March 14, 1935; 18 Years Later; Ramsbury, Britannia

"
Dear Father,

I hope this letter gets to you. It's been 4 months since our country has been in a conflict against the Imps. I am preparing for my fourth bombing mission with the RAF. In the previous missions I had, we bombed out factories and other military targets. Tonight, we are going to bomb the hell out of the dams in the East Empire. Our squadron, No. 617 has been behind almost every successful night time bombing raid. In my plane particularly, we never missed our target. Tonight, if we hit our fourth target, then all of us ought to get a medal. I reckon Marshal Mallory might be waiting for us on the ground upon our return.

You've always said to me that you wanted me to enlist for the RAF and how you wanted me to try to fly a plane. I remembered how we always sat on the cliffs of dover while looking at RAF planes flying above us. I even remembered how I joked at you being too old to fly a plane, but I still had in mind that you were serious about that dream so I'm going to fulfil all of that for you.

Pray for me. I will get back to you soon with a fragment of an East Imperial Dam. Please watch over Luna for me. Tell her that she will always remain in my thoughts all throughout.

Your son, Noctis Lucis Caelum.

"

As the young man in his 20s finished writing his letter, he took the envelope, glued it, and stamped it to be sent by the postman to the office. It was about 3'o clock in the afternoon when he had finished writing his letter. Just 3 years ago, Noctis had graduated from the RAF Flying Training School and became an official pilot to fly a bomber designed for their raid later that night.

"Ouch!" He bellowed.

Out of nowhere, He was smacked on the head by someone in the barracks. The person turned out to be Flying Officer Prompto Argentum, who he had grown up with and attended high school, and later the RAF training school. When he and his "father" first settled in Britannia, the blonde kid he remembered was the first to befriend him when they arrived. Though Prompto was childish with no signs of ever wanting to act mature, Noctis nonetheless embraced him as a sibling figure, together with 2 other childhood friends. But although these gave him a memory of having childhood friends, he still couldn't forget that childhood friend that he left in Gallia, wondering how he's doing.

"When are you gonna introduce me to that girl you were talking about?"

Prompto had always been described by their crew as a ladies man, often getting the opportunity to join mixers or blind dates whenever.

"When are you gonna stop asking me that kind of question? Women just don't grow on trees, you know!"

"Alright... No pushie. I'm just wonderin. You know how much I think about how to impress the ladies.' Gotta be ready and look the part" Prompto said, as he attempted to lighten Noctis mood up. Then he continued, "Hey Noct."

"Yeah?"

"Do you think Marshal Mallory might actually be waiting for us in the ground as soon as we return home after tonight's air raid? I reckon he'd have lots of medals lined up for us. Or maybe even promotions." Prompto couldn't help but fantasize about the achievement. Prompto had only been commissioned as a Flying Officer, about 2 ranks lower than Noctis rank. He ambitioned as he continued, "How does Squadron Leader Prompto Argentum sound huh?"

Noctis grunted, "In your dreams."

Prompto joked and attempted to sugarcoat his friend, "Oh don't be a killjoy right now, Future Wing Commander Noctis Lucis Caelum."

Noctis let out a slight smile, "Don't jinx it, mate." Perhaps looking forward for the opportunity of finally being awarded for all their efforts.

Another man came in the barracks and called them out. The man happened to wear glasses with a distinctive southern Britannian accent. Although, he looked rather suave in a Blue RAF uniform and had a rather good physique.

"Oi, Wing Commander Gibson wants us outside now. It's the last briefing before we take off tonight."

"Yeah, we're coming over Ignis."

The two men eventually got up. Noctis took the letter for his 'father" and left with Prompto and Ignis for the briefing. Before they had gone to the briefing, Noctis managed to find the postman and left the letter to him for it to be delivered then he went straight to the briefing, where it was taking place on the runway of the airfield.

Upon arriving there, the men who were going to participate in the night raid were lined up. In front of them was Wing Commander Guy Gibson, who was going to lead the raid on the Imperial dams. The three men were just in time for the briefing to start. Gibson laid a lot of explanations about how the raid would go. Everyone's bombers were armed with bouncing bombs that can damage the dams enough for it to collapse. Unfortunately, they must get low enough so that the bombs could hit their targets. If they were too high, the bombs would go off its course. Gibson highlighted that this is a one opportunity to smash the Imperial War Machine. They weren't doing this for King and Country, but also for the Federation and Gallia.

When Gibson raised Gallia, Noctis' thoughts skipped and remembered the memories that plagued him 18 years ago. But he brushed it off, so he can remain focused on the mission.

"Before I end this briefing, I must warn you that not all of you will not be returning in case if the enemy shoots all of you down. Mind you that some may not have enough fuel to return home. But if you do make it back here, be glad and smile."

After the briefing, Noctis, along with his crew returned to their barracks to rest for the afternoon and wake up by the evening in time for the operation. In the barracks, the crew started to have a chat about the operation.

"Hey Noct, what do you think should we do after we bomb that dam?"

"Return here and sleep again. What else?" He answered, with a hint of not being interested to horse around, "I just wanna see Luna after this raid is over. She plans to join the auxiliaries so she can see me more often."

"The loyal type eh? I know you have someone but can you like stop thinking about Luna and party with us, Noct. I know a nice "night bar" near town if you're interested." Prompto turned to another senior officer among their Squadron, "Hey T, You gotta join us on this."

"No thanks. I have a lass in Gallia waiting for me."

"A Belle eh… What's the belle's name, Tidus?"

"Yuna. Nothing more, nothing else."

"Got a picture?"

"Yeah."

The crewman took out the illustration of his possible lover. Everyone within Tidus crew knew that their senior officer had a girlfriend of his own, at least they had known each other long enough as far as childhood is concerned.

"He-Hey! She's a beauty. So, tell me. How'd someone like you from land down under came all the way to Gallia to meet her."

"She isn't a Gallian. She's from Besaid; At least somewhere down South. Her father had to move to Gallia apparently. Don't really know why. But if I paradrop somewhere near her, it's a lot better than being in an Imperial POW camp so I can finally see her."

"Then just hope your Avro crashes on Gallia, you dope." Another member of the Squadron suggested.

"Jeez, Leonhart. Why all the saltiness?" Prompto asked.

"Because you're a lot more annoying than Zell, Lady Boy. Your mouth moves 20 seconds faster that he could."

"Tch…" Prompto turns to Tidus. "He's just sad because he couldn't get a girlfriend."

"Whatever." Squall was annoyed at this and just proceeded to continue reading his novel. Certainly, a reserved man of his age didn't have time for things like horsing around, but Squall did think about getting into a relationship somehow. It just wasn't his forte, nor did he care enough.

Later, as the pilots were preparing to board their bombers, a distant voice could be heard from somewhere in the airfield. The voice wasn't familiar to anyone except for Noctis, Prompto, and two other personnel that the former grew up with. The voice came from a woman wearing a blue uniform. She had blue eyes and her skin was as beautiful as the sky in the sunset. The sight of this woman shocked Noctis.

"LUNA?!" He exclaimed, as he ran towards her meeting in embrace.

"My god, I thought I missed your departure." She cried. "Take a look, I'm finally within the auxiliaries." She said, as she revealed her uniform.

"Wow, that's great! I knew you could pass. I only wish I could stay here with you along with the guys and celebrate, but fate has other plans for me."

Although she was supposed to be sad, she was nonetheless happy for him. "I feel the same way. But promise me that you'll return home. Then we can celebrate together."

"Of course, Luna."

Suddenly, the alarm rang which was the signal for them to board their planes and rest of the pilots and gunners ran to board.

"Well, I must be going. Take care Luna. I'll be back soon. I Love You." Noctis said, as he began to hurriedly walk.

"WAIT!" She exclaimed, as she ran to Noctis, putting her arms around and leaning him to her as their lips meet passionately.

"You're crazy, you know." Noctis smiled.

"Crazy for you!" She shouted, as her lover ran towards his bomber. She waved goodbye as his plane took off, heading straight for the Imperial lands.

Later that night, the pilots boarded their Lancaster's and prepared for the night raid over enemy lines. Noctis was the leader or the skipper of his crew and his-co-pilot was Prompto. Their other squadron mates were on the other Lancasters. Each of them had certain callsigns for a better identification. Noctis' bomber was nicknamed "L for Leon", Squall's bomber was named "E for Egbert", which he was frequently teased of, Tidus' bomber was nicknamed "S for Sunny", and Cloud's bomber was nicknamed "Z for Zack", which was coincidentally the first name of his co-pilot.

Each of the crew checked their instruments; From the guns to the payload, from the navigation to the communication systems. It was a necessity for every bomber crew to check all out before getting into the air.

It was already 7'o clock in the evening when the clearance was given to take off. The crew of L for Leon was nervous but excited for their fourth bombing mission. Understanding that it was going to be a challenge and how tedious it would be to time to drop their bombs, they nonetheless went for it.

At around 2100 hours, they were over the Gallian coast.

"Skipper, we're getting close to the coast." Prompto raised.

"There she is. Gallia."

"Jeez. I just wish that I dropped down there right about now. I just want to see Yuna now." Tidus answered through the radio.

"Aye, Can I come too?" Prompto asked.

"Alright, kill your chatter, S for Sunny. Gentlemen… and Ladies if you have one there, if you ever run out of fuel, don't hesitate to crash land over in Gallia or on the Federation. It's better than to get your sorry arses handed over to Jerry." Gibson declared.

Inside Noctis' bomber, his crew were having a conversation.

"Hey Noct, how bout once the war is over, you can get us over here to Gallia and we can see Gallian belles." Gladio said.

"Oh yeah. I remember Gladio flirting with a lot of girls back in Dover. But he always loses his tongue, spits out ridiculous words and gets slapped around whenever he gets hard booze." Ignis said.

"Look who's talking. Our navigator thinks he knows everything."

"Oh yes. I'm quite sure of the ramifications. We fly in the air, bomb a place, return, then go to the girls. And if we loosen up, girls would get the wrong idea."

"The Gospel According to Ignis."

Minutes later, they were approaching Imperial airspace and expected that they would be intercepted. Wasting no time, Noctis intervened to cut the chatter and prepare for a run. The bombers got into position and prepared do drop their bombs on the dams they were assigned to. L for Leon, along with E for Egbert, S for Sunny, and Z for Zack broke away from the main force to go after the dam further east.

Without any escorts, the group were nervous if they would make it to their target. It was certainly a mission fail if they got shot down over enemy lines. If they do get shot over enemy lines, the war was over for them. They'd get locked up in a Prisoner-of-war camp never to see freedom until the war's end. It was about 2230 hours when they were approaching their target.

Inside Noctis' plane, they prepared for the bombing ram over the dam. The gunners prepared their guns, Noctis turned off the autopilot, and the navigator and bombardier prepared to drop the bomb. Noctis later descended to an altitude of 100 ft so that radars could not detect them. It had strenuously required the pilots to be experienced but Noctis and the pilots were experienced enough to do such a risky manoeuvre over the valley and into the dam.

About a few kilometres away, the crew prepared for the attack. Noctis sounded off the radio.

"Attention all aircraft. I am going to attack. Stand-by, E for Egbert for second attack."

At the turn to their left, they could see the dam. Noctis steadily gripped his controlling wheel just steady enough for the bombardier to drop the bomb. He descended to 60 ft, which was the bombing run altitude. They later came under fire from anti-aircraft guns. The plane shook as it took a few hits but Noctis remained constantly focused, and so did his crew.

"Noel, you better get ready to drop the bloody bomb."

"Right O, Noct."

As every distance neared, the bombardier became even more nervous.

"Prepare to drop once we hit 30 meters. Ignis, help the man."

"60…. 50…. 40…. 35…. 30. Now!"

Noel released and dropped the bomb well and bounced towards the dam's structure. When it sank into the water, it detonated, and the water splashed up into the air. The explosion looked as if it was enough to destroy it.

"Yes! We've got it!"

"Sir, It's still up."

"What?!"

The pilots looked to the left to see that their target was still intact. The bomb had caused enough damage, but they were certain that it was damaged enough for one more bomb to destroy it. The rest was left to Squall's bomber.

"E for Egbert drop the bloody bomb. Destroy the hell out of it."

"I can't. Too much anti-aircraft fire. I need someone to divert their attention."

"Alright, I'll do it. Align yourself up on the centre of the dam. When you're 30 meters away, push it down and let the bomb bounce. You have one chance, but you can do it."

"Noctis, you are an incurable show-off." Leonhart declared.

The bombers took their places. Noctis drew the anti-aircraft fire to allow Squall's bomber to align well into the centre of the dam. Refusing to let go of another opportunity, Squall made sure that success of the operation depended on him.

Reducing his airspeed to allow his bombardier to well position himself, He descended to his bombing run altitude of 60 ft and exactly 30 meters. Everyone was sweating and were nervous if the bombing run would finally destroy the dam itself. The two other planes still had a bomb, but they were worried that a prolonged run would get their bombers damaged enough before they could return to neutral grounds.

On the nose of the plane, the bombardier was sweating profusely. The navigator guided him well enough to let him know when it's time to drop the load. As the navigator loaded the instrument, he measured their closing distance towards the dam. The bombardier remained frozen.

"60…. 55…. 50…."

The closing distance further shook the bombardier.

"40…35….30! NOW!"

The bombardier released the bombs exactly the moment the navigator had said 30. The crew looked at the bomb as it bounced towards the dam. When the bomb reached the dam walls, it sank into the water and seconds later, it detonated. The detonation was even larger than the bomb that Noctis' bomber had released. The force caused by the detonation was certainly enough to destroy the dam.

The force from the explosion cracked the dam open and in seconds, water was gushing out of the dam reservoir and into the river. As the water gushed out, the dam's structure was so weak that it could not hold the amount of water that was on the reservoir. The water that flew out of the broken dam flooded the area in front of it.

"We've got it!"

"Hurrah! God Save the King!" one of the crews bellowed.

"Let's get out of here."

Immediately, the bombers got back into formation in a relatively high altitude but low enough to avoid detection. But the explosions surely rocked the East Empire awake. They had to stay low or risk of getting detected unless they got back to friendly lines. It was already midnight when their bombing run was finished.

The whole crew of the four bombers were exhausted, especially the pilots, who flew with exceptional skill. They wondered what they were going to do next. Some even joked that their bombing run was enough to wake up the whole East Empire.

As the group approached the border with Gallia, they met an unexpected turn of events that may just cost their lives.

"Flak! Hang on!"

The Imperials started to fire flak guns on them while the searchlights lighted the sky. If a search light caught them by the tail, they were are risk of getting shot down without even a second to manoeuvre. Unfortunately for Noctis, a piece of flak would wipe his attempt to return home.

"Bloody hell! No.3 Engine is destroyed! Fuel is starting to leak out!"

"Skipper, we have to bail out."

"We're not over in Gallia yet. We have to wait until we cross the bloody border!"

"Dammit! We wait any longer, there won't be any more border."

Squall, Tidus, and Cloud's planes also bore the brunt of the anti-aircraft fire and their bombers had taken severe damage. Tidus and Cloud were lucky that the belly of the plane was not hit or else their planes might have broken apart in mid-air. Just ten minutes later, they finally steered clear of the flak, but their planes were heavily damaged from the aerial onslaught. Their respective crews could see that the damage had been so severe that it was unlikely that they'll ever return home. As a result, the 4 damaged bombers of the squadron decided to bail out as soon as they got over to Gallia.

Just a few minutes before they bailed out, Gibson surveyed the damage, "Bloody Hell, L for Leon. Are you boys alright?"

"Negative, G for Gordon. We lost 2 of our engines and are losing petrol fast. I don't think we'll return home. We are requesting permission to bail out."

"Permission granted, L for Leon."

"E for Egbert here, requesting permission to bail out. We lost 2 of our engines and the airframe might have been compromised. We have to bail out."

"Permission granted, E for Egbert."

Tidus and Cloud followed them to ask for permission to bail out, seeing as the might not last for too long in the air as they started to lose altitude. It was about 0300 hours when they steered clear out of the flak and flew over Gallian airspace. Despite losing altitude, their bombers had enough altitude for them to parachute over Gallian territory.

After securing for permission, Noctis turned to his crew.

"Alright, dismount and get the bloody chutes! We're bailing out! Make it quick! We're losing altitude fast."

The aircrew immediately left their instrument and guns. They packed up all the necessary survival kits before they dropped over Gallian soil. Noctis had taken with him a sidearm and a knife. He took his chute from the cabinet that contained the chutes enough to supply the crew inside. Prompto opened the emergency exit and everyone prepared to bail.

"I'll see all of you on the ground. If you can't find your way, turn yourself over to the coppers. Tell them that you're a Britannian."

At about the same time as his crew bailed out, the crew of the 3 other planes bailed out simultaneously, making a quick escape from possibly a burning coffin in the air. Noctis was the first to jump off the descending plane. Everyone of his crew soon followed but they were scattered around the area due to the wind blowing their chutes apart. Despite being scattered all over, they were lucky they had made it to Gallian soil. What lies for them once they hit the ground was unknown, even for Noctis, who was uncertain about his fate in the next few minutes. He was at least lucky that he was over neutral airspace and maybe the townsmen could help him get back to Britannia.

He hoped for the best.

The Gallian night made it hard to him to see where he was landing. Because of this, he ought to botch his landing instead of greasing it. Unfortunately, he was right. He botched his landing and hits the ground in the most uncomfortable way possible, causing him to feel a sharp pain as he landed on the ground. Luckily, he had hit soft soil and not hard road.

Noctis had a difficulty of trying to remove the parachute off him. But despite it, he was able to remove the chute, unpack his things and went on to find refuge or a place where he can surrender. He looked around him and doubted for a second if anyone would even find him in the middle of the night. The pain on his left knee made it difficult for him to walk. He only had a pack slung on his back that contained two days' worth of ration and a survival knife. He had his M1911 on his holster has he walked slowly but carefully.

He continued to walk until he came upon a stream and a sandy road. By the stream was a bridge and nearby it was an oak tree. He thought that the he could just rest under the tree and rest for the night there. Opting that it was better than walking around with a wounded knee, he took off his pack and rested. Noctis kept thinking about where the rest of his crew is, and as well as the other crews in the other bombers.

Minutes later, a woman dressed in a typical villager's clothing was walking by the sandy road. She looked like she was 16 years old, had short blue hair, and characterized by her shawl, typical of the Darscens who lived across the land. Lighting her way was a small lantern that she uses to find her way home. Ahead, she saw a man under the oak tree. Noticing the man under the tree wearing an RAF uniform, she ought to find out who the man was. She knew he wasn't a local.

The woman lighted her lantern at his face and the brightness of the lantern caused the man to awake from his slumber. He slowly opened his eyes and saw the young villager holding the lantern. The villager plucked up the courage to speak.

"Who are you? Are you ok?

"Maybe…" He answered groggily. "W-where am I?"

The villager noticed the man's wounded knee. It seemed rather serious but luckily, blood was not flowing out of it.

"Oh, you're hurt. Come with me, I'll have you fixed up. I'll answer your questions once I tend you back in good shape."

The woman got up and helped the man up to his feet. Noctis packed his things up and walked with the villager. Luck started to go by his side now that he had contacted a villager. The young teenager's house was not far away from where she found him. The house was decently big and nothing different from where he lived back with his father.

Noctis felt a bit embarrassed for coming in. But knowing the innocence that he saw before the Darscen woman, he ought to be welcomed in.

"Well, here we are. Now let me see that knee."

The villager tended to the man's injured knee. Noticing that a bruise had enveloped around it, she was relieved that it wasn't something that needed medical attention or hospital care. She took a towel and drenched it in hot water. Going to her patient, she placed the hot towel over his bruise and the man started to feel relief.

"Is it any better?" she asked.

"Yeah. I feel that the pain is evaporating."

"That's good."

The villager then gave him a glass of lukewarm water, knowing that he may be parched.

"Thank you." He said.

After drinking the glass of water, the man started a conversation. The woman had not answered his questions yet as well.

"I believe introductions are in order. My name is Squadron Leader Noctis Lucis Caelum, RAF."

"Royal Air Force? Are you from Britannia?" She asked with glee.

"Why yes. Bloody plane got damaged rather badly after a raid on a dam. It was so damaged that we couldn't even return so we had to bail out over here. What is this bloody place anyway?"

"At the moment, you are in Bruhl, a small rural village a few miles away from the border. You're lucky that you got to a neutral ground. I think I might have seen like 4 planes falling out of the sky. I saw a chute nearby our home so I came out to check and see if anyone was alive."

Noctis was relieved, knowing that fate decided that he was going to live another day, "I'm delighted to see a friendly face. Who are you?"

"I'm Isara." She replied.

"Pleasure to meet you, Isara. Do you live alone?"

"Uhm no… I live with my brother. But he's in the university now. He said was going to stay the night instead of coming home. I called him earlier and he said he didn't want to just because he was prolonging his research for some sort of a biology experiment."

"I see. Hope he's not much of a burden for you."

"Well he never was."

Noticing his eyes were tired and his body from all his exhaustion from his night raid, Isara ought that the best thing for him to do is to rest for the night.

"Oh my, you seemed a little exhausted from that little raid of yours. I think you need some rest. Come." She said.

She led him upstairs to one of the old bedrooms. There, she unlocked the door and showed him around.

"You can sleep and stay here as long as you want. Call me if you need anything."

"Ok. Thank you for your generosity, Ms. Isara." He replied.

"Just call me Is." She smiled back before leaving him alone.

Noctis found himself comfortable, being rescued by a villager but the same couldn't be said for his other colleagues. He kept thinking about his crew and the rest of his friends within the Squadron. Although they bailed out altogether, he couldn't think that even one or more of them might have faced a fate that he couldn't think of.