30 minutes later.
The three F-14A Tomcats cruised deep at 19,000 feet.
They held tight formation—Emilie in the lead, with Ayaka and Mona tucked just off her wings.
Then, the radio crackled to life.
"Wolfsbane, this is Thunderspike. Good work out there today."
"There's a refueling tanker at your twelve o'clock with escort fighters. They'll guide you in."
Emilie responded calmly.
"Roger, Thunderspike."
Thunderspike's voice returned with enthusiasm.
"The war's turning our way! We're one step from the capital—I can feel it! As long as you three are in the air, there's nothing we can't do!"
Mona tapped her chin, eyes narrowing.
"Those planes Ayaka and I fought earlier... something felt off about the way they flew."
Emilie's brow furrowed. Her radar pinged.
"Hold on… got something coming in on radar."
She eyed her IFF.
"F-15S/MTDs... wait. You remember what I said this morning?"
Before they could answer, the radio cut in again.
"This is the 5050th Squadron. Can you see us? It'd be an honor to escort our heroes home. Let's go together."
Emilie's voice went cold.
"Natlan... Khaenri'ah... the 5050th..."
Then—
Their radar screens glitched with static.
Their RWRs lit up like wildfire.
"SHIT! ENEMY ECM!" Emilie barked. "THE ESCORT'S A SPOOF! EVASIVE MANEUVERS—NOW!"
The three jets instantly broke formation, snapping into erratic rolls and defensive flying to shake any incoming locks.
"But how?!" Mona shouted.
"I TOLD YOU!" Emilie yelled. "THE 5050TH DOESN'T EXIST! THEY'RE THE KHAENRI'AHN AGGRESSOR SQUADRON!"
Suddenly, dozens of hostile IFF contacts flickered onto their screens.
"SHIT! THAT'S A FUCKTON!"
Ayaka's voice cut in, steady but angry.
"Someone in Teyvat set us up. Just like the stadium incident..."
Emilie keyed her radio.
"Thunderspike? Thunderspike, do you read!?"
No reply.
Then another voice came through, cold and unfamiliar:
"You must not let them live. This war must go on."
Mona's voice trembled with realization.
"So the 5050th aren't Natlan spies…?"
"NO SHIT!" Emilie snapped.
**"THEY'RE KHAENRI'AHN! REMEMBER THE PRESIDENTIAL OP? THEY RELIEVED US!"
"AND HERE—SECTOR BRAVO ALPHA—they attacked that college using our IFF tags!"
"THAT MEANS… THEY HAVE PRESIDENT IMENA!"
"THEY'RE ESCALATING THE WAR!"**
"Yeah!" Mona echoed.
"We have to warn everyone," Ayaka said, voice urgent. "But how!?"
"We break through!" Emilie commanded.
"We can't fight—not with our current payload and fuel state! Dive into the valleys and run south! Ancestral Valley, then east through Deshret, and straight to Petrichor!"
"Forget fuel—this is about survival! Firewall your throttles!"
She slammed her throttles to max AB, flipped inverted, and dove hard toward the terrain.
Mona and Ayaka followed, their afterburners blazing as they plunged into the low valley.
The Khaenri'ahn squadron surged behind them.
Emilie leveled out just above the treetops, her Tomcat slicing through tight ravines, weaving left, right, climbing and dropping through brutal terrain.
Ayaka checked her panel.
"No radar contacts—it's all jammed!"
"Same here!" Mona confirmed.
"Nothing on mine either!" Emilie called. "Stick to your compass—it's the only thing that won't lie to us!"
The trio tore through the terrain at treetop level, engines screaming, wings flexing, every move danced on the edge of their skill.
The enemy stayed on them—until the radio flared again.
"They're leaving the area, sir."
A quiet sigh.
"Let them go. We'll get them tomorrow. We know where they're headed."
The Khaenri'ahn fighters peeled away, vanishing westward.
"Looks like they're bugging out," Emilie said.
"Let's get to Petrichor ASAP," Ayaka replied.
The three F-14s climbed back to altitude, exhausts blazing as they banked northeast—back toward home.
Hours later…
Petrichor Air Force Base.
Houallet and Kaeya sat quietly in the pilots' lounge.
Houallet lowered his phone with a grim look.
"Kaeya…"
"Would it surprise you if I told you my buddy just said that no one's seen President Imena anywhere in Teyvat?"
Kaeya didn't even blink.
"Not really. The war Teyvat is fighting now doesn't look anything like the peace treaty she was advocating during her campaign."
Houallet turned to him.
"Exactly. My journalist friend in Mondstadt said no one's seen her leave or enter her office for weeks."
"All of her decisions are being funneled through the vice president."
Kaeya narrowed his eyes.
"That doesn't sound right."
Houallet continued, voice low.
"And get this—many military officials who resigned over Imena's disarmament plan? They've quietly returned to the capital."
Kaeya let out a long sigh.
"I've been digging too. Remember that Khaenri'ahn aggressor squadron I told you about?"
Houallet nodded.
"Yeah?"
"They call themselves the 5050th Squadron. And the kicker? Captain Maksim—the adjutant base commander here at Petrichor? He used to fly with them."
Houallet stepped forward, stunned.
"What!?"
Just then, the roaring thunder of TF30 engines rolled over them.
They turned toward the window.
Emilie, Mona, and Ayaka's F-14A Tomcats were descending smoothly onto Runway 30, trailing a thin stream of vapor in the cool island air.
The jets slowed and taxied off the runway.
Inside her Tomcat, Emilie keyed the radio, voice filled with fury.
"No point in talking to that asshole Courbevoie. He treated our president like trash. All because she wants peace."
Ayaka responded from her backseat.
"What about Captain Maksim?"
"Right. Me and Mona will handle him. You go find Houallet and Kaeya. Tell them what the fuck happened to us over Tepecac Rise."
"Roger."
The jets parked at their designated spot.
Emilie slammed on the brakes, bringing her F-14 to a sharp, jarring halt. She didn't wait for the ground crew.
She yanked the throttles to cutoff, canopy hissing open as it slid back. Without wasting a second, she pulled off her shoulder harness, tossed her helmet on the seat, and leapt down from the cockpit. Her boots hit the tarmac hard.
With Mona and Ayaka trailing, she strode toward the main building.
Ayaka peeled off, heading toward the crew lounge. She opened the door—and there were Houallet and Kaeya, waiting by the window.
She didn't waste time.
"Kaeya, Houallet. We need to talk."
Kaeya turned, calm but alert.
"We're all ears, kid."
Ayaka got straight to the point.
"We were attacked by the 5050th Squadron over Tepecac Rise. An hour ago. We managed to lose them in the valley."
Kaeya's eyes widened.
"What!? Where are Emilie and Mona?"
"They went to talk to Captain Maksim."
Her eyes darted between the two men, uncertain.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Kaeya exhaled.
"We're out of time. We need to talk to Courbevoie. Now."
Houallet nodded.
"Let's go."
They headed down the corridor. Houallet opened the door to Courbevoie's office.
The base commander greeted them with a smirk.
"Heh. Thanks for coming, Second Lieutenant. I was about to call you in."
Kaeya raised an eyebrow.
"Me?"
Courbevoie flipped through a dossier.
"Special Forces Second Lieutenant Kaeya Alberich, right?"
"Fifteen years ago, you and Candace were shot down in Nod-Krai. Supposedly by a pilot who went by the TAC name The Knave—also known as the Demon Lord of Nod-Krai."
He leaned back in his chair.
"Candace's squadron HQ was destroyed. All its data fried by a Khaenri'ahn magnetic pulse."
"When you made it back to Allied lines, it was Candace's testimony that got you cleared as the squadron leader…"
Courbevoie's tone darkened.
"…But was that really true?"
Suddenly, he drew a pistol from his desk drawer.
Ayaka instantly pulled her Beretta and aimed it squarely at him.
Courbevoie didn't flinch.
"Turns out Candace was a spy. So tell me… who are you really?"
Kaeya didn't move. He stared back coldly.
Courbevoie sneered.
"No military record, no proof. Just whispers… about a descendant of the Abyss Order's founder."
Across the building, the mood was no better.
Emilie and Mona stood in Maksim's office.
Emilie slammed her hand on the desk.
"Listen to me, Maksim. We're in danger. The 5050th? They're Khaenri'ahn spies."
Maksim scoffed.
"I should be asking you the same."
"You were the only squadron near Area Bravo Alpha during that op."
He stood, staring them down.
"You committed war crimes in Natlan."
Mona stepped forward.
"But we didn't! Emilie already told you!"
Maksim shook his head.
"I'm sorry. But I'm placing you both under arrest."
Emilie's expression turned cold.
"Screw this."
She drew her sidearm and struck Maksim across the face. He hit the floor, unconscious.
"Mona! Find the circuit breakers and kill the lights! We're getting out of here—with Kaeya and Houallet!"
Mona nodded and sprinted toward the utility panel.
She flipped every switch off.
Back in Courbevoie's office, the lights went dark.
Courbevoie looked up in confusion—just as Kaeya hurled a chair at him. Ayaka took her shot, hitting Courbevoie in the arm.
"Agh! Shit!"
His pistol dropped to the floor.
Ayaka rushed out, Houallet following.
Kaeya was the last out, slamming the door behind them as the alarm klaxon blared to life.
"They're spies! Arrest them on sight!"
The base erupted in chaos—spotlights flashed, boots thundered across the pavement.
Kaeya motioned to the others.
"This way. We can hide by my hangar."
The three sprinted across the flight line, weaving between rows of grounded aircraft, before ducking between two hangar buildings
Only to be greeted by the cold stare of Emilie and Mona—both aiming their sidearms directly at them.
All hands shot up in the air in an instant.
"Archons Almighty!"
Emilie exhaled sharply, lowering her pistol but keeping her eyes sharp.
"Goddamn it, guys. Call our names out before sneaking up on us!"
Houallet let out a breath, tension still thick in the air.
"Looks like Maksim has the base commander fooled too."
Emilie scoffed, her tone sharp and bitter.
"If I had the chance, I'd put a fucking round through that bastard's skull right now."
Houallet's gaze drifted toward the hangar windows, eyes scanning the tarmac under the moonlight.
"Someone's trying to keep this war going. Push the rift between Teyvat and Natlan even wider."
Emilie looked at him, voice low and scathing.
"Who do you think it is!? Of course it's Khaenri'ah!"
Houallet sighed, rubbing his temple.
"But if Teyvat keeps winning... the war would end. Fast."
Mona narrowed her eyes. "And they want us out of the picture to stop that?"
Houallet nodded grimly.
"Exactly. You, Ayaka, Emilie—you're the backbone. The aces. The symbols of morale for every pilot and soldier fighting this war."
Kaeya's voice cut through the tense silence.
"And now... you know something you were better off not knowing. The truth behind the President's disappearance."
Houallet turned, fixing Kaeya with a stare.
"Who are you, really, Kaeya?"
Ayaka's voice broke through the silence as her eyes darted to the far end of the hangar.
"Shit! They've locked our F-14s down. We're trapped."
Kaeya didn't miss a beat. He snapped his fingers and pointed down a corridor.
"Hangar C's right next door. Your old F-5 Tiger IIs are stored there. And my Hawk is still in there too."
He looked at Houallet.
"The Hawk's a two-seater. You're riding with me."
Emilie stepped forward, eyes narrowed.
"They were damaged during the last raid. Are they even flight-ready?"
Kaeya nodded.
"Engines replaced. Systems checked. I kept them in top shape. Just in case."
He glanced toward a security panel.
"We'll use the service tunnel. Quiet exit."
Without another word, the group slipped into the access hallway, the echo of boots against concrete lost beneath the hum of floodlights and distant engines.
Hangar C greeted them with dim lights and the silhouettes of steel machines sleeping in the dark.
Their F-5 Tiger IIs stood waiting, weathered but reliable. Kaeya's BAE Hawk sat quietly beside them, canopy open, ladder already down.
"Alright," Kaeya said. "Suit up. Helmets should still be in the lockers."
The pilots moved like muscle memory had taken over.
Emilie climbed up her bird—wing, intake, cockpit—and settled inside. Her hands moved quickly, strapping herself in, helmet sliding over her head with a sharp clack. She exhaled slowly.
"Heh... Been a while, old girl."
She secured her mask, adjusted her harness, and reached for the master switch.
The F-5's avionics roared to life. The canopy hissed shut above her. Green backlighting filled the cockpit. Her HUD flickered on.
The hangar doors creaked open.
No alarms.
No shouting.
Just the whisper of escape.
Until—
A soldier turned around.
Eyes widened.
Engines started whining.
Then—shouting.
"They're escaping! Open fire!"
Gunfire erupted, but it was too late. The planes had begun taxiing. Bullets pinged off reinforced fuselages, sparking harmlessly against the old but hardened frames.
Kaeya's Hawk rolled first, followed by Emilie's Tiger II, then Ayaka and Mona.
Wheels hit the main runway.
Throttles shoved forward.
One after another, afterburners lit the night sky.
They soared into the black.
Kaeya's voice crackled over the radio.
"Climb hard! Full burn! Get altitude now!"
The four-ship formation formed up tight, streaking southeast into the unknown.
Emilie's voice was quiet but heavy.
"We've got no home left…"
Then, a different voice—cutting in through a wideband frequency.
Maksim.
"This is Command. Attention all Teyvat Air Force units.
Enemy spy elements have escaped in three F-5 Tiger II aircraft and one BAE Systems Hawk, heading southeast.
Locate and shoot them down. I repeat—use lethal force.
They are to be considered traitors to the realm."
Emilie's fist slammed the console.
"MAKSIM, YOU FUCKING SON OF A BITCH!"
Kaeya keyed his mic.
"I hope you don't mind if I lead, Emilie."
He paused, voice tightening.
"Everyone—follow my lead."
The four jets banked southeast, disappearing into the clouds.
No longer heroes.
No longer symbols.
Now—traitors.
Hunted.
Branded.
But still flying.
Still fighting.
Their wings carried them into a sky no longer theirs.
Into exile.
Into the skies unknown.