the advance recon team, the one that made it to Messer's crash site, Lady M herself was waiting for them."

The reveal shook the grizzled veteran pilot to his core. "She...she showed up? In person?"

Illya's voice represented how jarred she was by the information she was relaying to him. "They never saw her face, but each of them swears on his and her existence that it was Lady M herself. None of them could remember her voice either; some of the team members suffered from temporary dementia just being in her presence. One of the team members fell into a comatose state during this mission and she still is, as we speak. The leader of the team reported that, Lady M sang, during which, the blood trails and marks disappeared, but left the wound on his chest open."

"We never did find any blood in his Siegfried when we recovered it. I'm going to assume she also told you to prepare a fake body double for us to bury?"

"That's the thing. She reportedly already had one prepared. There's so much that we can't comprehend, and I don't even want to know what the advance members think of it. Look, long story short, Lady M herself ensured that Messer would live, and she basically used us as a means toward that end. I don't even think Messer's aware of the nature of his survival. I get the feeling that the secrecy Lady M had us commit to was for us more than it was for her."

An explosion echoes through Illya's end of the comm line. "I'm sorry, but I'm out of time. I'm needed back on the bridge; we're getting banged up pretty badly over here. Look, the circumstances surrounding Messer's situation is far deeper than either of us, and I know you like hiding things of this scale from your subordinates as much as I do; but the level of confidentiality that needs to be maintained is of the highest order."

"I know. Even if I told them, we'd still have a ton of questions, and this information doesn't even begin to cover half of the ones I have. It's just..." Arad sighs, glancing back at the trio of pilots returning to the hangar where their now restocked and refueled Siegfrieds sat. "We lost Messer once, and while we recovered, it wasn't without cost. It scarred our youngest in ways that veterans like myself would balk at."

"I'm sorry to hear that; look, after this battle is over, we'll let everyone relevant in on this information, how little we have, anyway. At this point, for how all-powerful and omnipotent Lady M seems, I'm sure she wouldn't mind us telling Messer and Kaname, at the very least."

"I think she'll be fair in that regard; I just can't help but be a little miffed that she told me none of this. I am her liaison to Xaos, after all."

"I'm certainly interested as to why she wouldn't tell you that, but I suppose that can wait. Oh right, by the way, I've been informed that Captain Okumura launched during our conversation. He seemed adamant about rejoining with Delta Platoon, so I wasn't one for stopping him. In any case, he should be close to your position by the time you launch."

"That's good news. I assume he wasn't injured during all that craziness, what with a battleship hitting the part of the Enterprise he was in, and all."

"Well, if he was, he didn't mention it, and he wasn't injured enough for anyone there with him to take note of it. I'm on my way back to the bridge right now. I also have some good news and bad news regarding your Gamma Platoon."

"What's the good news?"

"Well, we were able to refuel them, seeing as their equipment was similar enough to ours, and we were able to rearm their missile ordnance, along with repairing most of their damaged armor; the bad news is that the caliber of their ammo is 27mm, which doesn't match any of our calibers of ammo, so it's your call if you want to launch them without fully rearming them."

"Tell Gamma-1 to evaluate his squad's overall ammo count. If he doesn't think they can make it, then have him wait until our group links with the Enterprise. We should be getting close right about now."

"Understood. Best of luck to you, Delta-1."

"And to you, Enterprise."

Having finished the call with Illya, Arad switches to the Xaos channel Delta Platoon used to communicate with Walkure. "Kaname, Delta-1 here. We may have a change of plans."

Kaname responds after a moment. "What do you mean, Major?"

"It's going to take us longer to link the Aether and Hermera with the Enterprise, on account of more Apex ships folding in. Relay this to the rest of Walkure; you ladies have a choice: you can either start your tactical concert now, or you can wait until we link up with the Enterprise." Arad reports, watching Hayate, Mirage, Chuck, and Messer talk to each other.

"Did you ask the rest of Delta Platoon what they thought?" Kaname asks softly.

"I did. All of them feel that you ladies should wait until we link with the Enterprise. Hayate and Messer, in particular, feel strongly about this. To be honest, I believe you ladies have the final say; you all are the ones taking the risk of singing on the battlefield, after all."

There are a few seconds of silence before Kaname responds. "Let me talk it over with the girls. They deserve to know about this."

Arad nods, despite being aware Kaname can't see him. "I understand. I'll wait for everyone's responses."

While waiting, Arad glances over to see Chuck approaching him.

"Cap'n, what do the ladies think about our situation?" Chuck asks in an almost casual tone.

"I just asked them. We're going to have to wait for their responses."

Arad hops out of his Siegfried for a minute, grabbing the attention of the other three Delta pilots. "Everything alright, Messer?"

"Aside from the few bruises I got during the last fight, I feel fine." The Grim Reaper calmly replies.

Arad looks at Hayate and Mirage for confirmation.

"He's fine, sir. Both him and Mirage just got bruises from being banged up." Hayate answers Arad's questioning look.

"What about you? You okay?" Chuck glances at Hayate.

Hayate pauses before grinning at everyone. "Well, you know me; I'd rather be taking a nap than fighting lunatics and dealing with politics."

Arad can't help but chuckle. "Amen to that."

A low rumbling makes the pilots turn towards the Siegfried bays. They watched as replacement boosters were installed on Messer, Mirage's and Hayate's Siegfrieds. As the boosters lowered onto their respective Siegfrieds, Hayate and Mirage watched as a couple of mechanics wheeled a cart carrying a canopy and tools towards Mirage's Siegfried. Hayate keeps his gaze on the damaged canopy as another pair of mechanics dismount it; Mirage and Messer glance at Hayate before following his gaze towards the single part of Mirage's Siegfried.

"Hey, Messer?" Hayate asks abruptly, his voice low.

Messer turns toward the assumed youngest pilot of Delta Platoon. "What is it?"

Hayate stays silent for a bit, his eyes clouded slightly. He sighs quietly before a small grin appears on his face. "Tell whoever upped your bird to do the same with ours. I've always wanted an upgrade, and Makina only wants the upgrades that are 'cute.' "

The four other pilots gape slightly at Hayate before simultaneously breaking into smiles and small fits of laughter.

"H-Hayate…" Chuck struggles to control his laughter.

"Oi, oi. Reina will probably take insult to that." Mirage rubs the back of her head, a grin on her face.

"As crass as that was, I can't help but agree." Messer smiles at his unofficial successor.

"Keep that kind of wit to yourself when we meet up with them again, Hayate. The last thing I need is to have to deal with complaints of you being a smart-ass." Arad chuckles as he lightly smacks Hayate's shoulder.

"Hahaha, sorry, couldn't help myself." Hayate rolls his shoulders and shrugs.

"I think the lack of sleep is getting to you, Hayate." Mirage puts a hand on her hip.

Messer scoffs, a smile still present on his face. "He wouldn't be the only one who could use a bit more rest."

Hayate pauses and stares at Messer blankly before a smug grin appears on his face, much to the latter's chagrin. "Hoh, are you admitting you want to take a nap, Messer?"

Messer stiffens slightly before raising an eyebrow. "What's wrong with that? I'm still human, unlike Captain Okumura, if the rumors I've been hearing are accurate in any manner."

Hayate was about to retort, but Arad puts a hand on both of their shoulders.

"Alright, you two, get a room later, we need to get going; the crew are done with repairs." Arad says, a shit-eating grin on his face.

Hayate and Messer both glance at each other briefly before unreadable expression cross their face simultaneously. Arad felt a chill run down his spine as both of his aces slowly turn to look at him, shaded smiles on their faces.

"Captain, you should focus on your own relationship before worrying about others. After all, I've already got my perfect girl." Hayate says with a low tone.

"Sir, with all due respect," Messer starts with a dark, narrow grin, "I think we're all aware of where my affections lie."

At this point, Arad found a hand from each of his aces on his shoulders, their grips unnaturally strong.

"Maybe you should worry about your own relationship status before questioning our sexual orientation, Captain?" Hayate and Messer slowly whisper in unison.

"Ok you two, calm down." Mirage sighs, her ears twitching slightly. "Major, I thought you would stick to joking with the people here who don't have significant others."

Arad glances at the two, neutral expressions on their faces. "Heh, yeah, I probably should. Thanks for that, Mirage."

Before Hayate and Messer can separate from Arad, the Delta Platoon leader firmly grips both of them. "Since you two are dating two of our goddesses, make sure you don't go and die; otherwise, they'll be pretty upset, and so will I. Messer, don't make me order another coffin for you, okay?"

Messer and Hayate nod.

The sobering moment lasted for a few seconds, before Arad's Siegfried made a just audible beeping sound, evidence that someone was trying to call them.

Arad glances back at the rest of Delta Platoon. "That's probably Walkure; everyone, mount up."

After receiving the four affirmations, Arad climbs back into his Siegfried and opens the line, pulling up a screen with Kaname on it, Walkure in the background. "Delta-1 speaking."

Kaname spoke calmly. "Arad, I've talked with everyone regarding the situation."

Arad glances over to see the rest of Delta Platoon in their respective Siegfrieds, no doubt listening to their conversation. "What did you all decide upon?"

"We've decided modify our original plan slightly. We'll wait fifteen minutes after you launch before we start our tactical concert. I'm under the impression that once we start, we should be more or less halfway to rendezvousing with the ISDF fleet. This way, we'll still be performing, but not longer than what will expose us to unnecessary danger extensively."

Arad nods. "Roger that. We're about to launch; does anyone of you girls want to talk to us before we go?"

"I'd like to talk to Messer, please."

"Roger, anyone else?" Arad responds neutrally as he links Messer to them.

Kaname turns around and glances at Freyja, who, despite her best efforts to look neutral, was shifting uncomfortably and glancing at their nail-centered screens that linked the call to each respective member of Delta Platoon, minus Shiro.

"Freyja?" Kaname asks softly.

The Windermerean singer jumps slightly, her expression flustered before she regains herself. "Yes, I-I want to talk to Hayate, please."

Arad glances down, his helmet obscuring his face as grins to himself. "I'll patch him through."

The moment Hayate's face appeared on the screen Freyja's nails were projecting, a large, adorable grin spread across her face.

"Hayate!" Freyja's voice sounded like relief incarnate.

"Yo, Freyja." Hayate smiled at his adorable girlfriend. "You holding up okay?"

Freyja pouted at him. "I should be asking you that! I heard you, Mirage-san, and Messer-san got banged up..."

Hayate's expression fell slightly. "Well, I'm more or less okay, but yeah, Mirage and Messer got roughed up a bit. They're okay now, though; nothing too serious."

Freyja could see the rising gray behind Hayate by now, so she simply smiled, despite worry being written on her face. "I'll be singing for you, so... please be careful, Hayate."

Hayate closed his eyes briefly, a smile crossing his face. "You bet. I'll stay alive, protect you, and your song."

As the line cut, Freyja held her hand over her chest tightly before taking a deep breath.

Having finished her conversation at the same time Freyja; the older sister of Walkure turned to Freyja, who was wearing a calm and uncharacteristically calm and neutral expression.

"Is everything alright, Freyja?" Kaname asks, concern in her voice.

Freyja looked up at Kaname, her eyes slightly widened. Freyja smiles gently as she grips her inflicted hand. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just worried, is all."

Kaname puts her hand on Freyja's shoulder. "That's normal. I am, as well. All we can do, is put our best on the stage. For them."

Freyja smiles, making the 'W' with her two hands. "That's right."

Mikumo watched the two of them before turning her back to them. Despite understanding the slight gnawing in her chest that stirred as she watched Kaname talk with Messer, and Freyja with Hayate, Mikumo couldn't help herself. Her crimson eyes drifted down to her hand, which had subconsciously grasped the strange chip-like object Shiro had given her. As if responding to her emotions, the small red mass pulsed with a dim light, it and the circuit-like lines running from it turned a light blue before returning to its original color. She felt a foreign, yet not unwelcome pulse of warmth accompany the brief glimmer of light.

Mikumo wondered what her mostly stoic guardian was doing; she had no intention of letting anyone know that she had accessed Arad's mostly secure channel and listened in on his conversation with Major Barchenowa. A part of her wished she didn't; while hearing the details of Messer's incomprehensibly complex survival was most certainly interesting, she was far more concerned with Shiro. Hearing that a battleship crashed into the section of the carrier that Shiro happened to be in was unsettling, to say the least. At least, it would have been, had she not heard that Shiro, like himself and unlike anyone else, neutralized the battleship's surviving armament and protected other crew members from what would have been certain annihilation. Still, not knowing his current status bothered her greatly.

Mikumo found herself pulled from her thoughts when Makina hugged her from behind.

"Kumo-Kumo, what's wrong? You've got an unhappy look on your face."

Mikumo's eyes widened briefly before she regained her mostly stoic expression. "Do I?"

"Yeah, you did. Are you worried about someone?" Makina asks coyly, fully aware of her wording.

"I suppose I am-" Mikumo stops, realizing how Makina worded her question. After debating whether or not she should correct herself, Mikumo gave in. "I'm worried about how Shiro hasn't contacted any of us since he left for the ISDF carrier."

The other three girls look at Mikumo, mild surprise on their faces.

Kaname puts her hand under chin. "That's true; I haven't heard from him."

"We should've asked Arad about him." Reina says quietly.

"Do you think Shiro-san is okay?" Freyja asks, fiddling with her music-playing device.

"I worry that he might have sustained dangerous injuries and not told anyone about it." Mikumo says quietly. "That definitely feels like something he would do." Considering Messer. Mikumo left out that last bit as she glanced at Kaname.

Kaname seemed to be aware of Mikumo's withheld thought, as her expression soured briefly. "As likely as that is, I think it's been established that Shiro is considerably more durable than all of Delta Platoon, even more so than us."

"That doesn't mean he should ignore when he gets hurt, though... He can feel pain, just like us, right?" Freyja says with a small frown.

"That guy's selfless to a fault." Reina quietly adds.

"Rei-Rei's right. As much as I don't want to talk bad about him, Shiro's behavior doesn't imply that he concerns himself any more than he does us." Makina gently releases Mikumo from her hug.

"I wonder what makes him think that way?" Kaname idly asks.

Freyja shifted uncomfortably, her rune turning light purple briefly.

"Freyja?" Mikumo sensed the discomfort in her former protégé.

"We-we didn't talk much about it, but Shiro-san, from what I understand...didn't grow up in a nice place..." Freyja looks off to the side.

Kaname breaths quietly. "Makes sense, although I would expect for someone with a harsh childhood to be more...I don't know...introverted."

Mikumo's gaze flickers briefly. "Well, as much as I would like to talk about Shiro, we have our own things to worry about. Since we have a bit of time on our hands, shouldn't we practice the things only we can worry about?"

The other four singers look at Mikumo with confused expression briefly before smiling gently.

"Yeah, you're right, Mikumo."

"We'll just have to trust Shiro-san."

Meanwhile, on the launch deck of the Hermera, Delta Platoon found themselves in a precarious situation. The moment their respective elevators aligned with the launch decks, they were greeted with the sight of three trios of Super Nightmares flying towards them from three different directions.

"What the hell?!" Arad's eyes widen.

"We're surrounded?!" Mirage stiffens as the Nightmares close in.

"Delta Platoon, launch!" Arad orders as he throttles forward.

The other four members launch in unison, sharing Arad's sentiment.

"Get off the deck, Delta Platoon!" A tone of urgency had slipped into Kiriko's otherwise neutral tone.

As they launch, the nearest trio of Nightmares on their left launch missiles at them, only to have them explode as a Chronos bearing angel wings flies by, blasting all the missiles apart before switching into Gerwalk mode while perpendicular to them. A second later, two get ripped apart by a single beam before the remaining one peels off.

Simultaneously, the trio of Nightmares on their right bank sharply to avoid the storm of missiles behind them as a rose-bearing Chronos unloads its payload. All three slam into asteroids as they attempt to avoid getting blown to bits, before the missiles impact the crushed fighters.

"Attention all callsigns in the AO! They're gunning for the carriers!" Yui grits her teeth as one of the Beta Platoon members tries to call out to the nearby Xaos and ISDF fighters before getting torn up by said Nightmares.

"They're behind us! Two squadrons closing in on the Her-" An explosion appears a short distance behind the Hermera.

"Beta-3 is down! Hostiles at our 6!" The Beta Platoon leader cries out.

As the five Siegfrieds reach the edge of the Hermera's deck, the remaining trio of Nightmares throttle towards them at breakneck speeds, launching a storm of missiles. Arad, Mirage, and Chuck bank sharply in different directions to avoid the missiles. Hayate and Messer, however, aimed themselves straight at said Nightmares, guns blazing. The two Nightmares, along with the flurry of missiles caught between the Grim Reaper and protege's hailstorm were decimated. The last Nightmares banks up sharply to avoid colliding with Hayate and Messer. As it flies past the launching Delta Platoon, the Hermera's AA batteries open fire, tearing it to shreds before the unfortunate pilot can react.

"Delta Platoon, engage all hostiles-" Arad orders as a large fold gate opens up behind them, perpendicular to the Hermera.

"What the hell is that?" Hayate asks, his gut sinking.

The answer made everyone nearby stiffen with a mixture of disbelief and fear. A matte red Northampton class frigate had defolded perpendicular to the Hermera, the tip of its bow just 900 meters from colliding with the Hermera. Its turrets turned and aimed at all of the nearest ISDF valkyries as two hangar bays opened up, revealing two squadrons of Nightmares, ready to be launched. Yui, Kiriko, and Delta Platoon gaped at the absurdly aggressive maneuver before the scattering of its anti-air batteries forced everyone to react or die.

"What the hell?! How are we supposed to take down a battleship this close to the Hermera?!" Chuck exclaims as he narrowly dodges laser beams from the newly arrived frigate.

"We have to do something, it's gonna take down the Hermera at this rate!" Arad replies as he attempts to intercept a quad-stack of anti-ship torpedoes from the frigate. One torpedo manages past him and impacts the lower hull of the Hermera, causing the carrier to tilt off center.

"We didn't exactly prepare for this, so unless someone nearby has anti-ship weapons equipped, we're gonna need more firepower!" Mirage adds as one of the newly-launched Nightmares opens fire on her, before getting shredded by cyclic gunfire impossible for a Siegfried or a Kairos.

"Thanks, Hayate!"

"Wasn't me..." Hayate turns to see a distant Valkyrie rapidly approaching. "Who's that?"

As Hayate briefly dropped his guard, a Nightmare drifted to his right, aiming its beam gun at him. Just as Mirage was about to warn him, the Nightmare was suddenly hammered with enough rounds to cause its frame to fall apart. Hayate turned to see his would-be attacker careening away before impacting a nearby asteroid and exploding.

"Delta-6, engaging."

The sound of Shiro's voice made the seven pilots turn around slightly just as four large, red-tipped missiles fly past them. The main turret in front of the bridge, the bridge tower, and both launching bays explode as anti-ship missiles decimate their targets. They turn around again to see a silver and red beast of a variable fighter fly past them, firing missiles from the wing-mounted launchers at the now damaged Apex frigate. The turrets on the bow flare up in admittedly brilliant explosions as 200mm missiles hammer the frigate.

Three of the six fighters that launched from the frigate accelerate aggressively towards Shiro, firing a mixture of beams and missiles in an attempt to deter him. The new arrival boosts upwards, dodging the beams with relative ease. Instead of dodging the missiles however, Shiro flies straight towards the cloud of missiles. Shiro then began rotating his Messiah, firing his fuselage-mounted guns and the beam turrets on his boosters, effectively creating a tunnel of projectile fire. Through the cloud of explosions, Shiro's Messiah roared with gunfire, the high-speed machine guns and beam turrets blazing with deadly accuracy at the Nightmares that had just launched, tearing them to shreds. The remaining turrets focused their attention on the lone fighter charging headlong at the frigate, forcing Shiro to back off. As Shiro's Messiah entered Gerwalk mode, the others discovered that Shiro's fighter was armed with two gunpods, as Shiro used both his beam turrets and both gunpods to decimate all the missiles launched at him.

Hayate chuckled to himself at seeing Shiro dual wield in a Valkyrie, drawing Mirage's attention.

"What's so funny, Delta-5?" Mirage tilts her head.

"You think the ISDF gave Shiro that fighter just so he could dual wield guns in it?" Hayate grins.

Mirage coughed at hearing this, a small smile breaking out. "I don't think they made it for him, but it suits him pretty well, I think."

"You wanna help him, or are we gonna watch to see if he can solo a frigate?" Hayate asks as he orients his Siegfried to face the frigate.

"What kind of question is that?" Mirage scoffs. "Delta-2 to Delta-1, do you copy, sir?"

Arad responded with a grin. "Sound copy, Delta-2. Go ahead, we'll take care of things here."

Just as Mirage was about to respond, Messer's callout grabbed their attention.

"More torpedoes inbound!" Messer said as two Nightmares attacked him simultaneously. He clipped one with his railguns while hitting the other directly with his beam turret.

As Hayate and Mirage turned towards the frigate, which had just launched four more torpedoes, they saw Shiro in his Messiah, throttling at max speed behind the anti-ship projectiles.

"Oi, we need to move, Mirage! Shiro's not gonna make it in time-" Hayate pauses as Shiro, who was still relatively far behind the torpedoes, opens fire on them.

At first, it looked like desperate firing, but after a second, the streaking rounds that appeared to be off-target impacted two of the four torpedoes, detonating them instantly. The next few seconds saw more rounds hitting the remaining torpedoes despite looking like they would miss completely.

"That's some sharp shooting. Has Shiro really gotten that good?" Hayate muses as he watches Shiro banked sharply to avoid the beam gunfire coming from a Nightmare that seemed desperate to take him down.

"Who knows with him. So far, he's done nothing short of surprising, so it might just be him being him. He did mention that he learns really fast." Mirage says softly.

Shiro's aggressor fired wildly, spraying beams and missiles at him, who had little difficulty dodging. Shiro weaved through the asteroid field before flipping over an asteroid in Gerwalk mode before switching to Battroid mode and tearing apart the Nightmare chasing him as he passed below him. By this point, the frigate had fired another four torpedoes, an action Hayate and Mirage were ready to counter.

"Delta-5, let's move." Mirage orders as she throttles forward towards the newly-launched torpedoes.

"Roger that!" Hayate grins as he accelerates in sync with Mirage, the duo moving in unison amidst the asteroids towards the torpedoes.

As they began to weave through the cluster, two more Apex Nightmares closed in on them. The two Nightmares accelerated towards the two with reckless abandon, narrowly avoiding asteroids while attempting to lock on to the two Siegfrieds. One of them managed to line up on Hayate before getting clothes-lined by an asteroid. The other throttled upwards to avoid the asteroid, only to get shot to bits by one of the passing ISDF Chronos seconds later.

Hayate glanced up briefly before turning to Mirage. "Hey, Mirage. Is it just me, or do these guys look sloppy?"

Mirage frowned slightly as she turned to her radar momentarily. "I see it too. Though, I wouldn't call it sloppy, more like desperate. We're in range, target the torpedoes."

Hayate zeroed in on his target just as his and Mirage's radars blared with targeting warnings. "We're being locked on to-"

"Focus on the torpedoes." An emotionless voice pauses the duo. "I will handle the hostiles targeting you two."

Mirage blasts her two targets to bits just as a flaming Nightmare screams past her, visible holes and scorch marks on its fuselage and wings. The unfortunate fighter explodes brilliantly as a second Nightmare follows, its condition no better than the first's. As Hayate finishes intercepting his two torpedoes, two more explosions rattled the duo's Siegfrieds. They looked up to see a fifth Nightmare lose its wing to lightning fast blue tracers before another trail of rounds hammer its fuselage from center to nose, causing the entire frame to disintegrate. Shiro's Messiah flies up to the two Delta pilots, sliding in between the two but just above them so they could still see each other.

"I've taken care of the squad targeting you. This may sound overly confident, but I cannot help but think our enemies are getting careless, if not, rash, in their decision making. It also looks like there are a significant number of inexperienced enemy pilots on the field."

"I'll say. Somehow, though, I've got a bad feeling about this. Especially that Macross sitting in the back over there." Hayate says while glancing at the large menacing shadow of a Macross-class warship sitting some distance from the battle space.

"I feel the same; we can't afford to hesitate, though. There's a lot riding on this battle; it's fortunate enough we were able to push the Apex of Humanity back into space." Mirage says calmly, a frown on her face.

"Yeah; in any case, you really came in clutch there, Shiro. What's that fighter, though? It looks pretty bulky." Hayate looks with curiosity at Shiro's armored Messiah.

"It is a heavily modified older generation fighter, upgraded with current generation components, along with some other things. I must admit, its armament seems tailor made for someone such as myself. We should move on, though. That Apex warship may be damaged, but I am fairly certain some of its primary weapon systems are still online." Shiro then glances at his radar, eyeing the positions of the ISDF warships and the Apex warships clustered about.

"With it being so close to the Hermera, and in conjunction, the Aether, I think disabling or destroying it should be our first course of action from this point on. From what I understand, the Enterprise is also still in a tactically unsound position, as well. The faster we take down that warship, the faster we can consolidate our forces." Shiro pauses and looks at Mirage. "Thoughts, Delta-2?"

Mirage's lip fell after hearing Shiro rattle off an analysis of their situation and a plan that was eerily similar to their actual strategy. Mirage then mentally kicked herself for forgetting that Shiro probably heard their strategy during the planning process. "Ahem. Yeah, that's pretty much what I was going to say. Thanks for reminding me, Delta-6."

"Reminding you of what?"

Mirage paused. "For reminding me of our original course of action?"

Shiro's expression remained blank.

Hayate's eyebrow tilted up slightly. "You had no idea that was our plan, did you?"

Mirage turned to Hayate. "Eh?"

"Remember? Shiro had to get to the Enterprise because we didn't have a fighter ready for him to launch with us. So, he didn't hear our discussion."

Mirage's jaw dropped. "Wait, Delta-6... Did you come up with that strategy just now?"

Shiro made no sign of emotion as he turned back to Mirage, his gaze temporarily on Hayate as he spoke. "Yes, I did. Do you find it incomplete?"

Hayate and Mirage glance at each other. Hayate's expression was that of one surrendering, and Mirage looked almost depressed for some reason. "Jesus, how long did it take you to come up with that?"

"It took me more or less a couple minutes to formulate that course of action. Is there anything I missed?

The two glanced at each other in silence before a small chuckle escaped Hayate. "I don't think so, and for once, I was actually paying close attention."

Mirage scoffed. "No, not really. None that I can see, anyway."

Hayate grins. "Alright, then. Let's go then-"

Hayate's thoughts were cut off as six large missiles pass by him, setting off his proximity alarm.

"Did the frigate launch more torpedoes!?" Mirage cried out as she watched the large projectiles fly past the three of them.

"No," Shiro began as he traced the target of the missiles, "It looks like the missiles are aimed at the Apex warship that folded in near the Hermera."

A series of bright explosions light up the space to the side of the three pilots.

"You won't have to worry about that frigate, sir." Ein's heavy, lightly accented voice enters their channel.

"Lieutenant Schwernz? Is the Enterprise secure?" Shiro turns slightly at the heavily-built pilot piloting the massive mobile artillery sitting a sizable distance away on an asteroid.

"Secure enough, sir. Colonel Takamura and Captain Ernest have both requested that we speed up our collective movements, the Arcadia has detected movement from the Macross-class warship. It's not much, but it's starting to move towards us. Major Barchenowa has estimated we'll be in its range in 20 minutes, at its current pace.

"What about the Aether and Hermera? Have they cleared the Apex forces from the immediate area?" Mirage asks as she glances back at the two carriers. She immediately noticed the lack of intense combat, only seeing a few streams of tracers and even fewer explosions.

"We're completely stopped the Apex push on the Enterprise and taken down most of their battleships and carriers. Having said that, their remaining forces are falling back with short-ranged folding maneuvers, to what appears to be a rally point behind the Macross class warship."

"Which means we need to be ready to face the remnants of the Apex fleet and their Macross-class warship." Shiro says coolly.

"That is correct, sir. The Hammer is in position to escort the Aether and Hermera with close range fire support effective the distance to the ISDF carrier group." Ein says as the massive, 750 meter battleship thrusts horizontally such that its shadow rested directly over the two Xaos carriers. All the while, its massive quantum beam turrets and numerous arrays of anti-air turrets blazing away at any Apex fighter or battleship foolish enough to not retreat out of the massive battleship's range of destruction.

"ACE 2-2, will you require an escort to your firing position?" Mirage turns to the Konig pilot.

"Negative, I have a pre-existing escort, but I appreciate the sentiment." Ein responds as a pair of Chronos swing behind him in Gerwalk mode.

"Understood. Then, stay safe out there, Lieutenant." Mirage nods to Ein, who returns the gesture.

"Likewise, ma'am."

Ein's Konig detaches from the asteroid and shifts into its shuttle mode, the two Chronos following suit. Turning around, Mirage glances at Hayate and Shiro.

"Let's go. We've still got work to do, Delta-5, Delta-6."

"Alright!" Hayate flexes his fingers.

"Acknowledged." Shiro monotonously responds.

With all that said and done, the three pilots turned in the opposite direction Ein was flying, back toward the two Xaos carriers, where the remaining Apex forces who had refused to retreat were making their final push.

---

Meanwhile, on a certain snow-covered planet

A lone red-haired pilot stood in a hangar bay just under a pale, dark green Draken-III sitting in Gerwalk mode. The wide open bay doors allowed the winds of the blizzard storm to sweep through the hangar unimpeded, but it did not bother the pilot in the slightest. His matte yellow eyes simply stared out the entrance of the pale yellow, but slightly tanned carrier that was docked near the massive castle that belonged to the Windermerean royalty.

The carrier was a new design, inspired by a decided fusion of the original Windermerean carrier and carrier-battleship hybrid. It sported a twin-launch deck styled hull, with multiple inter-connected sections in between the two decks. On the outside of each carrier sections was a similarly sized battle mount that carried a sizable amount of turrets, some larger than others. Each battle mount held 7 turrets, four facing forward, the rest facing the rear. There were also numerous smaller turrets sprinkled all over the battle mounts, facing every which way, ensuring that no potential blind spots in its defense. Bogue gazed at the new class of carrier, which was stated to be the first of 5 planned for construction, thoughts of change weighing heavily on his mind.

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of two similar, but distinctly different voices.

"Oi, Bogue! How long are you gonna stand there?"

"Bogue, we're almost done with the preparations. Everyone is ready to launch and our new flagship is in position to launch."

The red-haired Aerial Knight turned towards the two brothers with a scowl at the way the former interrupted his thoughts. "Xao, it might not look like it, but I've got a bunch of things on my mind, so don't just bust in and start yelling at me, dammit."

The rowdier of the Jussila brothers winced at Bogue's snap. "Sorry, Bogue."

Bogue nodded at Xao before turning to Theo, who shrunk slightly under the fiery knight's gaze. "And Theo, thank you for the update, but I need just a little bit more time to myself. It's..." He sighs with a frown, turning back to look outside. The storm had begun to lighten up, the fierce winds reduced to calmer gusts of air.

"If you're having doubts about seeing them again, Bogue, I'd like you to know we're all nervous-" Theo starts, but Bogue quickly cuts him off.

"What exactly makes you nervous, Theo?" Bogue asks, his tone harsh. "Because, even we worked together though the last time we met, you know damn well that won't be enough to make up for the way we treated them. The way I treated them." Bogue mutters the last bit to himself, but both the Aerial Knight brothers heard his grumblings.

"Surely, they'll understand. Everyone agrees that our proposal is more than reasonable-" Xao tries to put in his thoughts.

"Everyone on Windermere, you mean." Bogue's expression sours.

The two brothers glanced at each other with looks of concern.

"The more I think about it, the more I realize that our isolation has hurt us more than it has humanity. And, on top of that, it's pretty obvious that we're just as 'human' as anyone else. The conflict that we started against NUNS was nothing more than the equivalent of an over-sized tantrum..." Bogue whirled around and punched the leg unit of his personal Draken in obvious frustration. "And for what?! To be manipulated by one of our own the same way NUNS manipulated Windermere all those years ago?!"

Theo gripped his arm with the other while Xao grit his teeth and glared at the ground.

Bogue inhaled sharply, glancing at the tiny dent his fist had made. "I haven't forgiven NUNS for scarring our home and manipulating Windermere for their personal gains. But, I've realized that humanity and NUNS aren't the same. The only thing I'm certain of at this point, is that staying here on Windermere, isn't enough to repair the damage done to our planet. We need outside help, and the only people we could trust..." Bogue takes in another deep breath of air, his rune flickering gold.

"Are Xaos and Walkure..."

Xao raises an eyebrow while Theo simply stares at Bogue. Sensing their gazes, he turns around to look at them.

"What?"

"You do know Xaos is a PMC organization, right? They operate off profits, like any other business." Theo points out.

"That's right, why do you trust them so much?" Xao questions, his eyes accusing.

Bogue sighs, planting a hand on his forehead. "Did you two actually do any serious research on Xaos? They're not just a PMC organization. They have a hand in just about every field of business imaginable. Food distribution, consumer goods, Research and Development, security, construction, multiple types of infrastructure. Everything, except...politics."

"Huh, so those Walkure shorts were actually telling the truth? What else have we missed?" Theo puts a finger to his chin.

"I didn't take them seriously, but if the things they put in those were true, then I might just go back and watch them." Xao then smirks at Bogue. "You wanna re-watch it with me, Bogue?"

Bogue's cheeks flush as his rune starts to glow brightly. "Wha-what?! Hell no!" He takes a deep breath to compose himself. "I didn't get this information from those videos. Besides, you all felt it, didn't you? Back then..."

The two brothers' expressions cooled as they both nodded; Bogue takes out a small compact device. A single button press activates a holographic screen.

"This device has access to the galactic information network. You can look up just about anything that isn't supposed to be a military secret. Took me a while to figure it out, but I think I have it down." Bogue then shows it to the two Jussila brothers. "I just looked up things on what Xaos does around the galaxy. Turns out, they're basically everywhere, in every industry. That, and they also provide reduced cost aid to governments depending on whether or not they qualify for it."

"First off, aren't those devices illegal here? Second off, how do they make a profit if they make a loss helping other people? Epsilon sure as hell doesn't do that. Not that I trust them, either." Xao frowns at Bogue.

"You do know that His Majesty and Sir Herman also have similar devices? I just didn't know they had access to anything other than the data network Windermere has, what with the censorship laws still being in place." Theo adds to his brother and the red-haired Aerial Knight.

"To answer your question, Xao, they are, but when you catch half of our pilots illegally listening to our declared enemy's concerts during a conflict with them, then end up fighting alongside them after the Royal Chancellor goes rogue to take over the galaxy, illegality sort of goes out the window. And, this is to help Windermere; the quality of life is declining and I refuse to sit on my ass and do nothing. At least this way, I won't be ignorant of my surroundings anymore." Bogue then glances at the device. "And, I haven't actually gotten far enough to answer your second question, so I can't say anything."

Theo nods. "Also, His Majesty has been discussing it with the cabinet over whether or not the outside media censorship laws should be nullified. Everyone's on the fence about the changes."

Bogue glances at the device one last time. "Well, we should get going. I think we've spent enough time mulling."

"Bogue, are you there?" The aged voice of his mentor emanates from the device in his hand.

The knight snaps to attention, even though Herman wasn't physically with him. "Yes Mas- Sir."

"Don't be so stiff, Bogue," The three knights could practically hear the smile on the senior knight's face. "I'm just checking up on you. His Majesty wishes to speak with us before we depart to Ragna."

Bogue glances at the two Jussila brothers before turning back to the device. "Understood. I'll get going. Has His Majesty requested Theo and Xao, as well?"

"Yes, he has. Can you contact them?"

"There's no need to. They're right next to me."

"Good. We'll meet in His Majesty's throne room in 30 minutes."

"Yes sir."

As Bogue puts the device away, Theo walks towards him. "What does His Majesty want us for?"

"His Majesty wants to speak with us before we leave. I don't know what the subject will be, though." Bogue replies as he starts walking towards the exit from which the two brothers entered. "Come on, I don't want to be late."

"Yes sir." Both brothers respond in unison.

15 minutes later, the three of them entered the throne room where Heinz sat, with Herman and the temporary Royal Chancellor standing next to his throne, even though said chancellor was not technically of royal blood. Bogue knelt, saluting Heinz in standard Windermerean custom, the Jussila brothers quickly following suit.

"Your Majesty, Sir Bogue Con-Vaart, reporting as requested." Bogue kept his gaze down as a series of thoughts swirled in his head.

"At ease, Aerial Knights." Heinz spoke with authority, despite having the voice of, understandably, a 12-year old. "I understand that I've summoned you all at an inconvenient time, but there's something I feel I need to make clear."

As he said this, the three knights rose from their kneeling positions, though they kept their statures at attention. The Jussila brothers glance at each other out of the corners of their eyes while Bogue looks towards Heinz while not making direct eye contact.

"I know that Windermere's relations with the outside is...tense, to say the least. Having said that, I think all of you are aware of Windermere's declining quality of life. Our political and commercial relations have declined so severely that even raw material distributors are unwilling to trade with us. I do not feel at ease relying on Epsilon anymore than we already have been; I would much prefer to cut ties, if possible. Not to mention, our revenues from apple sales have declined as well. As this planet's ruler, I cannot stand by idly as this planet's standard of living deteriorates."

The three knights nod, Herman and the Royal Chancellor mimicking the action.

"With that said, I am sending one of our newest and brightest diplomats to partake in negotiations. The Aerial Knights I've assigned will be under your command, Herman." Heinz says, glancing at the senior Aerial Knight.

"Understood, Your Majesty." Herman bows lightly before resuming his previous stance.

"Bogue, you will be Sir Herman's lieutenant. I trust you will maintain your discipline during the negotiations and beyond." Heinz had a slight emphasis on discipline, causing the fiery Aerial Knight to tense up slightly.

Bogue nods. "Yes, your Majesty."

"Theo, Xao." Heinz's tone of voice had turned more authoritative ever so slightly as he turned to address the two.

The two Jussila brothers stiffen at hearing his voice.

"With the passing of multiple heads of our primary economic corporations, an alarming percentage of our businesses are beginning to decline. The Jussila company is among the few that have managed to evade economic downfall. As the two heirs to said company, not only do the two of you have significant economic knowledge, but also military service as well. On top of guarding the diplomat, you will assist her in making knowledgeable decisions as part of negotiations and within the conditions I have set for her. Having said that, you will not engage in any activity that undermines the other party or parties, in any way, shape or form. We will not stoop to the level of those that manipulated us in the past for their personal gains, is that understood?" The content of what Heinz was addressing to them provided ample reason for his shift in tone.

With that realization in mind, the two brothers snapped a sharp salute to their king. "We understand completely, Your Majesty."

As the two fell at ease, Bogue's eyes suddenly widened briefly while his rune flickered enough for Herman and Heinz to notice.

"Is there something on your mind, Bogue?" Heinz asks.

"If I may be so blunt, Your Majesty," Bogue's gaze met Heinz's, who simply nodded. "I would like to know who the diplomat you have assigned to this expedition is."

"I believe you may know her, Bogue. She has been listening to our conversation for some time now. Charlotte? Please come forward." Heinz turns with a light smile to his left where guards and servants normally stood. Bogue's eyes bulged as his gaze followed Heinz's.

The knights followed Heinz's gaze to a hooded figure standing quietly. The figure walked calmly and gracefully towards them until she was a couple feet from the three knights at the base of Heinz's throne. From there, they could see a crimson braid hanging out slightly that reached down to her modest chest. She pulled her hood back to reveal a smooth, effeminate face that held a pair of light gold eyes that were slightly lighter than Bogue's. On the left side of her head, there was a pale gold heart-shaped rune tucked to the side of her bangs. She had a light, gentle smile and an air of maturity around her.

"If I may be so bold to suggest so, Your Majesty, this almost seems set up to be dramatic. ~Ufufu~" Charlotte's voice carried mature yet teasing tone, leading most of the people in the room to think she was teasing the young king. One of them, however, knew very well that she held no such intentions, as it was her normal manner of speech.

"Ch-Charlotte?!" Bogue exclaimed, completely ignoring the fact he was in front of Heinz, Herman, and the Royal Chancellor.

"Bogue, have you-" Herman starts, about to admonish his former student, but a hand gesture from Heinz stops him immediately.

Charlotte turns to Bogue, smiling ever so gently. "Hello, dear brother. It has been some time since we've seen each other, hasn't it?"

Bogue's jaw threatened to hit the floor before he regained himself and closed his mouth. Before he could say anything, however, Heinz lightly tapped his throne's armrest.

"Charlotte," Heinz speaks as she turns to him, nodding respectfully. "you already have the details of your objectives. If there are any complications, you will always able to contact myself or, if I'm not available, the Royal Chancellor. Herman will have command over the Aerial Knights, but you will have absolute authority on the direction this operation takes."

Charlotte bows politely. "I understand, Your Majesty."

"Then, I will be taking my leave. Herman, once you depart Windermere, report your intention and details to Xaos' Ragna branch." Heinz says as he and the Royal Chancellor turn to leave.

Herman salutes Heinz. "Understood."

The group watches Heinz and Royal Chancellor leave the room. After the door closes behind them, Bogue turns to Charlotte, who meets his tepid gaze with a look that outwardly radiated gentleness, but underneath, simmered with an entirely different emotion.

Swallowing tensely, he speaks slowly. "You've recovered. How? When I last visited you-"

"You mean 4 years ago while I was still comatose." Charlotte's voice lost any semblance of cheer and was replaced with something just shy of hostility.

Bogue's eyes narrowed slightly, his rune threatening to shine. "Yes, 4 years ago, when you were comatose with no apparent signs of recovery. When I had to choose between staying by your side for another year, or complete my training as an Aerial Knight to..."

Charlotte's eyebrows tilted up slightly, as if she was expecting him to finish his sentence. "To what?"

Bogue inhaled sharply. "Nevermind it. Things have changed."

Charlotte shifted to a neutral expression. "Is that so?"

Glancing at the other three Aerial Knights watching awkwardly; she exhales softly. "In any case, we should get ready to go. Are the ships ready to launch?"

Herman stepped down from the steps of the throne, ignoring the conversation between the siblings. "Yes Ma'am. Shall we prepare to depart?"

Charlotte nods. "Yes."

She turns to Bogue and the Jussila brothers, her expression taking an official and professional outlook. "Herman, you and Bogue will escort me personally at all times except during circumstances where I specify otherwise. Theo, Xao, and Bogue, you three will be the ones to stay at my side during negotiations. Herman, will there be any issues with this arrangement?"

"No, Ma'am." Herman turns to the three Aerial Knights. "Let's go."

Bogue glances at his sister out of the corner of his eye for a split second before snapping a salute, the two Jussila brothers doing the same. "Yes sir."

As they exited the castle and moved towards the docks where the carrier sat waiting, Bogue turned towards Herman and Charlotte.

"M-" Bogue cleared his throat. "Herman, does Xaos' Ragna branch know we're coming?"

Herman maintained a neutral expression. "We tried contacting them, but we received no response. They might still be working on repairing their warship, so they may not have long-range communications online. In any case, we should be able to contact them and announce our intentions to them once we arrive in orbit of Ragna."

"Why don't we just go to the planet with Xaos' headquarters? Why are we going to the Ragna branch?" Xao asks, speed walking up to the three.

"Because our ships' fuel supplies are limited, and given our reputation, securing a fuel source in unknown territory is a flaky prospect, at best." Charlotte answers. "Besides, ignoring the fact that we don't know the location of Xaos' headquarters, the Ragna branch is both closer and will most likely be able to suitably host our negotiations."

After she said this, the five of them walked in silence until they reached the dock where the carrier sat.

As they boarded, Charlotte turned to Herman. "Herman, would you mind checking on our escort pilots? Make sure everyone understands the rules of engagement; we are not here to cause trouble. Report back to me as soon as you're finished."

Herman nods. "Yes Ma'am. Shall I take Bogue, Theo, or Xao?"

"No, I need to speak with Bogue on the bridge." Charlotte replies with a shake of her head. "And I need you two," she says, turning to the Jussila brothers. "to gather any relevant fiscal information regarding Windermere's trading capabilities, but keep it current relative to the past 10 years. If you would use that information at any time during a business meeting between two companies, I want it; everything you can gather within two hours. I know that isn't much time, but I need you two to make it happen."

Xao nodded furiously as he typed onto a digital notepad, while Theo repeated everything Charlotte had said to Xao in a lower tone to make sure he got everything.

Charlotte waited until they finished before clearing her throat, catching their attention. "You two will have complete access to any records under my administrative authority. Moreover, my secretary should be working on it right now, so you'll have her to help out. She last told me she had been making good progress, but she's been working around the clock, so she'll likely need to rest soon. Is that understood?"

The two simultaneously snap a salute. "Yes Ma'am."

Charlotte nodded. "That'll be all. Bogue, come with me."

"Yes Ma'am." Bogue replies, not meeting her eyes.

As they walked in silence, Charlotte sneaked a gaze at her older brother of one year. The way he carried himself and the look in his eyes starkly contrasted her last memory of him; any liveliness in him had long since disappeared. She wasn't sure if he was still the loving brother who doted on her younger sisters and her whilst promising her and his older siblings that he'd be a superb Aerial Knight. What was left was the Windermerean stereotypical image of an Aerial Knight; intense, cold, and brooding. She realized, that if she not spoken with him just a few minutes ago and seen a glimpse of his emotions, Charlotte would have feared he was completely broken.

Had it not been for the two's footsteps echoing on the metallic floor of the ship, the silence between the two would have driven the young diplomat crazy. Charlotte found herself sneaking glances at Bogue to see if she could catch any change in his demeanor. Discovering she couldn't, she found her gaze shifting downwards as they walked for a short minute before her brother's voice nearly caused her to trip over herself.

"You're still abysmal at trying to read people discreetly. If Mother could see you now, she'd be pinching your cheeks in disappointment."

Charlotte's eyes bulged at the snide remark that exited her brother's mouth. She stopped, staring at Bogue as he took a step forward before realizing she had frozen in place.

Turning around and seeing her reaction, the Aerial Knight readied himself to kneel and apologize. Before he could, the figure behind him became a red and gold blur, slamming into his chest and nearly knocking them both over. Any words he were going to prepare died a swift death as his sister quietly sobbed into his shoulder.

"Thank the Great Wind." A pregnant pause filled the mostly empty corridor before she continued, ignoring the utter shock on her brother's face. "I thought I'd wake up and find you completely broken; a soulless soldier, thinking of only the next mission or method to destroy any of our proclaimed enemies."

"Charlotte?" Despite the lack of sobbing, he could still feel his little sister trembling in his arms, which found their way around her back without him realizing it. He quietly exhaled, pulling a hand behind her head, stroking her gently. "Don't be ridiculous, Charlotte. I wouldn't lose myself like that-"

"I saw it earlier, Bogue. You want vengeance, don't you? For the tragedy seven years ago?" Her words had her brother frozen, however momentarily.

She tightened her grip on her silent brother, dreading the response he would give. His next words surprised her into looking up into her brother's near identical eyes relative to herself. "You're right, Charlotte, I do. However, I can't say it's the same as the feeling I had seven years ago. What I really want now is to ensure no other Windermereans have to go through the hardships we did. Finding those responsible and taking vengeance takes secondary priority. If I stayed on the path of pure vengeance, I would've stayed blind to the plights of our people. Obviously, you're here for that, aren't you?"

Charlotte nodded, dumbfounded by the apparent 180 in her brother's mentality. "So, you don't want another war? To prove our superiority?"

Bogue's expression narrowed. "No, why the hell would I? In fact, who on Windermere wants that? It should've never been about proving our superiority, because all we ever wanted was independence from tyranny. Don't tell me there are fools back home with those idiotic thoughts?"

Charlotte's nod was much more solemn. "Unfortunately, a minority of people back home do hold such sentiments. His Majesty sent me on this mission to help negate their influence. If I succeed-"

Bogue gently but firmly separated the two of them with an affectionate smile she hadn't seen in years. "First off, you aren't alone, so get that thought out of your head right now. Secondly," his smile faded and was replaced with a stern, understanding expression. "the success of this operation will help stabilize Windermere, politically, correct?"

Charlotte's surprise was muted, though still noticed by her brother. "You're far more observant and thoughtful than I remember." She smiled teasingly. "Are you really my brother?"

"Only I know about your secret spot, dear sister." He whispered in her ear, causing her expression to flash from teasing to horrified in under a second.

Charlotte stumbled backwards, falling on her rear as she shrieked in horror. "D-don't you dare! Y-you can't touch a diplomat from any sovereign planet coming under peaceful intentions!"

"Oh, but dear sister," Bogue advanced, a humorous smirk on his face. "my intentions are indeed peaceful."

The young diplomat's rune flashed a bright gold as her eyes bulged. "W-wait, you definitely are my brother, so please have mercy!"

Bogue blurred towards her, and she shut her eyes, bracing herself for the worst when a pair of arms wrapped around her shoulders and pulled her into a loving embrace.

"Eh?" She was snapped out of her shock as the one hugging her pulled both of them to their feet while remaining embraced.

"Charlotte." Putting just enough space between the two of them for him to look directly into her eyes, Bogue stared down at his younger sister. "I promise, I will protect you. I'll take care of everything else, so you can focus on doing what you have to do to make this work. So please, don't worry about me. I have my priorities, and I can keep myself in check. For the most part, anyway."

She gaped briefly before smiling, her rune taking on a warmer hue of gold. "Yeah, I'll be counting on you, Bogue."

He nodded, releasing her and moving so that he was standing on her right. "Shall we continue onwards, then? We've probably wasted enough time here."

"Yes, we have. However, I had allotted extra time into our schedule so we shouldn't be behind, technically." She spoke officially, her emotions now in check as they began to walk.

"Smart of you to do so." Bogue replied with a small tug at the corner of his mouth. With everything said and done, they continued walking toward their destination.

Charlotte responded with a small quirk of her lips before fading back into neutrality. "Indeed. With any luck, we'll be able to communicate with their chain of command soon after we de-fold."

Bogue felt something drop in the pit of his stomach; an uneasy feeling settling within him. Despite his best effort to suppress the sensation, his younger sister glancing at him with a curious expression.

"Something the matter, Bogue?"

"I'm...not really sure. I suppose it's just nervousness or something similar, but for some reason, I can't help but feel things won't go our way." Seeing her expression shift negatively, he continued. "That's not to say I doubt your abilities, I'm just worried about outside factors influencing our negotiation attempts. After all, we haven't really focused on what other governing bodies will do when we show up."

Charlotte hummed. "That is something His Majesty and I had discussed prior to our embarkment. You're not wrong for worrying about that; however, assuming that NUNS and the governments underneath adhere to their own rules, we should atleast be heard out before they do anything rash. That said, I am loathe to admit that the Windermerean government as a whole is somewhat out of touch with the system's current events, so make sure to stay alert."

Bogue nods as they reach the bridge. "Understood." He leans in close and whispers to her. "You as well. The people you're looking to negotiate aren't bad people, but there's no guarantee you'll be speaking with them at all, Charlotte."

"I know. But we can always hope for the best, right?"

"Yeah. As long as we're prepared for the worst, there's no harm in hoping."

Saluting back to the bridge crew not occupied with critical navigation, the Con-Vaart siblings made their way to the helm of the bridge.

"15 seconds until we de-fold, Madam Diplomat." One of the bridge navigators informed the two from his console.

"Thank you. Communications crew, open a public frequency as soon as we enter Ragnan space." Charlotte orders, her expression taking on a professional manner.

As a chorus of acknowledgements echoes throughout the bridge, their ship de-folded. What greeted them, was not the sight of the oceanic planet of Ragna by itself. Instead, the crew on the bridge, Charlotte and Bogue all found themselves in the front row seats of an intense battle between two fleets, one they only somewhat recognized as a large collective of NUNS warships, and the other fleet comprised of a handful of massive silver and white warships they had never seen before. To his shock, Bogue also noticed a familiar pair of carriers positioned within the formation, and an equally familiar blue pyramid rising from one of them.

His attention, however, was immediately taken by a proximity alarm going off, and the sight of a flaming Nightmare spiraling towards the right of the bridge.

---

OOF, that finishes this chapter out. Hopefully you all (whoever's still here, anyway) enjoyed it. Unfortunately, I can't say that I'll be consistent in my posting, but I just want everyone to know that I'm alive and (mostly) well enough to write once more. Special thanks to all of you who stayed with the story during my absence. As always, I'll see you all next chapter!