In the waters of the Pacific Ocean- about a thousand miles or so northeast of Sawaiiki- a carrier strike group sliced through the water with ease. This particular fleet was one of the most well-equipped of its size- accompanied by two cruisers, a destroyer, three frigates, a submarine, a supply ship, and at the center of the formation, the flagship of CSG 10: the state-of-the-art aircraft carrier dubbed the FNS Lightning- one of the Federation Navy's greatest sources of pride.
Although CSG 10 was nowhere near the size of the First Naval Battlegroup, nor did it boast the firepower of the Jerusalem or the Dejanus, it was still undoubtedly a force to be reckoned with. With enough time and determination, the nine ships could take out the entire navy of some smaller nations in the Periphery- and that was without the planes aboard the carrier. There were four squadrons in total, and with each of them having just gotten new pilots, there was almost a strange sort of tension as the new guard began their journey.
One such pilot stood on the flight deck of the carrier, watching the waves lap up against the hull of the ship. She had a slender but well-built frame- the product of her rigorous routine to stay in shape- but it was practically impossible to tell from under her flight suit. Her uniform was no different than those of her wingmen except for the one place where it mattered: a patch on the chest bearing the surname Kidd, first name Eva.
Up on the flight deck, it was always so easy for her to get lost in thought, staring out at the open sea and the endless stretch of dark blue above and below. It sometimes put her in an almost trancelike state- where the world itself seemed to stop turning. This was one of those times. She was so preoccupied with her own thoughts, lost in the fog of her mind, that she didn't even hear her tacname being called behind her.
The one calling for her smirked as they leaned their mouth right up to her ear and shouted, "Yo, Diamond!"
Eva's heart skipped a beat and she nearly jumped into the air. She whipped around to see a scrawny young man with short blonde hair standing next to her, grinning mischievously. "Dammit, Lucky, don't scare me like that!" she said, grinning as she gave him a playful shove.
"I can't help it. You just make it so easy for me," Lucky teased her with a shrug. "What're you doing up here, anyway?"
Eva raised a brow at him. "What? A girl can't stare wistfully at the horizon anymore?" Her smirk faded slightly. "Besides, it's not like I've got anything better to do, considering that Vortex seems hellbent on keeping us here."
"Ah, you worry too much, Diamond," Lucky replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Vortex is just overprotective- 'least that's what Charger said when I asked him. We're the nuggets, so we get the short end of the stick."
"We've still got flight hours to log, though. We can't do that when we're sitting here all day twiddling our thumbs."
"Just give it some time. He'll come around."
Eva rolled her eyes at him, but she couldn't help but smile. "God your optimism is so damn annoying sometimes."
"It's what I do best," he replied, pointing at her with finger guns. "Besides, if things keep going the way they're going, we'll have plenty of opportunities to get up in the air."
Eva's brow furrowed, looking over at Lucky with a blank stare. "What are you talking about?"
Lucky let out a heavy sigh. "Do you not pay attention to anything that's going on? There was a shooting at some protests in Presidia during New Year's Eve," he explained. "Apparently in the chaos, some Federation soldiers watching over things fired on the crowd. The Cascadian National Guard has been losing their shit ever since."
"Jesus…" Eva murmured. "Is that why we're here, sailing around Cascadian waters?"
"Ehh… kinda. The whole thing's just another step in the rapidly escalating tensions between the Federation and Cascadia. If things keep ramping up like this… it could get ugly." A tense silence set in between them- one that Lucky was quick to try and break. "Seriously, how do you not know this stuff? This is just common knowledge," he teased her.
"I'm not really all that political!" Eva defended herself. "When all the news is just depressing shit like that, why should I bother knowing this stuff? In fact, better question: how is it that you expose yourself to this stuff on a regular basis and still end up being so optimistic?"
"What can I say? It's a blessing and a curse," Lucky replied.
Eva was about to reply when a low growl in the distance hit her ears, and based on how Lucky immediately lifted his head up, he heard it too. Because of how clear the sky was, it didn't take long for the two of them to spot the source of the sound: four fighter jets headed their way. She couldn't see them clearly enough to make out exactly what they were, but she didn't need to. She already knew what they were, and as they got closer, her suspicions were proven correct. The two naval aviators moved away from the edge of the flight deck and toward the tower, getting a front row seat to watch as four F/E-18s- all bearing the same camo and markings as their own planes which sat dormant in the hangars below- came in for a landing.
One by one, they touched down effortlessly on the flight deck and taxied off to the side. Before long, their engines spooled down and they climbed out of their planes. First came Vortex, the squadron's CO, followed close behind by his wingman and second-in-command, Charger. Then came Poet, and bringing up the rear was Magic, Eva's bunkmate.
"Glad to see the welcoming committee's doing good work," Magic joked as the four of them met up with Eva and Lucky.
"Right, all we're missing for you is the red carpet to match your ego," she teased back.
"For her?" Poet asked, his gaze shifting between Eva and Magic. "Diamond, you'd need a whole fireworks display to match her ego."
"And don't you forget it," Magic replied with a smirk.
Charger let out a low chuckle at the remark. "Anything interesting happen while we were gone?"
"Does anything interesting ever happen around here?" Eva asked, her voice laced with sarcasm. "Just a whole bunch of wishing I had the chance to actually fly for once."
"Well, consider today your lucky day, Diamond," Vortex chimed in. "This morning, the CAG told me and the other COs that Crystal Kingdom tapped us for some special flyby over Presidia- something about projecting unity after all the shit that's gone down. And the best part? Every single pilot on this ship's gonna be doing it."
"Even Comet?" Poet asked in disbelief before cracking a smirk. "Sheesh, poor bastards. I don't envy 'em, having to keep up with us in their Accipiters."
"Ah, don't worry, they'll manage. They always do," Charger reassured him.
Lucky couldn't help smile as he nudged Eva's shoulder with his elbow. "See? What'd I tell you, huh?"
She turned to face him, matching his expression. "Gotta say, it's very unlike you to gloat, Lucky."
He shrugged. "Every now and then, I think I'm entitled to it- especially when I end up being right."
"And y'know what? The news just keeps getting better for you, Diamond. Because between now and then, you can expect a lot of practice flights with the other squadrons, so you'll be getting plenty of time to fly."
Charger smirked. "Don't worry, kid, we're always lookin' out for ya," he told her.
"All we gotta do until then is hope that Cascadia doesn't fly off the handle and blow up half the country," Magic remarked dryly.
Vortex scoffed. "Trust me. That's not something you're going to have to worry about. Everyone talking about how high tensions are between us and them has absolutely no idea what the hell they're talking about. Compared to what little of it I saw before Oceania kicked off in earnest- this is child's play. The most that'll probably happen is a few more riots and maybe a handful of trigger-happy soldiers on both sides dominate the news cycle for a bit, but it'll never get any worse than that," he assured all of the pilots under his command. "Cascadia's always been a bit… testy. Sometimes they've just gotta blow off some steam every now and then."
Eva hoped that he was right, but in all honesty, she didn't feel too confident- especially if the Federation was doing as bad a job at cooling things down as Lucky said. She was only a child when Oceania began- no more than seven or eight- and yet she still remembered vividly how, for months on end, it was all people seemed to talk about. It wasn't until she was older that she learned about just how devastating of a conflict it really was. The thought of having to go through that again- only this time in the thick of it all- made her stomach churn.
Then again, Eva had her squadron with her, which at least gave her some semblance of relief. She hadn't known them for very long, as she had only recently been assigned to them, but they quickly became family to her. Vortex was level-headed, calm, and collected. He could sometimes be a little overprotective, but in his defense, it was his job to be. Charger complemented him perfectly- lighthearted, energetic, and the turbulence to Vortex's tranquility. Poet was a bit harder for her to get a read on. He tended to be more reserved than the others in the squadron, but that also didn't stop him from letting loose or speaking his mind when he wanted to. Magic, on the other hand, was by far the biggest personality in the squadron- never afraid to let the world know what she was thinking and always ready for a fight. Then, there was Lucky. He and Eva had been transferred into the squadron at the same time, and so most of the flak they endured for being the new pilots, they endured together. His constant beaming optimism was a rarity in their field, but a welcome one nonetheless. The two had become fast friends, and their time together (which was something they had an abundance of due to how rarely they got to fly) was something that Eva cared deeply for. She liked to think that the two of them made a good team together here on the ground, and hopefully they made an even better team in the air.
As the six pilots began making their way inside the labyrinth that was the inside of the carrier, Eva stopped at the door, turning back to look out to the horizon one last time before descending inside the carrier. Far off in the distance, the vast stretch of dark blue, churning and crashing in the wind, gave way to a shape on the horizon that spanned as far as the eye could see: land- the shores of Cascadia, to be precise. Whatever ended up happening in the coming weeks, and whatever uncertainty Eva felt toward the future, she was comforted by the fact that she wouldn't be going through it alone, and that was good enough for her.