At the moment of impact, the explosives packed into the cargo hold detonated, shattering the plasma confinement chamber and ripping the carrier aircraft clean in half.
The still weak plasma surged out of its broken confinement and latched onto the metal of the carrier. It amplified and multiplied, its now unhindered fury growing from a pale yellow glow to a blinding white sphere of ionized air.
Tendrils grew out from the light, zigging and zagging through the night towards the surrounding aircraft. It found one, then another, then another, and in moments the entire fleet was shrouded in the deathly glow.
The incomprehensibly hot plasma consumed everything in its path. Jet fuel instantly flashed to gas, igniting in brilliant columns of flame. The composite airframe of the fighters vaporized in an instant, mixing and fusing with any organic material unfortunate enough to be present, returned to elemental carbon in the intense heat.
Another moment later, the plasma had run out of energy. It had grown too large for its fuel to sustain, and so it began to retract back towards its origin.
The tendrils of light swallowed themselves, twisting and fluttering backwards. Then the white light shut off, leaving nothing but flaming wrecks falling from the skies.
The carrier, at the epicenter of the explosion, was entirely erased from existence.
Far behind, two lone parachutes drifted down with the breeze.
One-five watched in silent shock at the scene before him. Just a half minute ago, One-six had forcibly ejected him and Two-five from their aircraft, while he himself remained to pilot it.
“That wasn’t part of the plan…” He whispered to himself.
He had desperately searched the skies for another parachute which may belong to One-six or Two-six, but found none. He also tried to contact them through the emergency radio, but received nothing except static.
It soon dawned on him, that no matter what he did, those two were gone for good.
His eyes felt watery and his vision blurred.
What is this? Why can’t I see properly?
He descended past the tops of the trees, but his parachute caught on the branches, suspending him a few meters above ground. It took a moment for him to find the cutaway tab, which once ripped away, cut him free of the parachute.
The squishy forest floor caught him gently with a blanket of fallen leaves, yet he still collapsed to his knees.
He wasn’t hurt, but his legs felt weak. He stayed there for a minute, down on his elbows and his face in his hands, trying to muster the strength to stand up.
At last, he struggled to his feet. He took a moment to look up at the trees, the dark shape of his parachute buffeting in the wind, the suspension lines dancing in the air.
“Two-five…” He mumbled to himself, just now remembering about his teammate who escaped with him.
With shaking hands he pulled out a small GPS tracker, and headed towards Two-five’s dot.
Before he could see her, he heard her muffled sobs.
“Two-five?” He asked into the darkness, but was only answered with more weeping.
He followed the sound, and found her sitting against a tree, hugging her knees against her body. The moon was out now, and there was no need for a flashlight.
“Why?” Two-five said in-between her sobs. “They’re gone, aren’t they?”
“I think so…”
“I knew it…” she cried. “My software was never good enough. With how much damage we sustained, that plane would never have hit.”
“…”
Then she looked up at One-five with her teary eyes. “They flew it, the two of them, until the very end…”
One-five didn’t know what to say, all he could do was walk over and kneel down next to Two-five.
“Why am I like this?” She asked. “Aren’t we supposed to feel nothing when our comrades die?”
“…”
“So why…” she tried to speak, but the words choked up in her throat.
One-five didn’t know what to do. He had never been in situations like this before. Where was his cold, heartless self when he needed it?”
“I’m sorry… it’s my fault…” Two-five mumbled. “If I had written a better program, this never would have…”
“No it’s not… it’s not… please don’t say anything like that…” One-five told her.
He didn’t know why he did it, but he instinctively reached out, and held Two-five in his arms.
Together they sat there, in the middle of the forest, crying in each other’s embrace.
*****
All at once, their radars and instruments ceased to function.
A brilliant white light had lit up the sky, then quickly shut away.
There was confusion and panic within the control room as operators tried to figure out the source of the interruption.
But Captain Yuki knows what had just happened.
“That’s the whole fleet… gone…” He murmured to himself.
“Sir! Our instruments have all gone into overload protection mode,” an operator reported.
“What about the fighters we scrambled?”
“They report having strong interference in their instruments too.”
“Alright…” Captain Yuki thought for a moment. “I need to seek agreement from the government first.”
“What are you planning to do?”
“End the war.”
“What about the attack…”
“It’s not going to come. The fleet’s gone. That white light was them being vaporized,” Captain Yuki paused. “Have all aircraft hold pattern and standby.”
“Understood, sir.”
The reports of the white light quickly worked their way up the chain of command, and within minutes the government returned with an order.
It was a simple and direct one
Destroy Europa. End the war.
The planes which been ordered to hold were now sent forwards at full speed towards the west, the planes which have yet to take off followed after them in a loose line.
There was no more need for neat formations, as there would be no enemy fighters left to stop them.
When the radars were brought back online, the many dots which had blotted out the western sky were now gone, and the night sky was clear for as far as they could see.
Just three hours after the horizon was illuminated like day, the first of the supersonic strike fighters arrived over the distant city. They targeted defensive positions on the walls and military strongholds with laser guided bombs, clearing the way for the paratroopers and the bombers.
The defensive lasers, interceptor missiles, and close-in weapons systems tried their best to destroy the incoming bombs, lighting up the sky with millions of red tracers. But the strike aircraft flew too low and too fast for that to happen. After one bomb got through, the rest soon followed.
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Normally, aircraft would never be able to get this close. But with the European air force almost completely gone, there was no one left to stop them.
The few fighters left behind to guard the city tried their best to fight back, but were quickly and swiftly downed by the arriving New Asian aircraft.
Soon the sky above Europa was buzzing with New Asian fighters, swooping down and firing upon any remaining threats.
There were a few in New Asia who wanted to use nuclear weapons now that the defenses were gone, but that decision was overruled by the government.
What was the point of using nuclear weapons on a city that clearly was never going to fight back again?
Though they are at war, they are still fighting for the future of mankind.
After the relentless pounding by bombs and missiles, the walls surrounding Europa crumbled. Paratroopers swarmed the city, storming key defensive positions and command establishments.
There was still a decent amount of resistance left in Europa, especially on the ground. Europa has a respectably sized ground force, which put up a good fight against the New Asian troops.
The fighting lasted through the night, past the morning, and into the next day. The European troops refused to surrender even though they were fighting against impossible odds.
It was late afternoon when the last of the European troops were gunned down, and the New Asian soldiers stormed the Capitol building.
*****
“So this is it?”
“I supposed so, council member Alexander.”
“Were all our efforts futile?”
“It would seem so.”
“When did it all go so wrong?”
“Since the very beginning. Since the moment we decided that genocide was needed to establish peace.”
“Were we wrong?”
“I suppose not…”
“What now? Our enemies are knocking on our door, and their boots are drumming against the marble floor.”
“I like the rhyming, council member Alexander.”
“Thank you.”
“Well… I suppose we just sit here and wait for them to come.”
“Are you not going to run?”
“Where would I go? Why would I go? I do not fear death. I suppose we just sit here and receive what we deserve.”
“Yeah…”
They fell silent.
The gunfire outside died down as the last of their resistance fell.
“Here they come…”
Soon the sounds of running men echoed up the long corridor.
From the day he became a council member, he knew judgment would someday be upon him.
He sat there, eyes closed, thinking over everything as the doors flew open and the soldiers swarmed the room.
*****
Lenn
“I’ve got their positioning ping,” Kang reported. “One klick straight ahead. We should be seeing the flare soon.”
“I’m switching on the landing lights,” said Lenn.
“Good idea.”
With the flick of a switch the large spotlights on the landing gears illuminated, sending a beam forwards into the moonlit darkness.
He saw a spot of dull red smoke in a little valley, pale and ghostly in the moonlight, where the Europeans have placed their flare.
“Found them. Kang, find a spot where we can set down,” Lenn ordered, easing back on the throttle and slowly descending towards the trees.
“Copy…”
“Rei, try to establish connection to their radios.”
“Got it…”
“Lenn, the flare itself appears to be in the middle of a clearing large enough for us to land in, so I guess you can just set down there,” Kang informed Lenn, circling a location on a map.
“Alright…”
They swooped low over the trees as the New Asian bombers roared by in the distance, headed for the city of Europa.
“Those our bombers?” Rei asked.
“Yeah…”
“By the time we get back, there won’t be an Europa anymore…” he continued.
“Yeah…”
“So is it finally over?”
“Yeah…”
One-five and Two-five were stood waiting at the edge of the clearing as their JF-200 slowly came down for a landing. Their wheels settled on the soft ground and their engines spooled down to idle. The canopy raised up, and they hopped down one by one.
When Lenn saw that One-six isn’t there, he squeezed his eyes shut and bit his lip.
“Where’s the other two?” Kang asked as he walked towards One-five and Two-five.
They remained silent.
Kang halted his steps. “Hey… don’t tell me that…”
Two-five barely raised her head, but she nodded.
From behind him, Lenn could see Kang’s shoulders drop as he realized what had happened.
Then it occurred to him. Not only is One-six missing, Two-six is missing too.
“She stayed with him until the end…” One-five said when he noticed Lenn looking around for someone.
“What did she do?” Kang asked
“One-six disabled his ejection seat… without us knowing… so that he could make sure his plane hit the carrier,” One-five answered. “Two-six stayed with him.”
Kang looked down at the ground and cursed. “Is there any chance that they…”
One-five shook his head.
“Yeah…” Two-five mumbled. “It was my fault… My software couldn’t ensure a hit, so he stayed to…”
“No.” Lenn interrupted her. “That’s not why One-six stayed with his plane.”
“Then why…”
He sighed. He wasn’t sure whether it was right of him to tell the others what One-six had told him. After all, it would probably make One-five and Two-five quite angry.
“Last night, he told me that…” began Lenn, pausing to chose his words. “He told me he didn’t know how to be human. He told me he didn’t want to carry the burden of killing so many, the burden of killing his own comrades to destroy his own city… It had nothing to do with your software, Two-five, he would have stayed anyway…”
They stood in silence for a long while. The eastern sky was brightening, the sun would soon be rising.
“He told only you?” One-five asked.
Lenn nodded. “I’m sorry for not telling you earlier… One-six told me not to.”
“Why not us…” whispered One-five.
“If he had told you, what would you have done?”
“I would have stopped him."
“You see?”
“I…” One-five stuttered, then looked down at the ground. “It should have been the four of us… not just the two of them…”
Lenn closed his eyes so the others wouldn’t see the tears.
They stood there for a while longer, not talking, not moving. Until finally, He raised his head, and spoke.
“Let’s go,” he said, his eyes glimmering in first light of day. “Moping about is no way to honor the dead.”
“Where?” One-five asked.
“Valkyria. Where else?” Lenn said, turning to climb back into the cockpit.
“Come on, Two-five,” whispered One-five, placing his hand softly on her shoulder.
“Sure…” she whispered back.
The whole way back, Lenn sat alone in the cockpit. The others had all decided to stay in the cargo hold to keep each other company. The intercom was left on the entire time, so that Lenn would still be able to talk with them.
They joked and laughed, though mostly from the New Asians. One-five and Two-five didn’t laugh much, perhaps a little smile or two, which is still a big improvement. But they all cried.
It was the first time Lenn heard his enemies cry, and he too was quietly shedding tears in the cockpit.
“Hey… you two should try laughing,” Kang remarked at one point.
The Europeans looked at him confused for a moment, then at each other.
“When you tell a joke that’s actually funny,” One-five replied.
Even in the cockpit, Lenn couldn’t help but burst out laughing through the tears.
They arrived back at Valkyria in the early morning, the rising sun hanging just above the horizon.
Most of the survivors came out to see them land. By now, they’ve all heard the news.
Ying stood at the very front of the crowd, holding herself up with a pair of crutches, Takeshi standing besides her.
“Guys…” Lenn said through the intercom. “Good news and bad news.”
“Hm?” Kang replied.
“Good news is… Ying is up and about. Bad news is… she’s waiting for us right there and she doesn’t seem to be in a good mood.”
“Oh no…”
They landed at the same spot they took off from mere hours before, quickly going through the shut-down checklist and stepping out of their aircraft.
As soon as they walked up to Ying, she punched Lenn in the stomach, causing him to double over in pain. Then she turned to Kang, who was already backing away slowly. If it wasn’t for her bad leg, all of them would have gotten a beating.
“Are you all crazy?” She said extremely passive aggressively. “Going on a mission like that without me.”
“We’re sorry…” Lenn grimaced.
Then she noticed that One-six and Two-six were missing.
“Where are the…” she asked, before quickly stopping herself. “Did they…”
“Yes…” One-five answered.
Ying’s anger immediately disappeared. “I’m sorry for your loss…”
“It’s fine…”
“Is there anything we can remember them by?” She asked.
One-five thought for a moment. “The peace which they created?”
“Sure…” Ying whispered, before turning back to her teammates with a smile. “I’m glad you all are safe…” Then she looked at One-five and Two-five. “You too, One-five, Two-five.”
*****
Lenn
The next morning arrived much faster than expected.
News came that Europa had unconditionally surrendered, and that The Council was captured and put in prison. The massive walls of the city had been broken down, and its military utterly and completely destroyed.
The war was over. Over for good.
But what followed was uncertainty.
For both teams of pilots, the war had always been their everything. Now, all of a sudden, it ceased to exist. Needless to say, it turned their world upside-down.
They didn’t know what they would do, they didn’t know what the future held for them, so they decided to stay in Valkyria for a little while, maybe head to New Asia later.
“We have to like… work jobs, make money… and stuff…” Kang mumbled, poking at the ground with a stick. “How the hell do we do that?”
Lenn shrugged. “I’m sure we’ll figure out a way…”
“You know… when we scrambled that day, did you expect that it would turn out like this?” Asked Kang.
“Of course.”
“…You’re lying.”
“Obviously.”
He heard people approaching from behind, which turned out to be Rei, Ying, and the two Europeans, now their comrades.
They sat down next to Lenn and Kang on the edge of the little rocky outcrop, the same place where they watched the moon many days ago.
“It’s a nice morning, hey?” Ying whispered, leaning against her crutches.
“Yeah…”
It was barely summer, the air still chilly, enough to make a person shiver a little. The grass was moist with dew, and the birds were singing. The people were already beginning to rebuild their town, many having already moved away from below the overhang, back to the undamaged buildings.
Flowers were just beginning to bloom, painting the landscape faintly in a rainbow of different colors. Perhaps even nature itself was happy for the war to end.
“What are you four planning to do?” One-five asked.
“I don’t know…” Lenn mumbled, swinging his legs around in the air. “Help rebuild this place, then probably move to New Asia, find a job, buy a house maybe…”
“And then?”
Lenn shrugged. “What about you?”
“I don’t know either…” One-five mumbled.
Lenn tilted his head to look at One-five and Two-five. “Want to come with us to New Asia?”
“Well…”
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
One-five smiled. “Sure.”
Lenn smiled too, and looked out over the hilly landscape before him.
“Whatever happens, it doesn’t matter right now. There’ll always be a tomorrow, and when that tomorrow comes, we’ll decide on what to do,” he mused.
“But isn’t it better to plan ahead?” Two-five asked quietly.
“Yep.”
“So why don’t you?”
“I tried.”
“How was it?”
Lenn paused for a moment. “Didn’t work…”
Just then the wind blew, ruffling their hair and fluttering their clothes, and together they laughed.
“Yeah… there’ll always be a tomorrow…” Ying whispered, looking up at the sky.
“And it’s just around the corner…”