(Tenguu City, Japan - April 2, 2022, 0958 hrs.)
Above the city, there is nothing but calm skies and clouds floating gracefully. Then, all of a sudden, fighter jets appeared out of thin air as they flew high to an undisclosed location far from the city.
"Tenguu...wasn't expecting to return back after a few months." Greyhound commented while looking at the scenery.
"Is this your dimension, sir?" Emiya asked.
"Yes. This area is where that Itsuka and the Spirits now reside. But, we will have to head for a place only I would know. I have some stuff left to work out."
In the cockpit of a Belkan Su-47, the pilot noticed radar blips from his gauges.
"Sir, we have spotted multiple bogies heading our way, closing fast." He reported.
"So they did followed us, eh? Alright, time to show them our superiority." Greyhound confidentally uttered. "All units, I'm going to contact a reliable ally for support. They'll help you out."
Not far away, Shido and the group arrived from the other dimension in pursuit. The moment they have arrived, Shido and Tohka were somewhat relieved they have returned home.
"I can't believe it. We are home." Shido commented.
"Yeah! Guess we are." Tohka followed.
Tonomachi and the other pilots and Spirits were surprised by the appearance of the city situated in what looks like a giant crater.
"So this is their dimension?" Tonomachi uttered. "Then, this must be Shido and his friends' home."
"Positive. But why would a city be situated in a crater?" Chihaya wondered.
Suddenly, Greyhound and his subordinates were spotted on radar.
"Be advised, Greyhound and the others are flying away to an unknown location." Brandon reported. "Unfortunately, because we don't know much about this world, it's best if we take them down here."
"Copy." Origami responded. "Everyone, keep the fight away from the city. We don't want anymore damage."
"Uh, what do you mean, Tobiichi?"
"Because...this city suffered much fighting in the past between Spirits, D.E.M., Ratatoskr and the AST."
"I never know about the last two." Tonomachi felt slightly dumbfounded. "Can you explain them later?"
"I will."
"Eh, we also have to be careful though." Miku warned. "You guys are pretty much stepping in our house so better hurry up."
"What do you mean, Miku?" Victoria asked.
"She meant that we are stepping inside their country's airspace, so they'll vector any of their fighters towards us." Tonomachi explained.
The team then began hitting their afterburners in pursuit of the Grey Men. When they got close, they armed with any of their remaining weapons.
"Fox 3! Fox 3!" Tonomachi shouted as he fired the AMRAAMs from the weapon pods under his wings. They hit at least four Belkan fighters.
"I'm hit! Ejecting!" One Belkan shouted.
"I was expecting you to show up here." Greyhound taunted Itsuka.
"So what, you are going to take the fight here?" Shido responded.
"Hmmm...maybe."
The fight became suddenly fierce as a dogfight never before seen since the Spacequake Incident took hold. Down below, in Raizen High School, classes were still ongoing as their homeroom teacher, Tamae Okamine, was busy teaching.
"Alright everyone, time for a pop quiz." She said to her students. "I want you all to give your best out there."
As the students prepare to get their pens, one student by the window saw a fight going on.
"Hey guys, take a look at the sky!" He told his friends and they saw a fight going on.
"It can't be! Let me see!" One female student tried to look.
"I wanna look too!" Another demanded.
Tamae was worried about what is going on so she decided to look as well. When she saw the situation unfold, she was shocked.
"Okay class, time to hide in a bunker! No pushies!" She told the students. "If you have someone who can calm you down, it is kindly accepted."
In the nearby Self-Defense Forces' garrison, the once-dormant Anti-Spirit Team or AST was suddenly under high-alert as they began to respond to the emergency. As the girls were preparing to leave with their Combat Realizer Units being worn, the leader of the team, Ryouko Kusakabe, was discussing the situation with Mikie Okamine.
"You ready for this, Mikie?" Ryouko asked. "It's been a long time since the last battle."
"Yes, ma'am." Mikie responded. "What you taught me should be put into practice."
"Good. Stay safe out there."
Back in the air, Brandon began lining up his cannon to fire at another Belkan fighter despite some heavy maneuvering. Pressing the trigger, he fired bursts of rounds at the target, damaging the plane.
"Tagged! He's taking a beating." He said. "Mira?"
"I'm on this guy." She began freezing the engine of the target, effectively crippling it before the pilot began ejecting.
"He's down!" She confirmed.
"Sledgehammer, Emiya's at your five o'clock!" Tohka shouted and Brandon spotted Emiya preparing to attack.
"Whoa!" He uttered while evading her attack. "Get her off me!"
Tohka and Mira began drawing their weapons and proceeded to clash with Emiya's Angel. The clash then head towards solid ground in a forest.
"Humph! Guess I'm alone." Emiya said.
Mira began using her Angel to launch a hail of ice shards against Emiya but the latter deflected it and sent some back to her. Fortunately, Mira evaded the attack. Tohka began attacking her from behind but Emiya dodged it.
"How did she do that?" Tohka wondered.
"I'm just way better than you." The other Spirit responded.
She began unleashing her Angel's power on Tohka, knocking her back.
"Hhuaaah! Ngg...I can't...the laser attack from before..."
Emiya turned her attention to Mira and the latter began charging from side to side but the former predicted her path and sent another attack on her.
"Huuauauaahhhh!"
The Spirit was hit by a tree on impac, knocking her unconscious.
"Guess you are just wasting my time here." Emiya mocked the other Spirits. "I better get going."
"Huuggh...you can't get away with this!" Tohka responded. "Shido can help you turn your life around."
"I wouldn't need his help. I'm fine just the way I am."
Suddenly, bullets rained down upon Emiya.
"Huh?"
Tohka then saw multiple flying girls with revealing outfits and weapons armed. She was surprised that they are aiming for the hostile Spirit. Tohka took her chance and began getting Mira to safety.
"Hya...who are those people?" Emiya wondered before leaving off to find Greyhound.
Ryouko and Mikie head to the ground to check for anyone else. They then spotted the remaining Spirits hiding beside a tree.
"Heeeeyyy!" The two shouted.
"It's alright!" Mikie assured. "Everything's under control!"
"I can't believe it! The mecha mecha squad?"
"Glad you people are okay. What's the sitrep?"
"You see, we are in pursuit of a D.E.M. employee and we just arrived from another dimension."
"That explains it." Ryouko reacted with some shock. "Troops, follow Princess. We have a priority target on our hands."
"Excuse me, can you take care of her?" Tohka asked while holding Mira.
"What happened to her?"
"She's out cold. I need someone to treat her."
"Don't worry. We're on it."
"Thank you."
In the dogfight, the allied fighters began clearing the skies of Belkan jets. Greyhound then suddenly noticed two allied craft on his screen aside from multiple unknown contacts.
"All surviving units, that's enough. Withdraw with Emiya at once. Emiya, take them to the base as instructed.
"As you wish." Emiya responded.
"Roger that, sir." One Belkan captain replied. "All units, follow her."
The aircraft began flying away from the battle, leaving Shido and the team confused.
"Weird. They are withdrawing." Chihaya said. "Did they just give up or something?"
"Not just yet." Shido answered. "Something tells me they haven't finished the fight."
Then, two red airships appeared from their cloaking devices and began unleashing Bandersnatch units.
"Holy...that's alot of mechs!" Tonomachi reacted.
"We'll never finish them off before they do!" Brandon followed. "Captain, any ideas?"
"They are just a few of us and a lot of them." Origami observed. "Our mana would be drained before..."
Suddenly, they received a transmission from Tohka.
"Guys, we have help!" Tohka said. "The mecha mecha squad is here!"
"'Mecha mecha' what?" Tonomachi felt dumbfounded.
"The AST, cap." Shido clarified with confidence. "Just in a nick of time, too."
Tohka and the AST arrived and Ryouko saw Origami in her Spirit form.
"After all those years, you are still protecting, eh?" Ryouko greeter the former member.
"Yeah." Origami replied. "Good to see you again, ma'am."
Ryouko nodded before Tonomachi began radioing Origami.
"Origami, patch me the captain of the team on the line." He requested and Origami gave her earpiece to Ryouko.
"Who are you, sir?"
"I'm Captain Hiroto Tonomach of the Gryphus Squadron. Nice to meet you but we have a dire situation on our hands."
"Tell me quick."
"We are dealing with a former D.E.M. employee of your world and he has managed to get reinforcements to impede us. Please redirect your team to handle the Bandersnatch units while we close in and destroy the airships. A couple of Spirits will help you."
"Copy that."
"Any allied aircraft and Spirits, time to finish this."
Then, another transmission was picked up.
"Don't forget us." He said.
"Who are you?" Tonomachi demanded.
"Ustio's 6th Air Division, 66th Air Force Unit."
Tonomachi cannot believe what he heard.
"Galm Team!?".
The two Eagles appeared from the clouds to aid the team in the defense.
"Sir, don't forget us as well." Crux followed.
"Crux, is that you?"
"We decided that you would need us just in case."
"Glad you made it."
The Eagle in the red wing then head closer to Shido and stayed put.
"Hey buddy, missed us?" Pixy asked Shido.
"It's you!" Shido reacted. "You're the guy in my dream! The one with the red wing!"
"So you found out? We'll explain later but now, time to end the battle."
"Copy that."
"All allied units, we have multiple bandits heading our way. Engage and destroy." Crux ordered.
"Roger that." The team responded.
"Galm Team, engaging." Cipher responded.
"Warowl Team and Gryphus Team, engaging." Tonomachi followed.
"All AST units and Spirits, engage!" Ryouko followed.
The fight became much fiercer as bullets, lasers and energy beams were thrown at each other. The AST concentrated at the Bandersnatch units while allied aircraft and Spirits began attacking the airships.
"Concentrate your fire on the defenses." Cipher suggested. "That would make things easier."
"Roger." Shido responded.
With their remaining missiles, they fired a few salvoes but they are stopped by their shields.
"A shield, huh? Okay, time for other ideas." Cipher observed. "Any Spirits, we need you to take down the shields."
"You got it although...never mind." Tohka responded.
"Copy that." Origami followed.
"We'll handle things from here." Nia assured. "Just go."
The two Spirits nodded and they got close to the airships. Origami began noticing the shields based on her observance.
"If we can cause too much feedback, the shields can be disabled and the airships can be destroyed. Tohka, use Halvanhelev."
"On it."
Tohka went down and began to summon her Angel's final form by summoning her throne. She slashed it in half and parts of it covered her Angel, turning it into its final form.
"Halvanhelev!"
"All aircraft, stand back." Origami warned "We're going to disable the shields."
"Wilco." Tonomachi responded. "All aircraft, stay away from the airships."
Tohka returned and rejoined with Origami.
"Ready, Tohka?"
"Yeah."
"Be careful with your Angel. We don't want any collateral damage."
Origami began to summon one of her Angel's forms.
"Artelif!"
After summoning her form, they aimed their attack at two separate airships.
"Huuuuuaaaaaaaaahhhhh!"
They simultaneously launched their attacks on the airships. Its power is too much for the shields to handle, rendering them useless.
"Shields are down. All pilots, let's get 'em." Chihaya ordered.
The aircraft began throwing bullets and missiles at the airships. The remaining defenses were struggling to shoot them down and they are close to destruction.
"Now, Shido!" Cipher shouted.
The two planes simultaneously fired their last missile at the cores. They hit their marks and the ship began exploding in a fireball. Moments after, they exploded.
"Good job, guys." Tonomachi lauded. "That's one in a million."
The team cheered and Cipher flew closely with Shido.
"Good to see you, Shido." Cipher said with a similar voice.
"Oh, hey." Shido replied. "It's nice to meet you."
Tohka then flew closer to the two planes.
"Hey, Tohka." Cipher greeted.
"I can't believe I'm meeting the other Shido." Tohka responded. "So that's the other you."
"Yeah, so is you. Anyway, do you have a nearby base where we can bring our birds down? We are pretty getting close to bingo fuel."
"Bingo what?"
"I can help you with that." Ryouko answered. "Follow me, everyone."
Crux began transmitting a radio broadcast.
"All reinforcements are down but Greyhound and Emiya escaped. Looks like we need all the help we can get if we can find them in this dimension."
(1028 hrs.)
One by one, the planes began touching down after Shido and the Spirits landed. The most notable of which is the two Galm Team pilots which landed last. After taxiing to the flight apron, ground crew began servicing the planes. Cipher and Pixy got out of the aircraft to meet with Shido.
"Your dimension is nice enough to help us out, if I say so myself." Pixy commented with his helmet off. "Good flying today."
"Thank you, sir." Shido thanked.
"Shido!" A familiar voice shouted and Shido saw Kotori. "Glad you came back, bro."
"Good to be back, Kotori." Shido then hugged his adopted sister.
"Hey, who are those guys behind you?"
"Oh, sorry Kotori." Cipher apologized.
"Wait. How do you know my name?" Kotori wondered.
Cipher began taking off his helmet, revealing a face similar to Shido's but a bit older and with some grey hair.
"Shido?"
"Yeah. I know your name because I have the same sister."
"Re-re-really?!
"Yeah. We were just as close as you and your Shido." He then gave a pat on Kotori's head which made her smile.
"Thank you."
"Dad!" Chihaya shouted at the sight of his father.
"Dad?" Kotori was confused as she saw Chihaya and Cipher exchanged a hug.
"I'm glad you are safe." The other Shido uttered.
"You do raised your child very well over the past years." Pixy commented.
"Thank you, Larry."
"Wait." Shido interrupted. "Mind if I can ask your name, Pixy?"
"Sure. I'm Larry Foulke. Call me Pixy all you want."
"Good to be back, Pixy." The two shook hands
"Itsuka, I want to thank you for watching over my son." Cipher lauded. "Without you, I don't know what will happen to Chihaya."
"Sure."
He smiled before Tohka appeared.
"Hi, guys." She greeted. "So you are the other Shido and his friend."
"Yes. Yes we are." Cipher responded.
Then, Miku arrived.
"Wait, you are the other Shido?" Miku asked him.
"I am. I just said it earlier."
"Oooohhh! Your planes and your outfits are quite nice. I wonder when I can try those."
"Uhhh...maybe not now and besides, just call me Cipher."
"If that's the case, maybe I can treat you to one of my concerts next time, okay?"
"We'll see."
The friendly conversation continued.
A/N: Now the war suddenly heads south towards Tenguu City. Things are going to get a little interesting.
For anyone in Ace Combat Infinity, complete pre-flight checklists because Sword Art Online comes to gaming in the form of emblems. And I'm probably adding some father-and-son moments in relation to that of Kirito, Asuna and Yui's.
See ya.
