December 31st, 0530 Hours – New Year's Eve
The night sky hung in silent stillness.
Across Teyvat… and Natlan…
Peace.
The guns had fallen silent. Overnight, a ceasefire swept across both nations.
In the city of Mondstadt, lights flickered on, one by one, as the world began to wake.
At the edge of the capital, parked across a secure stretch of highway, four black F-14A Tomcats stood like sleeping titans—silent sentinels in the dawn light. The emblem of Emberhowl Air Command Squadron shimmered faintly on their tails.
Military police, Secret Service agents, and armed personnel guarded the perimeter. No one was allowed near the fighters. Not yet.
The pilots slept in their cockpits. It wasn't comfortable. But it was quiet… and safe.
Inside, Emilie sat reclined, arms resting on her lap, her breathing soft beneath the dim glow of the cockpit indicators. The sleep was hard-earned. The kind that follows blood, fire, and victory.
Until—
Knock knock.
A sharp rap on her airframe.
Emilie stirred, blinking blearily.
"Man… now's not the time for a prank…"
She turned her head to the left.
Mona stood there, silhouetted in the early gray light.
"Mona?" Emilie muttered.
Mona sighed, arms crossed.
"Coffee's under your wing. We've got a situation."
She turned and stepped off the ladder, disappearing beneath the Tomcat.
Emilie frowned, rubbing her face with both gloved hands. She unlatched the canopy and slowly climbed down. Her boots hit the asphalt with a quiet thud. A soft morning breeze rippled past her flight suit.
She walked toward the table under her jet's left wing. The whole team was already there—Mona, Ayaka, Mualani… Imena, Mausau, Gracie, Kaeya, Houallet… and Candace.
Candace raised her cup with a nod.
"'Bout time you woke up, Captain. We've got a situation—and it's bad."
She handed Emilie a paper cup of coffee and a plate of food.
Emilie took the coffee first, setting it down as she dug into her breakfast without hesitation. Hunger would not wait.
Kaeya stepped forward.
"Right. Here's the situation."
Gracie continued, voice tense.
"The Teyvat Space Center in Sumeru detected the JFOLG's descent at 0430 hours. We believe that after you and Candace destroyed the control core, it triggered a failsafe. If command link is lost, it enters automatic deorbit mode."
Emilie's eyes narrowed. "Great…"
Gracie nodded. "Yeah. It's already descending. The analysts tracked its orbit…"
She laid a printed flight path across the table and turned it toward them.
The Emberhowl pilots leaned over. What they saw stole the words from their mouths.
The JFOLG's descent trajectory cut straight through Mondstadt City.
Emilie slammed her fork down and grabbed her coffee, chugging it like a lifeline.
"Holy shit… that's a straight shot to the city."
Gracie's voice dropped. "And it gets worse."
Kaeya sighed.
"If the JFOLG hits intact, the kinetic impact alone will erase Mondstadt—and take most of Teyvat with it. Southern Snezhnaya won't survive either."
Imena stepped forward.
"This is your last sortie, Emberhowl. Finish it. And come back alive."
"We'll have you land at Windrise Air Force Base afterward. Wait for AWACS Sky Eye's orders."
She paused, then gave a solemn nod.
"Aces of Emberhowl… good luck."
A deep hum rumbled through the ground.
The ground crew was already spinning up the generators and external air units. The F-14As came alive with whirring turbines and blinking indicators.
Emilie looked to her team—Mona, Ayaka, Mualani.
"This is it… our final mission. Let's end this. Once and for all."
Gracie, Kaeya, Houallet, and Imena cleared the table, dragging it aside to clear the highway runway. The four pilots turned in silence and walked to their birds.
Climbing the ladder, Emilie grabbed her helmet from the RIO seat and lowered herself into the cockpit. It was cold. Silent. Her home.
She scanned the panels and began to breathe life into her war machine.
Startup Procedure:
Altimeter: STBY to RESET. The screen blinked black, then calibrated.
Standby Attitude Indicator: Align.
Power Panel: VDI… HUD… HSD/ECM… switches flipped, systems whirred.
Air Source: BOTH ENG.
Oxygen: Flow activated with a metallic hiss.
Wing Sweep Lever: Fully forward. The wings extended to takeoff position.
Master Reset: Engaged.
UHF Radio: GUARD… BOTH.
TACAN Selector: T/R.
AFCS: Pitch… Roll… Yaw—active. Surfaces twitched in confirmation.
She locked herself in—harness tight, chin strap sealed, canopy hissed closed.
Engine Start:
Right Engine Switch—FLICK.
No.2 spooled to 25% RPM.
Throttle: CUTOFF → IDLE. Combustion engaged.
Repeat for No.1. Twin TF30s now screamed behind her—alive and hungry.
Ground crew gave the thumbs-up. Emilie returned it. A final salute.
Her radio crackled.
Highway Controller:
"This is it, Raven. Your final sortie. It's been an honor. Send 'em home."
AWACS Sky Eye:
"Emberhowl. You are cleared for launch. Godspeed."
Emilie narrowed her eyes, voice steeled.
"Raven—copy that. Emberhowl, let's go."
She slammed her throttles into full afterburner. Flames erupted from the twin nozzles. The black F-14 leapt forward.
Behind her, Mona, Ayaka, and Mualani followed—perfect formation, engines roaring in unison.
Gracie, Kaeya, Imena, Mausau, and Houallet stood by the roadside, wind whipping past as the four Tomcats thundered down the highway.
Houallet lifted his camera.
Click.
A moment frozen in time.
The final takeoff of the Demons of Emberhowl.
One by one, the jets lifted from the asphalt. Gear up. Climbing fast.
They banked left in a sharp, sweeping V. A turn into destiny.
Houallet slowly lowered the camera.
"After a long slumber… Emberhowl returns. This time—as legends."
The F-14s surged upward.
4,000 feet.
8,000.
13,000.
16,000.
22,000…
The sky was clear.
No enemies.
No bandits.
No rival squadrons.
Just four black F-14As…
And one descending doomsday weapon.
At 25,000 feet, they leveled off.
Their HUDs blinked with a distant blip. The orbital linear gun's Descent point.
A bright light broke the edge of the horizon to their right.
The Sun was rising.
Mona keyed her mic, her voice calm and soft.
"Look… the sun's coming up from the east."
Emilie nodded from her cockpit, a rare moment of peace settling in.
"Our night flight is over."
Ayaka sighed wistfully.
"I can't wait to see it… The most beautiful sunrise ever."
Mualani followed with quiet conviction.
"And the sun will keep rising. Now and forever."
Ayaka snapped her fingers suddenly, remembering something.
"Oh! I just remembered… It's my brother's buddy, Thoma's birthday. Two weeks from now."
Mualani chuckled.
"See? Glad you're still alive, Ayaka?"
Ayaka gave a light laugh.
"Of course I am! Heh… I bet my family would be happy to see my brother come home from Natlan… Though… I wish I could be there too…"
Mualani's voice turned gentler.
"Don't worry, kid. One day… you'll see him again. You'll feel that warmth and love again."
Then, Mualani glanced out toward Emilie's F-14A Tomcat.
"Captain Emilie… I…"
Emilie turned her head slightly, checking her six.
"Mualani?"
The older pilot exhaled slowly.
"Flying with you again… reminded me of how important your team is. Of what it means to have a wingman again."
She paused, voice tightening.
"Now… I understand how my men felt."
Mona chimed in next, her voice firm but emotional.
"I promised you, Emilie… from the start… that I wouldn't lose another flight lead. That's what kept me flying this whole time."
She paused, recalling.
"Even when I got shot down... I got back up. I learned from it."
There was a pause.
"Emilie…"
Emilie glanced at her radar, then up to Mona's blip.
"Yes?"
Mona exhaled, a smile in her voice.
"Let me fly as your wingman. Just a little longer."
Emilie nodded without hesitation.
"All of you are my wingmen… Let's savor this moment—after we destroy the JFOLG."
Right on cue, AWACS Sky Eye crackled to life.
"Emberhowl, this is AWACS Sky Eye. Listen closely."
"The JFOLG is now at 25,000 feet and descending slowly. You have seven minutes to take it out. It's within engagement range."
"Your IFFs have been updated with priority targets. The four spinning blades are the loading units. The core is only vulnerable through the openings when the blades rotate."
"This is your one and only shot, Emberhowl. Engage!"
Emilie pushed her throttle forward—full afterburner.
"Raven, engaging!"
The others responded in rapid succession:
"Starseer, engaging!"
"Tempest, engaging!"
"Soumetsu, engaging!"
There it was.
The Judgement Fang Orbital Linear Gun—descending through the clouds like some godless weapon from the heavens. Its immense superstructure groaned with motion, and four enormous, rotating loading unit blades surrounded its core.
The four F-14A Tomcats closed in low beneath the JFOLG, then broke into opposing turns—looping behind the structure, locking into a tight formation.
Then they saw them.
The cores.
Emilie keyed her mic.
"Don't attack at random! Time your launch sequences precisely! You need to line your shots up with the accelerator—get that angle clean!"
She squeezed the trigger.
Two Sidewinders screamed off their rails.
One detonated against a solar panel, sending it spinning away.
The second missile slipped through the rotation and struck the core.
Direct hit.
"Shit! Watch for falling debris!" Emilie called, yanking the stick left, narrowly avoiding a tumbling panel.
She re-formed below, side by side with the others.
More missiles streaked upward. Trails of white exhaust twisted against the backdrop of the rising sun.
Shards of twisted metal and paneling began raining down into the ocean.
Mualani grunted over the radio.
"This is like threading a damn needle!"
Sky Eye returned.
"All solar panels destroyed! Keep going!"
Then suddenly—
CLANG.
One of the four massive blades tore free, colliding violently with the JFOLG before spinning away and plunging into the ocean.
"Debris inbound! BREAK! BREAK!" Emilie shouted.
The four Tomcats split formation, diving and rolling away from the blast zone.
As the structure shook, the F-14As pulled back into attack position, lining up on the next set of exposed cores.
Missiles roared again.
BOOM.
BOOM.
Two massive explosions rocked the orbital weapon.
Sky Eye's voice followed:
"Two down! Two to go!"
Mona was panting but determined.
"I can still move… I can still fly!!"
The fighters descended slightly, prepping for a strike on the lower set of cores.
Fuel was low. Time was lower.
"60 miles till Mondstadt," Sky Eye updated.
Ayaka cut in.
"Don't let Teyvat become another Khaenri'ahn crater!"
Another missile roared from Emilie's bird—angled perfectly.
It soared through the rotating blades, slipped past the accelerator's inner ring, and hit the third core dead center.
BOOM.
A fiery blossom exploded outward—more debris cascading down.
"One to go!" Sky Eye yelled.
Emilie's eyes narrowed.
"Further… further… further!"
Her Tomcat closed in.
Tone. Lock.
"FOX THREE! FOX THREE!"
Two AIM-54 Phoenix missiles streaked off the rails, contrails spiraling.
They passed the rotating blade.
Then the accelerator.
BOOM.
A detonation brighter than the sunrise engulfed the final core.
Emilie punched her fist into the air.
"YES! FINAL CORE IS DOWN!"
Sky Eye's voice surged with urgency.
"All planes, evacuate the area immediately! It's going critical!"
The afterburners of all four F-14As lit up as they turned hard and burned away from the disintegrating JFOLG.
They pushed past Mach One.
Then—
A blinding explosion behind them.
The ocean below surged.
Shockwaves rippled out like ripples in a lake.
Even 40 miles away, Mondstadt's skyline felt the force.
The sky lit up in a wash of white, pink, and violet.
Sky Eye spoke with finality.
"JFOLG destroyed. They did it."
Then—cheers over the open comms.
Ground troops in Mondstadt erupted.
"They did it!"
"We won!"
"Yahoo!!!"
"Salute the Aces of Emberhowl!"
A chant began echoing from the streets and across all open frequencies.
"EMBERHOWL! EMBERHOWL! EMBERHOWL!"
Candace's voice came in over the net, proud and sharp.
"You hear those cheers, Emilie!? Don't tell me you can't hear them!"
Emilie smiled, loosening her grip on the stick.
"That's that… Our mission is done."
Kaeya's voice came through next—clear, composed.
"Mission accomplished, Emberhowl. We're transmitting coordinates to Windrise Air Force Base. Land there—we'll send you home."
Emilie exhaled, relieved.
"Roger that, Kaeya. Heading to you guys now."
Ayaka sighed.
"That's that…"
Mona nodded slowly.
"Yeah… It's all over."
The four F-14As banked right, turning east.
Toward Windrise.
Toward home.
To the end of their flight.
To the end of their mission.
Half an hour later.
The sun had fully breached the horizon, casting long golden rays across the landscape.
Time: 0750 Hours.
At Windrise Air Force Base, the flight line was alive with anticipation. Standing quietly at the edge were Kaeya, Imena, Gracie, Houallet, and Mausau—watching the sky.
From the distance, a quartet of fighters emerged in formation: four F-14A Tomcats, wings still swept for approach, descending steadily on short final.
One by one, their wheels kissed the runway.
The final mission was complete.
The four jets taxied off the strip and onto the apron, engines humming low, exhaust shimmering in the morning light. As they rolled to a halt, they aligned wingtip-to-wingtip—an unspoken show of unity, pride, and defiance.
Houallet stepped forward and raised his camera, capturing the moment. The four Tomcats, silhouetted against the morning sky—etched into history.
Imena glanced at him.
"Mr. Houallet, just a reminder—these photos are not to be released."
Houallet nodded, lowering his camera.
"I understand, Madam President. I'll surrender the memory card before I leave. Whether these photos see the light of day… that decision is yours."
The deep roar of the TF30 engines began to fade, then fell silent.
One after another, the canopies rose.
Then—four solid thuds.
Emilie, Mona, Ayaka, and Mualani had jumped down to the tarmac, leaving their helmets behind in their cockpits.
They were done.
Imena clapped slowly, then smiled.
"That's that, folks. It's all over."
Emilie nodded, her voice quiet.
"Yeah… it is."
Gracie pointed toward a row of chairs lined up by a small transport cart.
"We recovered your personal items from the carrier—phones, wallets, documents. All sorted and labeled."
Kaeya stepped forward, hands in his pockets.
"I suppose this is where we part ways."
Emilie stepped forward and shook his hand.
"Yeah… guess so."
She turned to face Gracie, Houallet, Imena, and Mausau—then gave a respectful nod and walked toward the chairs with her name on them.
Imena called out softly behind her.
"Emilie?"
She paused and turned around.
"Yes, Miss Imena?"
The President offered a small, heartfelt nod.
"I'll be in touch, alright?"
Emilie gave her a salute with two fingers and smiled faintly.
"Will do, Madam President."
As she turned, Mona and Ayaka joined her—both grinning, laughing softly, shoulders easing with the weight of survival finally off them.
Mualani watched them for a moment, arms crossed, smiling to herself.
Gracie tilted her head toward her.
"So, Mualani… what's next?"
The woman stretched her arms, letting out a quiet sigh.
"Well… I think I'm calling it quits with the Air Force too."
Gracie gave a small nod.
"You planning on staying here for a bit?"
Mualani shook her head.
"Nope. I'm going with them."
Gracie gave a playful smirk, gesturing toward the group.
"Well then—off you go, Mualani."
Mualani gave her a nod, then jogged after Emilie, Mona, and Ayaka—laughter trailing behind her like contrails in the sky.
Imena tilted her head upward, gazing at the clear morning sky.
"To the God of Peace… keep us safe from harm's way."
Mission Accomplished.
The war was over.
Peace had returned.
And though the Emberhowl Air Command Squadron existed for only a brief sliver of time, their legacy would never be forgotten.
To the soldiers and aviators of Teyvat, Natlan, and even Khaenri'ah… they were heroes. A force to be reckoned with in fourth-generation fighters.
True aces.
But to the public?
They would remain a mystery.
Their identities—during both Emberhowl and the enigmatic Wolfsbane Squadron—would be buried in sealed documents, marked:
TOP SECRET.
Yet… how long will the world believe they're truly gone?
How long before the truth rises again, like the sun over Windrise?
Only time will tell.