The World Without Authors – 17

So, a little announcement first. Unfortunately, due to work-related reasons, Aelit doesn’t have the time to partecipate in TWWA directly anymore (and has actually been like this for a while). While he’s still my sounding board for ideas and feedback on how I’m using his characters, I’ve been writing the chapters by myself for a while so I felt obliged to make that known.

That way, you’ll know that if something’s jumbled up somewhere that’s 100% my fault. Still, many thanks to Aelit for what he’s contributed so far, and for still saving up time to hear me out on the Plans!

And, of course, many thanks also to Doctorlit for his irreplaceable betaing services!

Mission Record 17 – New Wings

Nikki walked towards Tomoeda Field’s hangars. Her plan was originally to enter the main building instead, but there was a large amount of trucks parked in front of the hangars and she was quite curious at the commotion.

She spotted Corolla and Ai, and walked over to them. They were looking at something in a holographic window just as the wingless fuselage of an aircraft was being offloaded by a crane, its thin wings still tied on the truck’s trailer.

“Okay, this one will be DV 022.” Corolla said. “It has working engines, which is good, but it needs new linear actuators for the transformation system. We’ll be taking them off DV 020 for now.”

Ai started tapping in some notes. “So… It goes on the ‘to be serviced’ list. I’m adding another set of actuators to the order draft for Sugo.”

“Hello.” Nikki greeted them. “Did we get some new planes?”

“Nikki! I had almost lost hope of seeing you anywhere near the apron!” Corolla said as she tackled her in a hug.

“Slow down. I don’t think I’m back to being a combat pilot. Not anytime soon, at least.” She smiled. “But if I can be of any help any other way, I’m happy to.”

Corolla squeezed her even tighter. “That’s what I wanted to hear from you!”

“I know you’re happy, but I need to breathe!” Nikki said amid laughter. “So, what did I miss?”

Corolla released her, and showed her the aircraft with a wide sweeping gesture. “Well, we managed to prevent a Macross-verse ship from falling into Belkan hands, so they let us keep some of the aircraft inside for ourselves.” She pouted. “Whoever was in charge of selecting the airframes Strike Dove was to get was a bit cheeky about this, so they kept the flight ready ones and dumped the ones needing work to us. But still, that’s six VF-25A Messiah and six VF-31A Kairos all for us to keep. Once they’re fixed up, Skystreaker and Razgriz squadrons will be both equipped with fifth-gen Variable Fighters, with spare airframes to finally set up a good maintenance rotation.”

Ai attached sheets with “DV 022” written with a marker to the offloaded aircraft and its wings “Isn’t it gonna take some time until they’re flight ready, though?”

“Yeah I know.” Corolla’s shoulders slumped. “We’ve got our work cut out, especially… Wait.”

She turned towards Nikki. “You have problems with flying in combat, not with flying at all, right?”

“Hmm… Yes, that’s right. I admit it, I got some flying thanks to Sakura a couple days ago.”

Her mind went back to that afternoon. Sakura had used two of those new transparent cards she had been creating, Flight and Mirror, to try to cheer her up.

And it had worked – flying free in the sky, only with her body, feeling the wind on her face… she had missed that feeling.

“Then I think I have the right job for you. See, these Variable Fighters will need a lot of testing before being cleared for combat. They have many unserviceable or outright missing parts, and we’re going to literally have our own custom replacement parts built. Alongside adding our own stuff like the Neuro Linker-based Full Immersion Control System, of course.

“As you can guess, that takes time, and we’re struggling to keep up with everything. Us combat pilots have our sorties, while the younger girls have school to attend. We could really use a dedicated pilot to take care of the flight testing, especially one with combat experience. There might be some shooting, yeah, but only against dummy targets ”

Nikki’s eyes widened – it was a dream. Fly, without fighting. “So you’re telling me…”

“That you can go back being Skystreaker Four without having to kill anyone again, ever. So, what do you think?”

For Nikki it was a no-brainer. By making sure they could get the new aircraft in the air as soon as possible, she would be helping Sergio, Corolla and Ami from home without shedding a drop of blood herself. “Of course I’m in! I might need to work a bit more on my muscles, but…” Nikki turned towards Ai. “Is your offer to go swimming together still valid?”

“Of course! We even finished cleaning up the pool!”

Nikki blinked. “We have a pool?”

“Yeah. Apparently this used to be some kind of private airfield for rich people, so it used to have all the bells and whistles like hookers and blackjack.” Corolla looked up in thought. “Well, I’m not sure they actually had hookers, but we did find a blackjack table in a storeroom.”

***

“Glad to hear you’re back among the reasonable people, Mom.” Keiko said in her wristphone.

“I’m really sorry, Kei. I didn’t realize I was walking down a dead end alley until I hit my head on the wall.”

“I would’ve liked it more if that wall wasn’t Syaoron’s bed, but hey, everyone makes their mistakes.”

“… You’ve taken it surprisingly well.”

“No, I didn’t. But let’s say that Hajime’s judo throw put a quick end to both my tantrum and my murderous instincts. Trust me, sis’ a sweetie but she can lay down the smackdown.”

Nikki laughed. “You really are as impulsive as your father, aren’t you?”

“That’s what everyone keeps telling me, though I think I might actually be worse. He didn’t punch anyone about it… unless he’s letting out his frustration on Belkan fighters, that is. By the way, I take it that I have a full family once again?”

Nikki sighed. “About that… gimme a bit more time. You know, I don’t feel like waltzing up to your father and telling him ‘let’s be a couple again’ right away like nothing had happened.”

“Oh, I see. Gotta make sure you don’t have any more of Syaoron’s love juice inside you first, am I right?”

“Keiko!” Nikki screamed. “… We used condoms, by the way.”

“Condoms? Plural? Wow, you really were longing for some action.”

“Oh, you… I’m not getting any mercy, am I?”

Keiko smiled. “Nope. I’m making sure you know that if you cheat on Dad you’re never hearing the end of it. And no, ‘I had dumped him’ doesn’t count as a justification to me.”

In the corner of her eye Keiko saw Sugo’s pit crew push a car towards the pit lane. Time for the second phase of her audition. “Let’s meet up later, Mom. I’m afraid it’s time for my own testing of super fast transforming vehicles.”

“Bye then. Good luck!”

“Thank you. Bye!” Keiko closed the call and walked over to Osamu. “Sorry if I ran away, but I had some family business going on.”

“Don’t worry, Keiko, we needed some time to prepare the car anyway. It hasn’t run in a while after all.”

Keiko glanced at the car. At the front, it was remarkably similar to the Asurada AKF-0, with the main difference being its rims being equipped with white aerodynamic covers. The rear of the car, though, was completely different – it didn’t have fenders over the rear wheels, with the boosters placed over the engine cowling instead. Huge wings extended outward from the boosters, angled upwards by thirty degrees. On the upper surfaces, attached to the endplates, there were boxy ducts – did they place some radiators on the wings?

“This is the Super Asurada SA-01C, the updated version of the 2015 SA-01 we used in the first half of the 2016 season. That was six years ago for us, so as you can guess this is quite the outdated car, but is still much faster than anything you’ve driven so far. It can get up to six hundred kilometers per hour, and it is also equipped with ground effect fans in the underbody.”

Keiko nodded. “Yes, Claire explained a few things to me. I gotta say that, I was quite surprised that active aero is legal in Cyber Formula. I’m not complaining, though.”

“Good to hear. Anyways, the car is currently not equipped with a cybernavigation system – Asurada is currently installed on the AKF-0/G chassis, and besides he was programmed to only accept one driver, which ended up being Hayato.”

“So, basically, no road indications for me?”

“Aside from that, the car won’t automatically adapt its setup to track conditions and your driving style – that was also handled by the cybernavigation system as well. It will be more delicate to drive, but after seeing you drive that thing I have no doubts you’ll manage.”

Keiko put her helmet on. “Let’s get started, then.”

***

Faith looked Nikki straight in the eyes. “So, you’re absolutely sure? A relapse is still likely. We can’t be sure you won’t have a flashback when you least expect it… and I think you know better than I do how dangerous it would be in flight.”

“Trust me, Faith. Since we arrived here, I just kept piling up mistakes. I know what I really want to do now… I know that I can do something.”

To Nikki’s relief, Faith’s stern expression melted into a smile. “Alright, then. I can hear that your determination is sincere. Still, I’d like for you to continue having check-ups with me, and also continue the sessions with the therapist. At least until we’re really sure the crash is indeed behind you.”

“Of course. The first step is taking care of myself, isn’t it?”

Faith laughed. “Exactly. That’s what I wanted to hear!”

***

Kathleen walked over to where Gino and Corolla were taking down an actuator from one of the new planes. “Gotta hand it to you, Sergio Author. You were right, somehow the realization she cheated on Sergio snapped her awake. Your characters are wired weird, you know?”

Gino set down the actuator on a workbench and pointed at Corolla. “She might take offense, you know? But yes, that’s Nikki – if she realizes she’s hit rock bottom, she’ll roll her sleeves up and start climbing. In a way, what happened that night was good – it meant she hit the bottom much earlier than I thought, so she came back up before she estranged herself completely.”

Corolla pumped up her fists. “Mission accomplished, then?”

“Not yet, I’m pretty sure it will take some time before she’s actually going to make up with Sergio. But I dare say that if we manage to give her this Kairos to play with soon enough, things can only go well.”

Kathleen pouted. “Said that way, it sounds like it can become a death flag.”

Gino chuckled. “Corolla, what do we do to death flags?”

“We rip them apart! There’s a reason why pineapple-based dishes are banned here.”

Kathleen raised an eyebrow. “Pineapples? What did they do to you?”

“They’re apparently a bad omen to Variable Fighter pilots. Two dead, one gravely injured. Out of three recorded cases.”

***

Keiko turned into the last hairpin. Compared to the Stormer, the Super Asurada felt like it was on rails – it had one and half times the power, but it also was on six slicks and had massive amounts of downforce.

She gave throttle gradually once she was past the corner’s apex – even with that amount of grip, she could still spin out if she was too aggressive with the power.

It is alright though – it means I can play with the throttle to get some slip angle if I want to.

Once on the straight, she flicked the lever to switch the car to Aero mode. She grabbed the booster lever on her right while the fenders unfolded in front of her. Pull down to unlock and activate the boosters, push forward to give power.

The car jolted forward, pushing her against the seat’s backrest. The screen in the middle of the steering wheel turned into a countdown, and the small HUD screen acting as a speedometer shot past five hundred kilometers per hour as she went past the finish line, continuing to climb eagerly until it was a few kilometers past six hundred.

She entered the first corner, a long banking turn, without slowing down. The car kept the line she chose, but she felt like a giant hand was trying to flatten her.

It feels like that time I was backseating on Mom’s plane! Next time I’ll bring a flight suit…

The countdown was closing to zero, and Keiko pulled the lever back. The boosters were also acting as giant turbochargers for the main engine, which meant overuse would blow the engine up.

She shifted the car back to Circuit mode and braked hard for the following corner, the seatbelts almost digging in her shoulders. Wow, if it wasn’t for the seatbelts, I would’ve gone splat against the canopy! Then again, I’m slowing down from frigging six hundred. Now I get why this thing has two front axles…

Despite everything, she couldn’t help but smile. It was the craziest racing car she had ever seen, and she was driving it with no trouble.

***

Nikki swam underwater toward the end of the pool. Once she reached the end, she flipped around and kicked the wall to get going in the other direction.

Her body floated weightless as she swam – like flying. Almost without realizing it, she reached the other end of the pool. She surfaced, breathing deeply.

“Wow, you really must’ve done a lot of underwater swimming,” Ai said, sitting on the edge of the pool with her legs in the water. “Even without turning into a mermaid, you managed to make a full trip without coming up for air.”

Nikki lifted herself out of the pool, and sat next to her. “I’ve always had good lungs, but I admit I also have quite a bit of practice. You know, the magical powers I had originally – the cards my sister Sakura has – had one that allowed me to fly… I really loved that. I eventually lost my own set of cards, but I found out that diving underwater feels a bit like that. So, yes, I’ve ended up practicing my breathholding a lot.”

“I see. I admit I’ve never done much diving myself. The swimming club in my school was more about competitive swimming, after all. Still, I would’ve expected you to use your mermaid transformation ability more?”

Nikki laughed. “Actual mermaids weren’t really mundane in my world – they existed, sure, but it wasn’t common knowledge. So I could use it only far out at sea with no one watching, really. In a pool like this one, I had no choice but to rely on my lungs.”

“Oh, right, I hadn’t thought of that.”

Nikki looked up in thought. “With this world being what it is, I guess that’s no longer a problem… assuming I can make it work again.”

Ai blinked. “Eh? You can’t transform now?”

“Haven’t been able to since the crash… but, then again, last time I tried I was still recovering. Still, I’m gonna wait until I get my Device back before trying again, it does a lot to help with my magic… and there’s still that life support spell I had used on you at Sand island, as well, so I’m not too worried. That, a monofin, and I’m back into business.” She laughed. “I can even buy a full mermaid costume if I want to. What about you, though? I thought you would’ve joined the swimming club at the new school too.”

Ai looked up. “I actually didn’t feel like it. You know… I do like swimming, but I admit I joined the swimming club because I wanted… a ‘thing’. Something to stand out a bit. I liked it there, and the captain of the club eventually saw me as her successor, but… in the end I started feeling too self-conscious about it.” She laughed. “I was quick, but I always messed up in competitions. I never set a decent official time.”

Nikki blinked. So that dream I had while I was hospitalized, with us acing the competitions… it was completely wrong!

“My school was an all-girls one, but the principal had this weird idea of enrolling her nephew to make sure we would not be too wary of boys once we graduated. He was so a fish out of water, avoided by everyone, that I couldn’t help but try to be friends with him. I thought… maybe that could be the ‘thing’.”

“Your boyfriend, I assume?”

“Yes, but of course he isn’t a ‘thing’… he was a very nice boy. But, well, you can guess how I felt when I found myself here all of a sudden. When your friends rescued me, I was desperate to be helpful, and… to be fair, I also felt a bit intimidated. You were all so cool, fighting to keep everyone safe, and I was just the plainest of schoolgirls. So I thought learning to fly a fighter jet myself could be a very big ‘thing’.”

Nikki nodded. “It sure isn’t a small feat!”

“But, you know what? While I’m happy I did learn how to fly, I don’t really see it as so important now.”

Nikki raised an eyebrow. What did she mean with that?

“You took me in, asking nothing in return. I really hate freeloading on people, but… I think I got how it works here.”

Ai turned towards Nikki, smiling. “Everyone does what they can, what they’re good at, to help everyone else. You don’t have to be an ace, or have any special ‘thing’ to be welcome – we’re all friends regardless.”

Nikki nodded slowly. “That’s something I had forgotten myself…”

“That’s why I’m in the ‘going home club’ right now, because I want to keep doing my part in that time. Even if it is something as little as keeping things organized… I can do it well, and it helps everyone. So it makes me happy.”

“I wish I had realized it sooner, too.” Nikki took a deep breath. “First to the other side wins?”

Ai pumped her fists. “I won’t lose!”

***

“So, this is what I will drive tomorrow?”

Keiko walked around the car. While still outlandish, it was less extreme than the Asuradas. The front end had fenders like the Asuradas did in Aero mode, but at the back it had squared boosters halfway between the fenders and the engine cowling. The rear wings were also much simpler, looking like fins bent inwards. While it was painted in the same white and blue, the blue was taking a higher share than on the Asurada AKF/0G, and the rims were silver instead of gold.

“Yes,” Claire said. “This is the Garland SF-03/G, the car Bootswortz was driving this year. Contrary to the Asurada series of cars, which descend from the Super Asurada SA-01 designed by Hayato’s father, the Garland series was designed from the ground up by myself. It doesn’t have a variable chassis or dual stage boosters, but as a result it is lighter and more intuitive to drive.”

Keiko leaned forward to have a look in the cockpit. Even inside the car was completely different – the “head” of the cybernavigation system was of a different design, and the booster lever was on the opposite side. “Question: why are you guys at Sugo developing and fielding two completely different cars? Isn’t that, like, double the trouble?”

Claire laughed. “It is, but unfortunately there is no other way. The Asurada series is being developed with its namesake cybernavigation system and Hayato in mind – we did field a second AKF-0 chassis with a similar system in a non-championship event a couple years ago, but we decided it was better to continue fielding the Garland instead as it is easier to drive to the limit for most drivers.”

Keiko nodded. She could get behind that – sometimes she would find a very fast setup for her kart, only to end up changing it because it made keeping consistent times throughout the whole race too hard.

“Claire, everything is ready to test the new engine.”

Both Keiko and Claire turned towards the source of the voice. The lead mechanic, Pei, was leaning in, and indeed the Asurada AKF/0 was in the pit lane with its canopy open.

Keiko gave Claire a glance. “No chance I get to drive that, right?”

Claire laughed again. “You could try, but I’m afraid Asurada himself won’t let you.”

***

Nikki leaned on a workbench in front of the aircraft Strike Dove’s ground crew was focusing its efforts on.

“So, this is the first one I’m going to be a test pilot for?” she asked Corolla, who was assembling some kind of black box on the workbench.

“Exactly! This is the Surya-LAI VF-31A Kairos, basically the regular production version of the Siegfried used by Delta Flight.”

Nikki glanced at the large aircraft. Now that Corolla had mentioned it, she could see the resemblance – it had the same fuselage and inward canted tailfins. However, its canards looked bigger and the wingtips followed the triangular shape of the wing instead of being forward swept. And, of course, the Kairos was plain gray instead of sporting the vividly colored liveries of the Siegfrieds.

“It still has all the bells and whistles of a fifth-generation Variable Fighter, though. Thermonuclear turbines, energy conversion armor, inertia storage converters, internal weapon bays… this thing rocks!”

Nikki laughed. “So you finally found a toy you like?”

“I won’t deny it… especially since we decided the Kairos… Kairos-es?” Corolla glanced at Nikki, who raised her shoulders. “Anyways, they will be used by us in Skystreaker Squadron. They’re a canard-delta like the Phoenix Sergio is flying, while the VF-25 Messiah is a swing-wing which is more like the Razgriz’ Tomcats, and as such it is more suited to them.”

“I’m sure they’ll be glad, I’ve heard we were stretching pretty thin with the aircraft.”

“And we’re still going to for a while. To get the first couple working, we’re going to cannibalize parts across our fleet. The one here is Kairos 026, but we took one engine off 028, the other off 030, a few actuators off 029 and 031 and the entire left arm off 032. On top of that, we need to build our own cockpit controls from scratch since the Kairos was designed to be controlled through the Ex-Gear power suit, of which we have none and we cannot exactly buy more either. Luckily we have plenty of junked Eagles we can salvage parts off for that, but engine-wise we’re in trouble as most aircraft came with unserviceable ones. However, I believe they will still be useful to further my research on miniaturizing the Minotaur Drive!”

Nikki felt her head spinning. “Corolla, can you spare me the technical details?”

“Oh. Sorry. But rest assured that at least this one will be in working order soon!”

There was a ringing sound, and Corolla gestured talking to a phone before walking away a few steps. “Hi, Claire, what’s up… Oh… Oh. Well, if you’re still at the track, we’re coming down to review the data. Yes, see you later.”

Nikk shot her a worried glance, and Corolla waved her hands dismissively.

“Don’t worry, it’s not stuff I made that is not working! It’s stuff that I designed that is working too well!”

Before Nikki could open her mouth, Corolla was already running away, literally pulling Sergio off the ladder he was using to help work on the aircraft.. “I’m grabbing your boyfriend as well, we’ll be back later!”

“But we’re not back together yet…”

It was too late. They were already out of the hangar, surely headed towards Corolla’s new shenanigans.

***

Corolla, sitting in the cockpit of the AKF-0, started reading in one of her holographic windows part of the data she was being sent by Asurada. “Hmm… I knew the torque curve was still a bit rough, but I didn’t expect it to cause so much trouble.”

Asurada’s “head” turned towards her. “Unfortunately, that is the case. Despite my best efforts to adjust the cam timings and throttle response, Hayato wasn’t able to prevent wheelspin in most corners.The power delivery of the new engine is simply too sudden.”

Corolla scratched her head. “But I can’t get why. A 14% power increase is a lot, I agree, but from the data I was given the AKF-0 chassis should’ve been able to handle it. In fact, Claire had given me a minimum 8% increase goal over the GIO Spec-V so as to have the same horsepower as the competition.”

Sergio poked his head in. “Asurada, do you mind if I take you for a spin? I saw some of the diagrams, and I’m starting to form a theory on what’s happening, but I’d really need to feel it for myself. Possibly with both engines, to see the difference”

“That is unfortunately impossible as long as I’m installed in the car. There is only one driver registered in my system, which is Hayato Kazami. There are no more slots available. I’m sorry, but this is the security system I was built with.”

Sergio glanced at Corolla, who smiled. “I’m gonna grab my toolbox.”

***

Sergio stumbled to a chair, drinking the last of his water bottle.

Keiko kneeled next to him. “Are you alright, Dad?”

“Yes, don’t worry. Just completely beat.” He glared at the STR-03/12C equipped AKF-0. “I’m telling you, I’d rather have another go chasing Shilage than driving that thing again.”

“I’m not surprised,” Osamu said. “Driving the AKF-0 without a cybernavigation system is crazy enough – but you also did it with that monster of an engine.”

Sergio rubbed his chin. “And that’s the issue. The STR-03 was always an engine with a brutal torque curve – that’s why the Stormer was all wheel drive, it was designed around it. The only way to harness that power was by splitting it through all wheels.”

“But the AKF-0 is all wheel drive as well, so-”

“Oh, I get it!” Claire interrupted Osamu. “The Asurada’s drivetrain has a gearbox at the rear driving the rear wheels, and the EV Converter in the front to provide power to the front ones. There’s only so much power the EV Converter can take at once – the rest goes straight to the rear wheels.”

Sergio nodded. “Exactly. And that much power to the rear wheels is almost impossible to manage, especially since the car was made with another engine in mind.” He leaned back on his chair. “The AKF-0 with its original engine is sharp as a katana – but the STR-03/12C is a heavy-hitting broadsword blade. No wonder trying to put the two together meant that the AKF-0 completely lost its balance.”

“That’s what Hayato said as well, isn’t it?” Osamu said.

Claire nodded. “Yes. I’m afraid we have to go back to the drawing table. Still, having a way to be able to gather data about the current spec of the engine would help…”

Sergio looked at Corolla warily. She was already grinning hear to hear, despite her engine having been just rejected. Bad sign.

“I’m afraid someone here is already getting ideas.”

***

Nikki tried out the controls in the VF-31’s cockpit. Indeed, as Corolla had said, the throttle and stick were identical to those her Eagle used to have.

“It took a bit more than I expected, but I managed to find a way to make the throttle flickable like that of the VF-0.” Corolla said, leaning in from outside. “Try it!”

Nikki twisted her wrist, and the throttle lever bent up, becoming a second stick. She tried moving it as such, which it did. “So this is how I control it when it turns into a robot?”

“Yep, that’s it. Once you flick it, the Variable Fighter automatically turns to GERWALK mode – that’s the half-plane half-mecha intermediate form. It can take off and land like a helicopter in that mode, and the legs have full mobility so you can do some pretty crazy thrust vectoring stuff.”

Corolla pointed at a switch on the throttle, which had been relabeled “B MODE”.

“With GERWALK selected, you flick that one and it will complete the transformation into Battroid mode – the full-on mecha form. At that point, the sticks will actually be the backup control mode, as the Neuro Linker in the helmet activates and intercepts the signals from your brain to let you control the mecha as if it was your own body. Earlier models like Sergio’s Phoenix cannot sustain flight for long that way, but this? The thermonuclear turbines are so efficient in the atmosphere that the Kairos will be able to stay up for hours.”

Nikki felt eager. It sounded almost like that aircraft type was just waiting to be discovered by her. “So, when can I try it?”

“Soon. We’re waiting for the last parts from Sugo – I’m gonna admit it, I was surprised at how similar the transformation actuators for a Variable Fighter are to those of a variable chassis Cyber Formula… good old Kawamori having had a hand in both series turned out to be in our favor.”

***

Nikki gave a couple kicks to the pedals to turn the Kairos around and brought the HUD’s crosshair over one of the dummy targets in Tomoeda Field.

Well, calling it a dummy target was being generous – it was just a long wooden log propped up.

“Target locked.”

“Good. Very good!” Corolla said over the radio. “As expected, ground GERWALK maneuverability of the Kairos is way beyond the Phoenix’. Sergio always found the latter a bit clunky.”

“So… What’s next?”

“We still have enough time for a bit of Battroid mode. It will take a bit to get used to, but it should be quite intuitive.”

“Okay. Switching to Battroid mode.”

Nikki flicked the relevant switch on the throttle lever, and the Kairos transformed around her. Before she had fully realized what happened, she found herself standing and her view changed to that of the head turret. She stumbled, feeling like she was losing balance, but when she brought her arms up she saw those of the Kairos instead.

“So… I’m basically the robot itself now?”

“In a way. The Neuro Linker is intercepting the signals going from your brain to your muscles – not all of them, of course, or you wouldn’t be able to speak or even breathe. And, at the same time, it is feeding to your brain video, audio and actuator data masked in a way they’ll be interpreted as feedback from your own body.”

“I… see.”

Nikki took a few steps forward. The weight balance of the Kairos was different from her own body’s, but not enough to throw off her balance completely. It didn’t take long before she was confident enough to start running and jumping.

“Way to go, Nikki! You’re a natural! I think we can do some Battroid air maneuvering already. You can control the engine throttle with your thoughts – try it!”

Nikki blinked, which somehow did briefly interrupt the video feed. “Already? So, it works like thi-”

The engines fired up just as she willed it, sending her a few meters airborne. She felt a gentle push on her leg to position them in a different way – likely the aircraft’s flight control system suggesting how to stabilize her flight.

“I’m… flying already?”

She leaned forward a bit, and indeed she started moving in that direction. “This feels good! Feels almost the same as using my old cards!”

She spun on herself and gave full throttle. Flying so freely was an exhilarating feeling, and she started laughing without even realizing it.

***

Gino leaned against the hangar’s door as he watched the Kairos maneuver, zooming and pirouetting in the sky.

“I knew it. Welcome back, Nikki.”

***

Nikki parried a blow from the Wave Gundam with her beam saber. Technically, it was also one of the Wave Gundam’s sabers – not only did they have a training setting to avoid accidental damage, but they literally didn’t have any more available since Hiro was out on a mission with the Destiny Gundam.

“Not bad, Nikki,” Kathleen said. “I never thought you’d be into fencing, but you’re pretty good at it.”

“Thanks. When I switched to the Mid-Childan magic system, a friend gave me some lessons. As you’ve seen, my Device can turn into an energy sword too.”

Nikki ducked under another swing, and sidestepped to try to hit the Wave Gundam’s back. Kathleen turned it around, parrying barely. There was no doubt, her handling of the Kairos was improving day by day.

“I admit I thought it was a lightsaber at first. I was kinda busy chewing off your boyfriend thinking he was my world’s Sergio, but I did think, ‘Hey, is Sakura a Jedi now?’”

Nikki laughed. “Most definitely not. But the energy blade does work in a similar way – except it’s made of my own mana instead of plasma.”

Nikki sidestepped again, managing to bring the beam saber near the Wave Gundam’s “neck”. Despite not actually hitting it, the Gundam stopped moving.

“Hmpf, that would’ve chopped my head off,” Kathleen said. “That’s rude, you know?”

“Well, actually… you know that the Gundam would actually still be working? The head only contains sensors and some secondary guns, if I understood well.”

“Oh. Didn’t know. Corolla is fun, but when her explanations get too long they get boring anyways.”

Nikki sighed. She completely understood. “Yeah…”

***

[Muv Luv Alternative OST – Footsteps of military shoes]

Sergio tapped his foot while sitting in the Wolfram’s conference room. He glanced at the other pilots sitting at the table – besides Skystreaker Squadron, the Razgriz and the Wardogs were also there.

Hayate, Johnson and a woman with dark blue-green hair were standing near the holographic screen. Judging by the uniform and the rank of Captain, she was likely the Wardogs’ commanding officer.

“Well arrived, everyone,” Hayate said. “I suspect most of you have guessed it already, but the operation we are preparing is against the Belkan cordium production facility.”

“Originally, the plan was to involve only Skystreaker and Wardog squadrons, as their pilots already have knowledge of the situation and this is a classified operation,” Johnson continued. “However, the plant turned out to be much further beyond the front than we thought – in fact, it is actually close to the original borders of Belka. I will leave the full overview to Captain Komaki of the IJA, who is overseeing this operation.”

The woman adjusted her glasses as the satellite photo of a large, crater-like volcano appeared on the holographic screen.

“The pilot production facility has been located in this partially active volcano roughly two hundred kilometers south of the southern border of Belka. It has a large crater, but only small vents inside, which was likely considered ideal to construct the facility.”

The photo zoomed in.

“Our analysts, together with the few people with cordium knowledge, have pinpointed four locations in which we are to concentrate the attack: the main extraction tower, located over one of the vents, the refinery, and their respective storage silos. The rest of the facility can be ignored, the combined yield of the S-11 SD-Systems and ignited cordium will likely annihilate everything inside the crater.”

Sergio raised his hand. “S-11?”

“That’s the self-destruction system Tactical Surface Fighters are equipped with. It was developed to allow pilots of downed TSFs a quick and painless death if overrun by the BETA.”

And possibly take some of those alien nasties with them, I guess. Still, I hope the Wardogs aren’t supposed to do any WWII kamikaze bullshit!

“Of course, Wardog squadron is not expected to perform a suicide mission. While they will be flying sacrificial TSF-14As, the pilots will of course be recovered.”

That’s… a bit cold, but okay.

Johnson pushed a button, replacing the photo with a wireframe overview of a dozen different vehicles.

“For this operation, Strike Dove is being equipped with Variable Fighters on loan from the Japan Air Self Defence Forces,” he explained. “Razgriz Squadron will be equipped with VF-0Bs, while Captain Tanegashima and First Lieutenant Corolla will be flying VF-0Ds. Captain Turbo and Captain Shirogane will be flying their usual aircraft instead.”

Sergio thought Komaki had a hint of a reaction at “Shirogane”, but her expression was serious again in no time.

“Due to range limitations of most aircraft involved, especially the Tactical Surface Fighters,” Johnson continued, “most of the Phoenixes will be equipped with special large fuel tanks attached to the hardpoints originally designed for Super parts. In particular, the equipped aircraft will be those of the Razgriz and of Skystreaker One and Two, which will be tasked to buddy refuel Wardog Squadron along the way to the target. Skystreaker Three will be equipped with electronic warfare equipment, instead, as you won’t be accompanied by an AWACS, while the Destiny Gundam was deemed unsuitable to be equipped with refueling equipment. I will leave the explanation of the assault plan to Captain Komaki.”

“The Wolfram is currently headed towards a low intensity area of the front, where you’ll be air-launched. Attacks are underway in other sectors of the frontline as a diversion, and we have plotted a route which is unlikely to get you spotted by the enemy. Keep your altitude low, but be mindful of the added weight of the fuel tanks.

“Due to its distance from the front line, the facility appears to be only lightly guarded, but we are still discouraging you from pursuing the enemy to the last man. You’ll have limited ammunition, and will be in the middle of enemy territory, so you must destroy the target before any kind of reinforcement has the time to arrive.

“All three squadrons will work together against the enemy at first, but as soon as possible the TSF-14s must be placed in position. You’ll be divided in four groups, with a Razgriz pilot tasked with picking up a Wardog pilot while one of the Skystreaker covers them.”

“This is nuts!” Alvin screamed.

Komaki glared at him, which prompted him to recompose himself.

“Uuh… I’m sorry, Captain Komaki, but this seems like a lotta work to be placed on just twelve birds.”

Komaki closed her eyes. “We are aware of that, Captain Davenport. However, a larger force would be surely intercepted long before arriving on target, and we cannot wait for the front lines to become closer. The facility must be destroyed now, before cordium production is brought to full speed. Any other questions?”

Sergio raised his hand again. “One, if I may. From what I can see, the crater is quite deep. Even with an ECM aircraft, during the deployment of the explosives we’ll be basically blind to anything outside the crater. Was that considered?”

“Of course, but no way to address it was found. I have only one piece of advice: be quick. The sooner you are out, the less likely it will be for Belkan forces to intercept you.”

Sergio took a deep breath. This plan has more holes than Swiss cheese. We’re in for one hell of a rough time.

***

“Mr. Scribetto, you really shouldn’t! That computer contains classified military information!”

Gino ignored Ai’s protests as he sat at Johnson’s desk. “The information I’m looking for is some that should’ve been shared with me in the first place, so you have nothing to worry about. I won’t look at the rest.”

He booted up the computer. “Besides, as his author, I’m entitled to know anything he does.”

The login screen came up, and Gino quickly entered the password, logging in successfully at the first attempt. “As I expected. Irene’s birthday.”

In the corner of his eyes, Gino saw Ai take a step back as he started browsing through the documents about Strike Dove’s operations.

“You… you don’t know everything about me, too, right?”

“No, I’m afraid not. You’re not one of mine… you’re from that game, Koikatu, right?”

“You know it?!”

Scribetto opened the document about the current operation – the one against the cordium production plant. “Dabbled with it a bit. It has a nice character maker, so I thought it could help me give my characters an appearance.”

“Oh, so you didn’t play it…”

“I’m a former PPC author, what do you expect? Of course I’ve played it, can’t miss a chance of having a look at something that could have hilariously bad writing.”

He glanced at her. “Don’t worry, it wasn’t that badly written, and your route was in fact the better written of the four.”

Ai closed her eyes, her cheeks red. “Pervert!”

Gino scrolled down. “Anyways, let’s see how they’re planning to tackle it…”

The more he read the plan, however, the more he hated it. The Muv-Luv Wardogs are in for a lot of trouble, and Skystreaker and Razgriz almost as much. This thing doesn’t make any sense, unless… someone is actually expecting them to not come back alive. Could it be… Ikaruga’s doing?

“Ai, chew me out as much as you want, but later. We gotta defuse this thing fast, or I’m gonna end up having to come up with a funeral speech for a sizable portion of my characters.”

***

“This is heavy!” Ami shouted.

Sergio nodded as he started a turn – his own aircraft was feeling incredibly sluggish as well. “I know. Make sure to drain the dorsal tank first – once we’ve done our turn refueling the Wardogs, those will be almost empty and will go first.”

“Comet, roger.”

“Robogirl, how’s the radar situation?”

“I’m on passive scan right now, so I can only see things that have an active radar, but at least it seems that of those we have none.”

Sergio sighed. “That will have to do, using the active scan ourselves would be screaming ‘hey, we’re here, shoot us’. Alright, Skystreaker to Razgriz and Wardog, we’re almost to Waypoint Four and the sky is clear. Let’s keep flying as we are.”

“Razgriz, roger.”

“Wardog, roger.”

***

Nikki climbed down from the Kairos just as the sun started to set. Her hopes of relaxing, though, were dashed as she saw Gino discussing something animatedly with the rest of the ground crew.

She ran over to them. “What’s going on?”

“Good thing you’re here, Nikki,” Gino said. “I’m sorry, but I have to take this crazy story in my hands before people get hurt again. I need you to sortie in the Kairos.”

“Sortie? Me?”

“Ai, go talk with the guys at the tower. I need all the flight authorizations cleared for Kairos 026 by the time it is rearmed and refueled.”

Ai saluted. “Consider it done!”

“Koshita, you’re on ordinance duty. Clean configuration – so ammo for the 27mm internal guns, micromissiles, beam sabers from the Wave Gundam in both knife bays. Nothing else, we need the aircraft as light as possible and able to stand re-entry. Take the guys working on Messiah 020 if you need help… man they chose an awkward name for the VF-25.”

“Sure thing, boss.”

“Kuo, with me. I think there are a couple of Raptor drop tanks around – with those the Kairos should have enough fuel for an extended closed cycle burn.”

Nikki couldn’t understand anything anymore. They were preparing the Kairos for an emergency sortie, that was without a doubt, but why?

She grabbed one of Gino’s shoulders. “What’s going on? Why do I have to sortie?”

“The NATO coalition royally fucked up. That sortie Skystreaker and Razgriz are out on? That’s gonna end badly if we don’t do anything about it. I’ll spare you the details of their assignment – I’ll just say that they’ll be in big trouble if they don’t get any backup.”

Nikki froze. That’s… that’s… my nightmare coming true. “Even then… Do you think I can change things?”

“Of course. That thing you’ve been flight testing? It literally can fly circles around anything the Belkans can throw at you, while spamming enough missiles to make it look like New Year’s Eve.”

Nikki clenched her fists and looked down. “But what if I can’t do that? I accepted going back to flying because I knew I wouldn’t have to kill… and right away I get the choice between killing or letting everyone die!”

Gino grabbed her shoulders. “I know, Nikki… But you’re the only one who can right now. I know you can, I created you that way.”

“But-”

“Do it!” a voice sounding a lot like hers screamed behind her. Nikki turned around, and she found Hanami bent in two, hands on her knees as she panted heavily.

“Hanami? What are you doing here?”

Hanami raised her head, and walked towards her. “Preventing you from making my same mistake.”

“And not a second too late,” Gino commented.

Nikki blinked. What kind of mistake could she have made?

“When my Sergio was obsessed with chasing Kathleen, I tried everything to change his mind, anything I could think of, but I failed and now I keep wondering if I could have done anything more… if I actually missed my chance to save him.”

Hanami took Nikki’s hands. “You’re still in time to save your Sergio, and everyone else. If you don’t go, you’ll regret it forever… like I’m doing right now.”

“Hanami…”

“I’m sure you can do it, big sis! We’re all rooting for you!”

Nikki wanted to answer yes, but she felt a knot at her throat just as her eyes watered up. She gave her a nod, and walked back towards her aircraft.

“I’m going.”

Gino smiled. “I knew I could count on you. Okay, the plan is this. Even with this thing being able to go well past Mach 5 in normal atmosphere, you won’t get there in time.”

Gino took out a notepad, and quickly drew two circles one inside the other. “The inner one is this planet, the outer one the atmosphere.” He drew an arc connecting two points on the “planet”, low enough to not touch the other one. “This is a regular flight path… kinda. As long as you’re in the regular, breathable atmosphere, Mach 5.5 is pretty much the limit if you don’t want to burn up.”

Gino then drew a second arc, this time crossing the outer circle. “But this thing is space capable, so the higher you go, the less friction you’ll have. If you follow a ballistic trajectory, you’ll be able to go above Mach 20 while in low Earth orbit… and you’ll make it in time.”

***

[Tsubasa Chronicle OST – Catastrophe]

“Enemy aircraft incoming! Sound the alarm!”

“Where the hell did they come from? We’re more than two thousand kilometers away from the frontline!”

Sergio fired a missile towards an AA turret before it even started tracking him. At least the surprise part of the attack seems to have worked.

A trio of Zakus walked out of a building, and Sergio dove out of the way of their firing arcs. The Phoenix had a tougher skin than most fighters, but the Zakus’ machine guns fired 100mm cannon shells fully automatic.

“Bad news guys, they seem to have managed to hide a few Zakus here.”

Sergio turned the Phoenix into Battroid mode and landed next to Hibiki’s TSF-14A.

“Zakus? No way we can get out of the Tomcats with those still around.”

“I agree, we need to get rid of them first. Knight?”

“On it, leave them to me.”

The Destiny Gundam was the most suited for the job, after all. Sergio proceeded towards the extraction tower, Snow and Hibiki in tow.

Why this nonsense with the sacrificial robots? Couldn’t we just drop some timed explosives and be done with it? We would’ve already been out of here!

He gritted his teeth as the sky was filled up with tracers. I’ll have a word with those analysts as soon as I get back, there’s five times the AA cover they said there would be!

Forced on the ground, the trio turned a corner only to find themselves in front of two main battle tanks. Sergio opened fire with the gunpod, riddling one of them with holes. After all, the gatling cannon inside was a cousin of the A-10’s.

The tank’s turret stopped moving as the rest of the tank caught fire, while the other one exploded. Sergio, Snow and Hibiki jumped past them just in time to catch a glimpse of a triangular white object whizzing past.

“Wardog One here, what was that?”

“A Vogel UAV?” Snow wondered. “I thought those were fielded only by the Arkbird!”

“Durandal to Hephaestus Control.” someone said over the radio. “We’ve arrived at your location.”

Above them, a large aerial warship slowly came over from outside the crater. Despite the setting sun, Sergio could clearly see the various weapon emplacements on it. Oh, shit.

“Skystreaker One to all aircraft, take cover! We’ve got the Madoka-damn Belkan stealth carrier above us!”

***

“Launch all  the remaining Vogels,” Weisse ordered. “This time, the White Birds and the Demons of Razgriz bit off more than they can chew.”

The Professor crossed his arms. “Are you sure this is a good idea, Commander? You headed here without calling back Sol Squadron from their sortie.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, Professor.” Weisse laughed. “Inside that crater, they’re sandwiched between us, our ground forces and the ground itself. They’re trapped like mice.”

***

[Amalee – Spark Again English Cover]

Nikki taxied the Kairos to the end of the runway. “Starlight to Tomoeda Control, I’m ready for takeoff.”

“The way’s clear, Starlight!”

Nikki’s eyes widened as she recognized the voice. “Mermaid? Is that you?”

She glanced at the control tower, and indeed Ai was waving at her from there, wearing a headset.

“Bring everyone back, Starlight!”

Nikki gave a nod. “I will. Starlight, taking off.”

She gave full throttle and released the brakes. The aircraft shot forward, covering the entire runway in no time. Nikki pulled up, and put the aircraft in a steep climb.

The altimeter and airspeed on her helmet HUD kept increasing quickly, and the sky gradually darkened to black. Despite the Inertia Storage Converter, she still felt a kick in the back when the engines switched from the normal, air-breathing open cycle to pure closed cycle rocket operation.

I can’t believe it… I’m in space already!

She looked outside of the canopy. She was already high enough to see the Earth’s – well, the new Earth’s – curvature clearly.

Blue and green… even this new Earth is so beautiful.

She took a deep breath. We shouldn’t ruin this world with a meaningless war. I’ll do my part to end it, and make sure all my friends will be back safe!

***

[Tsubasa Chronicle OST – Sacrifice]

Sergio took cover behind a burning APC and opened fire on one of the drones. “Damn, just how fucking many of those things did they save up for us?”

Corolla’s Phoenix lowered its Assault Cannon. “I’d say that thing can hold at least two hundred of them. Also, I’m afraid I’m out of bullets.”

“This is insane!” Snow shouted as he downed another drone. “There’s no way we can reach the target locations, that ship’s gonna blast us out of the sky if we get out of cover!”

“Pheasant Leader to Wardog, Skystreaker and Razgriz.” Komaki’s voice was almost drowned by static, but still intelligible. “Move it,  If this operation fails, the entire war might be lost. Skystreaker, Razgriz, shield the Wardogs to the detonation points with your own aircraft if you have to.”

The ground shook, likely due to cannon fire from the Durandal. A girl’s shrieks filled the radio channel.- Shizuku. It didn’t look like she was hit, but Sergio still grit his teeth.

Who the hell thought it was a good idea to put a middle schooler in this kind of mission? She’s getting the scare of her life… which might be really short now.

“Shield them with our own aircraft?” Alvin shouted. “And then what, they’re just gonna blow themselves up? You’re flippin’ nuts, woman! I haven’t signed up for a suicide mission!”

“… I know. But failure is not an option. I- wait, I have something on my radar. Incoming object from low Earth orbit… no way, it is sending a valid IFF signal!”

***

“Sir, bogey incoming from orbit.”

The Professor looked at the large operations screen just as Weisse ran over to it.

“No way!” Weisse said. “Since their operation is failing, they’re firing ballistic missiles at the production plant already? And how did we not know of the launch?”

The mission analyst started tapping frantically on his keyboard. “I have no idea, sir. None of our early warning centers caught any sign of ballistic missile launches.”

An alarm blared, and red warning lights came on.

“Multiple radar locks on our weapon systems!”

Weisse took a step back. “A MIRV type missile?”

The Professor shook his head slowly. I knew she couldn’t be dead.

“I’m afraid not, Commander. If my hunch is correct, we’re actually witnessing a ballistic insertion by a space-capable Variable Fighter.”

“Set all guns to intercept!” Weisse turned back towards the Professor. “Don’t tell me you even know who’s at the controls of that?”

“Oh, I surely can’t know that for sure. But… I suspect that the bogey is actually the long missing fourth aircraft of Skystreaker Squadron.”

He quietly chuckled to himself. You sure know how to pick them. That little magical girl grew up into a strong woman, it seems.

***

[Amalee feat. Natewantstobattle- Strike Back english cover]

“Skystreaker, Razgriz and Wardog squadrons,” Nikki said over the radio as soon as the Kairos was no longer enveloped by the re-entry plasma. “This is Starlight. I’m joining Skystreaker Squadron as Skystreaker Four.”

“… Starlight? Is that really you?” Sergio shouted over the radio.

“If she’s really here, and came down from orbit…” Corolla wondered. “No way, she took the Kairos?”

The Kairos’ computer started analyzing the ship, and green squares appeared over its weapon emplacements. Nikki quickly glanced at all of them in succession to designate them, and pushed the ordinance release button.

Micromiissiles streaked all around her, headed towards the ship. There were several explosions, and several squares disappeared.

“This should give them something to think about!”

“Skystreaker One to all aircraft, the Durandal ceased firing on us, Starlight gave us an opening! Razgriz, cover Wardog, split four and four and position the Mechacats in succession. Skystreaker, with me, we’re backing Starlight up and keeping that monster busy.”

Nikki’s radar warning blared, and she barrel rolled out of the way of the Durandal’s retaliation fire. Several missiles headed towards her were shot out of the sky by lasers, and she saw the rest of Skystreaker Squadron come up from under the Durandal and form up with her.

“I’ve never been happier to see you!” Ami shouted.

Nikki smiled. “Sorry, guys. I’m late.”

“Skystreaker Four, you’ve entered the combat area without authorization! And Skystreaker One, the plan-”

“Skystreaker One to Pheasant One, shut up. I’m sorry, but everyone’s taking orders from me now. The IJA’s plan was a complete failure, so we’re rolling the Strike Dove way now.”

“This is insubordination! I’ll-”

There was some static noise. “Long Arch Zero Zero here, don’t worry about her. She’s getting a nice talk with me and Skystreaker Leader now. Also, we’re holding a party for Skystreaker Four later, so no one is allowed to die. Long Arch Zero Zero, out.”

Oh, Hayate.

“Knight, you’ve got the right amount of firepower, so blast up anything juicy you see on that ship,” Sergio said.” Robogirl, I want as much ECM cover as you can muster. I want their fire controls as fried as shrimp tempura. Starlight, Comet, we’re munching on those flying doritos of theirs. I don’t want anything to get anywhere close to our friends, they will be busy already with the ground vehicles.”

“Knight, roger.”

“Robogirl, roger that!”

Nikki laughed. “Long Caster’s starting to rub off on you.”

She followed Sergio’s Phoenix as it dove under the ship, guns blazing against the drones. She gained lock on a few of them, and fired another burst of micromissiles.

Her radar warning blared again, but the drone behind her was instantly obliterated by a gun burst from Ami’s Phoenix.

“Don’t even think about getting hit again. I’m not gonna allow that!” Ami said. “I’ve got my hands full keeping our flight leader out of trouble, so you’d better help me with that instead.”

Nikki nodded. “Don’t worry. I’m not running away again.”

***

“We’ve lost 50% of our AA defenses!”

“Starboard SAM launchers are not working! They’re completely offline!”

“Close off sections four and seven before the fire spreads further! How are communications with section eight?”

“Still no response!”

The Professor calmly got up from his chair. There was nothing to be afraid of – even if the ship was disabled, they were low enough that the impact was going to be survivable. He walked over to Weisse, who was looking incredulous at the screen.

“No way!” Weisse shouted. “Just one aircraft was enough reinforcements to turn this battle around?”

“Well, it looks like the aircraft is a fifth generation Variable Fighter. On top of that, the Skystreakers are now back at full fighting strength – they have morale on their side.”

He crossed his hands behind his head. “As I told you, never underestimate those kids.”

***

[Amalee feat. Natewantstobattle- Strike Back english cover]

Nikki turned the Kairos to Battroid mode and selected the internal guns and head turret lasers. The guns flipped open from the wrist armor, and she started firing after putting herself back-to-back with Sergio’s Phoenix.

One by one, several Vogels fell out of the sky.

“I really missed this,” Sergio said. “Back to back, and taking on the world.”

Nikki smiled. “Yeah. I forgot how the adrenaline rush feels. And, even more importantly… how it is to fight alongside who matters most to you.”

She blasted up another drone. “I can’t promise I’ll take part on all missions from now on. I might still need to slow down from time to time. But one thing I can promise you is…”

A drone headed straight for her, and she pulled out the beam sabers from their bays. She slashed at the drone, for a second it looked like it froze in air, cut in two, then exploded.

“I’ll be there when you need me.”

“That’s the Nikki I know,” Sergio said.

Nikki looked around, trying to find another target. There were almost no drones left, and she could see fire coming out from several points of the Durandal.

“Razgriz One to Skystreaker One. The Mechacats are set, the Wardogs are safe aboard with us.”

“Skystreaker One, understood. Let’s get outta here, we’re likely all low on ammo. If we’re lucky, the Durandal will be hit by the blast.”

Nikki turned her Kairos back to fighter mode and followed Sergio as he flew out of the crater, the other aircraft forming up with them.

“We’re out of the estimated blast range and a bit more,” Corolla said. “Get ready for the fireworks!”

There was a bright orange flash from behind and Nikki felt the shockwave. She turned her head around – a huge ball of smoke and dust was rising, like an atomic fungus, partially enveloping the Durandal as it was slowly pushed aside by the explosion. “Uhm, guys? Those weren’t nukes, right?”

“Of course not, don’t worry,” Sergio said. “But they were some pretty good fireworks anyways.”

Alvin whistled. “You can say that again.”

***

Nikki shut down the Kairos’ engines. “Skystreaker Four to Wolfram, my engines are off.”

“Understood, Skystreaker Four. We’re glad to have you back.”

There was a flash of light, and Nikki found herself in the Wolfram’s internal hangar.

It’s nice to finally see this ship in perfect shape.

She opened the canopy, and climbed down the ladder the Wolfram’s crew had already prepared for her.

As soon as she was on the ground, she noticed Sergio walking towards her.

“Well, what can I say? We all owe our lives to you today.”

Nikki crossed her arms behind her back. “I’m sure you would’ve managed anyways. Even then, though…”

She ran over to him, and hugged him tight. “I’m so glad no one was hurt.”

“With you descending from the heavens like an angel? No way it could happen.”

“She’s here! She’s here!” Corolla shouted before tackling them with a flying hug.

“Corolla…” Nikki barely had the time to say before Ami joined the group hug as well.

“We missed you so much!”

Nikki closed her eyes, barely holding back her tears. This warmth… Was I really giving it up?

“Hey, Hiro, what are you doing?” Corolla shouted. “It’s Skystreaker Squadron group hug time, get your ass over here!”

“But…”

“No ifs or buts, you’re flying with the Skystreakers, you’re a Skystreaker!”

***

“With this, our debriefing is over, but please allow me a few more words. Today, as we head back towards Japan, we’re not just celebrating the success of an almost impossible operation that will change the course of the war,” Hayate said as she stood at the end of the conference room table. “More importantly, we’re celebrating the full recovery of First Lieutenant Nikki Cherryflower, who’s not just a fellow soldier but also a very important friend of ours.”

She picked up her glass of sparkling wine, and raised it high. “To Nikki’s return!”

Nikki raised her glass as well, just like everyone else in the room. She didn’t know the pilots of Wardog Squadron well, but she was really glad to have had the chance of meeting the Razgriz again.

Just as she thought that, Snow walked up to her, the rest of his squadron in tow.

“Guys! I’m glad to see you again!”

“What did I tell you?” Alvin elbow-punched Snow. “We should’ve made her Razgriz Five when we had the chance.”

“Didn’t prevent her from coming to our aid from the other side of the continent, and with an experimental aircraft to boot, though. We really owe you our lives, Cherryflower. Thank you, and I’m saying it on behalf of my squadron as well.”

“It’s nothing. You kept saving me when I was barely able to keep my aircraft in the air.” Nikki didn’t know if it was the compliments or the wine, but she was already starting to feel dizzy.

Alvin smiled. “Well, you gotta take care of your nuggets while their wings are still growin’ up.”

“And see?” Nagase continued. “As we told you, you’re back stronger than before.”

Stronger than before? Nikki mused to herself. I don’t know… but I surely learned something out of this.

“By the way, tonight is open bar night on the Wolfram!” Hayate announced. “I expect to see you all at the officers’ bar!”

***

Johnson sipped from his glass of bourbon. Hayate had insisted on having him and Komaki sit at the same table, and he was starting to see her reasoning.

“I’m really sorry for how I treated your pilots, Colonel,” Komaki said, propping her forehead on her hand. “They deserved better.”

“Don’t be like that, Komaki!” Hayate chipped, filling up Komaki’s glass again. “Everyone got back safely, so we should only celebrate!”

“Yes, but… this isn’t how such an operation should have gone.”

“Well, you never know how the battlefield can turn out,” Johnson said. “There’s a reason why the term ’fog of war’ was coined, after all.”

“That’s not what I meant. Please don’t hold it against me, I was just following my orders. But… this operation was never supposed to go smoothly.”

In vino veritas. You’re a clever one, Commander Yagami.

“This is strictly informal, but I was ordered to give you a false estimate of the facility’s defenses, so as to not risk your withdrawal from the operation. The actual expected aircraft loss rate was 92% at the very least.”

Johnson crossed his arms. “So your superiors were expecting that at best only one aircraft would make it back. This is something I wished I didn’t hear, Captain Komaki. If it went that way, I would be out of business. And, on top of that, my family was out there.”

Komaki gulped visibly. “… I talked too much. Please forget what I said – from what I know, the operation was penned by Lord Ikaruga’s cabinet. It would be unwise to-”

Komaki bit her lip, and Hayate smiled.

“Rest assured that I won’t act against the Japanese government.” For now. “However, you will agree with me that such an unfair treatment of Strike Dove has its price. Please inform Ikaruga and his cabinet that the matter will be considered solved if they let us keep the Phoenixes as reimbursement. They were expecting to lose them anyway, after all.”

“… I will. Please excuse me.” Komaki got up, and walked away from the table.

“Oh, one last thing,” Johnson said. “Please accept a piece of advice from someone more experienced. The next time they ask you to send your men in a suicide mission, be sincere with them at least.”

Komaki stiffened for a second, then continued walking.

“I don’t think you’re really settling it with just a few planes, am I right?” Hayate asked once Komaki was out of hearing range.

Johnson smiled. “You’re right. But I’d like for them to believe I do, so I can investigate this Ikaruga guy quietly. Considering you’ve gotten Captain Komaki drunk so she would spill the beans, I suspect you came to the same realization as Captain Turbo and I did. This plan only makes sense if you’re trying to get your own men killed.”

Johnson turned towards the table where the Wardog Squadron pilots were sitting. “And, considering how it was set up, I highly suspect they wanted those four out of the picture.”

“I heard rumors that Grand Shogun Koubuin, one of those in the roster to become Emperor, seems to hold them in high regard, but there’s a bit of a power struggle between her and Lord Ikaruga,” Hayate said. “The latter seems to have a lot of influence with the people coming from their world, so we need to look into this further.”

“I agree wholeheartedly, Commander.” Johnson took a sip from his glass. “This seems the kind of thing that will cause problems after the end of this goddamn war.”

“Speaking of something else, I haven’t seen Turbo and Cherryflower in a while,” Hayate said. “I know they’re a couple, but since we’re celebrating her recovery as well they could’ve stayed here a bit more before continuing the celebrations more… privately.”

Johnson laughed. “Actually, I’m afraid something else happened. You see…”

***

Sergio walked slowly through the corridor, supporting Nikki as he went.

“Oww…” she said. “We should’ve sneaked out sooner. I can’t believe everyone was trying to offer me drinks…”

“And you had just a couple.” Sergio sighed. “Not that I’m faring much better, and I drank just two too.”

“Why are we so lightweight?” Nikki lamented. “Ami had more than the two of us combined, and is still going strong!”

***

Ami raised her empty glass, her cheeks slightly flushed. “Another round?”

Snow struggled to focus his eyes. “…I’ll pass.”

He glanced towards his wingmen just in time to get a glimpse of Alvin stumbling into the bathroom. Nagase was busy blabbering something incoherent about peace to a pillar, and Grimm was out cold on a chair. It was time for a tactical retreat.

Snow glanced back at Ami just as she was getting her glass refilled. That short, adorable girl had drunk them all under the table – maybe those rumors about her actually being the legendary Demon Lord of the Round Table had some truth to them.

***

Nikki slumped on Sergio’s bunk bed, and Sergio sat next to her. “Feeling better?”

“Yes. I’m sorry about having pestered Shamal about it, but…”

Sergio laughed. “Yeah, she wasn’t happy having to nurse you again, but at least she was glad you’ve fully recovered from your crash.”

“Yeah…” Nikki took a deep breath. “It’s nice being just the two of us like this, isn’t it?”

“Yes. And there’s nothing in the way now, right?”

“Actually, before we really get back together… I have a confession to make.”

She sat up, avoiding his eyes. “You know… after I dumped you, I briefly dated Syaoron.”

Sergio nodded slowly. “I know. I heard something about it from Keiko.”

“Oh. Then you know that one night, Syaoron and I… well…”

“I have a confession of my own,” Sergio said. “I kinda made the same mistake… maybe it was even during the same night, who knows.”

Nikki blinked. “Eh?”

“With Ami.”

Nikki suppressed a laugh. “Well, it serves me right. I literally implored her to go for it, I can’t complain that she actually did.”

“Well, it was a bit more complicated than that… but let’s talk about the details another time.” Sergio chuckled. “I guess that makes us even?”

Nikki giggled. “Even.”

“So… Did you get assigned a room?”

“No. Hayate was too busy partying. I think she was trying to get Captain Komaki drunk.”

Sergio laughed again. “Not surprised. Well, the other bunk wasn’t assigned to anyone, and tomorrow we’ll be off the ship anyway, so I guess it won’t be a problem if you sleep here.”

“I would like to, yeah. I don’t have the energy left to go get another one. Besides…” Nikki put her hand over Sergio’s. “I didn’t realize how much I actually missed you.”

“I missed you too.”

And so, this officially concludes Nikki’s recovery arc! And for those wondering, yes. Keiko and her Cyber Formula shenanigans will eventually get their own arc, which I’ve called Cyber Circuits and, as expected, will mainly involve stuff from Future GPX Cyber Formula. But that will begin after the Scattered Shards art is over.

Fun fact of the chapter: Nikki’s lung capacity isn’t just based on her mermaid transformation ability, but it is a nod to the crazy extrapolations I used to do while watching anime as a teen. In particular, when watching the first Cardcaptor Sakura movie years ago I felt that Sakura had been kept underwater by the Madoushi a bit too long, so I timed her on a rewatch. A good three minutes while struggling to break free, and Sakura didn’t get much of a good breath beforehand, but she didn’t seem to be struggling for air at any point.

While, of course, the exact amount of time is actually moot thanks to Narrative Laws, as they wanted to allow us to see the Madoushi in denial over Clow Reed’s death (and trying to drown a ten years old girl just for breaking her the news, apparently. What’s the problem with you, Madoushi?), and Sakura coming up with the plan to free herself, for years I believed it must’ve meant that Sakura had excellent breath holding ability, and since Nikki is a clone of anime canon Sakura I incorporated that into her. This, of course, doesn’t mean I’ll still keep applying those fan extrapolations to Sakura herself – in fact, she likely isn’t as good as Nikki in freediving, and might not grow to be as tall as her after all (another failed extrapolation of mine, corroborated by incorrect Wiki infos).