Air Superiority

Chapter 4: Intermission One

It's been three days since the last mission, and Devil Squadron haven't really been called for anything just yet. Despite the war still going on. Nevertheless, Y/N had plenty of free time.

They decided to go down to the hanger to check on their plane. It was pretty banged up after the last dog fight, of course. But also, because they were just bored.

"Yo, Y/N!"

Said an unfamiliar female voice

"You going down to the hangar too?"

Y/N turned around to see a tall female with a fair skin tone, green eyes and a bob haircut that was short and wavy. Which was also blonde.

Beside her was another, yet shorter, female who had a little bit of tan to her complexion. She also had hazel eyes and black hair that was in a low bun.

"The name's Lily. Lily O'Hanraghty. The short stuff beside me is Veronica Leparska."

"Who are you calling short, exactly?"

She asked, raising an eyebrow

"Oh please. Everyone knows your a shortstack."

Lily replied, smirking.

"I'm not that short!"

Veronica said, trying to defend herself. Obviously, it didn't work, as O'Hanraghty rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. Anyways, you coming down to the hanger or no?"

Y/N nodded with a smirk. They found their shenanigans to be amusing.

"Ok, let's go then!"

Lily said, leading the duo.

"For what I understand, Xuan is already there anyways. Might as well go see him."

"Hey, wait up!"

Said Veronica, running towards Lily. Y/N follow followed suit, only slightly speed walking.

From talking with the duo, they learned that both of them were actually from different kingdoms. Lily was from Elerrama and Veronica was, ironically enough, from Woaven. Both of them move and became citizens of Goenna around 2 years prior to the war happening.

Veronica said that she heard speculations of tensions between the two kingdoms, but never actually thought they were going to full blown war. Not since the "Great Kingdom War". And because of her new home being threatened, she decided to join the Royal Air Force.

Lily, on the other hand, didn't really care much about politics. The only reason why she joined was because she needed the money. Apparently, she got into an argument with some of her relatives about moving away. As a consequence to this, they refuse to help her. So she basically came to the kingdom broke. She actually had no interest in being in the military in the first place, but, she joined out of desperation. At least, that's what she said.

Y/N had no interest in pruding to their personal lives, so they didn't question further. When asked about their personal lives however...it was a bit complicated.

Y/N's life wasn't simple. Originally, they weren't in Goenna. In fact, they weren't in a kingdom at all. They were born on sea, to two unnamed parents. They don't know what they look like or who they were before they were born. So their childhood was pretty much non-existent. When their ship came aboard the docks of Goenna, the captain of the ship sent them away to foster care. But...no one came to get them.

So not only did they not have any national identity, but it seemed like they weren't going to be a part of a family either. They were pretty much by themselves. So, they took it upon themselves to learn about the world around them, create their own identity and find a way to get their own education at the age of 16. A few years later, their identity was solidified as the name they created today. And it's because of them that they became known as an a official citizen of the "Kingdom of Goenna".

As for why they joined the military...well, it's because, despite everything they went through, they wanted to find a place where they can belong. A place where they have meaning.

"...Damn..."

"I'm....my lord..."

The two girls tried to find words to say to Y/N, but the second devil assured them that it was okay. It was in the past, no reason to get worked up over it. Live and learn.

The two nodded and after a few seconds of walking made it into the hanger. Sitting on a box smoking a cigarette was Xuan.

"Yo! Took you long enough. I was afraid I was going to be by myself."

Guotin said, crushing the cigarette and throwing it away. The other three pilots grabbed boxes and sat around each other.

"So...what do you guys want to do?"

He asked. Y/N explain that they wanted to check out their planes to see how it was going. It was pretty banged up and they want to be ready for another mission.

"Ok then. We can do that one first."

Xuan said before getting up. The others followed suit. As Y/N was approaching their plane, the mechanic saw them and wave.

"Hey there pilot. I'm going to go ahead and guess this baby is yours."

Y/N nodded.

"Well, follow me. I'll show you what you're missing."

He said, showing the places where Y/N's plane has been damaged.

"The fins and wings got pretty banged up. A lot of bullet holes, unsurprisingly. They were pretty much easy to fix."

They then pointed towards the back engines of the jet.

"Now this is where things got a little bit complicated. Remember when you almost got hit by that missile? Well, some shrapnel somehow got in between it. Just be lucky it didn't do too much damage, otherwise you would explode from behind. Seriously. It was all in the nook and crannies. I'm surprised you were still able to fly this thing."

They then moved to the cockpit.

"Besides that it was all just software updates. I.T guys were having a field day. Put in some new programming that allow you to aim and fly better."

After that, they showed them the weapons.

"It's the same old missiles with a little bit of a twist. They've been upgraded to do extra damage. For what I understand, some of our enemies planes are highly armored. In order to combat this, they upgraded most of the missiles to be armor piercing...do not ask me how that works. The same thing goes for your canon. Bullets are armor piercing, been tweaked to make it more accurate, yada yada yada."

They then looked at Y/N.

"Point I'm trying to make is that your plane has been fixed and upgraded to be better than it originally was. So when you go out for another mission, you'll be ready."

The mechanic said, smiling.

"Just promise me you'll be careful with this thing. And try not to get too shot up badly, please."

Y/N nodded as the mechanic started walking back to his office. As Y/N was walking back to the boxes, the other three pilots were right behind them.

"Hey, Y/N. How was your plane? Ours all good."

Said Veronica, weaving at Y/N. They put a thumbs up to show that it was okay.

"That's good, we're going to need it for this mission coming up."

Xuan said, with his hands on his hip.

"Wait, now?"

Lily asked.

"Yeah. Yeah apparently has something to do with a neighboring kingdom sending an SOS signal. He said it's pretty bad, so we should move a double time."

"Well what the hell are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Lily said, running towards the door. The rest follow behind her, getting ready for the mission that lies ahead.

But one question struck Y/N's head: what does Woaven wants with a neighboring kingdom?