Cloudfall Air Base
Yakutia, Federation Mainland
April 24th, 437 AC
11:45 PM Local Time
In the roughly three weeks that had passed since the Federation regained control of Allessia, they scored victory after victory. For the most part, this was the work of the three Hydra cruisers now at their disposal since both the European Coalition and West African Concordat had no way to counter them. However, Violet Squadron, the last of the Federation Peacekeepers, was also responsible for many of the victories that allowed them to push deep into enemy territory. Because of that, the four pilots decided that a celebration was in order. Under normal circumstances, they would've invited Skyline along too, but she was out on a sortie with some of the other pilots, so she insisted that the others go without her.
"Well, it's been a long and bumpy road," Natalie began, standing up with a glass of wine in her hand. "But it looks like it'll be smooth sailing from here. We've been kicking ass since Allessia, and with the Hydra on our side, I sense we're in for many more victories, but if it weren't for us, we wouldn't have been able to get nearly as far as we have. Each and every one of us played a role in getting to this point, so I think a bit of celebration is in order." She raised her glass in the air. "I propose a toast to Cap and the others. If it wasn't for their sacrifice, we might not have survived."
"Hear hear!" Hammer cheered, raising his glass to Natalie's. A few seconds later, Wires and Doc did the same.
"Cap really was a damn good pilot," Wires said, sitting back down and taking a sip of wine. "No offense to him, though, but I think Natalie fits the role of squadron leader perfectly. Although, I suppose he knew that, which is why he knew we'd be in good hands even after he was gone."
"Yep, he was s smart guy," Doc agreed. "He left us in capable hands."
Hammer snickered before adding, "It's a shame those capable hands are in an AWACS aircraft on a sortie right now," in a teasing voice.
Wires raised his glass again. "I think we should toast to Winter as well," he proposed. "I mean, even with the Hydra, we probably wouldn't have gotten nearly as far as we have without her."
Doc nodded, raising his own glass before taking a sip. "Yeah, I'll drink to that," he agreed.
Natalie shook her head, smiling. "Oh, come on, give yourselves some credit. You boys should know full well I wouldn't be able to do everything I have without all of you guys watching my backs for me."
"I think you oughta start giving yourself some credit too," Wires told her. "Like, we've all seen you in action. Once you've got yourself set on the mission, you don't let anything get in your way."
Natalie took another sip of wine. "Again, it's because of you guys that I'm able to do those sorts of things," she repeated herself. There was no way she was going to let them give her all the credit when she knew how much effort they put in.
Hammer set his now empty wine glass down on the table. "Come on, quit being so humble," he teased her with a friendly smirk. "We all know that you'd be out there kicking the Coalition's ass even without us." He leaned back into his chair and crossed one leg over the other.
Natalie rolled her eyes as she finished the last of her wine. "Oh, stop. I'd be a total wreck without you three." She glanced over at Wires, who flashed her an understanding look. Considering how much she confided in him, it was clear for him to see that her words were genuine.
"Y'know, I think it's a bit ironic," Wires spoke up, breaking the elongated silence with a subject change. "A few weeks ago, the Federation was days, maybe even hours, from being wiped off the map entirely. I mean, the Coalition already had Allessia. You'd think that'd be game over, right? Yet, here we are, sitting around and celebrating our continued streak of victories."
Doc scoffed, kicking one of his feet up onto the table. "I doubt it'd ever come to that. Myers would sooner let the whole world burn than let the Federation die out." There was an undertone of contempt in his voice as he spoke, which was something Hammer was quick to call him on.
"At the end of the day, Myers is the reason we're all able to sit around here and celebrate," Hammer pointed out, leaning forward as he, along with the others, seemed to get a lot more invested in the conversation. "We'd all either be dead or speaking another language if not for him."
"I'm not denying that," Doc replied, removing his foot from the table as he, too, leaned forward. "He's right to fight for the Federation as hard as he is because the Federation as an entity needs to exist." He tapped the table with his fingers to emphasize his point. "No matter what happens, there'll always be a superpower in the world." He leaned back into his chair and shrugged. "Way I see it, the safest hands are our own, meaning we have the responsibility to be a safeguard for peace."
Natalie rolled her eyes with a smirk. Doc was always one to get existential in discussions like this, but at least she knew his heart was in the right place and, possibly more importantly, where his loyalties lie. "So, why the beef with Myers then?"
The look on Doc's face hardened. "I don't approve of his methods," he said simply but firmly. "I've heard about his records… about what he helped do in Cascadia. The guy took 'scorched earth' to a whole new level. A few people are even saying he was one of the people that gave the go-ahead on the Prospero strike, but it's just a rumor."
Any semblance of a smile once on Natalie's face was gone. She'd had her fair share about Prospero and Presidia. It was what split her and Jay apart more than anything. It was likely what caused him to leave too. "Prospero was a drastic but necessary measure," she said decisively. "The Cascadian Conflict had gone on for too long up to that point. The rebels were letting mercs do all the work, to hand them their independence on a silver platter." She spat the word 'merc' with as much venom as she could muster. "We needed to show them- to show the world that the Federation will not be ignored. It's like you said, we have to be a safeguard for peace, and sometimes that entails getting your hands dirty."
"She's got a point," Wires agreed. "Obviously, I can't say I agree with something as heavy-handed as cordium warheads on a major trade hub, but it was necessary. If we had done it sooner, then maybe the war would've turned out differently."
"Did you not read the reports?" Doc demanded, raising his voice slightly. "Think about how many people- civilians, died at Prospero and Presidia, and in the end, it wasn't even worth it. Look at Cascadia now. It's worse off now than it would've been if we just let them have their independence from the get-go." He paused before adding, "Far worse."
Hammer, who had been relatively quiet since the debate escalated, finally cleared his throat to speak up. "I think… I think there were other ways we could've gone about what happened in Cascadia, but with the path the Federation chose, what occurred in Prospero and Presidia was a necessity."
Doc looked as if he was about to respond, but an announcement over the PA cut him off. "Alert! Everyone clear the runway ASAP. We have an emergency landing in process. This is not a drill, I repeat, not a drill!"
Natalie looked at the others, who all shared the same look of confusion and concern on their face, but right away, it was clear that everyone was thinking the same thing. A thought that Natalie vocalized a second later. "Let's go check it out."
As the four Peacekeepers made their way through the base, they ran into others who were also heading in the same direction. Considering how well they knew the layout of Cloudfall, it didn't take them long to hurry out the door and look toward the runway. Natalie felt a surprisingly warm spring breeze hit her face the moment she stepped outside, but that's not the first thing she noticed. Instead, her attention went to the blaring siren that echoed through the starry night sky. In the distance and growing closer, three sets of formation lights got brighter and brighter. Two of them were trailing smoke.
"Is that… Scythe Squadron and Skyline?" Hammer asked as the distinct shape of two VX-23's and an FC-8 became visible, first as silhouettes, then they were lit up by the lights of the runway below them, revealing the aircraft in their entirety.
"What's left of them, it seems," Wires observed as they watched all three planes come in for a landing. The damaged fighters very nearly crashed upon touching the ground, but they barely managed to come to a complete stop at the other end of the runway.
"Let's see what happened," Natalie said as she started toward Skyline's aircraft, which had a much easier time landing. Natalie stood at the base of the plane with the other three right behind her as they waited for Skyline to get off. Finally, they saw her, tired and hunched over as she came down the steps one by one.
"Skyline, what the hell happened?" Doc asked as soon as her feet touched the pavement. "Wasn't this just supposed to be an easy op?"
Skyline looked up at them with an emotion that Natalie couldn't quite describe. "Just… just come with me to the debrief. I'll explain it all there."
Natalie nodded and followed the exhausted AWACS operator back into the base as they worked their way up to the briefing room, with the two remaining pilots from Scythe Squadron right behind them.
General Myers was already waiting for them as soon as they stepped inside. "What the hell happened?" he demanded. "This was a crucial operation that should've been in the bag. How are you two the only ones to have made it back?"
Scythe 1 straightened up as soon as Myers started speaking. The fear on their face was blatantly obvious. "S- sir. We didn't… we didn't expect…" The more they fumbled over their words, the more angry Myers grew.
"Sir, I can explain," Skyline jumped in before Myers had a chance to explode in the two pilots' faces. "Things were going fine at first. In fact, we probably over-estimated the Coalition's presence at Rouen. We thought we were just about done when another group of contacts came in from the west." She paused, not entirely wanting to deliver the news, but she knew she had no choice. "They were flashing mercenary IFFs, and they promptly engaged us."
Natalie's eyes narrowed as soon as she heard Skyline finish speaking. Her dislike for mercenaries was on full display as she processed the information.
Despite the news that seemed to be game-changing in the war, Myers had a surprisingly neutral expression. In fact, he looked more intrigued than anything. "How many were there?"
"Two fighter squadrons. Only one engaged us, though. The other hung back to protect their transports," Skyline reported.
Myers nodded as the AWACS operator spoke, taking in every detail. "Do we have any idea who they are?"
Skyline nodded. "I did some looking around on our way back and found a few things, but not much. Apparently, they're a mercenary group called the Paladin Mercenary Corps. They're smaller in size compared to most other merc groups, but they're known to be active all around the Periphery. Not really much else I could find on 'em besides that," Skyline said with a shrug.
"S- sir," Scythe 1 spoke up again. "These mercs were just…" Their voice trailed off as they thought about what they had just gone through. "I haven't seen anything like it before. Especially that Samurai."
"Samurai?" Myers echoed, raising an eyebrow quizzically at Scythe's flight lead. "What are you talking about?"
"One of the mercs had an emblem of a samurai on their tail," Skyline jumped in. "It looked like they were the flight lead of the squadron that engaged us. They were also the one that wiped out most of Scythe Squadron."
Myers started stroking his chin as he paced around the room. "So, the European Coalition has hired high-caliber mercs to join in on the fighting," he mused. Eventually, he stopped and smirked. "Yes, I'll send out a theatre-wide alert that mercenary forces are now in play."
"Sir," Natalie chimed in. "Isn't this supposed to be a bad thing?" she asked with a look of spite still on her face. "If the Coalition has stooped low enough to hire a bunch of damn mercs, then what does this mean for us?"
Myers laughed a bit. "Captain Page, something you should pay more attention to is the enemy's morale. The fact that they're now stooping low enough to hire mercs, as you said, goes to show how desperate they are. This is fantastic news. It means the Coalition is reaching its breaking point. We just have to keep pushing them until they break. Speaking of which…" Myers turned his attention to the Peacekeepers. "Violet Squadron, you'll have a mission tomorrow, so prepare yourselves for that. Now, if there are no further questions, you're all dismissed."
Cloudfall Air Base
Yakutia, Federation Mainland
July 20th, 432 AC
2:40 PM Local Time
Eight fighters had spent the better part of an hour dancing around the sky, unintentionally creating different figures with the contrails their planes drew. The pilots were all hard at work on a combat exercise, but once they finished, they all came in for a landing one at a time. Among the eight pilots was Natalie, who jumped down from the cockpit of her SK.37 and landed on the hangar floor with a clop.
"Those were some impressive moves you pulled out there." The voice came from the man whose plane was parked next to hers. He walked over to her as he took off his flight gear, revealing the smirk on his face.
Natalie shrugged. "Well, what can I say, Jay? You know I've gotta keep working to one-up you." The two wrapped their arms around each other in a brief hug before joining the other six.
"Nice work, everyone," Cap praised the group. "We can go over the specifics of how we all did later, but for now, I'd say some chow is in order."
"Amen to that," Wires agreed. "I'm downright starving."
At that, they all left the hangar, heading toward the main building of the base in one large group. The heat from the sun felt nice on the back of Natalie's neck. Although, she couldn't help but feel like she hadn't been getting enough sun for her taste. However, she didn't have much time to think about this, as another voice she didn't recognize grabbed her attention.
"Excuse me! Lieutenant Page, wait up. I have something for you." A young man came running up to her with a slip of paper in his hand.
Natalie nodded to the others, signaling for them to go on without her. Despite this, however, Jay stayed with her as the man finally caught up to them. "What is it?" Natalie asked as the man handed her the paper.
"Letter," was all the man said as he panted heavily, trying to catch his breath. "That's all they told me. Gotta run!" Without so much as another word, he ran off again.
"Busy guy," Jay remarked as Natalie sliced open the envelope with her nails and started to read.
"Natalie, I know you're not one for things like this, so I'll just skip the formalities. By now, I'm sure you've heard about the battle that took place over the Bering Strait in Cascadia a few days ago. It was probably the most extensive air war in history, and, unfortunately, it was a battle we ended up losing. As much as I hate to say it, we have to conclude that Jackson was among those that died during the battle. I tried to hold out hope for as long as I could, but it's just not possible for him to have survived. Even if he did bail out, the freezing water would've killed him before he could get to shore. If it makes it any better, his wingmen that made it out said he died covering their retreat from the Crowned Mercenary everyone keeps talking about. Apparently, he even kept him busy for a good while- put up quite a fight. I'm sorry I have to be the one to tell you this. He was a good guy. You have my sincerest condolences. Sincerely, Captain Flowers."
Natalie didn't even notice the tears rolling down her face at first, but Jay did. He gently put a hand on her shoulder and asked, "Hey, you alright?" in a soft voice.
At that point, Natalie just felt so overwhelmed by everything. She didn't know what to do, so she threw her arms around Jay, pulling him into a tight hug. "He's gone," was all Natalie could say, and even then, it was only a whisper. "He's gone," she repeated, not even attempting to stop the tears from flowing.
After looking surprised for a brief moment, Jay put his arms around her as he tried to comfort her, which was something he was very good at. "Who's gone?" he asked in a gentle voice.
"Jackson. He's- he's…" Natalie fumbled over her words, trying to think of what to say before realizing Jay didn't know who he was. She rested her head on Jay's shoulder and took a deep breath. "My parents died when I was little, and I ended up living on the streets for a few years," she began. "Then, I met Jackson. He- he basically adopted me, raised me and everything." The closer she got to saying the words she so desperately wanted to avoid, the tighter she wrapped her arms around Jay. "He was a pilot in the Air Force, so… he got sent to Cascadia a few months ago." She held up the letter, unable to say anything more than, "He's gone."
"Oh no. Nat… I- I'm so sorry," Jay murmured as he slowly brought one of his hands up to the back of her head.
"And to think," Natalie growled as she felt a deep rage building up inside her. "He was shot down by a god damn merc who fights for nothing but a paycheck. I swear to god, I'll-"
"Shh… Easy Nat, it's ok. It's gonna be ok," Jay comforted her, stroking her hair. "I promise I'll help you get through this. I promise."
Natalie knew full well that it was far from ok, but sitting there in Jay's embrace, she couldn't help but feel comforted by him. He always knew how to calm her down and make her feel safe. The two of them stood there for a good long while in each other's arms. Natalie didn't even remember how long they were there, but eventually, the two of them made their way into the main building to follow after the others. However, from that day forward, Natalie's hatred for mercenaries began to grow, and it would continue to do so for years.