December 19
1330 Hours
The day had reached its peak.
The seas surrounding Musk Reef lay silent and still. Not a wave out of place. Above, the skies stretched endlessly—clear, blue, and almost deceptively peaceful.
But today was anything but calm for the Ghosts of Emberhowl.
Inside the Arkhe's main briefing room, tension hung thick in the air like the stillness before a thunderclap. No one spoke. All eyes occasionally flicked toward the door, waiting for a promised update from an officer inbound from the intelligence vessel Capitolium.
But Gracie didn't wait.
She cleared her throat and stepped forward, datapad in hand. Her tone was firm, professional.
"Alright. While we await additional intel, we're proceeding with the briefing."
She tapped the screen, and the projector activated, displaying a schematic of a low-orbiting craft.
"As mentioned three days ago, we intercepted a cipher—another Khaenri'ahn transmission that came through shortly after you departed for recon over Ameyalco Waters Ravine.
It confirmed what we feared: the Khaenri'ahns are in control of the low-orbit spacecraft known as the Skywarden. Same one they hijacked on November 1st.
And they plan to launch a strike on Natlan's Stadium of Eternal Flames today at 1430 hours."
The words had just finished echoing when the doors slammed open. An officer rushed in, eyes sharp, folders clutched in hand.
"Not looking good," he muttered, handing the papers to Gracie.
He exited just as quickly, leaving a trail of anxiety behind him.
Gracie skimmed the documents, flipping page after page. Her face darkened. Then she looked up—straight at Emilie, Mona, Mualani, and Ayaka.
"This is what we needed," she said grimly.
"Turns out the Skywarden was boarded by Khaenri'ahn special forces during its orbital window on November 1st. One astronaut was taken hostage—others ejected via escape pods and survived.
The Khaenri'ahns didn't just seize it. They repaired it—quietly, efficiently. The last known system test was completed… two days ago."
She flipped to another page and nodded sharply.
"Bingo. The Teyvat Space Center in Sumeru tracked its re-entry early this morning. It descended over the Nostoi Ocean—and according to surveillance, it's carrying a Khaenri'ahn tactical nuclear warhead. Timeline on the payload delivery is unclear."
Gracie stepped closer to the projector, highlighting the orbital trajectory.
"In order to hit the stadium in Natlan, the Skywarden needs to use atmospheric braking to bleed velocity. That means it'll drop to low altitude—but the thing wasn't built for that. It's sluggish, predictable at low speeds."
She turned back to them.
"Your mission is simple."
A pause.
"Destroy the Skywarden. You'll only get one shot. One pass. No do-overs."
She glanced at the clock.
"ETA to target is sixty minutes. You know what that means—get moving. Haul ass!"
No further words needed.
The four pilots sprang from their seats, helmets in hand, and rushed out of the room—boots pounding steel deck plates, urgency in every step.
They split off at the main deck, each sprinting toward their respective aircraft under the buzz of carrier activity.
Emilie climbed her Tomcat's ladder—its black skin gleaming like obsidian under the deck lights. She slid into the cockpit and strapped in, the F-14A already smelling of jet fuel and baked metal.
Pre-start checks.
Altimeter: from STBY to RESET.
Attitude indicator: calibrated.
Power: VDI, HUD, HSD/ECM—green across the board.
Oxygen: flow audible.
AFCS: pitch, roll, yaw—all responsive.
UHF: set to GUARD and BOTH.
TACAN: T/R.
Canopy: sealed shut with a hiss.
She reached forward and flipped the engine start switch for No. 2. The turbine began spooling with a rising whine.
At 25% RPM, she nudged the throttle from CUTOFF to IDLE. Fuel ignited. The engine roared awake.
Repeat for engine No. 1.
Twin TF30s came alive behind her, growling with restrained fury.
Ground crew moved in—one disconnecting the external air line, the other pulling the ground power. A firm thumbs-up.
Radio chatter sparked to life.
"Emberhowl One and Two, proceed to Catapults Two and One. Emberhowl Three and Four, take aft catapults. Prepare for simultaneous launch."
Emilie keyed her mic. "Callsign check."
"Starseer, online."
"Tempest, ready."
"Soumetsu, clear."
She nodded. "Copy. Let's go get this done."
She taxied forward as directed, deck crew guiding her with precise gestures. Her Tomcat rumbled into position, launch bar aligned to the shuttle.
She flipped the launch bar switch. The nose dipped as the bar locked into place.
She extended the wings with a satisfying mechanical whir. Full span. Master Reset pressed.
Final control check—stick, rudder, surfaces—all good.
Then came the call:
"Raven, you are cleared for takeoff."
Emilie raised her hand in salute to the crew. They returned it.
She shoved the throttles to full afterburner.
The twin engines screamed.
The catapult fired.
She was slammed into her seat—gravitational violence forcing her back—then suddenly free. The Arkhe vanished behind her.
Airborne.
She pulled up, clean rotation, gear up with a satisfying clunk.
"Emberhowl One, away."
Seconds later:
"Emberhowl Two, away."
"Emberhowl Three, away."
"Emberhowl Four, away."
Carrier control confirmed:
"All aircraft launched. Good luck out there."
The Tomcats reformed into a tight V formation, engines roaring as they banked southwest.
Toward the Nostoi Ocean.
Toward the Skywarden.
At full military power.
Time was running out.
Half an Hour Later
The four F-14A Tomcats soared through thin air at 25,000 feet AGL, cutting southeast through a blanket of mist and silence.
Their target lay ahead.
The Skywarden.
Tension filled the comms—especially for Mona.
To her, the Skywarden wasn't just a machine.
It was a symbol. Of peace. Of hope.
And there it was.
Emerging through the haze like a phantom, its silhouette unmistakable.
Emilie keyed her radio.
"We're almost there. I see it."
Ayaka's voice came in next, soft but wary.
"We're so close… but Emilie? Don't you think the Khaenri'ahns are always one step ahead?"
Emilie sighed.
"Ayaka... keep your head up. Don't give up so easily."
Ayaka nodded in her cockpit.
"I know, Captain. We never back down."
Then—
A sudden flash.
A pod jettisoned from the Skywarden's underbelly.
Mona's voice cracked in, urgent.
"Look! The Skywarden!"
Mualani confirmed with a nod.
"Yeah! Something just dropped!"
Emilie focused on the object.
"Escape pod. Looks like one of the crew bailed."
Then, the enemy frequency burst alive with panic.
"Shit! He got away!"
"The Teyvat astronaut?"
"Yeah. But it doesn't matter. We don't need him anyway."
The Skywarden began to shift—its control surfaces moved erratically.
"Shit... it's not responding—he must've jammed the flight controls!"
"Get the drag out of there! We're diving and slowing down!"
Emilie's eyes narrowed. They were close enough now.
She keyed up again.
"Prepare for a synchronized strike. Load special weapons."
She flipped her weapons selector to her XLAA missiles. One by one, her wingmates chimed in.
"Ready!"
"Locked and loaded."
"Ready whenever you are, Captain."
Emilie's HUD pinged.
Tone.
Lock.
"Fox Three!"
Two XLAA missiles screamed off her F-14A's belly rails.
Then the others followed.
"Fox Three!"
"Fox Three!"
"Fox Three!"
Eight XLAA missiles streaked across the sky, closing in on the massive airframe of the Skywarden.
They struck in rapid succession—explosions rippled along its surface, tearing away control surfaces and external components.
"Direct hit!" Emilie called.
The enemy radio lit up again.
"Shit! We're hit! Someone's attacking us!"
"What!? Teyvat's air force should be tied up over Natlan—what's going on!?"
"Wait… I recognize those jets! Black airframes… and that emblem—human figure in a flame ring… it's them! The Demons of Emberhowl!"
The Skywarden trembled.
Another barrage hit its frame.
"Shit! Launch the UAVs!"
"Sir! Launchers are damaged! We can't deploy UAVs!"
"Then fire up the engines! Now!"
Below, Mona focused on the Skywarden's ventral structure.
"I see launcher bays… these weren't part of the original Skywarden design."
Ayaka jumped in.
"Did the Khaenri'ahns modify it during repairs?"
Emilie shook her head.
"Doesn't matter. We destroy it now."
Mona exhaled slowly.
"Right. When peace returns, President Imena will build us a new one."
Ayaka raised an eyebrow.
"What about the Sepharis Bird Project? Sumeru and Natlan have been working on that."
Emilie answered without hesitation.
"Aerial carriers. The Skywarden's different. It's spacecraft-class. Capable of high-altitude launches and human cargo."
Then—
Two massive booster engines fired.
Flames roared from the rear of the Skywarden as it began accelerating.
"Captain! The boosters are active!" Mona reported.
Emilie slammed her throttles forward, engines surging as she closed in.
Lock tone.
"Fox Three! Fox Three!"
Her last two XLAA missiles screamed out.
"Out of specials! Switching to Sparrows!" she said, flipping her selector.
The enemy frequency panicked.
"I heard Eclipse Squadron got wiped out by them—"
"Don't worry. The Skywarden is invinci—"
Boom.
The nose of the Skywarden dipped violently.
"SHIT! Hit! Boosters down!"
"Sir! We've regained partial control!"
"Get the cycle engines running! Fire up the upper defenses! Pitch the nose!"
The massive craft slowly pitched upward.
Then—its belly engines flared to life.
"Cycle engines are live!" Mona called.
But so were the defenses.
A torrent of laser fire lanced from the underbelly.
"Shit! Break break!" Emilie shouted.
The four Tomcats broke formation, splitting in high-G dives and rolls.
"What the fuck's that!?" Mualani shouted.
"Laser cannons!" Ayaka barked.
Emilie gritted her teeth.
"Take out the cannons. I'll go for the engines!"
"Wilco!"
"Roger!"
"Understood!"
The F-14As swooped back around. Emilie led the pass.
She climbed hard, locked on two points.
"Fox Two! Fox Two!"
Her Sidewinders fired—two streaks of smoke in the thin air.
She peeled left to evade, while six more Sidewinders were fired from behind her wing.
Direct hits.
The laser cannons exploded in flaming debris.
Then—
A simultaneous barrage struck the Skywarden's cycle engines.
They sputtered. Died.
The nose of the Skywarden suddenly pitched up at a steep 70-degree angle, bleeding altitude fast.
"Skywarden descending rapidly," Ayaka reported.
Mualani exhaled.
"What a pitiful sight…"
Emilie nodded.
"And it was Mona's symbol of peace. And we—humans—are the ones who had to take it down…"
The enemy frequency sparked again.
"We must regroup!"
"We can't go down yet!"
"Fire up the final engine! We'll take the stadium with us—and the Emberhowl Demons!"
Flames burst out of the Skywarden's rear again.
Blue light.
Final engine ignition.
"It's firing up the last engine!" Mona shouted.
"Fire at will!" Emilie ordered.
She squeezed the trigger.
Two more Sidewinders launched.
Then six more from her squadmates.
Eight missiles chased the dying colossus.
The Skywarden tried to climb.
Too slow.
Direct hits on the final engine.
It died with a wheeze and a crackle of flame.
"FINAL ENGINE HIT! WE'RE GOING DOWN!"
Then, the last transmission—
"Damn you… Emberhowl Demons…"
The four Tomcats climbed, banking to avoid the rising smoke trail.
The Skywarden plummeted.
Then—
A thunderous splash.
The tail slammed into the sea.
The nose drove downward.
Seconds later—
A massive explosion lit the ocean surface.
Emilie glanced down, whistling.
"And that's all she wrote, folks."
She looked left, towards Mona's F-14A.
"Mona? You okay?"
Mona's voice was quiet.
"Yeah… I'm okay. It had to be done."
A pause.
"Come on… let's go home."
The four Tomcats banked left, heading northeast.
Back to the Arkhe.
Back to Musk Reef.
Hours Later…
The F-14As touched down safely at Musk Reef.
Their sleek frames now stood quietly on the carrier's main deck, scorched and weathered from combat. Ground crews swarmed around them, rushing to secure and tie down each bird under the fading sun.
The four pilots stood off to the side, watching silently. Exhaustion hung heavy in the air, but so did the weight of what they had just done.
Then—approaching them with measured steps—came Grace, Kaeya, and President Imena.
Grace spoke first, her voice steady.
"Emberhowl Team. Good work. The Skywarden is gone. No ships were detected in the area, and our recon team confirmed there's no fallout in the AO. Clean kill."
Emilie nodded, quietly.
"Right…"
Her eyes shifted to Imena.
"Madam President… what now?"
Imena let out a long sigh, loosening her tie and rolling her shoulders.
"We tried broadcasting my voice across Teyvat—especially Natlan. Every channel, every frequency we could reach. But nothing got through."
She paused, voice tightening.
"The Vice President called it propaganda. Claimed the entire message was a deepfake. Censored the whole thing before it could spread."
She exhaled, tired and bitter.
"So now… I'm stuck here."
Emilie frowned, crossing her arms.
Her gaze drifted toward the helipads, where the Sea Monster Team's birds were parked, blades still from their last sortie.
"…Then how about breaking into Mondstadt?"
Imena blinked, raising her head slightly.
"Too risky."
Emilie stepped forward, clenching her fist against her chest.
"Come on, Madam President! It's our only shot at ending this war! If we can get you into the Presidential Palace—force a broadcast, anything—we can expose the truth!"
Ayaka stepped in beside her.
"She's right. Sea Monster's a Navy SEAL-tier unit. If anyone can punch a hole into Mondstadt's defenses, it's them. You just need to make the call."
Imena turned to Grace, silently asking her thoughts.
Grace nodded without hesitation.
"It's a risk. But it's one worth taking. Sea Monster will have your back. It's time you showed the world this isn't propaganda. It's reality."
Imena paused, then nodded, conviction beginning to return to her voice.
"Alright… When do I depart?"
Emilie tapped her chin thoughtfully.
"We'll need to give Sea Monster time to gear up and plan the op. I'd say… the 23rd."
Imena gave a slow nod.
"Okay. I can be ready."
Grace turned, heading back toward the main compound.
"I'll alert the Sea Monster crew. They'll be ready."
Kaeya lingered a moment longer, then smiled faintly at the team.
"You all did well today. No one else could've pulled that off."
As the day faded into twilight, a heavy silence returned to Musk Reef.
The war seemed closer to ending now—closer than ever.
But the question lingered:
When?
And if Khaenri'ah kept pulling secret weapons from the shadows…
Would it ever end?