This is a work of fanfiction; I do not own anything.
/The Last Flight/
Island of Menagerie, 13:49, 81 AGW
The skies above Kuo Kuana were a clear blue, the sparse clouds unbothered by the inhabitants' commotion down below.
At the General Headquarters of the Kuo Kuana Air Guard (KKAG), officers and technicians were scrambling as the threat of an Atlesian air raid put the whole island on red alert.
"We don't have time to prepare a response!" An officer argued as the tension in the war room felt suffocating.
"Atlas won't wait for us to prepare! We have to get as many aircraft in the air as possible!" Another demanded.
The KKAG had not expected a direct attack by Atlas so soon; with diplomatic negotiations still ongoing, this new threat caught the faunus homeland unprepared.
"Those damn Australians stabbed us in the back!" General Yutah exclaimed in anger as the confirmation that the attack force had been hidden in Australian soil. "We knew we shouldn't have dropped our guards; Atlas was just buying time to act." General Vokan replied.
The cold war between Atlas and the faunus homeland had begun since the end of the faunus revolution decades ago, but recently things had escalated quickly. Exchange of threats and accusations from both sides had put the world in a delicate situation; nobody wanted another war, at least most didn't.
"Blame Prime Minister Belladonna! He said that we didn't need to worry!" Yutah kept going, "Oh! Don't worry, the humans don't want trouble! We will sit down and resolve all of this peacefully!" She mocked the prime minister's voice, "Now look where we are! Cornered like animals!" She finished with a shout.
"Fighting between ourselves won't change anything! We need to brace ourselves for the attack." A new voice cut through the argument.
Sienna Khan, high general of the Armed Forces of Kuo Kuana, had risen through the ranks rapidly; her main achievement had been the success of the operation "White Fang," which crippled the major anti-faunus groups in Remnant and freed a large population of wage slaves held by some of the largest human corporations.
Now she held a high position in the Faunus homeland, only second to the prime minister, Ghira Belladonna; their clashing ideologies had caused a divide in Kuo Kuana.
"How much can we spare right now?" she asked. "Thankfully, we have most of our combat aircraft ready to scramble." General Vokan replied that he was responsible for maintaining the Air Guard in top shape, at least to the extent that their resources allowed them.
"Although the SU-33s we're supposed to be operating got delayed due to a shortage in funds." They had a delicate balance of resources; they couldn't afford to just throw lien at the problem and hope it would go away like the Atlesians did. The Air Guard had some priority, but with the navy and army also needing to be modernized, their funds were stretched thin.
"Go complain to the Senate; they decide to side with Belladonna and his cuts in military spending." Freya began, "Oh! I forgot, they are hiding away, just like the cowards they are!" she finished in anger.
"That doesn't matter right now; we will mobilize what we can and drive the Atlesian attack back!" Sienna cut the beginning of another argument, as the messenger had brought some alarming news. "Get all aircraft in the air. They have arrived."
/The Last Flight/
Nikkhon Air Base, east of Kuo Kuana, 14:23
In the largest and oldest air base on the island, ground crews and pilots prepared the aircraft for takeoff; most of them consisted of MiG-29s, a reliable but old model, while the more experienced flew the modernized versions.
"Is she ready to go?" Kharov "Fay," Hickory asked the mechanic, the Lynx faunus already in his flight suit. "Yeah!" The chief mechanic answered, "Command seems desperate to get you people in the air, but if the rumors are true, I can't blame them." They knew Atlas was attacking but didn't have the true scale of it yet.
Getting in and finishing the pre-flight checkups, he began taxiing to the runway. His view was filled with other aircraft also preparing to take off. "Nikkhon Control, this is Scorpion-2, taxiing to runway 02." He radioed the control tower as he approached the runway.
"Hey, Fay! Joining the party?" Scorpion-1, his flight leader, asked him. "You know that I couldn't let you have all the fun, Thunder." He shot back, He had been part of Scorpion Squadron for five years; they were like a second family for him. "Yeah, sure, let's just hope you don't have another "technical" problem this time around." Scorpion-3 Gheda teased, "Hey, it wasn't that bad; I have seen worse at least." Scorpion-4 Tear tried to defend him. Little accidents tended to happen when you flew for long periods of time; despite that, he knew they wouldn't let him live it down.
"Okay, cut the chatter!" Thunder ordered as they aligned on the runway, "Scorpion Squadron, you are cleared to take off!" As control informed them, their aircrafts engines roared through the runway.
Once in the air, and their takeoff confirmed, they heard a new voice on the radio. "To everyone currently on this channel, listen up!" Sienna's voice was sharp as she got everyone's attention. She continued, "Today we are facing the largest air raid since the Great War. We don't have room for failure, as the fate of our kind falls upon your hands." The implications sent shivers down their spines. "It's not about honor, nor is it about pride; it's about survival!" As she spoke, Kharov looked at the picture taped in the corner of his cockpit: Victoria, his wife of nine years, and his son, Nicholas.
/The Last Flight/
"When I grow up, I want to be a pilot just like you." His son's smile was bright, his eyes shining bright with dreams. "You know it's not an easy task, don't you?" He asked, knowing that nothing seemed to stop his little one from dreaming, not that he wanted to.
"But it would feel awesome to fly high so close to the clouds! To go faster than anyone else!" Nicholas was going to be an adrenaline seeker, Kharov noted; their attention was brought to a new voice entering the room.
"Your baggage is ready to go." Victoria's warm voice always made him feel so safe. "Do you really need to go right now?" She asked with a small pout, "You know I do; it's my duty." He got close to her. "But I would stay if I had the choice." With things heating up in the world outside, his homeland needed everyone available.
Despite not liking it, she nodded and hugged him, leaving a few kisses on his face. "Eww! Not in front of me!" Nicholas complains at his parents display of affection. The two laughed as he turned to his son, "Once you find a girl that makes you feel this happy, you won't complain!" He said as his son pouted, "Who said I will? I am already happy enough on my own." He chuckled at his son's proclamation. "You know, I also thought that when I was your age!" he shot back.
The family bonding time was cut short when he looked at the time. "Well, it's time to go."
He picked up his things as they followed him outside. "Be safe, okay?" Victoria said to him, "I will."
Nicholas got his attention. "Dad, can't you take me with you? I promise I will behave." Smiling at him, he responded, "Unfortunately, I can't, sorry." His son didn't try to hide his disappointment.
Seeing that he said, "But maybe, once this is all over, I could take you to visit the airfield." He perked up, "Really!?" With a 180 in his mood, the little faunus excitedly exclaimed. "Yeah, Thunder owes me a favor; I'm sure we can work something out."
"You promise?" "I do."
Now in a better mood, both his son and his wife finished their goodbyes as he got in his car. Looking in the mirror, he took one last look at his family…
/The Last Flight/
"Scorpion-2, do you read me?" His trip down memory lane was ended as he remembered where he was supposed to be.
"This is Scorpion-2. I hear you loud and clear, Thunder." He was a tad bit embarrassed for getting lost in his thoughts like that. "Didn't you say you slept well last night?" He really did; it was one of the few times they had the opportunity to sleep well. "I did; I was just lost in thought." There was no point in hiding it; they knew him enough to tell when he was lying.
"I don't blame you; General Khan really knows how to hit hard with her speeches." He realized that he had lost a good half of her speech. As if reading his mind, Gheda said, "Don't worry, most of what she said was, mostly, motivational, if you can call it that." "Don't let her hear that," Tear chuckled.
As they reached the sea, a familiar voice sounded around them, "All flights! This is AWACS Storm, Atlesian bomber formation dead ahead! Clear to engage! Don't let them reach the city!" With the green light given, the KKAG fighters broke up, racing to meet the enemy bombers.
"This is Terra Squadron; we are engaging!"
"Beowulf Squadron here, we got eyes on the enemy! We're engaging!
"Scorpion Squadron here, we're locked and ready to engage!"
As the remaining squadrons reported in, Kharov looked to his radar, already seeing the enemy formation getting closer by the second. "Fay! We will take the left flank! Gheda, tear! Cover our six!" Three voices of affirmation sounded as the squadron entered in range.
"Scorpion-1, fox-2!" A trail of white smoke raced in the direction of an Atlesian B-1 Lancer; popping flares didn't work as the missile blew up, tearing the left wing out. "Storm! This is Thunder; we got ourselves a hit!"
But there was no time to celebrate as the F-15 escorts roared after the defenders.
After a missed shot, Kharov made a hard turn to the left, popping flares as a missile streaked near him.
When he looked at the radar, there were five less bombers, a small cut in the enemy's forces, and as the escorts began to chase them down, he heard commotion on the radio.
"Dammit! He's on me!"
"Dreea! Break! Break!"
"I can't shake him!"
"Don't stop now! We will turn and send another salvo!"
Maneuvering back to the bombers, he could only launch two other missiles before having to dodge the escorts again. "This is definitely not like the simulators." Gheda seemed to be in the same position as him, although he realized everyone was like this. "I don't think General Khan was exaggerating!" He saw Tear nearly crash on the waters below to dodge a missile.
"Hey! Look at the bright side! At least they didn't send the nuggets with us!" Thunder was right; in a furball like this, fresh pilots wouldn't last long.
Not that they were doing any better.
"Dammit! Beowulf Squadron was wiped out! They are gone!" Kharov didn't even realize that they were already a squadron short.
"Fay! Cover me! I'm going in!" Thunder shouted through the radio as his MiG-29 soared after an enemy bomber. To cover him, he turned his own MiG-29 after chasing an F-15. Before he could lock on, he got in gun range and took aim. In the blink of an eye, he felt the vibration of his 30mm cannon firing; he clipped the enemy's right wing and vertical stabilizer. The smoking jet disengaged, but as Thunder downed another bomber, Kharov looked back only to see a trail of smoke behind his flight leader. Before he could alert him, Thunder shot up in flames.
He failed. Thunder… Raphael was dead.
It happened so fast he barely had time to dive, nearly facing the same fate.
"Fay! What happened!?" Gheda frantically asked him, "T-Thunder is down." They had lost their flight leader. He knew what he was supposed to do; they trained for this…
"So that's it; in case the flight leader is shot down or incapacitated, his wingman takes his place." The instructor concluded, "In the heat of battle, it is important to maintain a solid command structure in case of unexpected losses." He never thought he would need to use that information in actual battle…
Swallowing his emotions with the bile in his stomach, he analyzed the situation. Half of the B-1 bombers were out, but so was a good chunk of their forces, with at least two whole squadrons out. The enemy was rapidly approaching Kuo Kuana.
"Gheda! Tear! On me! Only a few more and they should give up!" With a large enough loss rate, the Atlesians were likely to pull out, seeing that they still had to pass through the ground-to-air defenses.
With a heavy heart and low ammunition, they pressed on. "This is Scorpion-3, completely out!" "Scorpion-4 here, I'm also out!"
With his last missile launched, he said, "We still have our cannons! Make every bullet count!" It was easier said than done; as they rolled and turned, Kharov saw another squadron be wiped out, then he heard Gheda scream.
"Fuck! I can't sha-bzzzztz."
Gheda… Francis, not you too…
He could only see the wreckage fall in the sea.
The last two members of Scorpion Squadron skimmed the water surface before rising up. "Tear! You take the left, and I take the right!" he said, and with an affirmative shout from her, he aligned his aim and dumped the last of his rounds, blowing one of its engines out.
Before he could look for Tear, he felt his world shake.
"Fa-bz-are-zzbz-resp-bzzz-" his radio gave up as the world burned around him.
He didn't feel it.
Looking to the clear blue skies, now filled with the smoke from the battle, he could only think of them.
Nicholas.
Victoria.
Raphael.
He saw his leader's reassuring smirk.
He saw his wife's warm smile.
He saw his son's dreamful eyes.
"I'm so sorry."
/The Last Flight/
General Headquarters of the Armed Forces of Kuo Kuana, 20:38
The atmosphere in the war room was tense, despite pushing back the air raid. The outcome could hardly be called a victory.
"Twenty-five aircraft were destroyed, only nine pilots survived, that's five whole squadrons lost, and of those that remained, only one was left with all its pilots." The report was clear: the Air Guard suffered a massive loss in aircraft and manpower.
"What are the chances of a follow-up attack by Atlas?" Sienna asked, her voice hollow and distant.
"Unlikely, with the loss of this many bombers, Atlas was left lacking sufficient firepower in the region, and bringing more from their other bases will take time. By then we will have all of our defenses up and ready." That had been Atlas's gamble, to catch them with their pants down; now that it had failed, they would need to rethink their strategy.
Sienna got up from her seat.
"Before we deal with Atlas, we need to address our problems on the inside." That made everyone freeze. Whispers had been going around; this attack proved the incapability of the current government to defend their homeland.
Belladonna's diplomatic approach showed only defeats; they needed to take a tall stance against humanity, otherwise they would be bullied into submission.
General Freya handed her a file.
"This is what we will need. We have most of the officer corps at our side, the navy and the army too." She concluded
"We could have done more, had Belladonna not cut our resources; the Air Guard is also ready for change." Vokan affirmed. Unrest had been growing all around; this attack was just the last straw.
"Then I think it's time to show Belladonna and the senate our proposal for change…" Sienna's tone was cold, her anger undisguised.
/The Last Flight/
As the shattered moon watched overhead, military vehicles roared through the outskirts of Kuo Kuana, heading to their respective destinations.
The silent streets surrounded by prefabricated apartments were dark thanks to the curfew established due to the attacks.
In one of those apartments, a young faunus was in deep sleep with hopeful dreams to keep him company.
In another, a sleepless mother worried for her daughter.
While the prime minister's house stood quiet, its inhabitants were unaware of the convoy closing in.
The senate building was awake with politicians oblivious to their fate.
And the world of Remnant slept as shadows crept closer…