Eight black fighter jets crossed the deck of the Blade of Empire, spaced apart for landing. The first of the fighters finished a sweeping arc to line up for final approach. The light on the forward landing gear flashed in sharp contrast to the darkness of the craft itself. It seemed to absorb light, like Vaska's Elemental. The rear wheels gently touched the deck, and the airplane kept flying, skillfully with just the two wheels touching, until the nose fell even more gently. Ingrid had seen such perfect landings before.

The black fighter jets looked very similar to the Burning Leaf model, except they were more angular. Every surface of the airplane, from the nose to the vertical stabilizers, everything was constructed from flat shapes joined at sharp angles. Everything was painted with some type of black coating, and the semi-transparent canopy was colored a dull gold.

"Behold!" Vaska said. "Jack Vail has completed his work. I present the world's first stealth fighter! We call it... the HY-13 Blackfire!"

"Stealth?" Ingrid asked. "It doesn't look very stealthy to me."

"Yeah because you are not an Elemental! Colored Orbs cannot see this airplane. Which means radar will not work."

"So they just need to get very close and use Ice-Two missiles."

"Nope!" Vaska said. "Once the engine is nice and hot, you use kerosene only, and dismiss your Fire Elementals. The Ice-Two missiles won't be able to track you."

"So you can murder people," Ashe said, "and they have no way of fighting back. I love it!"

The other stealth fighters landed one at a time. Ingrid recognized the distance between each airplane, the way they rolled into their turns, and the way the wheels touched the deck. Those airplanes were piloted by the White Ravens, except for the last, which could only have been piloted by Glenice. The dull gold canopy to the first stealth fighter opened up and Natasha climbed down the ladder.

"Sister," Natasha said. "Do you have the keystones?"

Vaska handed a trio of orange-teal keystones to Natasha. "There have already been a few scouting sorties into the Plane of Stone," she said. "They mostly seem to be building air defenses."

Airmen with racks of missiles rolled up alongside Natasha's fighter and began to open the missile bays on the fuselage. The edges of the missile bay doors all had a strange sawtooth design.

"Wonderful, nothing they have will work against this new design. Sister, are you going to fly with us?"

"I think so," Vaska said.

"Great," Natasha said. "Ingrid, Glenice will give you her fighter. You fly with us."

The other White Ravens began to pull to the edge of the taxiway in their fighters. The last fighter, which Ingrid assumed was piloted by Glenice, had an elongated canopy.

"Um.. Princess," Ingrid said, "I have been trapped in the Plane of Heaven for weeks basically, and the Admiral tells me nothing. What is going on in the outside world?"

"It's not good. Ayaru is the worst, of course. Other nations were able to look at what happened in that economy and make adjustments. My father spends all day every day interviewing people with his Light Elemental. There have been purges among the intellectuals and the minor noble houses. Especially the intellectuals. From what I know, almost seventy percent of economics professors have been either denounced or executed."

"Good, the charlatans deserve it," Vaska said.

"Why professors?" Ingrid asked. "Civilians are being killed? Why?"

"Well, you do plan to purify the Queen of Light, don't you?" Natasha asked.

"She does!" Ashe answered. "She will give me my power back. I'm going to make her!"

"And do you know what will happen when you purify her, Ingrid?"

"Who can know what will happen in the future?"

"All of the contracts with the sacrifices are going to be forgiven," Natasha said. "That is what my father thinks the most likely outcome is. Our previous economic models were not too useful in practice. The professors, as Vaska pointed out, were mostly just a club of charlatans giving each other awards. There is nothing abnormal about that, however, these particular charlatans are openly critical of the Emperor's plan to create a fiat currency."

The Imperial Princess sliced one hand across her neck.

"I guess that makes sense," Ingrid said. "Though it seems somewhat cruel."

The canopy to Glenice's airplane opened, and the lone woman climbed out of the two-seater. After descending the ladder, she sprinted past everyone to one of the parked tilt-rotors and vanished inside.

"I've been there before," Ingrid said, pointing to her.

"Make sure you are all biologically correct," Natasha said, "before we take off."

Ingrid was the last to leave the deck. The nose of the aircraft was a little heavy on takeoff, perhaps because of the strange angular shape. It also required summoning no less than three cyan Colored Orbs to help with aerodynamic stability and three-axis control. From Ingrid's perspective however, the biggest change was the total lack of a crossbar under the canopy, and no mirrors to see behind the pilot. Ingrid could not see Vaska, but she could hear her ramble on about the airplane's many features.

Three bright flashes of orange light appeared around Natasha's fighter jet far ahead. They spread out, and then the faint lines connected them. The portal began to form.

"So the surfaces on the leading edge of the wings are called slats," Vaska said. "This airplane does not have flaps, instead it uses the ailerons as flaps and you can use the rudders to keep straight on approach. Also, like previous models, the two rudders can flex in or out to contribute to elevator control."

"So what is different about this two-seater version?" Ingrid asked.

"There is a more powerful radar system in the nose cone," Vaska said, "which I will operate from back here. I have also included some traditional Dark-Three missiles in the side missile bays."

"Those require contracts," Ingrid said. "You didn't bring contracts onto my airplane did you?"

"No, and they would not work anyway. I can use the Firstborn to summon Dark Elementals."

"Oh, and can you summon ocular demons?"

"The Firstborn cannot summon those," Vaska said.

"What the hell are ocular demons?!" Ashe asked.

"Little Dark Elementals," Ingrid said. "Shaped like some sea creature with a giant eyeball. They are summoned in pairs."

"I never made anything like that!" Ashe insisted. "My sister is using my power to make new Elementals! This is unforgivable!"

The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

"The Emperor told us that the Queen of Light was using ocular demons as spies," Vaska said. "You were there Ashe."

"He never told me they were Dark Elementals! I thought she used her own power to make those things!"

The portal finished forming ahead, a brilliant ring of pinkish orange surrounding a mostly pink sky beyond. Natasha was busy looping around to enter the portal, but the White Ravens had already entered. Ingrid trimmed the airplane out so that the nose was pointed at the center of the portal.

"Oh! This is my first time seeing this sky," Vaska said as they crossed the threshold.

The first thing Ingrid saw were the trees.

The trees were tens, perhaps hundreds of thousands of feet tall, and even while flying in a fighter jet, the lower branches of the trees filled the sky far overhead. Those massive trees were covered with brilliant pink, white, and red flowers, giving the sky a bright pink color. Tiny gaps between the branches revealed pale blue sky, not unlike the sky in the outside world on a clear day. A large orange moon was visible on the horizon, but it was mostly blocked by massive trees. The ground far below was pink as well, coated with a thick layer of fallen flowers.

And then there were the stone stacks.

The huge stones, as wide as a city and as thick as a mountain, were mostly grayish or brownish and marbled with bright orange veins. They were stacked, one on top of another, in jagged pillars that reached tens of thousands of feet into the sky.

"Those rock pillars break the laws of physics!" Vaska said.

"This is not the first time," Ingrid said, "that a Queen has decided to bend the laws of physics to make her world look pretty. This place is beautiful!"

Ingrid looked all around, which was easier to do without the crossbar and mirrors. The airspace with the portal appeared to be in between three massive trees, and Ingrid counted at least ten giant stone stacks nearby. At the foot of the closest tree, in between two stone stacks, there appeared to be another compound with neat square roads where the pink flowers had been removed.

"Radar contacts," Lead said through the magenta Colored Orb. "Solo, engage with the targets."

"Dark-Three," Solo said.

"Lady Ghost," Lead said, "take heading zero-nine-one and cover the airspace within fifty nautical miles."

"Affirmative," Ingrid said. She rolled over and turned to the right.

"More radar contacts," Vaska said, "Directly ahead, near the stone pillar."

"If we shoot at them with radar-guided missiles, they will be able to detect it, right?" Ingrid asked. "Then they just need to hide behind the stone pillar."

"They don't know we are here," Vaska said. "Firstborn! Summon a Shadow Hunter into two of the Dark-Three missiles!"

Enemy souls ahead, HUNT! HUNT! HUNT!

Shall I hunt the other soul? Let me hunt!

"Yes, go hunt!" Ingrid said. "Dark-Three! Dark-Three!"

The weapons bays made a grinding sound as they opened briefly, and two missiles rocketed off toward the stack of stones far ahead, splitting apart and leaving two long arcs of smoke through the sky.

"The only time enemy radar can see us is when the weapons bays are open," Vaska said. "You may want to randomly change direction in case they see us."

"Sure," Ingrid said. She rolled over again and headed straight back toward the portal. Natasha's fighter jet rushed through, a tiny black speck against a pink and blue sky. Shortly after, an Eagle Eye airplane entered the portal, escorted by a squadron of Fat Meg fighter jets. Ingrid craned her neck back to face the stone stack behind them. Two flashes of orange light indicated direct hits from the Dark-Three missiles. She pointed the nose up into a half-loop before rolling over to resume her approach toward the stack.

"No more radar contacts," Vaska said. "Airspace is clear."

"There they are!" Lead said. "Four enemy fighters, heading straight for Lady Ghost. Diamond formation, disable radar until we get close! Pick your targets!"

"Targeting the Slot," Left said.

"Targeting the Lead," Right said.

"Targeting the Right," Slot said.

"Targeting the Left," Lead said. "Ravens, Ice-Two! Fire!"

What appeared to be a single, large missile lanced out from near where the White Ravens were flying, leaving four close trails of smoke behind them.

"Four Ice-Two missiles," Vaska said. "They won't know anything is wrong until after they are dead."

"Those things aren't alive!" Ashe said.

Four simultaneous flashes of orange light indicated four direct hits. A massive black spider of smoke spread out from the location of the flashes.

"Activate the kerosene bleed," Vaska said. "Be prepared to dismiss the Fire Elementals. I don't want anyone hitting us with Ice-Two missiles."

Ingrid began flipping the various switches to open the tanks, valves, and sump tanks for the kerosene bleed. She tipped the red throttle forward to full.

CONSUME! CONSUME!

CONSUME! MORE! MORE!

Ingrid's fighter jet lurched forward, and began to gain airspeed rapidly. "The Fire Elementals are so excited to burn the stuff," Ingrid said.

"Too bad, dismiss them."

"Fire Elementals! I dismiss both of you!"

NOOOOO

CONSUMMMEEEE

The airplane continued to race along, though it had lost a small amount of power. The massive stack of stones passed them on the left, causing the compound to disappear from view. The trunk of the massive tree was just ahead. Ingrid pointed the nose away from the tree toward an empty sky.

"Lady Ghost," Lead said, "this airspace is safe. Rejoin with us, we are all going to fly into the enemy compound and destroy their air defenses."

Ingrid continued her long turn, and Natasha pulled up alongside. "I am your Lead," Natasha said. "Ingrid you are in the Slot. Solo and Opposing Solo, get close and form up as Left and Right Wings."

Ingrid fell back behind and below Natasha's airplane. Soon the two other White Raven's pilots flew in on either side. The other diamond formation approached from the opposite direction, crossing a few hundred feet below and then turning toward the compound. They fell in together, two diamond formations of eight aircraft total, and began their approach toward the compound. The radar was mostly silent.

The details of the compound came into view. The roofs of the square metal buildings were caked in pink flowers. Dozens of hangars lined the massive runway through the center of the compound, and there were a large number of missile turrets strategically positioned on the inside ledges of the two stone stacks on either side. Dozens of fighter jets were parked in two neat lines along one of the taxiways.

"Guns ready!" Lead said. "We are going to fly low and rake those parked fighters!"

"Ingrid did not need to think about where she was flying. She just held her position behind and below Natasha. Eight streams of bullets shot forward from the two diamond formations as they crossed the threshold of the compound, ravaging the parked fighter jets on the ground, ripping the wings or rudder fins off of several of the hapless airplanes.

"Very faint radar signatures ahead," Vaska said. "Spinning radar dishes, on the top of those towers!"

"Left! Slot!" Lead snapped. "Break formation and kill them!" Two of the fighters in the other formation broke away.

"Up we go," Natasha said. "We need to take out those turrets in the rocks."

They began to ascend, and the long runway and hangars dropped away and vanished behind. Natasha led the formation up toward the towering stone stack on the right side of the compound. Then, she rolled onto one side, causing the entire formation to roll on edge.

"Now Vaska!" Natasha said.

"Firstborn!" Vaska cried. "Summon Shadow Hunters into all of the Dark-Three missiles in all of these fighters! Shadow Hunters! Target the enemy turret operators! Dark-Three! Dark-Three!"

The missile bays on the other airplanes began to open up, and missiles rocketed out ahead of the formation, just a few feet away from Ingrid's head. Eight missiles in total, spreading out toward the eight turrets on the near side of the stone stack. The closest turrets were busy rotating toward the open weapon's bays as the missiles struck them. Fire erupted all up and down the stack of stones as the formation rushed past.

"Radar contacts ahead," Natasha said.

"We will take care of the other side," Lead said.

"Eight targets," Vaska said, "Sixteen miles ahead. They are not reacting to us at all."

"Let's see if we can sneak up on them," Natasha said as the formation rolled back upright and turned slightly to avoid hitting the massive tree trunk in the distance. The radar beeps gradually became louder as the nose pointed toward the enemy.

Ingrid had an eerie feeling as the formation snuck up on the four of the fighters. They did not fly in a tight formation, and instead were loosely spread out over several miles.

"Burst formation," Natasha said. "Ingrid, you take the close fighters, will fly up and take the two far fighters."

Ingrid pointed the nose down and distanced herself from Natasha's airplane. The enemy fighter jets just above did not react at all to the presence of four enemy fighters lurking below.

"Ice-Two!" Ingrid said. The first missile lanced out toward the enemy just above. It exploded, completely disintegrating in a fireball just overhead. The second fighter violently began defending. Ingrid chased him. He must have finally seen her, because he started jinking, violently rolling and entering into a side slip to avoid her nose. "Ice-Two!" she said again as she shot a second missile. It smashed directly into the enemy cabin and caused the airplane to rip into a flaming pinwheel. The other fighter jets fared no better, exploding to radar-guided missiles.

"This is not fair," Ingrid said. "They don't see us!"

"It's so beautiful!" Ashe said.

As they flew back past the massive stone stacks toward the portal, the Meg Squadrons and bombers had arrived. Dozens of tilt-rotors approached along with the paratrooper dropships.

"Is this what fighter jets are going to be?" Ingrid asked.

"What do you mean?" Vaska said.

"We just... fly around in stealth fighters, killing people who can't see us, destroying air defenses? What about dogfights? What will happen to piloting skills?"

"Shush," Vaska said. "You are going to end up like Ivan was, flying around in an ancient warbird for decades after they are obsolete!"

Suddenly Ingrid understood the man. There must have been a time in his life just like this moment. These stealth fighters were going to turn the world upside down, and she could not help but feel like something very important and very beautiful was going to be lost forever.