The World Without Authors – 13

It took a little bit more than I expected, but the thirteenth chapter is here! With this one, TWWA is officially over 100k words. As usual, Doctorlit’s beta reading services were essential.

Mission record 13 – Lasting Damage I

“No, I haven’t really used these before.”

Sergio kneeled under the Phantom’s left wing, near to one of the special weapons pylons. The missile attached to it looked like a regular AIM-120 in the short-finned variant used by the Raptor.

Ai leaned in. “I think I might’ve used them in Ace Combat Infinity? They reload more quickly and you can carry a lot of them, but they do less damage.”

“Bingo,” Corolla said. “As much as they look like XMAAs, HCAAs are another thing completely. They have a smaller warhead, and the seeker is a simplified, air-to-air only version of the standard missile one. Somehow, this makes the pylon’s dimensional pocket accept way more of them than it should – Phantoms can carry only ten XMAAs, but I’ve managed to squeeze twenty HCAAs in it, and twelve in the Tiger which is pretty impressive.”

Sergio nodded slowly. “I see. I guess our role will indeed be to shotgun down anything that gets through you guys.”

He glanced at Ai – between her inexperience and how outdated their aircraft were, he could understand why his grandfather had decided that the second element of Skystreaker Squadron was not to stay on the front line.

“Well, the plan is to not let anything through,” Corolla said. “But we all know the drill.”

Sergio heard some clattering steps behind him, almost as if someone was walking with crutches or a cane. He turned around, and indeed Nikki was walking towards them, helping herself with a pair of crutches but wearing her flight suit.

Sergio ran towards her. A flight suit meant only one thing – she was planning to get in one of the fighters. “Nikki! What do you think you’re doing?”

“Riding with you. I might not be good enough to fight, but I think you could use a couple more eyes out there.”

Sergio gulped. She was in no condition to get in a fighter, even as a backseater. Did she have a death wish? “No way I’m letting you! You can barely walk as you are!”

“But-”

“No ifs or buts. Have you looked at yourself? If things get hairy, and we need to bail out, I don’t even dare to think about what an ejection would do to you!”

Nikki lowered her gaze. “I just wanted to help…”

“I know.  And I do want you back at my side… but not now. Not until you’re back to your 100%.”

Nikki remained in silence, her stare still fixed to the ground.

“He’s right, you know?” Snow said. He had the rest of Razgriz Squadron in tow, and also Ami. “The way you are now, you’re gonna be more of a hindrance than a help. It’s harsh to say, but you need to sit this one out. Give yourself time to heal.”

“I… see.”

“We might be going separate ways now, but I’m sure by the time we meet again you’ll be up and kickin’ again,” Alvin added. “Still thinkin’ you’re Razgriz material, but then again it looks like all of you guys are pretty good.”

A small smile appeared on Nikki’s lips. “Thank you.”

***

“So, what did you want to talk about?” Sergio said after Snow pulled him aside.

“I’ve seen the way you were acting after the battle. And I think I know what was going through your head – been there myself. You know a lot about us, so I think you also know about my old squadron, VFA-206?”

Sergio nodded slowly. Strike Fighter Squadron 206, the OFS Kestrel’s original fighter complement. By the time the Kestrel took the Wardogs aboard, Snow was the only surviving VFA-206 pilot.

“I was their flight lead. But, sortie after sortie, I lost them all. I felt like I was a failure – what good is a squadron leader who can’t protect his wingmen?”

Sergio’s stomach knotted up. Yes, that was what he was thinking.

“But then, when the Wardog became the Razgriz, they took me along. It may sound silly, but being a wingman again was exactly what I needed to put things in the right perspective. If my day came, I wouldn’t blame Blaze – I knew he was doing anything he could to fulfill the mission and bring everyone home, like I did with my old squadron. We all knew the risks. So, I think none of my old wingmen were blaming me after all.”

That’s right. This is a lesson I thought I had already learned…

Snow glanced back at where the rest of Razgriz and Skystreaker were chatting happily. “Blaze gave me my confidence back. Now that he’s no longer with us, taking care of his wingmen is the very least I can do.”

“Yeah…”

“About you? From what little I’ve seen, those girls will follow you to the depths of Hell if they have to – if you don’t think you deserve such trust, then strive to become someone who does.”

Sergio turned back towards him. Ditto. Corolla already tried to hammer this one in my head a couple years ago… I really should start listening.

“And I’m sure you can. If the last battle proved something, it is that you all are aces already.”

Sergio smiled back. “Coming from a Razgriz, that’s a big compliment. Thank you… and it’s been an honor to fight alongside you guys.”

Snow crossed his arms. “Likewise. Keep up the good work – we need people like you out there if we want to stop this war.”

***

“Long Caster to Skystreaker, Razgriz and Haro. We are approaching the Japanese coast – we’re in safe airspace now.”

“Skystreaker to Long Caster, understood,” Ami said. She relaxed against her seat – she had been on edge during the entire flight, but no enemy had shown up.

“We’ll split up now as planned. Razgriz Squadron, form up with the Wolfram. You’ll be under Commander Yagami’s orders from now on. Everyone else, with me.”

“Razgriz to Long Caster, roger that. See you soon!” Snow said.

Ami eased up on the throttle to let Long Caster’s E-767 get alongside her. She saw one of the Razgriz aircraft rock left and right to wave goodbye, and she did the same.

She followed with her eyes the Wolfram turning away towards its destination, flanked by the Razgriz. I’ve been able to learn a lot with them… now it’s time to stand on my own legs.

“Skystreaker Two to all Skystreaker aircraft, form up on me. We’ll be flying on Long Caster’s left flank, Haro’s on the right.”

“Skystreaker One, roger that.”

Ami turned her head the other way, and indeed the Phantom and the Tiger II were forming up with her on that side. “Was everything alright back there?”

“Bit boring, but I don’t complain. It’s nice to be able to fly without getting shot at for once.”

Ami laughed. “That’s for sure! How about you, Mermaid?”

“Everything’s alright, Ma’am! I’m getting the hang of it!”

“Nice to hear, Mermaid!”

Ami couldn’t help but smile. Ai sounded more confident – even if she wasn’t going to fight alongside them anymore, learning to fly seemed to have done good to her self-esteem.

***

Nikki slowly walked down the stairs of the E-767, doing her best to not trip down. Stairs are so difficult when you have to rely on crutches…

Only when she reached the ground did she notice a green car parked just outside the apron. Isn’t that Dad’s car?

The door of the car opened, and indeed, her father came out. They walked towards each other, her father covering ground more quickly than her. They hugged each other as soon as they were close enough.

“Dad…”

“I’m glad to see you’re already standing, we were so worried about you.”

Nikki took a step back.  “I’m so sorry about that. I shouldn’t be worrying you all so much.”

Fujitaka took her by the shoulders. “But you’re doing what you feel is right to protect everyone, isn’t it? If so, I’ll always trust your judgement.”

Nikki remained speechless for a few seconds. “Thank you, Dad,” she managed in the end.

“I already talked with Mr. Johnson, he said you’re on medical leave and you can live with us until you’ve recovered. Touya said he’s making okonomiyaki for dinner today”

Nikki felt her mouth become watery. She hadn’t eaten her favourite dish since before the Unravel.

***

Sergio glanced at Fujitaka’s car exiting the base. “It feels bad having to take advantage of their kindness, but… I guess that’s for the best.”

“Well, they’re not the ones from our world but they’re still her relatives,” Johnson said. “I’m sure they’re worried about her as much as we are, and a family home is the best environment for her to recover. When you crash like that, it isn’t just the body that gets hurt.”

Sergio nodded slowly. When he went to visit her in her infirmary room, she often spaced out – she sure had gotten the scare of her life.

The only thing I have to worry about now is whether Touya will see fit to kill me or not.

“Anyways, I think you should come with me. As you’ve seen, there were some people already here when we landed, and they’re working on something I’m sure you’ll appreciate.”

***

Sergio followed Johnson into one of the airfield’s small hangars. Corolla and Ami were already inside, talking to a scrawny guy in work overalls. They were next to a large delta-wing aircraft in yellowish green, and a handful of other people were working on it.

Isn’t that a?…

“As promised, here’s your new wings,” Johnson said. “Feel yourself proud, you’re going to be field-testing one of the pre-production VF-0 Phoenixes.”

The scrawny guy walked towards them. “Well, a VF-0D to be exact. I assume you’re Colonel Johnson and Captain Turbo?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Pleased to meet you in person. I’m Gino Scribetto – we talked about the aircraft on the phone.”

“And I can’t thank you enough, Mr. Scribetto,” Johnson said. “If it wasn’t for your hard work, we’d have more pilots than aircraft.”

Scribetto shrugged. “I try to do my best.”

“Anyways, Captain Turbo will be the Phoenix’s pilot. Can you give him a rundown of the aircraft? I’m sure he will be all ears.”

“Of course. The aircraft here is a pre-production unit of the VF-0 Phoenix in D variant, though since it is pretty much still a prototype it has a few oddities. For example, it has been fitted with the head turret and electronics of the S squadron leader variant to allow testing of said equipment, alongside other stuff we had laying around. Though, forgive us for bringing it here still unpainted – we had to get it here in a hurry.”

“That won’t be a problem!” Corolla pumped up her fists. “I’ve already got some nice ideas for the livery!”

“Good to hear. Anyways, the design also includes weapon systems that were originally developed for a JAS-39 Gripen modified to suit the needs of its original setting. Apparently, it was to help magical girls fight monsters.”

Scribetto pointed at the pod installed under the right wing. An identical one was under the other. “I think some of you might know what these are?”

Corolla squatted near the pod. “Uhm… No way, they’re Device-Like Equipment?”

“That’s correct. That Gripen was meant to have a Nanohaverse mage in the backseat as a gunner. Since I’ve heard some of Strike Dove’s personnel are mages, I believe those will be handy. As per the conventional firepower, we have two wingtip rails for standard missiles, and two hardpoints for special weapons under the wings – the pods can be removed if you want to free two more hardpoints though. As for the cannon… well, I think it speaks for itself.”

Scribetto squatted under the aircraft and pointed at the massive pod slung under the fuselage between the two engines. “GPU-5/B gunpod, housing a GAU-13/A 30 millimeter rotary cannon.”

“The GPU-5? I heard that pod twisted pylons like there was no tomorrow,” Johnson said.

“Well, the original VF-0 design called for a 35mm rotary cannon, so the Phoenix will be more than capable of handling it. The GPU-5/B is actually just a stopgap until system integration of the Type-87 36mm assault cannon as used by the Type-94 Shiranui is completed. Of course, the head turret being that of the VF-0S means it is equipped with two laser cannons.”

Sergio whistled. “This thing’s armed to the teeth.”

Scribetto smiled and patted the fuselage. “It isn’t your Raptor, Captain Turbo, but I’m sure you won’t miss it. It may be less stealthy, but it’s otherwise an improvement in every other aspect.”

Sergio nodded slowly. With those aircraft nearing full production, the war was going to change course.

***

Nikki sat on Sakura’s bed, resting her forearms on her crutches’ handles. “Are you sure it’s alright? I can sleep on a futon.”

Sakura shook her head vigorously, still holding Nikki’s luggage. “No way! As long as you’re hurt, you need to sleep well. Dad and Mom also agree!” She closed her eyes and smiled. “Besides, it will be like having a pajama party, between me, you and Hanami!”

“Yes, but-”

“Argh! How am I supposed to do this!” Kerochan screamed.

Nikki glanced at the Sun Guardian of the Clow Book. He was sitting in his tiny “stand-by” form on the rug in front of the television, a controller in front of him. He was likely having trouble with some videogame as usual.

“Kerochan! You haven’t even noticed us, have you?” Sakura shouted.

Kerochan turned around. “Oh? Nikki, you’re here!”

He floated up to her. Even with his plush toy-like face, Nikki could see his concern. “We were so worried about you! How are you feeling?”

“A lot better, thank you. I can walk by myself now – that’s not much, but that’s something.”

Her attention was caught by the television screen. The menu of the videogame Kerochan was playing looked familiar. “Don’t tell me…You’re playing an Ace Combat game?”

“Well… I was curious about what you and your friends were doing, but this game is unfair!”

Nikki pondered about it. It was just a game, but maybe it could help her get past the accident. Basically, a light form of simulator training?

“Can I give it a try? Maybe I can get you past that point.”

***

Sergio poured coffee in a few paper cups. Johnson had gone to deal with some of the bureaucracy involved in acquiring the new base, and he and Corolla were going over the Phoenix’s technical documents with Scribetto.

“Some coffee, Mr. Scribetto?”

“I’m good, thank you. Also, you can just call me Gino. I’m not a fan of formalities.”

Corolla leaned over the table, propped on her elbows. “Nice to know my author is so friendly!”

Scribetto’s eyes widened for a second, and he shook his head. “I made you too clever for my own good…”

Sergio raised an eyebrow. The guy indeed knew a lot about fandoms, but could he really be Corolla’s creator?

“Well, it’s not like you were trying to hide what you knew about us all. Sergio being the pilot of Strike Dove’s F-22A Raptor isn’t public knowledge… but somehow, you knew that he personally owned one.”

Scribetto raised his hands. “Alright, alright. I messed up – no surprise there.”

Sergio tried to connect the dots. From what they were saying, this guy wasn’t the author of only Corolla.

He looked at him in more detail – scrawny, but around as tall as him. Dark brown hair, brown eyes, and he wore glasses. The face didn’t really resemble his, especially the nose, but there were still enough ticks in the checklist. “You gotta be kidding me…”

“Well, yeah. Busted. I’m your author, Sergio – the once fourteen-year-old idiot who made you as a self insert. Feel free to punch me in the face – I think I might deserve it.”

Sergio kept staring at him. Yes, the guy was responsible, with his subpar writing, for a lot of the things that had gone wrong in his life. But, at the same time, if it wasn’t for him he wouldn’t have existed – and neither would Nikki, or Corolla, or the rest of his friends and family.

“I’m skipping judgement for now. I’m more interested in how the hell are you in front of me right now.”

“I guess you’ve got to thank the Unravel for that. And before you ask, no – I have no clue what the hell happened to cause it. One moment I was at work, the next I was next to that Gripen variant I mentioned earlier.”

“And I don’t suppose you have anything to do with that aircraft?” Corolla asked.

Scribetto laughed. “Guilty. I was a technical advisor for the Italian reboot of the Battle Fantasia Project – that thing fizzled out before it really got anywhere, but apparently my datasheets and plans to write a story about the JAS-39S Grifone II and its flight crew were enough to get it to exist somewhere. For the record, its pilot was to be a reincarnation of Francesco Baracca. But… well, he doesn’t happen to be here and the Grifone II work has been sidelined in favor of the Phoenix so it looks like I’m stuck with trying to hook up my historical characters with Variable Fighters.”

“Well, I guess my author did his last deus ex machina here?”

Scribetto laughed. “Pretty much. While my current company – some kind of alternate universe version of an old Italian aeronautical company – is part of the VF-0 consortium for the NATO contract, they were already thinking that having a pre-production airframe allotted to a small-ish private military company would mean that one airframe would have less bureaucratic red tape slowing down its development. 

“And when I heard Strike Dove had contacted us looking for replacement aircraft, I managed to get the right people to agree with me that having one of our test units assigned to one of the aces of the Battle of Tokyo would both provide good development data and be a good publicity stunt. Two birds with one stone for them, and I snatched a third by making sure it went to you guys. To make up for my terrible early attempts at writing, I guess.” 

Sergio nodded slowly, but there was one question he was more interested in. “So… until when did you write us, exactly?”

“Until the end of the Blank Sprite incident, though before you ask yes, I did also write Keiko’s beginnings as a PPC agent. I saw her around earlier.”

“And what about my other daughter?”

Scribetto raised an eyebrow. “Other daughter?”

“The one he had with Ami in another timeline, Hajime,” Corolla explained. “Bit shorter than Keiko, same hair color, purple eyes – I think you might’ve also seen her, they tend to hang together.”

Scribetto rubbed his chin. “The one with the headband? Yeah, I saw her, but… well… I didn’t create her. I never actually thought a relationship between you and Ami could proceed to that point.”

“Well, apparently there’s a timeline in which it did. Alongside one in which Kathleen drowned the entirety of Venice to stop the Black Organization, and I went insane and became obsessed with arresting her.”

Scribetto blinked. “That isn’t something I wrote either.”

Sergio let out a short laugh. “So, it looks like I cannot actually blame you for what’s going on this time? You don’t seem to know either.”

Scribetto raised his shoulders. “What can I say? I’m glad my writing wasn’t bad enough to end the multiverse. They did see fit to put all of us surviving authors under witness protection though – as you can guess, Gino Scribetto isn’t my real name.”

Sergio smiled. “I get only one guess at your real given name, right?”

Scribetto laughed. “Yeah, I think you got a pretty solid hint about that one. As for my surname… I think it is fair for you to know that, as well. Open up your ears, because I’m telling you my full name only once.”

***

“Okay, I think this is what you were getting wrong,” Nikki said as she maneuvered the virtual Tomcat on the screen. Kerochan hadn’t unlocked any variant of the Eagle yet, so she had settled for the Razgriz’s signature aircraft.

Which was fitting, as it was the game featuring them.

“Ten seconds,” Nagase’s recorded voice said from the game.

“The countdown is for when the missile needs to hit, not for when you fire.”

Nikki waited until the countdown went down to two before hitting the missile button. The missile shot off, and the radar site exploded just as Nagase said, “Now!”

“Radar network penetrated,” said AWACS Thunderhead’s recorded voice. “Proceed to attack the weapon plant.”

Nikki took a deep breath as she started firing on the military base. These are just pixels on a screen, for once. Besides, this is a weapons facility. No more weapons, no more war?

She fired two missiles at a cargo plane trying to flee with its deadly cargo before finishing it off with a machine gun burst. She turned back towards the base, and engaged one of the fighters that had been scrambled in response to the attack.

“Wow, you really are an ace!” Kerochan said. “You’re making this look easy!”

Nikki gritted her teeth. It’s… becoming easy for me? 

She turned right on the tail of the enemy fighter and opened fire. It was so close that the explosion filled the screen.

Nikki was almost blinded by the explosion. The canopy went in pieces, and she felt pain in several parts of her body. Whatever she had been hit with, it had managed to get through Protection Powered.

She pushed the stick left to straighten the plane, and almost right away she had to correct right. 

“Engine fire. Engine fire. Engine fire,” a recorded voice said.

She hit the extinguisher’s switch while trying to keep the aircraft straight. It had become very unstable, and several alarms were blaring at her – she had been hit badly.

“Damn it, it was one one of ours!”

“Nikki-neesan?”

“Starlight has been hit!” Long Caster was outright shouting, “Are you alright?”

Nikki felt something touching her shoulder. She blinked her eyes, trying to calm down her breathing at the same time. What just happened?

“Nikki-neesan, daijobu?” Sakura asked.

Nikki blinked again. It was her who was touching her shoulder. “Eh?”

“Are you alright?” Sakura repeated.

Nikki gulped. She had gotten Sakura worried within minutes of getting home. “I’m sorry, my head spun for a second.”

She set down the controller and lay down on the bed. “Do you mind if I take a nap? I’m afraid I need a bit of rest.”

Sakura gave a nod, and picked up Kerochan. “Give us a call if you need anything, though!”

 Nikki nodded, and closed her eyes. Is this what they call a flashback?

***

Corolla connected the last cable to the projector and turned it on. The desktop of the laptop it was connected to appeared over the room’s whiteboard. “Everything’s ready, sir!”

“Thank you.” Johnson turned to address the audience. Most of Strike Dove’s personnel was there in the airfield’s classroom now repurposed as a briefing room – Skystreaker and Haro squadrons, the crew of Long Caster, Virgilia, Faith and Kathleen, and most of the ground crew.  “However, I’d like to cut the formalities for now.”

Corolla raised an eyebrow. Formalities were boring, but she didn’t expect Johnson to drop them – they were a military company after all.

“As of now, a sizable portion of Strike Dove’s employees are actually my relatives, and I’d like to think of the others as friends already. We had a saying, ‘blood of the battlefield is thicker than the water of the womb,’ where I am from. And, besides, we’re a private military company. We must act professionally with our clients, but how we behave between ourselves is our own business.”

Corolla couldn’t believe her ears. “So we’re going to be on a first name basis with everyone?”

“That’s what I’d like, as long as everyone is comfortable with it. This place will be our home – let’s make it a warm one, shall we?”

Yes! Sergio’s grandpa is officially the best boss!

Several people nodded their heads as well, and no one spoke up against the idea.

“I’m happy that there are no objections. Since the last few days have been pretty hectic, I’d like to make a rundown of the current situation. With our transfer here at Tomoeda Field, we now have an official headquarters. This, alongside the Wolfram’s retirement for repairs, led to a slight revision of our contract. As of now, Strike Dove is a direct contractor of the NATO coalition, instead of a TSAB subcontractor. Not that it really changes much operationally.

“As per the war situation, I’d like to take a step back and talk about the geography of this corner of the world first. The Japanese archipelago spawned in this world off the eastern coast of a landmass roughly the size of Australia, with Hawaii quite closer to it than it used to be. The Principality of Belka, our opponent, seems to be located almost opposite to Japan, on the north-west corner of the continent.”

Taking that as a cue, Corolla opened the map of the continent on the laptop.

“The rest of the continent seems to be largely uninhabited. So far, the only settlements of relevant size seem to be Hong Kong, which is pretty much in the same position relative to Japan as it used to be; Venice and its surrounding region, also on the coast facing Japan in a more northern position.”

Corolla could read the surprise on Sergio and Kathleen’s faces. Sure, they weren’t from Venice, but they did live there for some time. And it was still a chunk of their home country.

“The Clow Kingdom is on the south-west coast, and the Kingdom of Vespania on the north-east coast. There are some American cities and air bases dotted around the eastern coast, as well, and most of the USAF bases in Japan seem to be intact. In an interesting reversal, it seems that the version of Hawaii we got is one that was given to Japanese survivors of an apocalypse – Japanese and American authorities are working on their repatriation so they can also give those islands back to the US survivors.”

“American authorities?” Virgilia asked. “Did the US Government make it through?”

“Part of it. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem we have a President as of now.” Johnson took a deep breath. “It also seems to be the same with Japan. What I’m gonna say right now is classified military information so it must not leave this room. As of now, Japan doesn’t have an Emperor anymore.”

There was some murmuring in the room.

“Since the country is currently a ragtag mix of sections from different iterations of Japan, designating a new Emperor is also not a straightforward affair. To avoid further unrest in an already stressed population, it was decided to keep the matter quiet until a successor is found, or at least for the time being.”

“What about the current war situation?” Sergio asked.

“At first, it looked like the Belkans had a mobility advantage, with their focus on air superiority. However, as soon as the NATO coalition got its gears turning, the immediate pressure on most of the NATO members and allies was gone. The losses the Belkans took at Sand Island also made their campaign in the southern area of the continent unsustainable. While this didn’t take pressure off the Clow Kingdom completely, it is believed 444th Air Base is their last big outpost in the area as they were forced to abandon several other airfields due to aircraft shortages.

“For example, Fliegenderberg Air Base, where we rescued my relatives, has been recently captured during a combined operation of Japanese ground troops with air cover from Strategic Military Services.”

Corolla raised an eyebrow. They had basically picked that place clean before leaving. “Weren’t they helpless already?”

“While we took most of their weaponry, all it took to get that base operational again was receiving new supplies, which I think they did by the time the Japanese got there. By the way, the production efforts by the NATO coalition are sailing smoothly. Full production of the Type-94 Shiranui mecha is underway, and the first official squadron of VF-0 Phoenix is expected to be operative in no more than two weeks from now. I’d like for us to beat them to the “first operational Phoenix” spot, though.

“Furthermore, some advanced production equipment originally used by the Belkans has been captured, which means that the NATO coalition is no longer lagging behind in conventional aircraft production capability. Due to the vast amount of uninhabited land separating the two blocs, this is mostly an aerial war. We can say the force projection abilities of NATO and Belka are roughly equal now.”

“What about those airships they used against us at Sand Island?” Ami asked. “I don’t think we have any way of making those… Do we?”

“As far as we know, Belka doesn’t either. According to what we know also thanks to your daughter, those airships are fueled by a resource that could only be mined in their world of origin. While they seem to have a few more of those ships, they cannot be refueled or replaced easily, and the NATO coalition has some aerial vessels of their own.

“To end the aircraft section, I have to say this right now: we won’t be able to get our hands on more Phoenixes any time soon. Production is already booked by Japanese and American forces for months in the main plants; we do have a couple spots in the Italian production line but airframes for the Aeronautica Militare have priority over ours. At least we’ve managed to work a deal for spare parts for our Eagles, but parts for the Tomcats and the Silent Raptor aren’t available at all so we’ll have to resort to our usual scrounging.”

Corolla’s shoulders slumped, and she could also see the disappointment on the faces of some of her colleagues. That world had some real fancy toys – and they weren’t allowed to have enough of them!

“Anything we happen to stumble upon left by the enemy is fair game – so keep your eyes peeled. If we happen to capture a Belkan base with Variable Fighters, other mechas or spare parts for our conventional aircraft, we need to make them ours.

“We’re also hiring some more personnel to staff our base, both as additional ground crew and in civilian staff positions…”

***

Sergio kept staring at the man on the other side of the mess hall counter. He gripped his tray tight, trying to bear the accusatory glare he was being given.

Of all places, why did Touya’s new part time job have to be at Strike Dove’s mess hall?

***

Kathleen took up the shirt of her new school uniform. A plain white one, with just some blue trim on the sleeves’ lapel and the school’s emblem emblazoned on the breast pocket. She had been looking forward to a cute, Japanese-style high school uniform, but the one she was going to wear was underwhelming.

“Did Grandpa copy this for his company uniform? Because it looks like they just swapped the colors, and I didn’t like that one either.”

Faith inspected the tie, navy blue with gold trim on the tip. “It isn’t the most inspired design, true, but the fabric feels like it’s of good quality. I think it will be comfortable to wear.”

“Yes, but it doesn’t look good!” Kathleen put the shirt down and picked up the skirt. “Look! It’s all navy! It doesn’t even have a pattern!” She pouted. “If I am to be an anime schoolgirl, I want to also be dressed like one.”

Keiko peeked into the room. “And I want to wear pants instead of a skirt, but we don’t have much of a choice really. By the way, the school sent an email. You’re in class 1-1, together with Hajime. They sent me in 1-2 instead, looks like I will be in class with Aunt Hanami. Because the poor thing really needs to stay the whole day together with the daughter-she’ll-never-have.”

Kathleen crossed her arms. “Sucks for her, but our version of Sergio is really at fault here. He just had to get himself killed.”

I hope he is free from that obsession of his now, at least.

Keiko walked in, Hajime in tow. They were already wearing the school uniform, which gave Kathleen confirmation of what she dreaded. More than a school uniform, it looked like office clothing. 

“Anyways… The uniform could be worse?” Keiko said. “I mean, I saw some series in which they use dresses with sailor collars even in high school. Or some ridiculously frilly ones. Honestly, something simple and unassuming is better than looking like a grade schooler.”

Kathleen gladly took the hint to change the topic. “But those would’ve actually been cuter!”

“I… kinda agree with you’” Hajime said. “This uniform is a bit plain. I actually was expecting something a bit more… anime-ish.”

“And that settles it! This uniform officially sucks.”

Hajime blinked “That wasn’t what-”

“Keiko, you’ve been voted out. Remind me to bring you along shopping sometime – you seem to have inherited your father’s taste in clothing, and gods he really has a terrible one.”

***

Sergio pushed the Phoenix’s throttle to full and put the aircraft in a steep climb. The altimeter shot up quickly, and speed actually kept increasing.

“Whoa, this thing is putting the Raptor to shame, and it was considered one of the best climbers out there!”

“It is three tons lighter, and actually has better engines than the original VF-0D. It would’ve taken months to get an assembly line for the EGF-127 going, so the nacelles were modified to accept the F135-PW-100 from the F-35A which not only was available but is actually more powerful,” Scribetto explained from the rear seat. 

Sergio leveled out at 40,000 feet. “Good to hear, this will make Flappers easier to fight. Though now I’m wondering how much of a frankenstein this thing has become.”

“Well, the aircraft is from Macross, it got some stuff from Lyrical Nanoha, pylons from Ace Combat, and the engines are real world designs but come from a production plant with Ace Combat technology so not too much so far. I heard Corolla is already planning things though – should I be scared?”

“You’re asking me? You created her!”

“You know… Sometimes with her I had the impression I was writing her how she wanted to be written.”

“… That actually sounds plausible, considering it is Corolla we’re talking about. Well, time for testing the mecha modes I guess?”

“Sure, GERWALK mode is fully implemented. Stay out of Battroid mode for now – we still haven’t finished the ground tests for that one.”

Sergio flipped up the throttle lever, turning it into a second stick. He felt the aircraft slow down as the leg nacelles swung forward and the arms folded out, the right one holding the gunpod like a pistol.

He took a turn, with the aircraft now maneuvering way more sharply. A kick to the pedals was all it took to perform a full 180°. He pretended to aim at imaginary targets in the sky, and in the corner of the eye he could see the gunpod following the crosshair on the new full-face helmet that came with the aircraft. “Quite a good system here for aiming the gunpod.”

“I’m happy you like it. It isn’t even otherworldly tech – it’s basically the same used in modern attack helicopters for the chin-mounted cannon. I think the control box for this one came straight off the A129 Mangusta’s parts bin, even. So, how does it feel in GERWALK mode?”

Sergio couldn’t help but smile. The guy was right, he wasn’t missing his Raptor one bit. “It turns on a dime. I think I got the hang of it, so I hope you don’t mind if I put it through the paces a bit?”

“Well, we are flight testing it, but remember that I’m not-”

Sergio put the Phoenix in a dive, turning it back to fighter mode at the same time. The aircraft picked up speed, and he followed with a series of rolls and sharp turns.

This is incredible. More finicky than the Raptor, but so much more maneuverable. I’ve never flown or driven anything like this before!

“Oh fuuuuu-”

And giving a scare to his author was the icing on the cake.

***

“I’m afraid that the test I had given you yesterday to get an idea of the class general level was a failure. With a single exception, every single one of them was a disaster.”

Mr. Kageura laughed almost maniacally, and Keiko couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow. Okay, my new science professor is insane.

Kageura started handing out the tests, and Keiko peeked over Hanami’s shoulder as she got hers. A meager 30 out of 100. Hanami’s shoulders slumped, and Keiko shivered.

Having started school that day saved her from having to do that test, alright, but the future was already starting to look grim.

“Here it is yours, Matsunaga. As I expected from someone who was already my student, you scored one hundred and ten.”

Keiko raised her eyebrow again. The maximum score that could be obtained in school tests was 100 – what was the deal there?

“I gave you an extra ten points for your exhaustive explanation of the relativistic nature of time at speeds approaching that of light, so I’d like you to talk about your powers in exchange for that.”

The girl he was talking to didn’t look amused. “Professor Kageura, what are you talking about? I don’t have any powers.”

Keiko let out a resigned sigh. The anime series she had watched and her experience as a PPC Agent were telling her two things.

One, that Matsunaga girl definitely had some kind of power, and that was likely a recurrent gag in her series.

Two, she could kiss goodbye to a normal school life.

***

Scribetto held his belly as he threw up in a bucket kindly offered by Strike Dove’s ground crew. Once his stomach settled a bit, he wiped his mouth and sighed.

Sergio’s flying was exactly as he used to write it – down to its ability to make meals resurface.

Corolla offered him a water bottle to rinse his mouth. “Don’t look at me – you wrote him that way, didn’t you?”

“I know. Karma’s a bitch.”

***

“Tell me one thing, Mikage.” Keiko said as she doused the smoldering lab room desk with magically-conjured water. “How can you get a full score on the written test, and yet fail so spectacularly in practice?”

Mikage Matsunaga flipped through the pages of the chemistry experiment manual, looking completely oblivious to the soot covering her head to toe. “I don’t know. I was sure I followed the instructions to the letter.”

Keiko glanced at the shattered remains of the beaker. The chemical reaction was supposed to just change the solution’s color, and yet it managed to explode violently.

Professor Kageura peeked out from under his desk. “Well… business as usual, Matsunaga? Though it seems that your partner is more open with her own powers.”

Well shit. Maybe I should’ve just grabbed an extinguisher.

“So, Turbo. It seems that like Matsunaga here you’re also a user of ESP powers.”

Kageura jumped over his desk and ran over to Keiko and Mikage’s desk. “And I want to know everything about them.”

“Well.. technically I’m not an esper.”

“But that water…?”

Keiko tugged one of her sleeves. “See the stupidly colorful and frilly dress? I’m a Magical Girl. You know, fighting monsters of the week for love and justice and all those sorts of things.”

Kageura blinked a couple of times. “Oh right. I hadn’t thought of that possibility.” He shrugged. “Well, I’m afraid that will be of no use to my research on ESP powers then.”

Keiko resisted the urge to facepalm. This guy is really insane.

***

Sergio blinked a couple of times as he entered the hangar. The Phoenix was no longer in primer green, but was now aircraft gray with red control surfaces. The upper surface of the aircraft also had what looked like a hexagon snow camo pattern, and there was some brown masking paper covering the fuselage on the side of the cockpit.

“Surprise!” Corolla shouted from behind him. “I couldn’t stand it looking like chickpea, so I decided to give it a nice fresh coat of paint. And a livery more fitting of you.”

Sergio suppressed a laugh. Red was indeed his favourite color, and the hexagon pattern was what Strike Dove used on its helicopters back in their world. While it used to be darker, Corolla probably had added white in the mix to reflect the “White Birds” moniker the Belkan forces were using for Skystreaker Squadron.

“Well, I dare say you did a good job. I like it.”

Corolla ran over to the plane’s side. “And you haven’t seen everything yet!”

She tore off the paper covering, revealing the aircraft number, 016, alongside a nose art depicting the head of a feline wearing a red bandana, a dead snake held between its teeth.

Sergio walked closer as well. The snake was in a white, yellow and black camouflage pattern. Grabacr Squadron’s livery. “What’s this?”

“Well, the Belkans seem to have started referring to you as the ‘Mongoose’, so I thought that this could help them understand you’re still around since you won’t be flying your signature plane anymore.”

“I’m not sure this is something I should be proud of. I think that I earned it mostly through my actions when I was out-of-line.”

“That may be true,” Johnson said from behind him. “But since you earned the reputation of being the White Birds’ deadly ace, it would be stupid to not take advantage of it. Some pilots are outright scared of you – and a scared pilot will not fight at his best, or even run away.”

Sergio nodded slowly. It made sense, a little bit of psychological warfare to make things a bit easier.

“I can get behind it, but why 016? That was Blaze’s number.”

“Well, that was more of a coincidence,” Corolla said. “Originally Chopper’s Tomcat was his, but we changed the number to Chopper’s 008 when we repainted it in Razgriz colors. So 016 was the first free number actually. Quite the underwhelming explanation, isn’t it?”

***

Faith set down the stethoscope and sphygmomanometer. “All parameters are good. You’re doing well, you’ll have a near complete recovery.”

Nikki felt her heart skip a beat. “Near complete?”

“Shamal sent me the result of your last full-body scan. Your internal organs have healed, and there is nothing that will impact your life quality. However, your Linker Core seems to be lagging behind a bit in recovery so she’s not sure your powers will recover fully. She said you can already perform some magic, but you should restrict yourself to simple, low power spells.”

Nikki nodded slowly. “The only thing Kath couldn’t help me with, I guess?”

Faith looked uncomfortable. “That, and another thing. I’m sorry, Nikki, but there is one thing you’ll never recover.”

***

“Oh, I know them,” Kathleen said as she opened her bento box. “You know, I used to watch their series when I was little. Maggie’s twin sister Terry is in class with me and Hajime, actually.”

Keiko raised an eyebrow, something she had found herself doing all too often during that day. “I thought her name was Mikage?”

Kathleen waved her hand. “I watched the Italian dub, so she’s Maggie to me.”

Hajime raised her eyes in thought. “I might’ve read the manga in Mom’s old stash. Miracle Girls, was it? Though I think they were called Toni and Mika there, it was the American release.”

Hanami leaned in. “It would be rude to call them with those names though. If their real names are Mikage and…”

“Tomomi.” Hajime provided for her.

“Then we should really call them that.”

Kathleen did a small pout. “Well, I guess I owe that to my old role models.” She glanced at the other girls. “Well, who do you think I looked up to when I was little and still learning my own ESP powers?”

“Hope Professor Kageura doesn’t get wind of them, or he’ll keep pestering you.”

Kathleen scoffed. “I can deal with him no problem. I’m more radical than the twins.”

“That was what I’m actually afraid of.”

***

Sergio stumbled forward, trying to get used to the new center of balance.He lifted an arm, and the Phoenix’s manipulator came into view. He moved his fingers, and the manipulator copied down each movement.

“Corolla, I gotta hand this to you. It will take a bit of getting used to, but this system of yours is going to be a game changer.”

“I’m happy you like the implementation of the Neuro Linker-based full immersion control system, this will make the most of your experience in ground combat. You and Ami have quite the experience with guns, and Nikki with energy swords, and mechas tend to have all of those.”

Sergio pulled out the combat knife from the Phoenix’s blister pod with the left manipulator, and rested the gunpod on the left forearm. He took aim at one of the dummy targets and opened fire.

“Even my close-quarters combos seem doable.”

“Yeah, but I wouldn’t rely on that too much. That gunpod is meant as a two-handed weapon, you’re going to put a lot of stress on the actuators that way.”

Sergio shivered. Damaging the new aircraft already was the last thing he wanted. He put the knife back in its pod and shifted to a proper two-hands hold on the gunpod. Before he could open fire again, though, a red “EMERGENCY” overlay appeared on his vision.

“I’m sorry, but mecha training has to be postponed,” Johnson said over the radio. “We received an emergency call. Lightning, bring the Phoenix back to rearm.”

Rearm? Did I hear that right?

“I know this is sudden, but we have no choice,” Johnson said, almost as if he heard his thoughts. “The Enterprise and its fleet are under fire. The NATO coalition cannot afford to lose them.”

***

[Ace Combat Assault Horizon OST – White Devil]

Chris opened fire on a US Navy Tomcat, tearing it apart. As far as she remembered, they were supposed to have already phased that design out, but this new world was full of surprises.

Maybe they were just that desperate for aircraft. Or maybe the squadron came straight out of the ‘80s.

“Damn it, we lost Tombstone too! One of the Brimstones did him in!” one of the American pilots shouted.

“Cougar, get your shit together! We cannot let them get any closer to the ships!”

“Sol 1 to Sol Squadron. I found an interesting one, he might keep me busy for a little while,” Mihaly said, his voice eerily calm as usual. “I entrust the rest to you.”

“Sol 4 to Sol 1, I knew you would say that. I’m glad you’re claiming their ace though, I’ve never been fond of the limelight.”

Chris lined up for a bombing run on a cruiser. She wanted a word with whoever had decided to stick her with unguided bombs, but at least the cruiser’s air defenses were busy with other planes and were not engaging her.

She double tapped the ordinance release button, and a few seconds later the cruiser was engulfed by explosions.

***

Nikki looked out of the window as soon as she heard the roaring of several jet engines at once, just in time to see the silhouettes of aircraft and mechas taking off one after another.

She counted four in total – Skystreaker Squadron in full, with Hiro in tow.

Her stomach knotted up. The airplanes were going up in full afterburner – that was a scramble.

They were going to battle, and she could do nothing but watch them go and hope for them to get back in one piece.

***

[Vincent Moretto – Ace Combat Zero Mayhem Metal Remix]

“Okay everyone, we’re almost there. Master Arm on, weapons free as soon as we get in range. They’re getting quite the beating, we cannot afford to waste a single second.”

Ami flipped said switch. “Isn’t this too close to Japan? We’re not even past Sand Island!”

“I know. That’s why the Enterprise fleet was caught off guard, the Belkans popped out of literally nowhere, like they did in Tokyo! Skystreaker to Enterprise, ETA five minutes. What’s the SITREP?

”Enterprise to Skystreaker, situation is FUBAR. We lost three ships, most of the others are on fire, and we lost use of three catapults. We’re losing aircraft quicker than we’re sending them up, the Ghostriders have been almost wiped out!”

Something pinged in Ami’s memory at “Ghostriders,” She had heard that squadron name somewhere.

“Understood, Enterprise. We’ll try to give you some reprieve.”

In the distance, Ami could see the smoke columns of the damaged ships and the contrails of the dogfight above them.

“Enemy reinforcement inbound,” said someone on the radio, his voice staticky. “Sol Two, Sol Three, Sol Four, intercept them and keep them off the other squadrons.”

“Dammit, that’s Shilage!” Sergio shouted. “Which means that Nemesis guy is there as well. Be on your toes, everyone.”

“Miksa…” Hiro said.

Ami gulped. “What do we do? We need to take care of the other aircraft as well!”

“They sent three aircraft against us and Shilage isn’t among them, but we need to bring some support to the fleet ASAP. Robogirl, drop as close to the sea as you can and take a detour, you have the stealth plane so you can take the other squadrons by surprise. Stay the hell away from Shilage though – go boom and zoom, your plane is faster than pretty much anyone else’s here.”

“Aye aye, captain!” Corolla said. Ami saw her aircraft start a dive.

“Comet, Knight, we’re engaging the three Sol aircraft. Nemesis will surely come for me, and I dare say Sol Two will go for Knight. Comet, I have no idea who this Sol Four is but they’ll be yours. I’ll do the usual opening with XMAAs, so let’s take advantage of that.”

“Knight, roger.” Hiro said.

“Comet, roger.”

Missiles shot off from under Sergio’s Phoenix, and the Sol Squadron aircraft broke formation to dodge them. Ami ignored the Black Widow II and the Flanker to concentrate on the third aircraft.

A F-15S/MTD like hers, but in the same dark gray as the Sol Squadron Flankers with its right wing painted red. Is their fourth pilot a fan of Pixy from Ace Combat Zero?

She maneuvered to get the Eagle in the targeting circle of the SAAM missiles and opened fire as soon as she got a lock. The Eagle dodged just barely, and started turning back towards her.

Ami fired a second missile, hoping to get a hit before the Eagle could fully turn, but her own missile warning started blaring.

“Flying flat is gonna get you killed.. Buddy.”

Ami pulled hard right to dodge the missile launched at her. It wasn’t a fan, that was indeed the voice of Larry “Solo Wing Pixy” Foulke.

This makes no sense, Pixy fought against Belka in the game!

“Yo, still alive? I know you’ve always been the quiet girl, but you could greet your old wingman.”

“Pixy? Is that really you?” Did he mistake me for Cipher? And… he thinks he’s a girl?

“You took your sweet time, Cipher.”

Yes, he does. It’s like Sergio with the Razgriz and Grabacr!

“What are you doing with the Belkans?” Depending on when in the game timeline he came from, there was a chance of talking some sense into him. “They’re the aggressors!”

Pixy’s plane locked on her again. “You wouldn’t understand, buddy. I’m flying for something beyond Belka and Japan.”

Ami dove to the sea, pulling up at the last time to make the missile crash in the water. Okay, that’s Pixy after he defected to A World With No Boundaries. How can I make him listen, he’s lost in his delusions! And… what is Sol Squadron up to?

***

[Ace Combat 7 OST – Gator Panic]

Sergio opened fire with the Phoenix’s laser cannons at the YF-23 charging straight for him. Nemesis opened fire with the Black Widow’s machine gun as well, but neither managed to score any hit before they were past each other.

“What’s your problem with me?” Sergio shouted on an open channel. “You’ve been gunning straight for me since Tokyo, but I don’t even know you!”

“I…” Nemesis answered back. “I don’t have to tell you!”

Sergio turned the Phoenix around just as its missile warning started to blare. He switched to GERWALK mode and set the gunpod to automatic intercept mode. Targeting squares appeared over the incoming missiles, and he glanced at them in quick succession to let the helmet designate them as targets. The gunpod opened fire, obliterating them.

Being finally able to do that myself feels good.

He switched the gunpod to manual control, and turned his head towards Nemesis’s plane. He opened fire, but the Black Widow rolled out of the tracers’ trajectory.

Sergio switched  the Phoenix back to fighter mode and pushed the throttle to full, launching himself in chase. I can afford to waste momentum like I just did, I have a thrust advantage and more maneuverability. But I still need to be careful, Nemesis is good and I shot down Variable Fighters with a conventional one myself.

***

[Sabaton – Winged Hussars]

Corolla skimmed the surface on full afterburner, heading towards the fleet. Green and blue squares appeared over her HUD, and she selected the XMAA multi-launch missiles.

Can’t wait until we can get our hands on micromissiles from Macross, though!

Four squares became red, and she pulled up, firing the missiles at the same time.

A light green F-18 Hornet and a dark green F-2 Viper Zero exploded at the same time.

“Grun Three and Schwalbenfisch Two down! Where did that come from?” someone shouted over the radio, probably a Belkan pilot.

“A Strike Raptor with a bird insignia… shit, it’s the White Birds! Those guys downed a whole air division by themselves!”

Corolla smiled as she chased down another Viper Zero. They were starting to fear them, and that was alright – she and her friends were invincible!

“Durendal Control to Schwalbenfisch Three, keep your focus. Sol Squadron is dealing with them.”

More like we are dealing with them!

***

[Gundam Build Fighters OST – Quick Attack]

“We meet again, Hiro.”

Hiro put the Destiny Gundam’s rifle away and switched to the beam sabers and head machine guns. “Miksa…”

Miksa launched a missile at him, and he rolled out of the way before retaliating with the machine guns.

I cannot use the beam rifle, a direct hit will kill him!

“You’re holding back… are you trying to take me alive?”

Hiro gulped. As expected, Miksa knew him too well. He was being read like an open book.

However, that didn’t change anything.

“Of course I am.” Hiro dodged a machine gun burst, and lunged at the wing of Miksa’s Flanker. Miksa rolled out of the way, but not enough to prevent the Destiny Gundam’s beam saber from cleaving off the wingtip pylon. “I’m sick of us being forced to fight each other!”

“The universe wants that, and we’re not strong enough to fight back.” Despite his damaged aircraft, Miksa turned around for another attack run. “If we humor it, maybe it will allow us to be together at least in death.”

Hiro opened fire with the head machine guns to shoot down the incoming missiles. “That’s where you’re wrong! It isn’t over! If this isn’t the world where we’re meant to be together… I’ll turn it into that one!”

Miksa let out a short laugh. “You’ve always been the idealistic one of the two of us… You still think you can change the world on your own? Alone?”

Hiro glanced at Sergio and Ami’s planes, locked in dogfight with the other Sol Squadron aircraft. “Yes. Because I’m not alone, and you won’t be either.”

Hiro charged in, and aimed for the other wingtip pylon.

***

[Ace Combat 7 OST – Gator Panic]

Sergio dove down towards the sea, hot on Nemesis’s tail. No use firing a missile now – he’s planning to make it crash into the sea.

The Black Widow leveled out just a few meters above the surface, and Sergio did the same, opening fire with both the laser cannons and the gunpod, and got a couple hits in.

The Black Widow slowed down suddenly, its nose now aimed upwards. Sergio rolled right to avoid crashing into it.

A Cobra this low? Is he suicidal?

He pulled up the throttle lever and pushed the left pedal forward. The Phoenix transformed into GERWALK mode, spinning around at the same time. Sergio activated the full immersion mode, prompting the aircraft to continue transforming into Battroid mode.

His vision became that of the head turret, the aircraft-turned-mecha now his body. He gripped the gunpod with both manipulators and opened fire on the Black Widow just as it leveled out.

“Damn it!” Nemesis shouted as the Black Widow’s fuselage and right wing got riddled with holes, smoke and vaporized fuel pouring out from them.

“This is Grun Four, one of the Sol Squadron aircraft is trailing smoke! It was one of the White Birds!”

“Durandal Control to Sol One, report.”

“Sol One to Durandal Control.” Shilage said. “Two of my wingmen have suffered damage. The enemy reinforcements seem to indeed be one of the squadrons from Sand Island.”

“Durandal Control to Sol One, understood. All aircraft, mission is over. Disengage from the combat area.”

“Sol One, wilco. I’ve already shot down the interesting one anyway. Such a shame… he was good.”

Sergio shifted the Phoenix back into fighter mode and kept chasing the Black Widow. No, this time this guy isn’t getting-

A yellow “LOW FUEL” overlay appeared on his helmet HUD.

“Seriously? Not again!”

***

Ami kept thinking back to her dogfight with Pixy as she circled over the fleet. What did he mean with ‘something beyond Belka and Japan’?

“Sorry for keeping you guys waiting, but I really needed to top up.” Sergio said as he rejoined formation. “The Phoenix is the coolest thing I’ve ever flown, but guzzles gas like Gramps’s old Charger.”

“Don’t worry, as soon as I get everything set up to make them I’ll get Minotaur drives in everything!” Corolla said. “With those, we could probably circumnavigate the entire world a few times before needing to refuel. Right, Knight?”

“I think so? The Destiny Gundam’s old batteries would’ve been depleted by now, but the energy levels are still at the top”

“Good to hear,” Sergio said. “Anyways, I’ve got some bad news. Comet, you were right, the Enterprise’s fighter complement was that Ghostrider Squadron.”

Ami gulped. “So, the American ace Shilage shot down…”

“Yeah. The guy just bagged the freaking Maverick from Top Gun of all people. And he’s not even the first ace who already fell to him in this war… the survivors told me USAF pilots call Shilage the ‘Ace Killer’.”

Ami clenched the controls of her Eagle. So the Colonel was right. Shilage is really a monster of a pilot.

“What’s with this silence?” Corolla shouted. “The bigger they are, the harder they fall. We’ll get him for sure one day, they ran away as soon as we showed up!”

Sergio sighed. “Getting that Nemesis guy out of the picture first would already be an improvement…”

***

Nikki sat down in the full bathtub. Now that she had seen all four aircraft come back, it was alright to try to relax. She massaged her legs; things were improving but her muscles still got sore quickly.

She held her arms forward and summoned a small ball of mana between her hands. It took more effort than it used to, but at least it was proof that she hadn’t lost the use of magic.

She bit her lip. It almost feels unfair towards Hanami. I haven’t seen her do anything with magic so far…

She took a deep breath and slipped underwater. With her powers coming back, it was time to check another thing. She concentrated on her body and tapped into her magic again, expecting to feel her legs start to change.

Several seconds passed, but nothing happened. It took a while before I could fully control the mermaid transformation, maybe it just became more difficult since my magic is a bit weak and I don’t have a Device right now..

Nikki insisted again, to no result. She felt a burning feeling in her lungs, and she resurfaced panting heavily. Was it just a matter of learning it again, or was it also lost forever?

She hugged her legs. At first it was more of a nuisance, but as soon as she managed to control it, the transformation became a useful power.

“Just how many things did I lose?” she muttered under her breath. 

***

Chris threw her helmet on the ground. “Dammit! He got me again!”

She then noticed the puzzled expressions on the rest of Sol Squadron, and her father was facepalming.

Oh, damn. I wasn’t supposed to take my helmet off.

She put her fists against her sides and squared them off. “Yeah, I’m actually a bespectacled girl. Any problem with that?”

“Your eyes don’t seem to be hindering you, and I’ve trained countless female pilots,” Mihaly said. “The gender of a pilot is irrelevant, you shouldn’t have kept yours hidden.”

“Talk with him.” Chris pointed at her father. “That was his idea.”

“The legendary aces of your world tend to have unknown faces, and are usually referred to with male pronouns,” the Professor explained as soon as Mihaly turned his head towards him. “Since this world might be still affected by narrative laws, I was trying to call this upon Nemesis.”

Chris’s eyes widened. For real? My father is a bigger idiot than I thought.

Pixy let out a short laugh. “That was pointless. Did you know, the Demon Lord of the Round Table was actually a Demon Lady?”

Great, even the new guy found an old rival among the Skystreakers.

She glanced at the debriefing slide currently projected on the hangar’s wall, showing Skystreaker One’s new aircraft as caught by her Black Widow’s gun camera. He was also sporting red trim on his aircraft now – was he imitating her?

Just as if he doesn’t get me riled up enough already! He-

Chris froze. What was the reason why she felt so strongly that she had to defeat him? Aside from the fact that he’s getting in the way of Dad’s “Dream”, that is – I’m not even sold on that yet.

She tried to concentrate, but all she could remember was that she was feeling that way already when she woke up on the Durandal for the first time.

“Chris? Are you listening?”

She turned around, it was her father who was calling her. Everyone else was already gone.

“I just got lost in thought, sorry.”

The Professor’s expression turned to a worried one. “Is anything bothering you?”

“Well… not really. It’s just that my memories are still fuzzy as hell. Would you believe me that I don’t even remember why that guy riles me up so much?”

“Not at all. You hit your head badly when we were involved in the Unravel – you got a serious head trauma and spent a week in a coma after all. I’m still thanking God that you’re recovering so quickly, don’t be so worried about your memories. They will come back.”

Chris let herself fall on a chair. “I know, you keep telling me. But I hope you can at least tell me why I hate him so much.”

Her father looked up in thought. “I can’t say for sure. But, if I could hazard a guess, it might be something akin to sibling rivalry?”