Lenn

The stars have yet to hide themselves, and the edge of the sky was only just beginning to be lit up by the dimmest of glows from the approaching sun.

Crickets purred and owls sang, a somewhat melancholic yet charming symphony. For Lenn and the New Asians, who have lived in a forest of metal and concrete their whole lives, its a strange yet welcome change from the usual noises they would hear.

Lenn and his team sat inside a makeshift tent, underneath the rocky overhang, facing the veteran combat medic who had treated Ying’s injuries, his wrinkled yet kind face adorned by a messy white beard.

“…A bruised lung, two broken ribs, fortunately not much worse than that,” the doctor spoke softly, listing off Ying’s injuries to the three anxious men before him.

“What about her leg?” Asked Kang, pointing to the blood-stained bandages.

“It’s bad, but not life-threatening,” the doctor replied calmly. “The fragments missed bone, but did graze the artery, which was probably the main source of her blood loss. Some nerves might have been damaged, so there’s a good chance she’ll never be able to properly use that leg again.”

Lenn nodded, his hand on his chain to hide his twisted lips. But despite Ying’s grave injuries, there was a sense of relief among his team. Losing a teammate is far too common for people like them, and they were just glad that Ying would survive.

“So what now?” Rei asked.

The old doctor looked at him. “Just recovery and rehab I suppose. We have given her whatever stuff we could salvage from the destroyed clinics. She’s in stable condition right now, we gave her some drugs so she would rest easier. We don’t have any of the strong stuff, so the pain would be unbearable if she is awake.”

“So…” Kang mumbled. “She won’t be able to fly with us anytime soon?”

“No.”

“Is there anything we can do?”

“Not much really…”

They left the little tent and walked out into the open, towards where their JF-200 was parked.

Suddenly Lenn felt tired, unbelievably tired. It was then that he realized it had been a full day since the last time he has slept, and the fighting has really taken a toll on him. His knees felt weak and his arms felt heavy, his head a churning mess of jumbled thoughts.

After they landed, they had stood beside Ying throughout her treatment process, though often at the protest of the doctors. After she was stabilized, they sat with her for a long time before the doctors told them, in as stern a voice as they could, to leave.

“I really could use a comfy bed right about now,” Lenn muttered as they stumbled through the low grass, the dew wetting the edges of their boots.

“Same…” Kang sighed.

“Should we go to where all the survivors are staying?” Rei asked, pointing towards the deepest recesses of the overhang, where everyone was resting on makeshift beds and sleeping bags.

“Honestly, I’d rather be away from all the people for a little while,” Lenn replied, climbing up the side of his plane and onto the top of the wing. “I just want some time to be alone with my team, you know?”

“Yeah we get it,” Kang reassured Lenn, shooting him a little smile and climbing up the wing behind him.

Together they laid down on top of the broad wing of their aircraft, facing up at the sky full of stars.

Here and there the shimmering blackness would be blotted out by the columns of smoke, endlessly pouring towards the heavens from the burning remains. If they tilted their heads, they would see the orange glow of dying embers in the town below.

It was a little chilly, but the rags which they borrowed from the survivors proved to be quite effective at keeping them warm. They hadn’t had a chance to change clothes yet, so all of them were covered in dirt, mud, and quite a bit of dried blood.

Lenn closed his eyes, quickly falling into the embracing arms of sleep.

*****

It was not until almost midday when they were awoken by Takeshi.

“Finally found you three!” Takeshi spoke out cheerfully as he waddled over. “The Europeans and I have been looking all over the place for you guys.”

“It was only you…” One-five said in protest, walking alongside Takeshi with the rest of his team.

“Come on, come on, nothing wrong with a little show of affection,” Takeshi joked.

Lenn and his teammates slid down the curved fuselage of their plane to meet Takeshi and the Europeans.

“I heard Ying was badly injured during the battle,” Takeshi said as they came face to face.

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry to hear that…”

“Don’t be,” Rei stated, “She did it to protect us.”

“I see…” Takeshi held up his hand in apology. “Well, we’ve still got things to do. Earlier today, a full scale search and rescue operation was mounted. We found several dozen more survivors, recovered lots of resources and materials, enough to sustain us for at least a week or two. Unfortunately, all of the downed aircraft have been burned to a crisp, no chance of salvaging anything from them.”

Lenn sighed. "I expected as much."

“That will be a potential problem,” One-six spoke up. “Those planes had many parts which we could have salvaged for the mission.”

“Right… the mission…” Lenn looked down at the ground and sighed.

“Did you somehow forget about it?”

“No, it’s just…” He slowly looked back up, at the sky, then down at the ruins of the town below him. He only just realized that the planned attack is just three days away. “After this battle, it felt like things would be over, you know? Like the climax of a story.”

“I’ve never read any stories.”

“And after that everything is peaceful and happy. But no, this is just the calm after a storm. The calm before an even bigger storm.”

“A storm…”

“You get it?” Lenn looked at One-six with a questioning, yet playful gaze. He found it a little amusing seeing the Europeans trying to figure out seemingly mundane things.

One-six tilted his head and looked at Lenn from the corner of his eye, but decided to avoid the question. “Alright, we need to talk about something which we missed during our previous briefing,” he gestured for everyone to sit down. “Just us alone does not ensure a high enough chance that the attack will be stopped, so we need something to act as a backup.”

“And that is?”

“Mr. Takeshi,” One-six replied.

The New Asians collectively raised their eyebrows.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Takeshi saw their surprise, and began to explain. “You see, because I am a powerful member within The Merchant’s Cabinet, I have much control over the distribution of information. With this document here, I can spread intelligence regarding the attack to the leaders of New Asia, who will hopefully take action.”

“Why don’t you just deliver it straight to them?”

“They won’t listen to a mad old man like me, they’ll probably have me executed for misinformation. But they will listen to the many traveling merchants and the rumors they spread, especially The Merchant’s Cabinet. Of course, they won’t make any official statements, but hopefully they’ll be paranoid enough that they’d have some planes on standby for the attack. Without the element of surprise, it is very unlikely that the Europeans will be able to completely destroy New Asia.”

“Can’t New Asia just launch a preemptive strike?”

“New Asia is smart enough not to bet everything on a single, unconfirmed document from a random person. Still, it's unlikely a strike of any type will wipe out a city. They’ll delay the attack maybe, but in the end it’ll still happen.”

Lenn nodded slowly.

“I’ll give some of my men rough copies of these documents, and tell them to spread it around.”

“Won’t that also mean the Europeans know that their top-secret information got leaked?” Rei asked.

“Yes, but so what? If anything, they’ll probably decide to launch the attack early, to retain as much of that element of surprise as possible.”

“I see…” Rei whispered. “Anything else?”

“No,” One-six stated. “Everything is the same as before, except for this new addition,” he looked around at everyone, and got to his knees. “No time to waste, let’s start retrofitting our planes. Since there is no indoor space, we have to do it when the weather is good. All the tools we’ve managed to find is in the storage tent over there, though you may find the selection to be a little lacking.

“Got it,” Lenn said, getting to his feet as well. “Come on, let’s get to work.”

*****

The torque wrench clicked as the final bolt was tightened down all the way. Lenn breathed out deeply, before clambering to his feet.

Everyone had worked through the entire day, only stopping to eat when Takeshi brought them a simple lunch of bread and smoked meat. They had to retrofit the F-51 with the defense matrix turrets from their plane, a task not so easy when almost none of the screws fit properly. They also had to attach extra power cells to the F-51, which all were placed in the cramped cargo chamber.

Their crazy plan required the F-51 to be able to withstand dozens of missiles in quick succession, which is why they had to add all the extra laser turrets and energy storage.

Two-five had been working tirelessly on the F-51’s computers, reprogramming it with code which she wrote. Now and then Lenn would catch a glimpse of her laptop screen as he walked by, which was filled with text, numbers, and graphics he did not understand.

Rei and Kang both helped with the disassembling and assembling of the laser turrets, while One-six and One-five focused mainly on making the different interfaces of the energy cells fit together. Two-six had just gone around and helped with whatever task. Sometimes she was holding bolts for Lenn, sometimes she was carrying parts with One-six, sometimes she was doing calculations for Two-five.

“Done?” Kang asked, standing over a laser unit that had been taken out of its mounting on the JF-200.

“Well, as much as we can do today, it’s getting too dark.” Lenn answered. “Let’s put all the spare parts into the cargo chamber, so if it rains they won’t get wet.”

“Sure thing.”

Lenn saw Two-six jogging towards them from the direction of the cliff overhang, her amber hair fluttering in the breeze. Behind her, he could see the warm glow from campfires and emergency oil lamps.

Though they have a few generators up and running, they were switched off most of the time to conserve the little amounts of fuel they had managed to save.

“Dinner is ready!” Two-six shouted as she came over. “You can keep working a little bit longer if you want to, but I think it’s better to eat together with the other survivors. It’ll help raise some spirits and build a sense of community.”

“Got it!… Thanks!” Lenn shouted as Two-six turned to run back towards the community kitchen where she had just been helping out at. It still felt a little weird to say kind words to Europeans. Lenn turned towards Kang, who was in the process of carrying a bulky laser unit into the cargo hold of their plane, and Rei, who was cutting panels to fit them in place where the laser units used to be. “Wanna go get some good?” He asked them.

Rei wiped the sweat off of his forehead. “Ehh… I think…”

“Come on, let’s go,” Lenn interrupted, beckoning Rei and Kang to follow with a swing of his arm.

As they walked past Two-five, sitting on the grass leaning against the landing gear of her aircraft, Kang stopped and extended his hand towards her. “Let’s go get some food.” He said, not a hint of hostility in his voice, but not much kindness either.

Two-five looked up at him, then down at her computer, before finally deciding to put it aside. She carefully grabbed Kang’s hand with her own, and allowed him to pull her to her feet.

“Why so scared?” Kang chuckled as he started walking again. “Do I seem like a mean person to you?”

“I cannot tell whether you look mean or not. Everyone looks the same to me,” Two-five replied. “I could tell you probably didn’t mean any harm, but it’s good to be cautious.”

Kang smiled bitterly. He wanted to make a joke, but decided against it when he realized that Two-five probably wouldn’t get it.

“Girls just don’t seem to like Kang, huh?” Rei remarked under his breath.

“Be quiet,” Kang shot back.

As they approached the many campfires, the survivors huddled around the dancing flames turned to look at them. Murmurs and whispers of “Those are the guys…” and “It’s them who defended us…” and “Are they from Europa? Why are they helping us?” Arose from the crowd. Some even beckoned them to join their card games, but Lenn respectfully refused.

They walked over to the community kitchen, which was simply a few large pots sitting over some open fires. Two-six was there, stirring a large pot with a long spoon.

“Hey uhhh…” Lenn said to Two-six, still feeling a little awkward. “Can we get some food?”

Two-six paused with the stirring and looked up at the New Asian pilots before her. “Sure thing!” She said, turning around to grab a few metal dishes. She ladled a scoop of chunky beef stew into each, and placed a flatbread ontop of each one. “We’re a little short on utensils so just use your hands. Oh also, grab some fruit later, we had a lot in the markets and they’ll go bad if we don’t eat them.”

“Yeah… thanks.” Lenn said gratefully, taking the plate which Two-six offered him. The stew smelled salty and meaty, making his empty stomach growl.

“Where do we sit?” Kang asked.

Lenn looked around, and saw a campfire near the far side of the overhang which seemed to not have too many people around it. He pointed to it, and they made their way over. Two-five decided to stay with Two-six, so it left the three of them to wander the survivor camp.

When they approached the campfire, Lenn thought he saw a familiar face. It was a young girl, her clothes looking a little dirty, sitting alone by herself in the warmth of the fire.

“Eden?”

The girl looked up, and her eyes seemed to light up for a moment.

“Are you hurt?” Lenn asked.

Eden shook her head, but did not speak.

Lenn looked at the others sitting near the campfire, but didn’t see the face he was searching for. “Where’s your mother?” He asked Eden.

“…it.” Eden mumbled, too quietly for Lenn to hear.

“What?” Lenn asked, sitting down besides her.

“She didn’t make it.”

“…”

Kang and Rei heard too, and both decided to sit down next to Lenn.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Lenn mumbled, trying to comfort her. For him, losing a comrade or two wasn’t uncommon, and so to him, death didn’t mean much. But for a young girl like Eden, losing her only guardian is probably devastating.

“Is there anyone to take care of you?” Rei asked, stuffing some of the flatbread into his mouth.

Eden shook her head. “I was an orphan, and mother took me in. Now that she's gone, I’m an orphan again. I guess it’s fine right now, but I don’t know what I'll do once the war ends...”

Rei, Kang and Lenn exchanged glances. They wanted to help her, especially since her adoptive mother had helped them so much during their stay at Valkyria. But right now, they really didn’t have the resources nor time to spare for her.

“Do you think Takeshi would agree to take her in as a servant or apprentice?” Lenn whispered.

“Probably,” Kang whispered back.

Lenn nodded, then turned to Eden. “We’ll find you a place to stay,” he reassured her. "Do you have any clean clothes?"

She didn't answer, instead just glared intently at his plate of food.

"Ah..." Lenn smiled, setting down the plate in front of her. "You can have it. I'll go get myself another plate."

"Really?"

"Yeah..."

"Thank you..." she said, her gentle sobbing choking in her throat.

"Don't cry!" said Kang. "Eat your food now, but don't cry. Everything will be okay. Everything is going to get better..."

Eden nodded, before wolfing down the plate of food.

Within moments the plate was empty, its contents having been consumed by the hungry little creature before them.

"Better now?" Kang asked.

"Yeah..."

"Go find yourself some clean clothing now," Lenn told her. "I'm sure the other survivors have some."

Eden nodded. "I'll go get you more food..." she whispered, grabbing the empty plate.

"Sure. Thank you."

“If umm…" she mumbled. "If your mission goes well… Will you umm… teach me how to fly?”

“Uhh…” Lenn was taken a little off-guard by the question, but he remembered back to the night, under the beautiful moon, when Eden had asked the same thing. “Of course…”

“Yay!” Eden yelped happily, the sorrow she had just moments before seeming to disappear into nothing, then skipped off into the crowd of survivors.

“…If the mission goes well…”

*****

“Information on the attack has been leaked!”

There was quiet cursing and whispering among the members of The Council.

Finally, the old, gruff man who sat in the middle slammed his fist down upon the table. “Get the forces together, we fly at midnight,” he grumbled.

“Understood!” The messenger saluted, before rushing out of the spacious office.

Several hours later, all of the blast doors on the wall of Europa began to open, and soon fighters were streaming out of them like hornets from a nest. Out of the the larger airstrips, tankers and command aircraft took off, circling above the city, waiting to get into formation once all the fighters have made it into the air.

For half an hour, aircraft spewed out of the hangars endlessly. Their black silhouettes menacing against the dim moonlight, swarming and darting in the skies above the city, before morphing into neat formations.

Then a large, black, swooping shape soared into the air, its massive engines roaring, its massive wings hoisting the heavy plasma weapon of mass destruction skywards.

The other aircrafts formed up beside it, wrapping it front and back, left and right, top and bottom in multiple layers of fighter escort. The tankers stayed further back, refueling each fighter in succession to keep their fuel tanks topped up.

Together they circled their city once, before turning east, straight towards the city of New Asia.