Around the same time. 

High above the skies, the bright blue covers every part of it, all while the sun's rays shine through, reflecting on every surface it can find to establish itself on Earth. Serene and peaceful as the ancient Hanging Gardens of Babylon, no matter where it is, its sheer beauty always finds a way to cast its beauty and hope to all living beings from below. 

But there is more than just a mere sky. A hunting ground it seems. 

An E-767 with green stripes flies overhead, with her roaring engines circling near the surrounding area where Wolowitz is stationed, its jamming capabilities were taken out not too long ago. Her wings graze through the wings while the round rotodome rotates every second for any potential information to pick through. The two engines emit contrails from behind, leaving an enormous trail to trace in the skies. 

And below her, are four distinct planes in a triangular formation, their sights on the unknown foes from far away. 

"This is your lady Coruja speaking. Eliminate the Wyvern-type bombers heading near Bakersfield to claim air superiority in this operation. So push it good, peeps!" Luana says, communicating through intercoms to the four planes, with Rosa nodding along as she checks her radar. 

"Roger that, Coruja. Crusaders, split up and let's find all the bandits in the area, then shot them down, understood?" 

"Righto, Temperance!" Kamis says. 

"Understood," Mariama says. 

"Copy that!" Andreas says. And with that, all four planes split in every direction to search for those elusive bombers, in what can be an extra step to end this operation for once. 

Flying on the western side, Kamis checks the enlarged radar to spot the bombers' location, and sure enough, three dots appear on his eleven o'clock, which makes him turn the plane around and intercept them. 

"These Zlocs do know when to hide..." Andreas mutters, which makes Kamis as he hits the thrust to accelerate in the direction of the detected bombers. 

"We've got some unearthed bogeys!" Kamis says, the distance between his plane and the bombers getting narrower by every coming second, and an incoming chance to prove it well. 

"Fennec Squadron, shield the bombers, break!" a male voice says in Kamis' cockpit, likely coming from a human one as he sees one of the dots breaking off from the first bomber group. 

"We can't let those UEF pests get us this time!" a female voice says, most likely a pilot as well while she follows the direction of the other plane as the radar shows. Kamis smirks from this as he changes to missiles. 

"Shoot them down, but remember to not underestimate them," another male voice says, likely coming from one of the Wyvern bombers nearby. But just as he's about to make a turn, a beeping sound is heard from the cockpit, and he turns to see the dots heading in front of him.   

"Fennec 1, Fox two!" With that sound, Kamis knows that he must shake it up first before heading for the main course. 

"Azure Hawk, evade!" Rosa says in the intercom as Kamis presses a button, which releases a group of flares while turning left. The timing is enough to divert the missile away from him, and with that, the time to lock on the target, to an F-18-shaped plane. Once it turns red, the magic comes next. 

"Azure Hawk, Fox 2!" Kamis shouts as he presses the trigger, launching a missile that flies at high speed, enough to impact the F-18's wing before it can divert away. "Bingo!" 

"Our squad lead's been hit!" the female says, trying to head back to the Wyvern to defend it, but before she can do anything, Mariama's plane flies next to hers, and a beeping sound is heard on her end. 

"Afterburner, Fox 2!" A missile fires from Mariama's plane, also reaching high velocity in the direction of the other F-18. 

"A missile! Break! Break!" the female pilot says as she tries to deploy her own flares, but to no avail, as the missile hits right under her nose, which causes the plane to break apart into many pieces. And likely no time to eject either. 

"Nice bullseye, Mar!" Kamis says as he turns leftward in the direction of the bomber, now within his reach. 

"Bandits are down and are no longer a factor. Now, knock it down and it won't get up again," Luana quips. Kamis answers with a chuckle as he locks on his target, ready to give another piece of his place to them. 

"Oh shit, we're sitting ducks..." the male voice from the bomber says, not even with their turrets can defend it against the other barrage coming it's way. This time as Kamis fires two missiles at the same time, each on the two engines of the bomber. They manage to get straight to the propulsors, which sends the bomber spiraling down to the ground as the sound of static is heard before Kamis switches the channel on the radio. He lets out a big chuckle and fist bumps above him while still inside the cockpit. 

"That's one Wyvern clipped away!" Kamis says. 

"Indeed. Now, Temperance and Dala should be getting a visual on the second group of bombers heading west. They'll be ashamed if they danced alone and left their friends behind,"  Luana says as the plane sends the coordinate to both Rosa and Andreas heading west. This time, it's a group of two bombers, with no fighters serving as escorts, already most were shot down or retreated after the gravity of the situation became clear, yet these two keep on going regardless. 

"Looks like Fennec Squadron and Phoilos have been shot down. Requesting reinforcements and fire support immediately," a male voice says on the radio, likely from the second group of bombers. This is met with silence for a while, making Rosa smile as she thrusts forward. 

"Bandit on my twelve. Temperance, Fox 3, Fox 3!" Rosa shouts as she presses the trigger,  firing two long-range missiles. Even as their turrets fire, it's not enough to impact any of them as both explode in the bridge, which leads to the bomber breaking apart into many pieces and scattered to the ground. 

"It's breaking apart. I repeat, it's breaking apart!" Rosa says while Andreas flies overhead then to her left, his sights now onto the last bomber on sight. 

"Dala, Fox 3!" Andreas shouts and like the rest of the pilots, he fires two missiles surrounded by electricity,  both heading to the bridge. Just as they reach nearby, they explode in midair, sending a huge amount of electric shockwaves surrounding the entire bomber, which makes it spiral down the air as all of their function shut down, the crew inside incapable of fixing the situation in time as the sky clears out from any further Zlocan air force. 

"This is Coruja. No further targets remain, so we can call this operation a huge success. We were the world who were gonna roll them after all!" Luana quips, which is answered by some chuckles from Kamis and Rosa, while Andreas and Mariama only smile at it. With both the air and the ground done, now the UEF can conduct the next operations in no time. 

"Crusader lead, RTB," Luana says, in which they comply by turning around and flying back to the direction of their own base, ready to rest for another, and then perform an even greater mission next time. 

3 hours later. 

Inside their barrack back in the FOB, each of the Crusaders commits to their own things to attend to as they wait for more. Kamis writes down the kills he has for today in his notebook while leaning near a box of supplies, now filling up an entire page of lines and sketches of the objective he shot down lately. Mariama is in her bed, bopping her head with some headphones on, relaxing to the vibe of her own music away from the rest of the team. Andreas is scrolling through his phone, checking the latest news in the world during the ongoing battle. Most have some rather delicate headlines, but he keeps scrolling down in case for something more interesting to check out instead of sensationalist ones. 

But Rosa is on her own looking outside through the window, observing as the sky turns into a blueish orange with the sun almost setting down on the horizon. As this happens, she lets out a small sigh with her narrow eyes and looks down at the dry ground. Despite a successful operation, there's still some discomfort in her, what could it be? 

Luke and Linda... Can a fallen angel regain its wings even after falling from grace...? 

And just then, Andreas puts the phone away as he looks at her as he wrinkles his brow and gazes at her. He doesn't stand up yet still has his sights on her for her rather unusual silence, ever since she went to Luana's room. 

"Rosa, maybe... maybe there's something else you want to talk about with us? Is it something from Luana back then?" Andreas asks. Even while still keeping her gaze outside, she closes her eyes while letting out another deep breath. 

"Well, it has something to do with how both Luke and Linda were related to her and..." From that alone, Kamis bolts his head in the direction of Rosa as his eyes widen while putting his notebook away. 

"Hey, you never told us the full story! I think it had something to do with a slip-up from the owl, wasn't it?" Rosa only shakes her head in response while Mariama puts her headphones down to glance at the rest of the team discussing with Rosa. 

"That's an understatement, to be honest. But even if it was that big of a mistake, both Luke and Linda should have picked a better alternative despite everything..." Rosa sighs once more, still not glancing at her team from behind. Even as fellow mercenaries, such discoveries weigh a lot for those who have not grown a lot in knowing what lies ahead in times like this. Especially when it concerns families unknown to them. 

Then, Mariama stands up while looking over her crestfallen posture. In spite of her expression remaining as frozen and stone cold as usual, she lets out a small breath before giving what she intends to say. 

"Well, I wouldn't blame them for picking up the Zlocu anyway. I even heard that there were more than enough people who would've been willing to do anything. Anything to get something precious of theirs back or just something to survive. You got to consider how much of a value and risk they could be aware of by sticking out to an organization they dislike as well, even though the other may not be as trustworthy," Mariama says. Rosa only sighs in response while Kamis and Andreas look on. 

"You could be right..." Rosa mutters. 

"But still, heading so far side at the hands of some unknown beings who said the rest abandoned us for us way is still far off the mark. At least in war." From that alone, Rosa slightly lifts her head up while still not turning around to see her team, her eyes widening for a bit as well. 

"Yeah, but aside from that, my concern is not only about people like Luke and Linda fighting us for the sake of their loved ones. Even long before this war, there were few people I could feel to connect with," Rosa says with a soft tone. The implications are enough to make Andreas raise his eyebrows. 

"But Rosa... What about others?" Andreas asks. 

"I often wonder of that too.  But sometimes, despite what I've been trained to do, I do fear that we wouldn't get to see the rest of our lives to the fullest even if we make it." 

"To the fullest? What do you mean, lady?" Kamis asks, now frowning as well. 

"You know that most of us almost had nothing before joining Vibana, correct?" 

"Well yeah, it is something typical for mercenaries to go through. People who have almost nothing in life, not even a home to go to. And by getting something that could even pay the bare minimum, they think it could fill them up a bit after years of emptiness," Andreas replies as he leans closer to Rosa, all while the rays reflect on his bright eyes through the glasses he has. 

"But even then, most of the time it wouldn't do. Just like every other system that exists," Mariama adds as well. Kamis then chuckles for a bit while turning away from the team as well. 

"That's not the way I've heard of it. If there's something else that can be good for this sort of service is to meet up with new people like you. And honestly, I wish it can stay that way with you," Kamis says. 

"Oh, but I'm sure that there's much more than that, isn't it?" Mariama retorts. Kamis only scoffs in response as he glances at each team member. 

"I know, we all have our reasons, all that crap it entails." 

"I don't know, you two... But if we lose sight of what we got in front of us, our mission, and also our aspirations, then there's no meaning in asking these things. Especially if..." Rosa says, pausing for a bit. 

"We only look more underneath us instead of everything else?" Andreas asks. Rosa nods in response. 

"Yes. Whether it's about thinking about Luana, Luke, Linda, the Warriors or even ourselves, we can always find something that can fill us up. But that comes at the cost of not knowing if it can benefit others as well. That's why... That's why I think we should stay here even more, to reach out.  To discover more of ourselves." As she says this, she glances briefly at her teammates after avoiding them for a long while. All of them smile at her to varying degrees, yet for this alone, it's enough to make her feel sure of what to believe in. 

Then, Andreas's phone vibrates for a second, but he catches the wind of it and proceeds to turn it on. He sees a message with the caption: "Next meeting in 20 minutes!". 

"We have a meeting in twenty minutes. Must be the next step, I guess," Andreas says. Rosa and Mariama only nod in response while Rosa steps away from the window. 

"I'm gonna be outside for a few seconds. I'll be back shortly," Rosa says as she heads for the exit and opens the door, leaving the three other members behind as Mariama sits on her bed again, leaning on the other side. Kamis stretches his arms for a bit while leaning near Andreas, which makes him step back for a bit. 

"Oh man, can't wait to see what crazy ass mission we're gonna get next. Hope it can be something more exciting than this one!" 

"Like that one cheesy sci-fi flick?" Andreas asks. 

"You mean the typical cliche of crashing down to a behemoth to pave the way for victory? In your dreams, dude."