As they open the doors Amelia freezes, staring at the plane in front of her.
"There's no way. There is no fucking way." She whispers to herself as she slowly walks forward, as if her legs have a mind of their own.
She walks around to the side of the aircraft and looks at the serial number on the tail. "Oh my god..."
she walks to the cockpit and opens the canopy. Inside on the seat is a letter and a small wooden box.
Cassie stands by the door as Amelia pulls the letter and the box out.
"Is it...y'know...is it hers?"
Amelia sits down next to the landing gear and unfolds the letter, placing the box beside her.
After several minutes of reading she puts the letter down and opens the box.
When she sees what's inside the box tears start to roll down her face.
"Yeah...it's moms." She sobs, pulling a pair of metal dog tags out of the box. In the stamped letters on the tags is the slight red of dried blood. Amelia wraps the small chain around her hand, leaving the two tags to rest in her palm as she closes the box.
Cassie walks over and sits next to her, putting an arm around her shoulders.
"I'm fine...it was just the initial shock..." Amelia sniffles as she shrugs her sister off and stands up, slowly climbing into the cockpit.
"What does the letter say?" Cassie asks, standing up as well.
Amelia sighs as she sits in the seat, looking over the same controls that she had learned to fly with five years earlier under her mother's instruction.
"It said that she was done with flying, it cost too much for it to be cost effective, and that all she ever did was bomb ground targets."
She smiles at the small picture taped to an open spot on the control panel, a picture of her at age 8, sitting in her mother's lap as she points at various controls.
"I'm gonna ask Ozpin if he knows where she currently lives." Amelia says as she climbs out and drops the four feet to the ground.
"Don't you think you should wait? That's the sort of thing that's best face-to-face."
Amelia picks up the letter and the box and freezes after straightening up.
"I...I suppose... but I'm not gonna accept any bullshit."
Cassie nods, and Amelia closes the canopy on the fighter before walking towards the door.
"If she's still alive I am so going to chew her ass out."
Cassie laughs as they close the door and head back to the hangar containing 'total tease'.
As they walk back into the hangar they find Jackson and Kimberly cleaning the Vulcan Gatling gun.
"So what was so interesting?" Jackson asks, not looking up from his task.
"There's an A-7 Corsair in the third hangar, and I know exactly who it belongs to."
Time skip- 26 hours. Current time: 1439 hours.
There's a knock on the hangar door while Amelia is putting a casserole in the oven.
"Hey Jackson! Could you get that? I've got my hands full."
Jackson jumps up and walks over to the door, looking through the peephole before opening it.
"Welcome! Please, come in, Amy will be right out." He puts on a smile as he steps to the side, allowing Summer and her team to come in.
Amelia sticks her head out of the window between the hangar floor and the kitchen.
"Hey guys! Take a seat over by the TV, I'm just gonna clean up real quick."
Amelia takes off the apron she's wearing over her tan T-shirt and shorts, casually throwing it over the back of a chair at the kitchen table as she walks out.
Qrow, Raven, and the blonde guy are sitting by the television, but Summer is standing by the tail of the F-105, marveling at the aircraft.
Amelia walks over to the three sitting down first.
"Y'all want anything to drink? We've got sodas, water, milk, and I'm pretty sure there's a beer tucked in the back too."
Qrow raises his hand first. "I'll take the beer if it's not too much trouble."
The blonde guy raises his hand. "I'll take a soda please."
Raven doesn't respond.
"You want anything Raven?" Amelia asks as she turns on her heel.
"No, thank you."
Amelia shrugs and gets the requested drinks before returning.
"Here you go, let me know if you need anything else."
Everyone nods and Amelia walks over to Summer, who is looking at the Vulcan in the nose.
"You want anything to drink?" Amelia asks, glancing up at Jackson, who is on top of the wing tightening the controls.
"No thank you." Summer chirps as she continues to walk around the aircraft.
"You want to hop in my seat? I'll show you around the controls."
Summers eyes light up and her face beams.
"You'd do that?!"
Amelia nods and wheels the ladder over to the fuselage, allowing access to her station.
"Hey Jackson! You done up there?"
Jackson gives her a thumbs up as he tightens the panel on top of the wing.
Summer bounds up the ladder into the seat with the agility of a rabbit, her white cloak flowing out behind her as she sits down.
Amelia kneels down on top of the boarding ladder and walks Summer through what everything does, even using the opportunity to check the control surfaces.
The entire time Summer looks like a kid in a candy shop, her face showing pure joy as she looks around inside the aircraft.
"When we get our fuel supplies I could take you up for a flight if you want." Amelia offers when she helps Summer out of the cockpit.
"That would be awesome!" Summer squeals, the grin on her face spreading.
Amelia chuckles and helps her down the ladder before sliding down the rail.
"Sweet, I just hope you don't get motion sickness."
Summer grins in response and rocks onto the balls of her feet.
"Nope!"
Amelia flashes a thumbs up and steers Summer towards the couches.
As they walk under the wing Jackson accidentally drops a wrench, and it hits Amelia on the head when it falls.
"Ouch! You dumbass! Would you watch where you put your damn tools!?" She curses at him while she rubs the top of her head.
"Sorry, it slid off." Jackson mumbles when she tosses the wrench up to him.
Suddenly Qrow stands up.
"Raven and I need to run some errands, sorry to drink your beer and run."
Raven stands up too and they walk towards the door.
"Oh...alright...well, I'll talk to y'all later." Amelia mumbles as they walk past.
"Yep! Talk to you next time we visit!" Qrow calls over his shoulder as Raven walks out the door.
Qrow quickly follows her out and closes the door behind him.
"Well...that was odd.." Amelia mumbles before sitting down in the recliner.
"I didn't introduce myself when we first met, my name's Taiyang, just call me Tai." The blonde guy holds out his hand and Amelia shakes it before leaning back in the recliner.
"Nice to meet you Tai." Amelia nods to him as Summer sits down next to him.
"So...I noticed when we were texting back and forth, you didn't say anything about your family...if it's too personal please say so." Summer is uncertain and definitely uncomfortable as she asks, but Amelia shrugs.
"Well, my mom disappeared in a dogfight two years ago, and my dad killed himself shortly after, so it's pretty much just been the four of us since then."
Summer is looks at her with a shocked expression.
"How can you say something so casually?"
Amelia smiles and stands up.
"Follow me."
She leads the way through the second hangar, taking a moment to check in on the two sisters before walking into the third hangar.
"Behold. An A-7 Corsair belonging to my mom. Meaning she didn't die in the dogfight, somehow she ended up here."
Summer and Tai follow her to the cockpit, where she pulls the picture off the control panel and shows it to them.
"This was me and my mom, I was eight when it was taken she taught me how to fly in this very aircraft."
Summer smiles at the photo, and so does Tai.
"That's a cute photo. How is she?"
Amelia shrugs.
"I don't know, I'm going to ask Ozpin when he-"
The hangar intercom system suddenly crackles to life.
{Amy, please report to the main hangar immediately.}
Amelia smirks and puts the photo back.
"Speak of the devil, let's go find out."
They jog back through the hangars, and when they get to the farthest one they find Ozpin marveling at the F-105, his cane in front of him.
"It's a beautiful beast isn't it?" Amelia asks as she walks in.
"Indeed it is. I was wondering if you'd seen the aircraft in the far hangar?"
Amelia nods.
"I was actually going to ask you a question about that. Do you have the current address for the pilot of that aircraft?"
Ozpin nods. "Yes, why?"
"Because the pilot of that aircraft is my mother who disappeared two years ago."
Ozpin raises an eyebrow. "Are you sure it is?"
Amelia scowls at him in return.
"Yes sir, there's a picture of me when I was eight years old, and I know the tail number."
"Would you like me to contact her?"
Amelia nods. "Yes sir, but don't tell her I'm here. When we get our fuel supply I would like to duel her, to ensure it is indeed the same woman."
Ozpin smiles and nods.
"Very well, write me a challenge document and I shall deliver it in person."
Amelia nods and walks over to the living quarters, and after five minutes returns with an envelope.
"Here you are, I've listed the date and time, and I have made some special ammunition for the duel."
Ozpin raises an eyebrow in interest.
"Oh?"
Amelia nods and walks over to a large ammo can before opening it.
"They are what amounts to chalk rounds, they leave a mark on impact that requires lots of soap and water to remove."
Ozpin pockets the letter.
"Very well, I would like to let you all know that you are officially citizens of Vale, meaning you may explore the town if you wish."
Amelia beams.
"Thank you sir!"
Ozpin simply nods.
"Now, if you'd excuse me, I must be leaving, I have papers to grade, Students, if you'd please accompany me back to Beacon."
Summer and Tai nod, slowly shuffling to the door.
"I shall see you again soon Pontiac flight." Ozpin calls over his shoulder as he walks out, closing the door behind him.
"Well then, let's get the plane ready! I want that Vulcan loaded with that special ammo! I'm going to go load the Corsair with its share of ammo! The fight is in twenty one hours!" She yells as she walks over to the intercom.
"Pontiac two, report to the main hangar immediately."
Thirty seconds later Cassie and Kimberly run in.
"Kimberly, help Jackson get the Thud ready, Cassie, we're getting the Corsair ready. Let's move!"
Everyone jumps into action, carrying ammunition, checking parts and control surfaces.
Two hours later Amelia sets up live-feed cameras to both of the planes, which stream directly to a recorder unit stashed inside each aircraft when the master power switch is flipped.
Satisfied, Amelia checks on the casserole and considers it done.
"Come and get it!" She yells into the hangar from the kitchen as she carries the casserole over to the table.
After being fed, bathing, and getting ready for bed, the flight goes to sleep for the night, and for once nobody has nightmares.
Morning comes later than expected, and Amelia knows just the trick to wake up her sister.
With the help of Jackson they drag her out back in her undergarments and set her in a folding chair before washing her down with the garden hose.
Once that is finished Amelia heads in to find her scroll beeping.
The message is from an unknown number, who Identifies himself as Ozpin.
'And I quote, "challenge accepted, don't be late." best of luck today.'
Amelia smiles and quickly gets dressed in her combat gear, including parachute, harness, and pilots vest.
"Well, that's one clue that it's probably her, she never stepped down from a challenge."
She spends the rest of the morning personally checking the aircraft, and as the clock strikes noon she fuels up both aircraft.
When 1500 comes around both aircraft are sitting in front of their hangars. Amelia puts her helmet on and tucks her hair into her flight suit before heading out to the plane, followed by Jackson in his flight gear.
As agreed on the previous night over dinner, she would be flying, and Jackson would simply be there to be a referee of sorts for the fight.
Amelia hauls herself into the pilot's seat and buckles in before beginning the startup procedure she'd watched Jackson do a couple hundred times.
She gets it flawlessly, and soon the engine roars to life.
She tunes her comms stack to the designated channel for the fight and closes the canopy, dulling the whining roar behind her.
Looking off to her left she sees a tall woman climbing into the Corsair, her brown hair hanging down to her lower back. When the woman turns her head to look at the F-105 Amelia throttles up and starts taxiing to the runway. Soon she hears the engine of the Corsair start up and a female voice crackles over the radio.
{This is Viking one, ready to roll, requesting your designation.}
Amelia doesn't say anything as planned, Jackson's job is to handle communications.
"Roger that Viking one, this is Pontiac one, we are also ready to fight. Take off when ready and proceed to the discussed locations."
Amelia turns onto the runway and throttles up, kicking the aircraft into full afterburner as she rockets down the runway.
She gently pulls back on the stick and the plane responds, soon they're airborne, cruising at twenty-five thousand feet.
{Pontiac one, this is Viking one, location reached, ready to commence.}
"Roger that Viking one, standby, standby, fight's on."
Amelia cranks the aircraft around and locks up the Corsair with radar, they pass each other on the right wing and soon the dogfight commences.
After fifteen minutes of gut-wrenching maneuvers, and blackout-inducing turns. The Corsair makes the first and only mistake.
Amelia is in a hard right turn, with the A-7 close behind her pulling lead.
She cuts throttle, pops the speed brakes, and unloads from the turn momentarily, causing the Corsair to overshoot and fly straight in front of Amelia.
She doesn't give the pilot a second chance.
*BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT!*
She holds down the trigger, and red splotches appear all over the Corsair as it flies past.
"Fight concluded! All units RTB!" Jackson cheers over the radio.
The two planes fly side-by-side the entire way back to the airfield, and even when they get below 10,000 feet Amelia keeps her oxygen mask on to maintain anonymity from the other pilot.
Fifteen minutes later they both touch down smoothly at the Vale airport, and taxi to the hangars.
After powering down Amelia sits in her seat and breathes, calming herself.
After two minutes she jumps out and walks to the woman standing in between the two craft.
"So...who are you?"
Amelia unhooks her mask and takes off her helmet, pulling her hair out of her flight suit before staring into the face mask of the woman standing in front of her.
"Hello mother."
The woman takes off her helmet, revealing the same colored eyes that Amelia sees every time she looks in a mirror.
"Amelia...?"
She drops her helmet and runs forward, slamming into the woman and wrapping her up in a hug.
"I missed you so much..." She sobs into the green flight suit, tears streaming down her face as her mom hugs her back.
"I know, I missed you too...I'm so glad you're safe."
There's a flash behind them and Amelia looks over to find Jackson holding a camera.
"What? Got to get pictures, this is a big moment."
Amelia smiles and nods before adjusting to stand beside her mom, she quickly scoops up her helmet and holds it under her arm.
Jackson snaps another picture and turns to the hangar, cupping his hands on the sides of his mouth.
"PONTIAC TWO GET YOUR ASSES OUT HERE NOW!"
Cassie and Kimberly come sprinting out of the hangar, and Cassie stops when she sees her mom, staring for a second in disbelief.
"Yeah Cass, it's really her." Amelia chuckles, hugging her mom from the side.
Cassie sprints forward and jumps at her mom, hugging her in the same fashion that Amelia did.
"Oof! You're too big to do that now kiddo."
Cassie goes to say something but there's a voice from behind her.
"Janet Ellis, it would seem you've gotten your first family back. Congratulations."
The three turn around to find Ozpin standing there, leaning on his cane.
"Yes I have, thank you sir." Janet smiles while crying, pulling her two girls together. Ozpin walks over to Jackson and takes the camera before gently pushing him and Kimberly towards the three.
"Go on, we need a picture with all of you."
They all line up with 'total tease' in the background, and Ozpin snaps multiple pictures.
"These are worthy of each person getting a copy." He says as he hands the camera back to Jackson.
"Indeed sir. Now..." he turns to the group. "What d'ya say we all head into town?"
Everyone nods in agreement, and Amelia gets the planes pushed back into the hangars before they leave, still dressed in their flight suits.
They head to a diner, where they sit down at a large table in a side room.
"So, what have I missed?" Janet asks, leaning forward and resting her elbows on the table.
"Well, let's see here...Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula, civil war broke out in Syria, they almost had a civil war in Turkey except it got absolutely demolished. The US pulled out of Iraq, and now there's some extremist group raising hell there. So yeah, plenty of fun missed." Amelia counts off on her fingers.
"I was talking about with your dad..." Janet corrects.
Amelia and Cassie look at each other for a second.
"Erm...mom...there's something I need to tell you..." Amelia says as she takes on a rather sad look.
"Dad...he killed himself a month after you disappeared."
Janet adopts the same depressed look and stares into her glass.
"Oh...I'm sorry girls..."
Amelia reaches over the table and puts a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't be, you disappearing wasn't by choice. If anything it brought the four of us closer, and we've all fought like hell since then."
Janet looks up at her in surprise.
"You guys didn't quit? I figured you would pack it up and head home to do airshows or something."
Amelia smiles and sits back down in her chair.
"Nope! We've been in every major shit-show since you disappeared. We figured you'd want us to keep fighting."
Janet smiles and nods.
"Yeah, you know me too well. So where were you before you guys ended up in Remnant?"
Amelia pulls a map out of her vest and lays it over the table.
"Syria, backing the government, tough fight."
Janet looks at the map and takes a drink of water.
"Mhm, looks like it. Any serious threats?"
Amelia nods and points at an airfield.
"Yeah, we had at least a dozen MIG's of various construction backed up with a ton of SAM's and triple-A. We were running from a flight of MIG's when we popped up here." She straightens up and turns to Jackson. "That reminds me, we need to paint a victory mark."
Jackson nods and sets a reminder on his phone.
"So what was your count when you guys landed here?" Janet asks as plates heaped with food are placed on the table.
"You really want to know?" Amelia chuckles, giving a sly grin.
"Of course! I want to know how my trainees have been faring!"
Amelia pulls a small memo pocketbook out of her vest and flips the pages a few times.
"Twelve MIG-17's, twenty seven MIG-21's, eight MIG-23's, four MIG-25's, three F-5's, and one F-4."
She looks up from the book.
"And that's just the air kills."
Janet stares at her with raised eyebrows.
"All in a Thud?"
Amelia waves her hands in front of her.
"No, no, no. Some were in an F-4."
Janet gives an understanding nod before digging into the heap of food in front of her.
"So Ozpin said something about your 'old family'? Does that mean you started a family here?"
Janet nods and swallows her food.
"Yes I have, if you would like we could go see them when we're done here."
Amelia smiles and nods.
"I would be delighted to meet my new siblings."
Lunch goes by quickly, and since she lost the duel Janet gets to pay the bill.
They drive to the residential district of Vale, and Janet turns into the driveway of a large red 2 story house with a 2 car garage.
"Nice place." Amelia chirps as she gets out.
"Thanks, it was kindly donated to me by your lovely headmaster Ozpin after I quit flying." Janet leads the way up the stairs to the door and walks in.
"Honey I'm home! You will not believe who I found!"
A male voice calls back from upstairs.
"Welcome home! How'd the duel go?!"
Janet waves everyone in and closes the door.
"I put up a good fight! But I actually lost!"
"Lost? How? Who?" The voice calls back as Janet waves Amelia forward and pulls her up the stairs.
They reach the top of the stairs and round the corner, where a black-haired man is feeding a small child the last of a bottle.
"Howard, meet Amelia, my oldest daughter."
The man looks up, silhouetting what looks to be black cat ears against the window behind him.
He puts the bottle on the coffee table and stands up, gently handing Janet the child.
"It's an honor to meet you, your mom spoke so highly of you when she and I first met."
They shake hands and Amelia partially bows in respect.
"And it is a pleasure to meet you. I'm glad mom found someone who could keep up with her full-afterburner lifestyle in this world." He laughs, taking the child back from Janet.
"Well, it took some hard-fought mock dogfights to convince her I could keep up. I used to be a fighter pilot for Atlas."
Amelia grins.
"That explains it, someone of equal caliber!"
He nods, a big grin spreading across his face.
Amelia looks down the stairs and waves the rest of her team up.
"Come on guys, you'll go toe-to-toe with MIG's but you won't come meet my step-dad?"
Janet laughs at that, and herds the group up the stairs into the living room.
Amelia has them line up and introduces them.
"This is Cassie, my little sister. And moving down the line are Jackson and Kimberly, adopted siblings."
Howard shakes each of their hands before sitting down.
"Please, make yourselves comfortable."
Everyone finds some place to sit, whether that be on the floor, or on the couch.
Amelia sits down at her mom's feet, resting her head against the woman's knees.
"So how did you get to Remnant? How was the transfer?" Janet asks, rubbing Amelia's shoulders.
Amelia thinks of a way to describe it.
"Well, we took a wrong turn at Albuquerque."
This provokes a round of laughter from everyone except Howard, who furrows his brow.
"I don't get it."
Amelia grins and explains.
"It's a joke from a cartoon we all used to watch as kids. There's a rabbit that always gets into some sort of crazy situation and claims he took a wrong turn at Albuquerque."
Howard gives an acknowledging nod and smiles.
Janet flicks her on the back of the head.
"Okay but seriously, what did you fly through to get here?"
Cassie finally speaks up.
"It was a fog bank, we were running from a flight of MIG-21's, and tried to use it to cover our retreat."
Janet nods slowly.
"I was running from a SU-27 and tried to use the clouds."
"It wasn't just one, it was five." Amelia grumbles, fiddling with her gloves.
"Okay... So maybe it was..." Janet grumbles back.
"Wait, you took on five SU-27's and won?" Jackson asks, his eyebrows raised.
"I wouldn't say I won, I just didn't lose..." Janet mumbles sheepishly, twiddling her thumbs.
"Well said mom." Amelia chuckles as her phone goes off in her pocket.
She pulls it out and taps on it a few times.
She reads the message over twice before handing her phone to her mom.
Janet reads the message and smiles.
"Well, I guess that means I'm back in business!" Janet chirps, handing Amelia her phone.
"Woo!" Amelia cheers, throwing her arms up in celebration.
"You mean you're back to flying?" Cassie asks, a hopeful look in her eyes.
"Yup! Ozpin just said that Beacon would pay for fuel and munitions if we would help teams on dangerous missions."
Another message chimes on Amelia's phone.
"And he said that if we could provide designs for heavy weapons he would have them manufactured. I'm thinking TV missiles, GBU's, napalm, and FFAR's. Any objections?"
Nobody has anything to say.
"Awesome, I'll get on the designs when we get back to the hangar."
Janet taps her on the head.
"Actually, I've already got designs for those, all except for the missiles. I've got designs for AGM-65E's."
Amelia sits up and turns around.
"Why...?"
Janet smiles and shrugs before standing up.
"I used to fight in some third-world countries, I kept them with me in case I needed them built."
She walks out of the room for a minute before coming back with several rolled-up blueprints.
"Here, these should suffice."
Amelia takes the blueprints and places them in her lap.
"What all do you have?"
Janet counts on her fingers as she lists off.
"AIM-7, AIM-54C, AIM-9, Mk82, AGM-65, napalm B, CBU-24, and Hydra rockets."
Amelia grins and stands up.
"That will do nicely. Well, I should take these to Ozpin, so we can be ready as soon as possible."
Janet jams a hand into her pocket and retrieves a set of keys.
"Here, take my car, try not to wreck it." She chuckles as she throws the keys to Amelia.
"I'll try, no guarantees." Amelia laughs back as she catches them, slowly walking towards the door with the blueprints tucked under one arm.
The rest of the Pontiac flight stands up and follows her.
"I'll have your car back by dusk!" Amelia calls over her shoulder as she walks out the door.
When the airship rises over the small hill between Vale and Beacon Amelia gasps at the sheer size of the school.
"Jesus, it's bigger than Harvard." Jackson mumbles as they land, the large stone pillars making even the tallest of students milling about seem like ants in comparison.
"How would you know what Harvard looks like? You've never gone to college." Amelia pokes him in the ribs.
"Because I've flown over it multiple times, and it doesn't even begin to compare..."
They walk into the front doors and promptly get lost in the maze of hallways, forcing them to ask directions from a student.
"Excuse me, could you give us directions to the headmasters office?" Amelia asks, clasping her hands in front of her.
"Sure thing, I'll even guide you, right this way." The black-haired woman responds, stashing her book in a satchel on her shoulder.
With her help they easily navigate the maze of stairs and hallways, arriving at the headmaster's office mere minutes later.
"Thank you very much, I wish I had some way to pay you back." Amelia bows to her as she points to an elevator.
"Oh it's no problem, I had trouble my first time here as well." The woman gives a friendly smile and bows back before leaving.
They pile into the elevator and patiently wait as it ascends.
When the doors open they step out to find Ozpin sitting at his desk, grading papers.
"Good day headmaster, in light of your message I have brought blueprints." Amelia says as she steps forward, offering the blueprints to him.
"Rather convenient, I just finished your entrance forms and schedules. Meaning you will be expected in class tomorrow. Here are your schedules, in passing time between Professor Port's class and Professor Goodwitch's class there will be an airship waiting at the landing pad, have your aircraft ready to fly, you will be doing a demonstration for the entire class."
He takes the blueprints and places them on his desk before handing Amelia the team's schedules.
"Yes sir! Will this include a dogfight? Or will it be simply an airshow?" Amelia asks as she snaps a salute to him.
"Well, it is a combat class, so a dogfight would help you get on the professor's good side." He grins at the salute and takes a sip of coffee.
"Very well, we will be ready." Amelia nods as her team starts to move towards the elevator.
"Also, there is one more thing that I need for you to do." Ozpin reaches into his pocket and pulls out a fat stack of money.
"Seeing as how your currency is not valid on Remnant, take this and go buy yourselves some clothes. You may keep whatever you do not spend. You'd do well to buy some school supplies as well."
Amelia takes the money and pockets it before snapping another salute and turning on her heel.
"Yes sir, we will do so immediately." She calls over her shoulder as she walks to the open elevator.
"Additionally miss Ellis." Ozpin calls after her, causing her to look over her shoulder. "Your mother asked that I had a series of weapons made for you and your team, they should be ready by the end of the week."
Amelia nods and smiles.
"Copy that sir."
She walks into the elevator, and the doors close behind her.
"A series of weapons? What do you think that's about?" Jackson asks, leaning against the back of the elevator.
"Knowing mom? It's probably a plane." Amelia chuckles, pulling the stack of money out of her pocket and counting it out.
"Here, that's a quarter of what he handed me for everyone. Remember, clothes and school supplies first."
Everyone nods in response as the elevator doors open.
"Alright! Let's see if we can get out of this maze." Amelia huffs as she leads the way.
30 minutes later
"Alright! We're lost." Amelia groans as she throws her arms up in frustration.
"These look like dorms, maybe we could ask for help?" Cassie says as she points to a door.
"Fine..." Amelia huffs back and raps on the door a couple times, a metal plate on it reads STRQ.
After ten seconds or so the door is opened, and in the doorway stands a familiar figure.
"Hey Summer! We uh...we kinda got lost trying to find our way out, and I was wondering if you could help us..." Amelia turns her eyes to the floor in defeat.
"Sure! I was just getting ready to head into town for some supplies anyways." Summer chirps back in her usual carefree attitude as she pulls up her hood.
"Lead the way, you know where to go." Amelia gives her an 'after you' gesture.
After a mere five minutes Summer had led them outside, and they're flying back to Vale on a shuttle.
"So...do you happen to know any good clothes stores? We need to get something new to wear, Ozpin's orders." Amelia asks, nervously shifting on her feet.
"I know a few...you looking for fashion or functionality?" Summer asks, a certain glimmer in her eyes.
"Functionality please, no dresses or corsets. Uniforms would be great."
Summer taps her chin with her index finger for a minute before nodding slowly.
"I know a place, it's kinda far though."
Amelia shrugs and pulls a set of keys out of her pocket.
"Not an issue, my mom let me borrow her car."
"Oh...speaking of which, how did the duel go?"
Amelia grins and flashes a thumbs up. "I won."
"Really? Being as how she was your mentor I figured you were going to lose."
Amelia shrugs.
"She's out of practice, the last time she had a decent opponent was two years ago when she disappeared."
Summer nods in understanding as the ship docks and the ramp lowers.
Amelia leads the way to the car, and everyone climbs in, Summer calling the front seat so she can give directions easier.
They arrive ten minutes later, and Amelia parks out front of the store.
As they're all walking in the first thing Amelia notices is military dress uniforms.
"Oh yes, this is the right place."
Summer grins and leads them down a row of isles before stopping.
"Camouflage combat uniforms and protective equipment. I figured this would fit your fancy."
Amelia walks down the aisle and grabs a pair of woodland pants.
"I like the durability...but camouflage fatigues really aren't my style...do these come in black?"
Summer nods and points to the next aisle down.
The group disperses around the store while Amelia and Summer check out the fatigues.
Soon Amelia has 4 pairs of black pants and green shirts picked out, which she quickly takes up to the front register and purchases.
"Alright, now that I've got functionality out of the way, now we can do fashion. I'm really loving the look you've got, so you want to lead on?"
Summer shrugs and nods as the rest of the group finishes paying for their stuff.
They all quickly pile into the car again and Summer directs them to another store, this one being slightly more exquisite in nature than the last.
"Alright, so first we need to get you measured out." Summer explains as they enter, the rest of the group deciding to stay in the car.
"Damn it...I knew this was coming..." Amelia groans, slumping her shoulders as Summer waves over the shop owner.
"Hello, nice to see you again! She needs to get measured for a cloak." Summer chirps to the woman, who quickly steers Amelia over to a secluded area and measures her up.
After five minutes or so Amelia comes back out, followed shortly by the shop owner.
"How many would you like and what colors?" The woman asks, a smile on her face.
"Four. One charcoal black, one coyote tan, one olive drab, and one a simple gray."
The woman nods and quickly disappears into the back room.
"This'll probably take about ten minutes, you sure you don't want to look at some dresses?" Summer asks, looking pointedly at a bunch of dresses on display.
"Absolutely positive. I've never looked good in a dress." Amelia scowls at Summer, who changes her attention to a row of leather jackets.
"These on the other hand..." Amelia trails off as she picks up out, the wool liner feeling incredibly soft and warm.
"I'm going to have to get a couple of these."
She picks out three of the warm jackets and takes them up to the front desk, looking through some scarfs while she waits.
Soon the store owner comes back out with Amelia's cloaks draped over her arm.
"Here you are, would you like to try one on now?"
Amelia nods and the woman passes her the gray cloak, and with some assistance from Summer she gets it sitting perfectly.
"Oh this is lovely..." Amelia marvels at her reflection in the mirror, striking a pose with her hood up.
Summer laughs at her and does the same next to her.
"With our hair color we could almost be mistaken for sisters." Amelia giggles as she pulls out her wallet and pays for everything, stuffing the clothes in a bag before bowing to the owner and leaving.
They drop Summer off at a weapon shop and drive back to Janet's house, where they socialize some more before Janet drives them back to the hangar.
"Hey, what's with all the construction equipment? You having more hangars built?" Amelia asks as Janet helps them carry all the new clothes into the hangar.
"Yep! You'll find out why soon." Janet chirps, a mischievous grin on her face.
"I already know, but you being so direct about it only makes me more nervous." Amelia grumbles as she places the bags of clothes on her bunk.
"Oh I'm sure you'll love it dear." Janet chuckles and slaps Amelia on the back.
Amelia mumbles something about deathtraps as she hangs her newly acquired cloaks on some hooks at the foot of her bunk.
"What was that sweetie?" Janet looks over her shoulder.
"Nothing!" Amelia chirps back, taking of the gray cloak and hanging it with the others.
"Thought so, anyway, let me know if you need anything, I've got to scrub the last of the paint off my plane."
"Actually, I do need one thing. We're having a mock dogfight in combat class tomorrow. I need you to play the aggressor."
"I don't see why not..." Janet sighs, slightly slumping her shoulders as she walks down the stairs to the hangar floor.
Amelia smirks as she continues putting her new clothes in the small foot locker under her bunk, carefully folding and organizing them in full sets for ease of access.
After some quality time helping her mom scrub the paint off the Corsair Amelia invites her to stay for dinner, but she politely declines and leaves once her plane is ready for the next day.
The rest of the evening passes quickly, the only notable thing that happens is after dinner they venture to a convenience store and buy some school supplies.
After getting back Amelia conducts some casual conversation with Summer before retiring to bed for the night.
Her nightmares come in bursts, unclear and sudden. All of the bursts she experiences are unknown events, things she's never experienced before.
In the final nightmare of the night she's floating towards earth, a large circular parachute above her head. Below her stretches out a large thick forest.
She watches as a familiar looking F-105 and an A-7 circle her, as if protecting her from something.
Then as she reaches the forest canopy everything goes black.
She bolts up in bed, her heart racing as she looks to identify any sort of threat.
"Hey, it's me, take a breath, it's time to get up." Jackson cautiously murmurs as he inches towards her.
She jumps at his voice, but quickly calms down, her skin clammy with sweat.
"Let me guess, nightmare?" He asks as he sits down next to her.
"Yeah...I'm fine now..." she runs her fingers through her hair as she pulls a change of clothes out of her footlocker.
"Good, go take a shower and get ready, we leave in thirty."
He stands up and wakes the others as Amelia heads into the bathroom, her clothes tucked under one arm.
The shower doesn't take long, five minutes if that. However drying her long hair takes another fifteen minutes before she has to get ready, leaving her hair slightly damp as she leaves the bathroom and puts her flight suit, vest, and parachute on as a force of habit.
"Hey, you know we have a class before we need to take off right?" Cassie mumbles sleepily as she does the same.
"Yeah, but passing time in between classes is only ten minutes, so we'll have to light the fires as soon as we get here."
Cassie thinks about it and nods, clipping her vest together at the sides before she throws the strap of a satchel containing her school supplies over her shoulder.
Amelia looks around and grabs her gray cloak, throwing it on as she grabs her school bag.
Walking down the stairs from the living quarters they find Kimberly and Jackson in the same getup, ready to fly, with their bags on their shoulders.
"Let's go, we don't want to be late on our first day at school." Jackson teases, adjusting the strap on his bag.
"Yeah, yeah, we're coming." Cassie grumbles, her eyes half-shut as she walks towards the door.
"I'll buy you coffee when we get there." Jackson offers, immediately grabbing her attention.
"Deal."
When they walk outside they're surprised to find an airship waiting for them, and they quickly climb in, finding the seats rather comfortable as the ship accelerates towards the monolithic school in the distance.
"I'll be here in three hours to pick you guys up!" The pilot yells back into the cabin as they land and pile out, Amelia jogs to the front of the craft and gives him a salute to let him know they're all out.
The airship flies away, leaving the group of four to walk to the cafeteria in the early pre-sunrise light, the red sky on the horizon painting a beautiful picture against the cafeteria windows as they take a side entrance.
Not surprisingly the cafeteria is nearly empty, roughly a dozen scattered people occupy the entire space, most being dressed in workout clothes as they wolf down their food.
As discussed earlier Jackson retrieves four cups of coffee while the others get trays of food. They sit at the far end of a row of tables, clear away from anyone else.
Nobody says anything until Cassie and Kimberly finish their first cups of coffee and return with a re-filled cup.
"Alright, so we've all got three classes today, I talked to Summer last night and she's willing to be our guide for the week until we find our way around. Today we have..."
Amelia pauses as she pulls her schedule out of a vest pocket.
"First we have Grimm studies...whatever that is, I'll talk to the teacher before class. Then we have Combat class, where we'll strut our stuff the only way we know how. And finally we've got history. I know we'll all be tired after pulling G's, but try your best to stay awake, I'll see if I can have the teacher brew us a pot of coffee. If he won't then I'll buy a thermos and fill it up here in the morning tomorrow. Any questions?"
Jackson raises two fingers off the table. "Yeah, are those guys over there doing what I think they're doing?"
Amelia pivots around and looks towards where he's looking, to find four very bulky men standing around a skinny girl, one has her pinned to the wall.
"Yep, good eye. Back me up." Amelia says as she quickly gets out of her seat and jogs over.
Amelia pushes through the barrier of muscle surrounding the girl and puts on her best act.
"There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you! Come on, Goodwitch said she wanted to see you before class today." She says as she wraps an arm over the girl's shoulders and guides her back through the opening she made pushing through.
She leans into the girl's ear and whispers. "Get out of here as fast as you can and get a teacher, things are about to get ugly."
The girl nods and runs off as the guy that had her pinned to the wall yells after Amelia.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going? I've got a bone to pick with you."
Amelia stops in her tracks and turns around, the man is standing mere feet away from her.
She crosses her arms across her chest and stares him in the eyes.
"Oh really? Just because I needed to relay a message to a friend?"
He steps closer, and Amelia resists the urge to step back as he invades her personal space.
"No, because you interrupted the conversation I was having with her. I've never seen you before, where you from?"
Amelia chuckles and puts her hands on her hips, leaning forward slightly and acting sassy.
"First off, tough shit fatass, work comes before pleasure. Second, that's none of your fucking business where I come from, just know that if you want any sort of support when you get into a tough spot, you better clean up your act."
The guy sneers at her and grabs her by the throat, lifting her off the ground slightly.
"And why do you think I'd ever want to get support from a scrawny toothpick like you?"
"Because, when I'm fully kitted out I carry enough firepower to level this school."
The man stares at her for a second before throwing his head back and roaring with laughter, his eyes closed.
Suddenly the taste of metal and weapon oil occupies his mouth, quickly followed by a quiet *click*.
He stops laughing and opens his eyes.
Amelia has her m1911a1 pulled out of the cross-draw holster on her vest, and it's stuffed in his mouth clear down to the trigger guard.
"I suggest you put me down immediately. Before I splatter your brain stem all over the wall behind you." Her voice is venomous as she stares him in the eyes, her brown eyes filled with rage.
His friends rush forward to help, but the other three of Pontiac flight walk up, pistols drawn and aimed at them.
He puts her down slowly and raises his hands above his head, in response Amelia pulls her pistol out of his mouth and wipes it on his shirt before putting it back in her holster and taking a step back.
"Remember, you represent the whole of the school as a single individual. If people see you bullying someone they're going to judge the rest of us based on your actions." She turns away from him and walks in between Cassie and Kimberly, who keep their weapons trained on the four men as they back away slowly, making a partition behind Amelia.
Amelia smiles briefly, but stops when she sees a woman who looks like a librarian burst through the large cafeteria doors, a riding crop in her hand.
"Pontiac flight stand down!" Amelia yells as the woman sees them and starts stalking over.
The others quickly holster their pistols before the woman reaches them, but they keep the partition between Amelia and the four men.
"Your first day here and you are already starting trouble? I should have known." The woman snarls, stopping in front of Amelia, who snaps to attention.
"No ma'am, we noticed the four men behind me bullying a girl based on unknown reasons, and as a member of a private military unit I could not allow it to continue ma'am." Amelia states in a very military-like fashion as the woman bends the riding crop in her hands.
The woman glares at her through her glasses before nodding slowly.
"Very well, at ease."
Amelia shifts to the parade rest position as the woman glares at the four men.
"You four. My office. Now." She snarls.
The four quickly file out of the cafeteria, a look on their faces that Amelia recognizes as the 'oh shit, we're fucked' look that she'd seen before in various conflicts.
The woman sighs and pinches the bridge of her nose under her glasses before turning her attention back to Amelia.
"Please refrain from starting any fights in the future, if you need to solve a dispute with someone, please wait until combat class."
Amelia nods slowly. "Ma'am, with all due respect, one of them started the physical contact, I merely ended it in one of the only ways I know how."
The woman puts the riding crop under her arm and raises an eyebrow at Amelia. "And how would that be?"
"Well, I stuck my sidearm in his mouth and told him that if he did not cease his actions I was going to kill him." Amelia states very matter-of-factly.
"...you aren't much of a 'people person', are you?"
Amelia shakes her head in response. "No ma'am, that is why I'm a pilot, less people to deal with."
The woman smirks at that and the rest of the team stands at Amelia's flanks.
"I am Glynda Goodwitch, your combat instructor. I look forward to your demonstration later today. Now if you would excuse me, I have some rapscallions to deal with..." she addresses them all before turning around.
"Of course ma'am. Erm, one minor request, could you ask Professor Oobleck to brew us some coffee on my behalf? The stresses put on the body during aerial maneuvers is very taxing on the body."
Goodwitch stops for a second before nodding. "Of course, I'll do so on my way to my office."
She walks away briskly, leaving the team to sit back down and finish their breakfast in relative peace.
"You know you never loaded a magazine into your pistol, right?" Jackson chuckles quietly as Amelia finishes her orange juice.
"Yeah, I was kinda hoping he wouldn't call my bluff." Amelia shrugs while speaking into her half-finished glass.
"And what would you have done if he did?"
Amelia puts her empty glass down and picks her fork back up.
"Probably would've pistol-whipped him." She shrugs again before stabbing a lump of eggs and eating it.
"Glad to see you're planning ahead." Jackson sighs sarcastically before taking a bite out of a sausage link.
A tray is suddenly set down next to Amelia, making her flinch. When she looks up at the owner though she relaxes.
"Oh, hey Summer, you're up early."
Summer sits down next to her with a smile, her white cloak flowing out behind her, contrasting against Amelia's gray cloak. "Nope! I'm always up this early. A habit I gained while going to Signal academy."
Amelia smiles and offers a sausage link.
"No thank you. So, what're you guys doing up so early?"
Amelia eats the sausage before replying.
"Comes with the job. Oh-four-hundred, get up, eat, brief. Oh-six-thirty, take off and hit enemy targets before everyone wakes up."
Summer nods slowly as she chews a mouthful of eggs, giving Amelia a 'go on' gesture.
"Then we return to base, refuel and rearm, then either eat lunch or take of immediately to hit them again. The second run is always the most dangerous, as everyone is fully awake and waiting for us to fly within range of their weapons."
Summer swallows her eggs and points at Amelia with her fork.
"So you guys do that every day?"
Amelia nods in response and sips at her coffee, the last thing remaining in front of her.
"Why?"
Amelia chuckles. "Money."
Summer looks at her like she's grown a second head. "Is the pay really that good?"
Amelia sets her cup down and pulls out her wallet, pushing the Lien out of the way with her thumb before she pulls out a bulging white envelope and slaps it down on the table. "See for yourself."
Summer picks up the envelope and opens it, pulling out a thick stack of $100 bills.
"Wow...how much is this...?"
Amelia pulls a small slip of paper out of her wallet and reads it.
"Five thousand United States dollars, enough to bribe any self-respecting third world grunt back home to let me go should I be captured."
Summer stares at the money for a moment before putting it back in the envelope and offering it to Amelia.
"Keep it, I don't need it anymore, think of it as a souvenir." Amelia says as she puts her wallet back in her pocket.
"Erm...thanks? How easy was it to get this much?" Summer asks, putting the envelope in her bag.
"One three-hour bombing mission, a 'milk run' as we call it."
Summer furrows her brow and tilts her head to one side.
"Oh come on summer, you can figure that one out. I'm comparing a usually dangerous action to a drive to the store to get milk, meaning there was no resistance whatsoever. Come on, eat your breakfast so we can go talk to Professor Port, I need to ask him some questions."
Summer nods and wolfs down her food so fast Amelia wonders if she's even chewing.
"Right then! Follow me!" Summer chirps a mere minute later, picking up her now empty tray.
Everyone jumps up and grabs their trays, leaving them with the KP crew to clean while Summer leads them to a large lecture hall.
A stout mustached man sitting at a teacher's desk ignores them until Amelia and the others approach.
"Professor Peter Port?" Amelia asks, standing at parade rest.
"Yes? How may I help you four?" He looks up from a document he was reading.
"We were accepted last night sir, we were wondering if you could give us some basic information on what exactly these 'Grimm' are. We've only been on Remnant for the past three days."
The professor reaches into a drawer in his desk and pulls out four one-inch-thick packets. "Of course! You must be the new team Ozpin told me about, here is all I've covered so far in the year, as well as what I will be covering, and basic information such as names, habits, and area of residence. These are yours, feel free to make any notes on them, just don't share them with other students."
"Yes sir. Thank you sir." Amelia says as she takes the packets and hands them to her team.
"You are quite welcome! If I may ask, how old are you four, you seem older than most students."
"My name is Amelia, I'm twenty-four, Cassie is twenty-two, Jackson is also twenty-two, and Kimberly is Twenty. Though I've been told before that we all look like we should be in our late twenties or early thirties."
Port nods, taking a sip of coffee from a white mug on his desk.
"Indeed you do. So, sit down, tell me a bit about yourselves."
Everyone does so, and Amelia starts off with the general information about the team.
"Well, we've all known each other since we were little. We all learned to fly at a relatively young age, the oldest being Kimberly at age twelve. Jackson and Kimberly's parents couldn't take care of them, so we sort of adopted them. My mother was a mercenary, and she disappeared in combat two years ago, at the time we all presumed she was dead and our father even went far enough that he killed himself a month later. Only recently have I found out that she ended up in Remnant. The four of us operate two two-seater planes, and all of us have a minimum of two hundred missions flown per person."
Professor Port raises his eyebrows when Amelia finishes. "Very impressive. Your mother, is she the pilot of that slick-looking aircraft that was seen flying around a few months ago?"
Amelia nods. "Did you see the two aircraft that flew over the Vytal festival?"
Port nods in response.
"Those were ours, my apologies for flying supersonic over the stadium, we really did not know what to think, and we were concerned if any of the craft flying around were hostile."
Port grins, his mustache lifting to show a mouth of white teeth. "Don't be sorry! That was perfect timing! I has just finished welcoming everyone to the festival when you flew over, and the sonic boom helped make for the best festival introduction I've ever done!" He taps on a holographic screen above his desk for a minute before turning it to face them. In it are him and a green-haired man.
"Ladies and gentlemen! I am Peter Port, this is Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck. And welcome to the yearly Vytal festival!"
The crowd bursts into cheering for a half second before the jets fly over, the sonic boom rattles the camera, and Port stops the video.
Everyone has a grin on their face, and Jackson gives Cassie a fist-bump.
"As I said, I should be thanking you for such an amazing introduction for the festival. Anyway, class starts in half an hour, you should get to reading those packets if you want to learn from the lesson today."
Amelia nods and stands up, snapping Port a quick salute after she pushes her chair in. She bounds up the stairs to the top row where Summer is sitting, her gray cloak flowing out behind her as she takes the steps three at a time.
Jackson pushes in his chair and nods to Port. "By the way sir, we will be doing a combat demonstration in our aircraft over the emerald forest today for Professor Goodwitch, if you are available you are welcome to watch."
Port nods and goes back to reading his document as they all walk up to sit with Amelia and Summer.
Amelia has the packet open and is reading up on a Grimm that looks like a large bird.
"This one could be trouble for us, it's maneuverable, has razor-sharp talons, and it says here that it can use its feathers as projectiles."
Summer doesn't even look over from her book she's reading. "Yeah, except for the fact that it can't move very fast, look at its maximum recorded speed."
Amelia thumbs the lines as she looks for the information.
"Oh, only fifty knots? Lame."
Summer gives an 'mmhm' in acknowledgment, her eyes never leaving her book.
They read the packet for the entire class, not absorbing a word Port says as they try to understand the most dangerous types of Grimm.
The only thing Jackson catches in the entire class is Port getting a phone call.
"Very well." He says with a smile before he hangs up. "Alright class! Your next class has been delayed, headmaster Ozpin wants everyone to report to the roof to watch our newest team give a combat demonstration over the emerald forest!"
The bell rings and Amelia turns to Summer. "Next stop, the front landing pad."
They race through the busy halls, and when they get to the landing pad they find the airship waiting for them.
"See you in a bit!" Amelia yells to Summer from the open cargo door as her team climbs in.
Summer nods and Amelia gives the pilot the all-clear as Kimberly climbs in, letting her legs hang out the open door.
The flight is short, and when the craft touches down everyone jumps out and sprints to the hangar, grabbing their helmets and leaving any unnecessary items behind before running to their aircraft.
As Amelia throws her cloak and bag on her bed she hears her mom's Corsair start up, the loud engine drowning out anything else as she grabs her helmet and sprints to the F-105, tucking her hair in her flight suit as she runs.
She starts to climb the ladder to the back seat, but notices Jackson sitting in it, so she jumps in the pilot's seat and buckles in with one hand while doing the startup procedure with the other.
Once the engine starts up she puts her helmet on and tunes her comms stack.
"Pontiac one checking in."
{Pontiac two checking in.}
{Viking checking in.}
Amelia taxis the plane to the runway, quickly followed by the other two aircraft as she kicks the engine into full afterburner and rockets down the runway.
Immediately after taking off Viking one heads in a different direction from Pontiac flight.
They fly over Beacon twice before Amelia begins the demonstration.
Janet streaks in for a head-on pass, flying in between the two F-105's with guns blazing, in reaction the two planes split apart, one breaking right, the other breaking left.
A low-altitude fur-ball ensues, the two F-105's trying to get a guns solution on the Corsair as the nimble A-7 flies rings around them, using its lighter airframe to turn inside them, but Pontiac flight can't use their superior speed to escape, as they have to remain in sight of the school, and the pilots are constantly reminded by their EWO's in the back seat whenever they stray too far.
The real trouble happens when Amelia climbs high and dives on the Corsair, she puts the radar gunsight on the plane and pulls the trigger.
*BRRRRRRRT!*
Red splotches appear on the top of the wings of the Corsair and she pulls up just in the nick of time, racing along the treetops at Mach 1.2 before making a loop over the school, flying back over the forest at a slower speed in celebration.
Out of the corner of her eye Amelia watches something white and black rocket by, and her plane lurches to the right and shudders with the sudden screech of metal breaking.
{Amy! You're missing part of your right wing and your elevator!} Cassie calls through the radio as Amelia corrects the right list.
"I've got this! Everyone chill the fuck out." Amelia calmly talks into the radio, the shaking in her controls becoming more and more severe as she climbs.
{Your rudder is hanging on by a couple wires, bail out before it rips off.} Her mom flies alongside her for a moment, surveying the damage.
Amelia looks at the mirror above her head, and sees the rudder shaking like a leaf, in correspondence with the shaking in her controls.
"Roger that. Jackson punch out, I'll be right behind you."
Jackson doesn't even respond, instead Amelia is acknowledged by a roar behind her, and a sudden jerk upwards as the plane loses weight.
Amelia aims the sluggish plane at a cliff in the distance and reaches down by her butt, tucking her chin to her chest and leaning back against her seat before yanking upwards on the yellow and black handle.
The result is immediate, the charges on the bottom of her ejection seat ignite, sending her and the seat rocketing through the canopy.
Hitting the wind at 400 knots is like hitting a brick wall, and Amelia has her breath knocked out of her as her parachute deploys and the seat falls away.
After gasping for breath she looks up to check her parachute.
No problems, fully deployed.
"Awesome." She mumbles to herself, the wind drowning out the sound.
Looking around she sees Jackson floating down to earth, about a mile away.
She hears a thundering in the distance, and glances over to find a fireball at the base of the cliff she had aimed at.
"Well, there goes another plane..." she sighs.
She looks around to find the other F-105 and the A-7 circling them, she gives Cassie a thumbs up as she flies past. The F-105 rocks its wings and pops a pair of flares in acknowledgment before returning to its circling pattern.
Suddenly the A-7 reverses its turn and extends before turning around, its nose aimed at the ground below Amelia.
*BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRT!*
It breaks off from the attack run and the F-105 has a go, strafing the same spot before breaking off.
Amelia thinks they might be trying to tell her where to land until a human-sized black and white object flies out of the woods from the same spot, narrowly missing Cassie's plane.
"Oh shit..." Amelia mumbles as she tries to steer the parachute away from that area, aiming instead for some tall pines nearby.
She looks around to find the two planes circling her again, at a higher altitude, and suddenly she realizes why this situation seems so familiar.
"Are you kidding me? I saw this in my nightmare last night?"
She looks back down to find the treetops racing up towards her.
"Oh shit I'm too fast!" Amelia yells as she tries to slow her descent, but it's too late, her parachute hangs up on a treetop and she swings into the branches, which knock her helmet off.
Then there's an impact on her temple, and everything goes black.
A/N: Before anybody says anything, yes I'm well aware that the A-7 Corsair has long since been retired by everyone but the Hellenic air force, who retired it in 2014.
I'm also well aware that the A-7 would beat the F-105 in a dogfight hands down.
My aircraft selection process is simple, I put slips of paper into a hat, and if it's not a one-sided fight (I.E an F-22 vs an A-1) I put it in.
On that note I hope you enjoyed! Please leave a review on what I could do better, as I'm still improving, and I'll hopefully have the next chapter finished within the next couple of days!