At the moment of impact, the explosives in their cargo hold detonated. It shattered the plasma confinement chamber and ripped 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, quickly growing from a pale yellow glow to a blinding white ball of fury.

And then tendrils grew out from the light, zigging and zagging through the night towards the surrounding fighters. It found one, then another, then another, and within a fraction of a second the entire fleet became shrouded in the blinding white light.

The incomprehensibly hot and powerful plasma melted everything in its path. Jet fuel was instantly flashed to gas, and ignited in brilliant columns of fire. The aluminum airframe of the fighters were vaporized in an instant. Any organic material caught in the wake of the plasma was instantly turned back into elemental carbon.

In mere seconds though, the plasma had ran out of energy. It had grown so large that the remaining fuel could not sustain it, and so it began to retract back towards its origin.

The tendrils of light swallowed themselves, twisting and fluttering backwards. Within milliseconds the light was gone, leaving nothing but flaming wrecks falling from the skies.

The carrier, being at the epicenter of the explosion, was erased from existence.

Far below, two lone parachutes drifted down with the breeze.

One-five watched in 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 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 had 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, and softly landed on the squishy forest ground. But as soon as he touched the ground, his knees gave out and he collapsed.

It wasn’t that he was hurt, it was just that his knees felt weak. He stayed there for a minute, down on his elbows and knees, trying to muster the strength to stand up.

At last, he managed to get back to his feet. He struggled out of the straps of his parachute and left it on the ground. There was no point in packing it up and hiding it, since there won’t be anyone coming after them.

“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.

Even before he saw her, he could hear her muffled sobs.

“Two-five?” He asked into the darkness, but was only answered with more sobs.

He followed the sound, and found her sitting against a tree, hugging her knees against her body. Under the full moon, there was no need for a flashlight to see.

“Why?” Two-five seemed to say in-between her sobs. “They’re gone, aren’t they?”

“There’s a chance that they made it…”

“No there isn’t…” she cried. “I realized that I made an error in my coding, that plane would never have hit from the front if it followed my program.”

“…”

Then she looked up at One-five with her teary eyes. “He piloted 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 others’ arms.

*****

All at the same time, 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 people tried to figure out what had happened.

Captain Yuki though, knew what had just happened.

“That’s the whole fleet gone…” He murmured to himself.

“Sir! Our radars have gone into overload protection mode.”

“What about the fighters we scrambled?”

“They report having strong interference in their instruments too.”

“Alright…” Captain Yuki thought for a moment. “I’ll need to seek the agreement of the government first.”

“What are you going to do?”

“End the war.”

“What about the attack…”

“It’s not going to come. The fleet’s gone. That white light was them getting turned into atoms.”

“…”

The fighters which had been scrambled were commanded to secure the airspace and standby for further instructions.

The reports quickly worked their way up the chain of command, and the government returned with an order within minutes.

It was a simple and direct order.

Destroy Europa. End the war.

The planes which been told to hold were now sent forwards at full speed towards Europa. 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 was 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 was clear for as far as they could see.

Just three hours after the horizon was illuminated by that white light, the first of the low-level supersonic bombers arrived in the early morning. They targeted defensive positions on the walls and military bases with laser guided thermobaric bombs, clearing the way for the paratroopers and close air support crafts.

The defensive lasers, interceptor missiles, and close-in weapons systems tried their best to destroy the incoming bombs. But the bombers flew too low and too fast for that to happen. After the first bombs landed, the rest soon followed.

Normally, bombers would never be able to get this close, since the European fighters would shoot them out of the air as soon as they got near. But with the air force almost completely gone, there was no one left to stop the bombers.

A few of the 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 skies above Europa were filled with New Asian aircraft, swooping down and firing upon any remaining threats.

There were a few who wanted to use ICBMs now that the defenses were gone, but that decision was overruled by the government.

What was the point of using nuclear missiles on a city that clearly was never going to fight back?

Though they are at war, it was still best to avoid unnecessary casualties.

The Extinction War had shown the world the disastrous effects of nuclear weapons, and so most were hesitant to deploy them.

After the relentless pounding by bombs and missiles, the European wall fell. Paratroopers swarmed the city, storming key defensive positions and military bases.

There were still a decent amount of resistance left in Europa, especially on the ground. Europa had a decently sized ground force, which put up a good fight against the New Asian troops.

The fighting lasted until the night, through the night, and into the next day. The European troops refused to surrender even though they were fighting against impossible odds, and were suffering immense losses.

It was midday when the last of the European troops were gunned down, and the New Asian troops stormed into the Capitol building.

*****

“So this is it?”

“I supposed so, council member Alexander.”

“Was 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 do we do now? The soldiers are knocking on our front door, and their boots are drumming against the marble floor.”

“I like the rhyming.”

“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. Now that my attempts to reach my goal has failed, there isn’t anything left for me to do. I suppose we just sit here and receive what we deserve.”

“Yeah…”

They fell silent. The gunfire outside died down, signaling that the last of their resistance has fallen.

“Here they come…”

Soon the sounds of running men echoed up the long corridor.

From the day he became a council member, he knew that the day of judgment would be upon him.

He sat there, eyes closed, thinking over everything as the doors flew open and the soldiers swarmed the room.

*****

“I’ve got their positioning ping.” Kang reported. “one thousand and five hundred meters straight ahead. We should be seeing the flare soon.”

“I’m switching on the landing lights.”

“Good idea.”

With the flick of a switch the large spotlights on the landing gears illuminated, sending a beam of light forwards into the darkness.

He saw a spot of dull red smoke in a small valley, where the Europeans have placed their flare.

“Found them. Kang, find a spot where we can set down.”

“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 down low over the trees as the New Asian bombers roared by in the distance, headed for the city of Europa.

“Those our bombers?”

“Yeah…”

“By the time we get back, there won’t be an Europa anymore.”

“Yeah…”

“So is it finally over?”

“Yeah…”

“Are you happy that it’s over?”

“…”

One-five and Two-five stood waiting at the edge of the clearing as their VX-200 slowly came down for a landing. The engines spooled down to idle, and the canopy opened. They hopped down onto the ground one by one.

When Lenn saw that One-six wasn’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 was missing too.

“She stuck with him until the end…” One-five said when he noticed Lenn looking around for someone.

“What did he do?”

“One-six disabled his ejection seat… so that he could make sure his plane would hit the carrier.”

Kang looked down at the ground and cursed.

“Is there any chance that he or…”

One-five shook his head. “There was a problem with the guidance software. The plane never would have hit without someone manually piloting it.”

“So One-six stayed and flew it to make sure our mission would be successful?” Rei asked.

“Yeah…” Two-five mumbled. “It was my fault… if I had…”

“No.” Lenn interrupted her. “That’s not why One-six stayed with his plane until the end.”

“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…”

So he told them everything that One-six had said to him. How he didn’t think he would ever truly be human, and how he didn’t feel like he could carry the guilt of killing so many.

He told Two-five that it didn’t have anything to do with her program, he was going to stay and pilot the craft anyways no matter what.

“And he told only you?”

Lenn nodded. “It’s fine if you get angry at me for not telling you.”

“Why not us…”

“If he had told you guys, 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 as to not let the others see the tears.

They stood there for a while, not talking, not moving. Until at the end, Rei finally raised his head, and spoke.

“Let’s go.” He said, his eyes glimmering in the moon light. “Moping about is no way to honor the dead.”

“Where?”

“Valkyria. Where else?”

“Come on, Two-five.”

*****

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 could talk with them as well.

The whole time, not a single person mentioned One-six nor Two-six. They joked and laughed, though the Europeans didn’t laugh much, only smiled. But they also sobbed and cried.

It was the first time Lenn had heard the Europeans 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.”

Even in the cockpit, Lenn couldn’t help but burst out laughing through the tears.

When they arrived at Valkyria, the sun had already risen above the horizon, and it was approaching midday.

Most of the survivors came out to see them land. They’ve all heard by now the news of what had happened, and were coming out to greet their heroes.

Ying and Takeshi were there too, in the every front of the pack. Ying was holding a pair of crutches, with which she was supporting herself.

“Guys…” Lenn said through the intercom. “Good news and bad news.”

“Hm?”

“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.”

As soon as they walked up to Ying, she punched Lenn in the stomach, causing him to double over in pain. Then she turned her eyes upon 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 guys crazy?” She said extremely passive aggressively. “Going on a mission like that without me.”

“We’re sorry…”

Then she noticed that One-six and Two-six were missing.

“Where are the… I assume that they…”

“Yes…”

Ying instantly lost her angriness. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

“It’s fine…”

“Is there anything we can remember them by?”

“The peace which they have created?”

“Yeah…”

Then she turned back towards her teammates and smiled. “I’m glad you guys are safe.” Then she looked at One-five and Two-five. “You too, One-five, Two-five.”

*****

The next morning came much faster than expected.

News had come that Europa had unconditionally surrendered, and that the council had been captured and put in prison. The massive walls had been broken down, and the military utterly and completely demolished.

The war was over, over for good.

But what followed the war, was uncertainty.

For both teams of pilots, the war had been their everything for their entire lives. Now, all of a sudden, it ceased to exist. Needless to say, it turned their worlds upside down a little.

No one knew what they would do, they didn’t know what the future holds for them. So they decided that they would stay in Valkyria for a little while, before heading to New Asia.

“We have to like… work jobs… 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?”

“Of course.”

“…You’re lying.”

“Obviously I am.”

He heard footsteps approaching behind them, and it turned out to be Rei, Ying, and the two Europeans.

They sat down besides Lenn and Kang on the edge of the rocky outcrop, the place where they had watched the moon many days ago.

“It’s a nice morning hey?”

“Yeah…”

It was very early summer, probably late winter actually. The air was chilly, only enough to make a person shiver a little. The grass was moist, and the birds were singing.

The flowers were just beginning to bloom, painting the landscape faintly in a rainbow of different colors. It felt like even nature itself was happy for the war to end.

“What are you guys planning to do?” One-five asked.

“I don’t know…” Lenn mumbled, swinging his legs around in the breeze. “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…”

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.

“It doesn’t matter right now. There’ll always be a tomorrow, and when that tomorrow comes, we’ll decide on what to do.”

“But isn’t it better to plan ahead?”

“Yeah.”

“So why don’t you?”

“I tried.”

“Did it work?”

Lenn paused for a moment. “No.”

Just then a wind blew, ruffling their hair and fluttering their clothes. And together they laughed.

“Yeah… there’ll always be a tomorrow.”

“And it’s just around the corner…”