Expo City was truly a sight to behold, even from a distance. Only so much of it was visible from the window of the light rail since the track was headed straight for it, but the parts of it that could be seen were utterly spectacular. The tall and beautiful skyscrapers sprung up from below, almost piercing through the clouds. Sunlight glinted off the glass and metal from the top floors and reflected onto the surface of the bay below, causing it to shimmer and shine as it stretched out for miles in an endless stretch of blue.
In the frontmost car, a young woman sat with her face pressed up against the window as she stared at the city in awe. She had never once been to Expo City before. She'd seen pictures of it, of course, but they all failed to do it justice. If this was where she was going to be spending the next few years of her life, she didn't have any problems with it.
Suddenly, a gentle beep sounded off on the intercom. "Arriving at TERMINAL 1 EAST, in 3 MINUTES," came the automated voice of a woman.
The young girl sat back all the way into her seat before waking up the screen built into the headrest of the chair in front of her. She quickly punched in her DATA SWALLOW login information and navigated effortlessly through the vast array of menus and displays until she was tuned into a series of news broadcasts.
"Early this morning, General Group's air force was spotted performing exercises in the skies above the disputed Meriton region," the broadcaster reported. The feed of her speaking at a desk was then replaced by footage of a General Resource F-16XF refueling at a tanker before making an aggressive turn away. "This appears to be an attempt to discourage the public experiment being carried out by Neucom at their bioplant in the Sandbury Desert." the broadcaster continued as the feed returned to her. "Today, UPEO's Delegate Clarkson responded with a formal declaration of discontent towards General Resource-"
Suddenly, the feed cut to a different shot of a flight of R-101s making a low pass over an airstrip. The camera followed them briefly before it panned up to the city skyline, where a voice simply said, "Power for life- Neucom." The screen then cut to black before showing several more commercials.
'Guess things are gonna be pretty intense from the moment I get there,' the young girl thought to herself. 'I'm gonna have to make a good impression.' She looked back at her screen and swiped to a different channel.
"Here to support everyone's day-to-day. General Group. Together, always, every step of the way. General Group. Imagine the future, we'll make it reality. General Group," came the voice of a cheerful woman. "Today we stand united. Tomorrow, you too will join us." The corporation's logo flashed on the screen before it faded back out to black.
Seconds later, it faded back in on a shot of an Su-37 Super Flanker, painted with the livery of the Universal Peace Enforcement Organization, only in a blue hue as opposed to the regular tan one. "She takes wing in a graceful war machine, dancing freely across the endless sky," the narrator began. "The ace pilot of UPEO. Pride of the people. It is she who keeps the world at peace. However, you will be left speechless as you learn what burdens she bears. This pilot's name is Rena Hirose."
Now, the young girl was especially interested. She had heard so many people talking about the star of UPEO's fighters, and yet, it still felt like she knew anything about her. She didn't even know what Rena looked like. Now, she was eager to learn everything she possibly could about this prodigy. After all, Rena was going to be her flight lead in just a matter of hours.
"She has been afflicted since birth with Silverstone Disease, meaning she cannot live in the sun's light," the narrator continued. "Despite this, she has found her wing thanks to the latest technology developed by General Resource."
Finally, the feed cut to an interview with Rena, and the young girl finally saw what she looked like, only to be caught completely off-guard by the fact that she looked younger than her by at least a year. "My days off?" Rena echoed the question that had been asked of her moments before she appeared on the screen. "Hmm… a walk in the park… isn't really an option. So I read books, watch movies- normal stuff, really."
"And what about your dreams?" the interview asked her from offscreen.
Rena paused for a moment, before deciding what she was going to say. "The fact that I've become a pilot itself is already a dream come true for me. But lately… I've been thinking, if the human body is nothing more than the vessel for the mind, then it's useless to me. After all, my mind is always in flight. My body has no wings, yet my mind has given me the skies. As long as I can fly, I need nothing else."
Suddenly, the screen shut off, and another ping echoed through the light rail car. "Now arriving at TERMINAL 1 EAST," the voice announced.
The tram began screeching to a halt, causing everyone on board to lurch forward until it came to a complete stop. Finally, the doors slid open, and the young girl followed the crowd out into the main part of the terminal. Other people she was riding with all made their way out to meet friends or relatives waiting for them, or took some other form of transportation, but she was already right where she needed to be; the Expo City International Air Base. This place was like a maze to her, but eventually she made her way down to the tarmac. From there, it was just a matter of going down to the UPEO air base, which was practically impossible to miss.
Two guards stood in front of the gate, and they promptly stopped the young girl before she could get much closer. "Halt," one of them ordered. "ID please."
The girl reached into her pocket and pulled out the ID she'd been given just a few days prior, handing it to the man that spoke to her with no issues. The guard scrutinized it as much as he could, taking his sweet time in the process. It was starting to put the girl on edge, and she was moments away from asking if there was a problem before he handed it back to her. After he verified that she was good to go, he and the other guard stepped back and opened the gate.
As the gate swung open, the young girl gave the two guards a pleasant smile before continuing onto the last leg of her journey. The base was somehow totally massive and far smaller than she expected at the same time. Most of the space on the base was taken up by the various runways and the hangars housing UPEO's many aircraft. The barracks was by far the smallest building on the base, but that was more of a testament to how big the others were was opposed to how small it was. Then, everything else seemed to be crammed into the biggest part of the whole base, including the command center, which was where she needed to go.
"E- excuse me," the girl timidly asked the first person she saw once she was inside the main building- a woman around her age wearing a UPEO flight suit that was tied around her waist to reveal a navy-blue t-shirt. "Could you tell me how to get to the command center, please?"
The other woman smiled. "New blood's on the base, eh?" she asked as she shifted her weight onto one leg, looking the young girl up and down. Suddenly, she raised a curious brow at the girl. "Say, you wouldn't happen to be the new pilot getting transferred to SARF, would you?"
"I- uh… yeah I- I am," the girl stammered. She didn't think anyone would actually be expecting her, save for the command personnel. "How, did you know?"
The pilot shrugged. "More of a guess, really," she admitted. "They told us a few weeks ago that we were finally getting someone else in the squadron. I just figured it was you since you're the first new person I've seen on the base since then," she explained, offering a friendly smile. "So it looks like we're gonna be wingmen- er… wingwomen? Whatever, you get the idea." She extended her hand to the young girl. "I'm Fiona."
"Uh… Nemo," the girl replied as she timidly shook Fiona's hand.
"Nemo?" Fiona echoed, cocking her head to one side. "That's an uh… interesting name- no offense."
"It's more of a nickname, really." She didn't particularly feel like explaining its origin. In fact, if she could go the rest of her time without talking about how she got the name, then that would be perfect for her.
Fiona gave her an understanding nod. "Right… anyways, to answer your question command center is up the elevator to the top floor and straight ahead," she instructed.
Nemo offered a friendly smile. "Thanks, Fiona!" she said, already rushing off in the direction of the elevator. She quickly turned back, offering a brief. "It was nice meeting you," before nearly tripping over herself and turning back around.
She continued onward, repeating the directions Fiona gave her over and over again until she was in the elevator going up. As it slowly climbed up floor after floor, she peered into the reflection from the metal walls around, pulling a strand of white hair back behind her ear. She was about as ready as she could possibly be, but that wasn't saying much. As the elevator doors slid open, she took the last few steps that stood between her and the command center.
The room was, surprisingly enough, largely empty. Most of the desks, covered with files and keyboards, were left unattended, and the only sign of life in the room was a man staring out the window from his desk. It didn't take long for him to notice, Nemo, and he promptly turned to face her. "Ah, you're the new pilot for SARF, correct?" he asked as his gaze flicked down to a folder on his desk and then back up at her. "Nyla Morrison?"
She nodded her head. "Yes, sir, I am."
The man stood up and began meandering his way over to her. "My name is Commander Park. Welcome to the Universal Peace Enforcement Organization," he told her, extending his hand as he towered over her.
Nemo's gaze shifted between his face and his hand before she reached out and shook it. She did her best to give a nice firm grip in an attempt to make a good first impression. "Thank you, sir. I'm eager to get started."
Park nodded. "I can imagine. Fortunately, you'll have the chance to be up in the air soon, as we're holding a training exercise later today." He turned back around and sat at his desk again. "For now, however…" he paused, leaning over the microphone on his desk and pressing the button beneath it. "SARF to the command center. Repeat, SARF, report to the command center."
Suddenly, the door slid open again. "Well, that was easy enough," Fiona said as she stepped in, giving Nemo a wink. "Had a feeling I'd be here soon enough."
"Ah, Lieutenant Fitzgerald, how unusually punctual of you," Park remarked, not even looking up as he wrote something down on the paperwork scattered across his desk. "Now all we're waiting on is your two colleagues."
As if on cue, the door opened again, and a younger woman with blue hair entered. Nemo recognized her immediately as Rena Hirose- the ace pilot of UPEO. She opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by another voice from out in the hall. "Hold the door!" he called out as his footsteps got louder and louder.
Fiona rolled her eyes, putting a hand over the door to keep it from closing. "How very typical of him," she mumbled.
A moment later, a young man came running, panting heavily as he leaned over to catch his breath. "I'm… here," he announced between breaths.
"Then that's everyone. SARF Squadron, this is your newest pilot," Park told the group. "Ny-"
"You can just call me Nemo," she cut him off. "It's nice to meet you all."
"I take it you've already met Fiona, and you'd be hard-pressed not to know who Rena is, so as far as introductions go, all that's left is Erich."
He offered his hand to her. "Erich Jager," he introduced himself. "Guess this means you're my new wingman, eh?"
Nemo smiled as she shook his hand. "I suppose it does."
"Your squadron will show you to your quarters, where you can get settled in before the exercise at 1500 hours. Don't be late." He looked up to the rest of the group. "You're dismissed."
"C'mon! We'll show you the quick way," Fiona offered, wrapping her arm around Nemo's shoulders as she and the others led her out of the command center. "If I'm remembering correctly, you're room is between mind and Erich's, but don't worry, I'll do my best not to let him bore you too much," she teased her wingman, giving him a friendly jab with her other elbow.
Erich rolled his eyes. "Right, because you're sooo much more interesting, Fi," he retorted.
"I am- more than you are, at least! Although, that's not saying much. You'd spend all your time watching those dumb documentaries if you could."
"They're not dumb!" Erich protested. "You just don't appreciate military history."
Rena sighed. "You two just never stop bickering, do you?" she asked with a slight smirk.
Fiona gave her a dismissive hand wave. "Eh, it's out of a place of friendship," she replied as the group came to a stop. "Well, here we are," she announced. "It should already have everything you need- including your new uniform- already in it, so if you need anything, just give me, Erich, or Rena a ring."
"And we'll come get you once we're leaving for the exercise," Rena offered.
Nemo looked at all of them with a grateful smile. "Thank you all. I appreciate it!"
Erich nodded. "Hey, you're one of us, now. We all look after each other." He paused to look at the others. "Speaking of which, we've still gotta do this so it's official.
The three pilots all stood side by side in front of Nemo and spoke in unison. "Welcome to SARF Squadron!"