Blue Horizon: Sequel of Eleven

Spread Your Wings

Olivia paused. Then, she looked straight into Kobo's eyes.

"Maybe so, but here's the deal, kiddo. Right now, you're in the cockpit of an SF/A-18 Strato-Hornet and the Ancient Ones are attacking Yokosuka. You have your record yeah. Reine said a whole lot about your flying so far. I heard you beat my infamous record!"

"Urk..." Kobo felt her guts twist.

"But what matters the most at this very moment is what you do next - what you do in the here and now!"

"Olivia-neesama..." tears started to form at the sides of Kobo's eyes.

"You have your record, kiddo. Time to prove it wrong." Olivia beamed. Then, she winked, "Also, use the protocols, Zero-Eight. Or else Illusion Night's gonna chew me out for 'setting a bad example' again, okay?"

Olivia called herself a bad example - which Kobo sometimes agreed with. But in that moment, Kobo saw Olivia as a dignified and resolute warrior prepared for battle.

'She can actually be cool at times like this.' Kobo thought, sighing with relief, 'I'm flying with two heroes, then!'

With those two heroes accompanying her, the array of black, ichor-like enemies beyond the horizon no longer struck icy fear into Kobo's heart. Unlike that fateful night when she sat adrift in her marooned escape pod, she was now armed - and she wasn't alone!

Knowing this, Kobo swore she wasn't going down without a fight!

...

Blue Horizon

Spread Your Wings

...

Eighteenth Scene - Steady, Steady!

Even though Kobo's idols had arrived, her flying only improved marginally. Compared to the other cadets, Kobo's maneuvers were sluggish, unwieldy and unrefined, but Olivia tutored her.

Literally on the fly.

"It's all in the mind, Kobo. When you get to use an I.D.O.L. Frame's HALO module, it'll be especially so!" Olivia taught her, "Think of the warplane as an extension of yourself! Understand its systems. Move it like you would move your own body."

"I'm trying - I'm trying!" Kobo fretted.

"And you're doing well!" Olivia cheered like an elementary school teacher watching her student finally understand a math equation, "Look - you're actually staying in formation this time!"

Kobo blinked.

She looked around and saw the rest of the halved squadron flying with her.

"Oh. I'm doing it...!" Kobo cheered, "I'm actually doing it!"

"Hehe, there you go! Now - follow me and High Tide. We're entering the combat vector."

Kobo nodded and followed Olivia.

On the display of her radar, Kobo watched as her squadron of fifteen Strato-Hornets split up. She and four other jets followed Moona's High Tide and Olivia's Jollie Jollie banking leftwards. Reine's Illusion Night, meanwhile, led Zeta's Zero-Six and the rest of the cadets to bank right.

Thus, the squadron split into two. In Kobo's eyes, she thought it looked like a majestic swooping crane spreading its wings as it moved to descend upon its prey: fragments of a 'Galactic Orca' of Ancient Ones posing as older-generation fighter jets.