(Cape Landers, Osean Federation - March 20, 2022, 1752 hrs.)

Shido and Tonomachi were heading further inland to help the Osean Air Defense Force pilots engage the Belkans that infiltrated the airspace. In the middle of the fight, a number of radio transmissions were heard.

"This is Warowl 3, I'm taking damage!" One of the Oseans panicked. "Ejecting!"

"Dammit, he's on my six!" Another shouted. "Evading!"

"Those Belkans are gonna kick our butts if we don't do something!" A third said in disbelief. "We need help!"

Tonomachi decided to contact them.

"Warowl, this is Captain Hiroto Tonomachi of the Aurelian Air Force, Gryphus Squadron. We're here to help."

"Thanks, captain!" He thanked. "My name is Captain Chihaya Itsuka of the 201st Tactical Fighter Squadron, Warowls."

"What?!" Shido exclaimed. "Don't tell me..."

"Hold on here...Itsuka?" Tonomachi asked Chihaya. "We have a pilot with that last name!"

"No time to talk about it. The Belkans are scratchin' us!"

"Uhh...right. Shido, break formation and engage the fighters."

"Copy, captain." Shido complied and he broke off to engage.

The Gryphus pilots then approached the combat area, where 5 Osean F-15C Eagles engage a squadron of 15 Belkan Su-47 Berkuts. They entered the fray and they began to fight.

"Two planes imbound." A Belkan said.

"Even Nemesis is with them." Another observed as well by looking at the tails. "All units, watch carefully. Those guys are good as what Leasath's pilots said."

The Belkans then began to carefully pick their targets and maneuver decisively as usual.

"Watch it, Osprey!" An Osean warned. "Enemy Berkut at your six!"

"Wha..." The plane was then hit by Belkan cannon fire. "I'm hit!"

"Get a grip, everyone!" Chihaya tried to keep their morale high. "We can't let them through!"

"I'm on this guy!" Shido radioed as he began to chase a Berkut in a game of tight turns. "Locked on!"

He then pulled the trigger of his gun.

"Firing gun!" The Berkut first trailed smoke before engulfing in flames.

"I got him!" He confirmed.

"Keep firing, guys!" Tonomachi urged them. "We can win this!"

"Yes, captain!" Chihaya agreed.

A Belkan then got a lock on an Osean plane.

"Pursuing bandit." He said.

"I'm spiked!" The Osean reacted and tried to evade.

"Hornisse 3, Fox 2." He fired the missile and the Osean maneuvered hard but it didn't work.

"I'm hit! Can't maintain course! I'm ejecting!" The pilot bailed narrowly escaping from the burning wreck.

"Warowl 4 is hit!" Warowl 2 reported. "We're down to two planes!"

"Hold on!" Tonomachi assured them.

"Switching to AMRAAMs!" Immediately after, Shido armed his AIM-120 AMRAAMs after fending off a few Belkan fighters. "Locked on!"

"Gryphus 7, Fox 3!" The AMRAAMs flew to their targets and scored direct hits.

"Control's unresponsive!" A Belkan pilot shouted. "Ejecting!"

"Deal with Nemesis!" The Belkan leader ordered.

"Roger." Most of the Belkans then direct their attention to the Gryphus planes.

"Engaging enemy." The Belkans made the planes engage in tight turns to either attack or evade.

"There after us, Shido." Tonomachi observed. "Let's kick 'em out."

"Roger, captain." The duo then began to engage as well which caught the curiosity of some Belkan pilots.

"That pilot's style..." A Belkan tried to describe Shido.

"...he fights like the Demon Lord." Another finished. "Is he a reincarnation of that guy?"

Meanwhile, Tohka, Origami and Victoria were carrying the unconscious Spirit to a nearby airbase west of Cape Landers.

"How's her condition?" Tohka asked Origami.

"She's stable." She answered. "However, we need to move fast. The Belkans may be following us."

"Uh, right." Just then, a unit of six Bandersnatch mechs arrived.

"Listen, I'll get the girl out of here." Origami suggested. "You two cover us."

"We'll do." Victoria agreed while Tohka nodded.

Tohka got the attention of three Bandersnatch units and lured them to a fight. To her surprise, they are more aggressive and heavily equipped.

"Those things are tougher than the last ones we saw!" She observed.

"You sure?" Victoria asked.

"Likely!" Origami answered. "There must be an airship with a Realizer in it."

They began to fight back using their angels in an effort to repel the attack. Victoria's angel takes on the form of a sabre.

"That's your weapon?" Tohka asked her.

"Yes, ma'am." Victoria replied. "That's my weapon."

"Then let's go!"

In the dogfight, the Belkans began to slowly lose their edge as their numbers began to lower for every plane they lost.

"They're punishing us!" A Belkan complained.

"Stay on target." The leader reminded them.

Shido fired an AIM-9 Sidewinder on an enemy. The missile missed. Meanwhile, Tonomachi aimed his gun at another Belkan. He fired it and the plane was burning.

"One plane down!" He confirmed.

"I have him on lock-on!" Chihaya said. "Warowl 1, Fox 2!"

The missile flew to the target and hit it on the tailpipe.

"Enemy down!" He confirmed.

A Belkan then got a lock on Tonomachi.

"Got him."

"I'm spiked!" Tonomachi said. "This is no good!"

He then performed evasive maneuvers to try to shake off the lock.

"Wespe 3, missile launched." The missile tried to stay on course to Tonomachi but he turned hard and the missile missed.

"You ain't getting me this time." He rebuked.

The Belkan got close to engage Tonomachi with his gun, but the latter pulled a Cobra to get behind him.

"I'm on him now." He fired the gun and the plane exploded.

"He's down!" Tonomachi confirmed.

Back at the Spirit fight, Tohka continued fighting the two mechs using her angel and she destroyed them after some time.

"Huff, huff...two down." She confirmed.

Victoria then faced off against another Bandersnatch. She made her angel lit on fire and tried to attack the powerful mech. While it tried to defend itself, it succumbled to damage Victoria inflicted.

"One down." She said. "Tohka?"

"Right." She replied. "On to the others."

"They found two more units. So Victoria made a fire vortex and engulfed the units inside before she and Tohka finished them off.

"One more." Victoria and Tohka then flew towards Origami and the Spirit, who are now evading the last Bandersnatch's attack.

"Hold on, you guys!" Tohka assured them.

"We're coming!" Victoria echoed.

They proceeded to fight the last unit in a showdown. However, to their surprise, the Bandersnatch didn't sustain heavy damage.

"How come it's still flying?!" Tohka asked in shock. Then the mech fired a laser at her.

"Hyaa! That's close!"

"We can't defeat it!" Victoria observed. "We have to distract it!"

Just then, the unconscious Spirit lowly opened her eyes to see the battle.

"Uh...wha..."

She then saw the two Spirits fighting the invincible unit. She raised her hand, which surprised Origami.

"Did she just..."

She fired a beam of ice at the unit, which froze almost instantly before the girl fell back asleep.

"Now's our chance!" Victoria confirmed.

The duo then combined their powers for a final blow to the distracted unit.

"HUUUUUUUAAAAAHHH!"

The unit took heavy damage before it exploded.

"We did it, Miss Yatogami!" Victoria cheered.

"Yeah...whew!" She sighed. "Let's regroup."

In the dogfight, the Belkans are down to one plane. Shido took the chance and fired his gun. The Belkan was shot down.

"Huff, huff, huff...that guy is done for." Shido sighed after confirming the kill.

"Nice work, Shido." Tonomachi congratulated. "Wait a minute. Hold on."

"What is it, cap?"

"Two bogeys at bearing 321. One of them is moving fast!"

When they saw the bogeys, an airship and a fast-moving craft was heading their way. The latter opened fired with its laser.

"Evade!" The planes break formation to try to counter the jet, a closed-cockpit aircraft with a woodland paint scheme.

"So you must be the boy who sealed the Spirits, are you?" The pilot asked Shido. "You have made a good reputation, you know."

"What?!" Shido reacted. "Who are you?!"

"Ah, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Erich Greyhound from D.E.M. Industries."

"...D.E.M?"

"You know that guy, Shido?" Chihaya asked.

"No. But he's an employee for a company that tried to take over our world!"

"Let's engage him then!" Tonomachi said and the four planes then attempted to engage Erich in a 4-on-1 dogfight. The latter aimed his laser on Shido and fired a larger beam.

"Hya...! That's close!"

"Fox 2!" Erich fired a missile at Chihaya but the latter evaded just in time.

"He's too powerful!" Warowl 2 commented. "Be careful, guys!"

They tried to put a dent on Erich's plane but to no avail and he tried to shoot as well with lasers, missiles and cannons. Then, Shido thought of something.

"Captain, I'm going after the airship."

"You sure?" Tonomachi asked.

"Yeah." Shido agreed. "I think so."

"Be careful, Gryphus 7." Shido left to engage the airship.

When he got close, he was greeted by SAMs and AA guns from the ship. He didn't care even if Erich is chasing him and he proceeded to arm his last remaining missile.

"Fox 2!" He fired the shot directly at the core. It destroyed it and making the ship self-destruct.

Meanwhile, Erich noticed that his laser is losing power.

"So you took out the Realizer then, huh?" Erich mumbled. "Good thinking, Takamiya."

He then unexpectedly decided to withdraw from the fight.

"What the...where's he going?" Chihaya asked.

"Whatever it is, this won't be the last time we will see him." Tonomachi replied. "Shido, nice save back there."

"Thank you, sir." Shido then breathed easier.

"We would like to thank you for giving us a hand." Warowl 2 thanked the Gryphus Squadron. "Without you, we are definitely screwed."

"My pleasure." Tonomachi replied. "Anyway, the last name?"

"Ugh, right." Chihaya decided to continue. "About that..."

(15 hours later)

In a room, the rescued Spirit was recovering from her injuries.

"Wha...where am I?" She then saw three people, two girls and one man.

"You are in the hospital recovering from your injuries." Origami explained. "We rescued you in a barn 15 hours ago."

"But...I was just trying to run away from the bad people."

"Don't worry." Shido assured her. "You're safe."

"Thank you for rescuing me." She smiled as a sign of gratitude.

"You're welcome." Shido smiled back.

(Sand Island Air Force Base - March 21, 2022, 0903 hrs.)

At the recommissioned base, soldiers and personnel from a multitude of countries worked non-stop to prepare their forces for the fight against the renewed threat of the Belkan Grey Men. Osean personnel were assigned to train the pilots. Estovakians where then assigned to train half of the soldiers for ground operations while the Aurelians maintained the planes. As well, some Belkan officers were there to help the allies. Shido, Tohka, Origami, Victoria and Tonomachi then went outside for some fresh air.

"So the 'Grey Men' were behind the attacks?" Origami asked.

"Yes. They are a group of ultranationalist Belkans formed to launch a payback attack against Osea and Yuktobania." He answered. "They tried to make them fight each other; unfortunately, they failed after a small squadron of ace pilots foiled their plans."

"No wonder."

"They were called what again?" Shido asked Tonomachi to answer his question.

"The Ghosts of Razgriz." Tonomachi answered. "Also, the laser-armed plane we encountered yesterday is an ADF-01 FALKEN developed by the former Gründer Industries."

"I see. And D.E.M.'s former employee is in the controls."

"Anyway Shido, let's get some R and R at the beach." Tohka reminded Shido.

"You're right." Shido responded. "Captain, call us if were needed. I might as well think of the Itsuka family of this world while I'm there."

"I'll do." Tonomachi agreed. "You deserve it."

"Take care, Mister Tonomachi." Victoria said to him while waiving her hand.

(West Palmwood Beach - 1005 hrs.)

At the beach, Tohka and Origami were having fun playing volleyball.

"Better try harder, Origami!" Tohka intimidated her.

"You wish!" Origami responded.

While playing, Victoria was busy building a sandcastle.

"There." She sighed while gently patting the walls. "That should do."

Shido was busy preparing to swim when someone showed up. It was the old man from Gracemeria.

"Busy swimming, I see?" He asked Shido.

"Yeah." He replied. "Just need to rest ourselves for the missions ahead."

"Just try to study your opponent and you can seize the intiative to win." He advised. "No matter how powerful you're opponent is, he can't touch you."

"I appreciate it." Shido thanked him. "Thanks for the advice."

"You're welcome." Shido then swimmed to sea to cool himself down.

The old man then said something quietly in the wind.

"Buddy, there is someone like you now."

XXXXXXXX

(27 years earlier)

(Valais Air Base, Republic of Ustio - April 20, 1995, 1050 hrs.)

On the flight apron, two men were heading for their planes to undertake a 'reconnaissance mission' in Area B7R, located in the Belka-Ustio border region. While walking, one of them decided to engage in a conversation.

"Hey buddy, what do you think of engaging in the Round Table for the first time?" He asked. "Normally a few people would come back without planes after some time there when they bailed out."

"I'm just a bit anxious about that mission, especially when the officer said of magnetic interference being present." Another with blue hair responded. "Maybe I'm not up to the job."

"Don't worry, Itsuka." His wingman assured him. "If a Belkan is on your tail, I'll take care of him."

"Thanks, Larry." Itsuka thanked him with a smile. "I appreciate it."

"That reminds me. You have someone expecting of your return in Emmeria, right?"

"Yeah. It's my girlfriend, a florist. She has a name you know."

"Okay then. I'm guessing that her name is...?" It took Larry a while before Itsuka decided to reveal the answer.

"...Tohka."

"Tohka? That's a nice name."

"Thanks for the complement." Itsuka agreed before they reached their planes. "Alright Larry, let's get the show on the road."

"Lead the way, buddy." The two then entered their planes adorned with the dog head emblem of the 6th Air Division, 66th Air Force Unit, Galm and began to take-off for their mission.

XXXXXXXX

A/N: paomayo here, a new opponent is here to challenge Shido and Co. He'll be the main antagonist in the fanfic.

Coincidentally, the Zone of Endless tournament was announced in Ace Combat Infinity at the same day I added the FALKEN.

Anyway, expect more action. See ya.