The moon and the starry night sky, they were the final touches to the cities brilliance. It was a place built for the 'clink' of champagne glasses, arrogant laughter and the exchange of generational wealth.
The city of Ascendia, it was the countries ostentatious display to the world. An old and expensive timepiece on Retroidica's powerful wrist, however, the sight of cranes and steel frames in the distance revealed its state of everlasting incompletion.
"They didn't waste time." Yuna thought, guiding the aircraft against the turbulent winds.
She aimed to find a discrete area to land, though she didn't want to stray from Nico's rendezvous location.
She was tense. The impromptu outing made her uneasy, but fortunately it was an opportunity for some practical flight training. Another thing she wasn't particularly good at, though persistence and resilience was instilled into her from young.
The wind battered at the hull relentlessly. A bead of sweat streamed from her blue, metallic headband. It dropped on to temporary, white tracksuit bottoms that she wore over her blue, skin tight under suit.
She tried to reassure herself, but a Staris Daily cover fluttered past the windscreen. She did all she could not to jolt the aircraft in surprise.
Alarming the on looking passengers in the back was another worry among her current extensive list.
The headline was a blur as the weather snatched it away, and combined with the absence of light, impossible to read.
'Retroidica's unprecedented economic boom shocks many' she read. Her thoughts were validated as soon as they were conceived. It was like the country below was taunting her.
Overly enthusiastic relations with a resource rich neighbour paired with covert slavery was the simplified formula. It was enough to allow for new high rises to be built each month, not to mention unregulated weapons programmes and unethical research.
She found it sickening.
She glared at the unorthodox, brutalist landscape before her.
Deriving from the countries discarded ancient language to ascend, the city of Ascendia fittingly reached daringly into the sky. But at what cost?
Tourists would look up in awe of it's architecture, where heritage was gradually eroded by the contemporary.
Bathed in the light of the sun, the city appeared golden, however, the Peacekeeper Paladin Initiative taught her to see beyond its enticing façades.
Her thoughts wondered to the Captain, he had brought the country's corruption before the UN council to no avail. It was expected, after all, their political influence meant not much could be done, not even by them.
"But something had to be done..." She demanded to herself.
Though the injustice tormented her to no end, she had to remain focused on landing and carrying out the mission.
They had not entered Retroidica illegally to tear down their government in a rebellious act of heroism, rather, the Red Paladin, Captain of the Peacekeeper Paladins had gone missing.
"You're gonna land this thing right?"
"I'm working on it!"
She didn't mean to snap but she had never successfully landed her jet without help before.
"Looks like someone's still a lil tense," Ryu started, "you must not look upon the auto-land in shame... the button, it calls to you..."
Ryu was always quick to get on her nerves. He was dramatically smug and self absorbed, especially now as he judged her performance from behind. Though she couldn't deny the occasional laugh he brought to the team.
"That's enough. She's trying her best." Mercy was strapped tight to a seat next to him. She was briefly distracted from Nico's most recent report on her console.
She hadn't taken the sudden mission well, though her encouragement was more than welcome.
She had known her the longest outside of the Captain, and felt that she could depend on her for anything. Yuna saw her as the mother of the team, though she would prefer 'older sister'.
"Hey, I don't want to find out how concrete tastes from two thousand metres up-" The winds caused the Paladin Jet to shudder in response, "... I don't think the jet wants to either..."
Yuna attempted to calm herself down as she steadily guided them towards a deep storm-water aqueduct below. It was dry and empty, allowing for a temporary hiding spot.
Ryu suddenly appeared at the cockpit's dashboard next to her. She lurched the steering console in surprise as he materialised wearing baggy grey sweats over his dark green under suit. It was the post mission get up for the most part.
"Relax, I'm just taking a look," He steadied himself then leaned forward as he pressed his fingers under his headband, focusing his dark eyes into the distance, "I can't… see a thing?"
"If you'd like, I could disable the stealth and use the headlights? How about a large flag at the tail end announcing our arrival?"
He grumbled as he continued to peer through the darkness.
"Just sit down. Before you know it we'll be on the ground, safe and sound. Isn't that right Yuna?"
She wished she could catch even a glimpse of herself through Mercy's eyes, though the tightness of the seatbelts around her subtly betrayed her words.
It wasn't the accuracy that concerned Yuna, but the number of blunders she could potentially make at her agonising pace before landing.
She was also overstimulated. In the sky, she could see far too much. She was at constant war with her vertigo; a lone battle where she couldn't expect the Paladin's intervention.
However, this was only a recent phenomenon. A burden she had unknowingly shouldered after officially becoming a Paladin.
As she gripped the steering console tighter she looked into the vast sky above and was reminded of the older anxiety she kept to herself.
Most have an nonsensical fear, born from a traumatic childhood event, though Yuna's was especially irrational.
From the lurky depths of her fractured memories, the sensation of falling through the air weightless, haunted her like a vengeful spirit.
In her adolescence, it later evolved into an anxiety that feared the sky, though not falling from it.
To have gravity suddenly lose its hold on you, and only you. To lose your grounding in an open field; on the earth we call home. A rejection of your person, of who you are and what you were to be.
Some may find it ridiculous, some a liberating experience, but to fall infinitely with no purpose, no destination...
Yuna hoped that she had fully processed this fear a long time ago, but a sinking pit in her stomach paired with a light headedness would appear without warning, keeping her from forgetting what she had already long forgotten.
She loosened her grip on the console and took a steady deep breath. She grounded her mind and reassured herself with the current realities of the situation.
Despite the turbulence, it had been relatively smooth sailing since lift off and she was already well on her way towards the landing zone.
She could do it.
As her confidence grew, a red light flashed before her that she didn't quite recognise. She quickly caught it just as it began its two flash sequence, separated by an interval of one second.
It was among a complex assortment of switches, screens and dials on a pale dashboard. That was all they became as her heart dropped and her mind, began its descent into panic.
She knew it was too good to be true.
"No." She rebuked the negative mindset.
There was no need to resign herself to failure already; she was going to finish what she started and land the jet.
She raised a trembling hand towards the auto-land switch, the button she had the utmost faith in, though she hated to give Ryu the satisfaction.
It didn't work.
As her reality denied her assuredness, her confidence began to deteriorate faster. She looked to the console above for the light switch. Pointless, though in her current state it was a force of habit.
The light refused to turn on.
"What is happening?"
Her mind was a mess as she screamed internally, continuing to fumble at the dashboard as the stealth deactivated.
"Is everything okay?" Mercy had caught on.
"Yeah, no. Um, everything is..."
Yuna was only ever good at one thing: Guns.
If a fight involved them, as the Paladin of Defence and Assault, she saw no equal. But she now realised how truly niche her skillset was as gravity began to dissipate.
They were in free fall.
"What happened! I thought you had it under control-!" Ryu was on his way to his seat when lose cases and bags slid to one side.
The engine and the rest of the vehicle's systems had completely shut down.
Was it Retroidica?
Perhaps an EMP blast to prevent their landing? Her mind raced towards a multitude of possibilities as they plummeted.
She thought better. After spending hours on the flight simulator function, rehearsing all the necessary procedures right before setting out, she made sure the stealth had been activated before lift off.
Retroidica would have no chance of knowing of their presence, at least not until now.
"I knew it! I knew I should've flown instead," Ryu somehow managed to sound mellow dramatic within their predicament.
He sat unharmed, squatting on the back wall with his head in his hands.
"This can't be how I meet my fate!"
"Quiet! Let me focus." Mercy was still strapped to her seat like Yuna, though her eyes were closed.
Both of their behaviours were odd, but they were the Peacekeeper Paladins, she didn't expect anything less. Though, any thought of some kind of test or prank vanished as she glimpsed at Mercy's resolved expression in the reflection. Yuna had to act, fast.
She looked towards the sideways exit as the city beyond the windows barrelled closer in her peripheral. If she could just get to the door and manually open it they'd all be able to escape, using the glider function in their suits to land.
The only problem would be the jet, it would be left to free fall and explode somewhere. Alerting the country to their presence would be the least of their worries if the Paladin Jet collided into an occupied building. They'd go from peacekeepers to terrorists in an instant.
Over a decade of hard work and goodwill built with the general public and governments internationally, her fathers work, it would all come crashing down in a single incident. And it would be all her fault. The incompetent newbie.
She could already see the headlines and news reports detailing the horrific casualties and deaths. There would be riots in the streets calling for their heads, demanding their governments take the appropriate action.
Her head pounded as future scenarios tormented her being. The change in air pressure stabbed at her ears and her heart rate and breathing accelerated, reaching terminal velocity alongside the lifeless jet.
She felt helpless. Was there nothing she could do?
A light flooded the cockpit and the rest of the interior from the outside. She feared it was a live news helicopter before coming to her senses.
"Alright I've encased us! But we still need to land this thing. Yuna be my eyes!"
She quickly snapped out of her stupor and looked through the windows. They were swallowed by a translucent, sphere of energy.
It then began to sprout and form a large, flat surface on either side. Once they had stopped, she saw what was now a broad arrowhead-like shape around them, like the wings of a plane. She was attempting to glide them down.
Disorientated, Yuna managed to spot the winding strip that was the aqueduct through the purple haze of the barrier.
"Steer us left!" Without hesitation they veered, narrowly avoiding steel girders and scaffolding from a nearby construction site.
They had picked up too much speed. Even if they'd managed to reach the landing zone, would the barrier withstand the collision? She had seen Mercy in action, her constructs were not invincible.
Still, her smooth manoeuvre exuded a skilled confidence as she lifted a small flap on the wing. They were sideways as the prevalent winds kept them aloft. She was remarkable.
"That's it now straighten up, it's right ahead!"
The aqueduct stretched across in the fast approaching distance. It was a dry canal of pale grey concrete slabs and sloped walls. Isolated from most buildings and roads, it ran throughout the city alongside a belt of greenery.
At their current speed and angle, Yuna feared it wouldn't be much of a landing, surely Mercy had a plan, right? No, Yuna had to make the most of the situation herself.
She briefly caught a reflection of themselves from a nearby building. Her previously stealthy aircraft was now a gigantic glowing rocket ship, lighting up the night sky in a purple hue as they descended further into the city. Yuna decided to focus on surviving the next few seconds before worrying about already compromising the mission.
"Building! Bank right!" An ancient temple with intricate décor and a tall spire loomed in their descending path. Mercy avoided it in time but Yuna saw as fine bits of stone crumbled and fell from their brief contact.
She continued their change in trajectory until they came parallel alongside the winding storm-water system. They gradually lowered until they were no more than ten metres above the ground, breaking the tops of the taller trees in their wake.
They were too wide. If they were to fit inside, their additional wingspan would have to be removed completely. Which would also irradicate all hopes of a smooth landing.
On Yuna's instruction, they were slowly drifted to the centre and the construct reduced until only the barrier around them remained.
Yuna braced for impact.
Instead of smashing to pieces across the aqueduct floor, they bounced off into the air. The sensation was abrupt as it was unexpected, lurching the two forward in their seats while Ryu held on to his own for dear life. It was admittedly hard to feel sorry for him.
Their momentum had carried them a far distance before they yielded once more to gravity. They bounced off the aqueduct floor again and again, each arc growing smaller as they leaped from the sloped walls back into the centre. Like a bouncy ball, thrown into an exposed gutter in a children's game.
They finally collided into a bridge that stretched across their path. The construct broke apart after rebounding off of its surface. The jet spun as it landed, skidding across the floor while it kicked up dust and sparks before grinding to an eventual halt.
Yuna sat in a bewildered silence. They were alive.
Fears of potential scenarios slowly melted away like a forgotten nightmare, fading to a place that could no longer reach her.
They weren't in the clear yet, someone may have seen them. Though despite the thought, she bathed in her relief regardless.
"We did it team! Nice one!" Ryu was already cheerfully opening the back door of the jet manually, beaming as it laboured its way open. Yuna couldn't quite believe it.
"We as in Yuna and I, right?" He conveniently didn't respond to Mercy's retort.
"You best be speaking Foire, because there's no way your taking credit for that!" Ryu had finally done it, Yuna was mad.
Mercy sighed.
"He's just being regular ol' Ryu don't take him so seriously..."
"No! He was just screaming like a baby! Something he does a lot when Nico or the Captain aren't around!"
The words came out on their own, born from pure adrenaline. Or perhaps from her own self frustration.
A flash of annoyance appeared on his face as he turned to her. Did she over step?
His expression quickly softened again, returning to his usual smug demeanour.
"Ah you see, I was showing you the consequences of your incompetence and how it may affect others," he appeared next to her but this time she tracked his movements, "I'm sure you'll land as gracefully as your looks may suggest next time..."
He was trying hard to recover the situation with his forced sophisticated rhetoric.
She hated that he was able to crack an embarrassed smile across her face.
"Yeah right..."
"Ryu," Mercy warned disapprovingly, "stop horsing around, we're already on the clock."
"Wait, you're not mad at me too are you? If I could fly around the jet and carry us down you'd be calling me Captain..."
There was a tangible silence.
Mercy stared at the Green Paladin unenthused.
"...No? Too soon...?"
"Never mind that," she reached into a large, brown duffle that was now by her feet, "wear these over your under suits, we'll need them to blend in."
A loud boom went off somewhere above them and Yuna flinched. It was followed by a crackle then another ear splitting shockwave. The sound was all too familiar, but the context appeared to be starkly different.
"You see? They've already started the festivities, hopefully our little stunt can be retroactively overlooked."
"Ha, 'retro-active' I see what you did there!"
Yuna walked down the ramp and looked out into the sky. Lights streamed into the air like missiles before exploding into an expansive, colourful display of purple and red glowing light.
"Oh, it's just fireworks."
"Yeah, the country goes pretty hard for their national holidays, especially spiritual ones," Ryu informed, "their firework technology is the best in the world actually."
"Seems pretty standard to me..."
As the chorus of explosions briefly subsided, a singular stream of white light traced through the night.
It left star like embers in its wake as it streamed upwards before abruptly changing its trajectory, cutting a slanted oval of light in the sky.
Yuna's breath caught in her throat when it finally exploded. It had created an impressive galactic disk that filled her vision with a vibrant, detailed display of spiralling colours.
It slowly turned as it lingered while more smaller fireworks added additional galaxies in the background.
"... I stand corrected."
"Here, this one's for you." Mercy had passed her a dark cloak with silver design detailing and accents.
It was surprisingly heavy and its material was textured and soft.
She turned to Ryu, he was already putting on his own. It was a greyish brown with similar detailing but a rosy gold instead.
"Nothing like traditional Retroidican cloth, huh Mercy?"
"Nico was adamant that we bring our armour, we don't know when or where to expect some action," she didn't want to waste anymore time, "and house it somewhere other than your foreheads, please..."
She flung her own reddish brown cloak over her shoulders and pocketed a wad of Retroidican tens in an inner compartment.
"Our approval rating is mid to low in this country as far as the people are concerned, but it's even worse for their government. They've been waiting for an opportunity like this one to destroy our credibility."
Yuna took off her metal head band and placed it around her waist. She watched as the nano technology flipped and transformed, creating a thick, blue and silver belt.
Mercy watched as Ryu's headband morphed into a green and gold kasa hat, only this one was metal and had a golden dragon snaking around the edges.
"...What?"
Mercy rolled her eyes as she slowly closed the jet, it seemed she already knew the logic in his justification and didn't want to bother.
Yuna wondered how he did that but didn't want to ask. She was still getting used to controlling her Paladin armour, but it was virtually impossible to deviate from the pre set variations.
"Oh wait, my sword-" He suddenly appeared with it in his grasp well before the hatch fully closed.
The weapon was mostly green and red and showed its age with a heavily weathered tsuba and frayed ito along the handle. Its sheath was longer than a standard katana's, though the handle was just as long.
Yuna remembered training with the weapon once before out of curiosity, it was almost impossible for her to achieve a clean cut thanks to it's unconventional length and balance.
Ryu rarely used it in actual combat; it was more of a charm of good fortune for the Paladins that he wore across his back.
But he was undoubtedly a true master.
"Alrighty then," he cheerfully announced at first, finally wrapping his sword in cloth, "rendezvous with... Nico. Great..."
As Yuna walked up the side of the aqueduct she racked her brains for potential causes of the PJ's system failure. Did she press something? Everything was fine up until the red light had appeared.
"You do realise what happened wasn't exactly my fault, right? The console literally just died on me."
"Oh really?" Ryu started, "so it had nothing to do with the simulator function you spent hours on before we set off?"
The realisation was like a slap in the face. How did he even know that?
"Thermal stress, hardware degradation… these things could pretty much burn out the power relays, low voltage converters…"
"If you knew all that why didn't you tell me before lift off!" Yuna protested, but she knew she should've known better.
"Hey, I added two and two together just now, I'm not always not just a pretty face... maybe like half of the time-"
"Seriously Yuna?" Mercy cut in with a tone of irritation, "draining the battery before a mission, you should've been more cognisant!"
Her words cut deep. She had disappointed her, but what else was new.
"Sometimes I wonder what Victor was thinking letting you into the initiative so early, he hasn't been the same since..." She had muttered it under her breath, but it was more audible than she had anticipated just as the fireworks briefly died down.
Yuna found herself vacantly staring at the back of her short curly hair, watching as she continued up the slope, swallowed by her traditional cloak.
She honestly didn't know what to think. She truly admired her and hated to let her down, but she always felt there was an unresolved tension between them and the Captain.
Was it jealousy?
She desperately didn't want to fracture their relationship any further.
"I know Nico would say: 'it was the Captain, he anticipated our pursuit and rigged the jet!'" Ryu's impression failed to lighten the mood but she didn't mind the attempt.
"I'm sorry," Mercy said finally, "I didn't mean to say that, Yuna. I'm just... worried..."
"All these sudden absences, they aren't like him," she continued, "I would like to understand why but... this mission risks... everything."
"...Well, we're already off to a great start team," Ryu cut in again, "anyway I was meaning to ask Mercy, before you involuntarily soured the festive mood, how were you able to change the property of your constructs back there?"
"...Oh, my rubberised construct? Just something new I..." Her melancholic tone trailed off as she reached the top of the slope.
Her sudden apprehension let Yuna know someone was there.
Once they finally caught up, the three of them stared at two shadowy figures looming across from them in identical, Retroidican cloaks.