A tanned girl in her late teens with red-brown hair tied up into milkmaid braids sat in front of her dresser mirror. She was putting light make up on, picking up her chopsticks in between to eat the last few bites left of her breakfast— freshly steamed rice topped with assorted Japanese pickles.

She went downstairs and stepped into the kitchen, put her bowl in the sink, then turned on the faucet to soak it in water.

“Morning, Mom!”

Her mother, who looked just an older version of her, was wearing an apron over her business suit. With dark hair tied to the side, her small, tanned face was framed by her fringe and loose strands covering her ears. Her gentle smile reached her vibrant brown eyes.

“Luna, how many times have I told you to eat breakfast properly at the table?”

Her mother took off her apron and hung it on the side of the fridge, then set two plates of grilled fish and bowls of miso soup on the table.

“Sorry, I had to rush,” Luna took two bowls, filled them with rice then put them on the table to complete the spread.

“Rush? It takes less than 15 minutes to get to the base. And there’s still 3 hours before the test begins. Are you nervous?”

Luna stuck her tongue out, smiling sheepishly.

“More like excited,” Luna’s older brother tousled her hair.

“Hey! Styling my hair actually takes time, you know,” she lightly slapped his hand away.

“Good morning, Zephyr. Won’t you join me for breakfast?” their mother asked as she sat down to eat.

“Morning, Mom. Would love to! I have a long day ahead. I’ve got to do routine check up on Team Alpha since they’re coming back today. Then there’s the flight exams, we’re on standby for that in case anything goes sideways.”

“Busy as always, eh, big brother?” Luna said as she poured tea for him and their mother, before their mother took the kettle from her and poured Luna’s.

“My hands are full looking after my frail but reckless brother and fending off your suitors.” Zephyr said coolly as he sipped his miso soup.

“I can fend them off myself, thank you. And you’re right, he is pretty reckless, but you’re also overprotective. No wonder you never have time to date. I feel bad for all the ladies pining for the tall, dark, and handsome top medic.”

Tall, dark, and handsome. As cliché as it sounded, there was no better way to describe Zephyr. He was the tallest in their family, and had looks that charmed women of all ages— from kindergarten students in the nearby school who adored him, to the tiny grandmas in their neighborhood who gave him candy every day.

“It’s more fun being with him than going on a date.”

Luna’s eyes drooped. “It’s pretty scary how you say that with a straight face. No wonder everyone says you have a brother complex.”

“And you, dubbed GDF’s pretty little angel, your admirers would cower if they knew you have such a sharp tongue.”

“Shut up, Zeph. She is a darling little angel,” their mother replied in a defensive tone, making both swiftly turn to her, wide-eyed, then laughed.

“Wow, Mom… That really sounded like him,” said Zephyr. Luna almost spat her tea. “Yeah. Totally nailed it. That's exactly how he talks.”

“But of course. He’s my son too, after all,” their mother chuckled.

            They gathered round a five-seater dining table; their mother and Zephyr sat side by side, while Luna and her eldest brother sat across from them. Their father’s seat had been unoccupied for years, but every single day, without fail, their mother would still set his bowl and chopsticks there. They all hoped that one day, the head of the family would walk in through the front door and finally join them again.

Luna and Zephyr took the lunches their mother packed for them then walked to the train station. They lived in Mikuni, a town in Fukui Prefecture close to the sea and the road they took ran parallel to the shore. Luna relished feeling the sea breeze on her face. It was just a little past sunrise but students as well as adults in business suits were already out and about, some going into convenience stores— their familiar jingles resounding as their doors opened. 

“Mornin’, kids!” A buff man with a big smile sweeping the front of a closed izakaya waved to them, the gold ring on his ring finger glinting as it reflected the rays of the morning sun. The wooden sign in front of the two-floor building read ‘Seigetsu’ in hiragana.

“Morning, Tsukishiro-san!” They waved back.

They went into Mikuniminato Station, which was the last stop on the train line and just steps away from the beach. But those who had access knew there was a restricted station underground, and the gates required a special silver pass key with the letters GDF embossed on it. It led to a platform with an underwater bullet train, which had only one stop. The screen above it read:

06:52 – GDF Iruka Liner

-

The siblings parted ways as soon as they arrived at the base. Zephyr met up with his medic team for their orientation, while Luna went to the hangar to prepare for the flight exams and do some final checks on her fighter plane.

“That should do it,” she hopped off her fighter, satisfied.

“This is it, y’all. July 6^th, the big day. And this right here is the fighter I’ll be flying in.

Every recruitment period, GDF gets between 60,000 to 100,000 applicants. Only 100 to 150 make it to the final cut to become cadets. And out of that, only 10 or so pass the flight exams. I worked my ass off, so there’s no way Imma let myself fail. Wish me luck!”

A boy with the face of an idol trainee made a finger heart sign at his phone. The flood of good luck messages made him smile then he ended his story. He was in the same training group as Luna and walked towards her.  “Yo! You’re here early.”

“I could say the same about you, Baek Ha-yoon. Bet you’re nervous.”

“Ha! Me? I was born for the skies. Just like Ka…”

Before Ha-yoon could finish, the sound of incoming fighters called their attention.

“They’re here!” Luna squealed as she ran towards the entrance of the hangar, Ha-yoon tailing behind her.

Five pristine white fighter planes, each one accented with hues of blue on its body and gold in front as if it had eyes, and displaying the letters GDF and an alpha symbol on its tail, were flying in perfect formation and landed in synch. Ha-yoon scrambled to unlock his phone, flipped it to the back camera, and started filming.

“Oh. My. God. You guys! This must be a sign! I get to see Team Alpha up close on exams day! Dubbed the wolves of the sky, they're GDF’s elite force!”

“You know they used to be a team of underdogs, right?” Luna said, not really caring that she was talking during Ha-yoon’s livestream.

“Yeah. But they rose to the top of the ranks so fast! And even though it’s been a decade, their records have yet to be surpassed, so no one really remembers that.”

Five pilots got off, donning white space suits accented with the silhouette of a soaring bird across the chest in different colors. They also wore fanny packs.

            “As you can see, even though their space suits are all the same, the soaring bird—GDF’s emblem— have different colours. That’s because it’s colour-coded according to the pilot’s specialization.”

Ha-yoon zoomed in on them one by one. The first was the man in front with a purple bird on his suit. His helmet reverted into a wing-shaped earpiece, revealing a chiseled face, deep-set sapphire eyes with a mole under his left eye, and short brunette hair. Ha-yoon’s stream had ‘#CaptainApollo' trending in just minutes. The comment with the most hearts was ‘if jawlines could cut’.

“That’s the leader of the pack, Captain Chris Norland. Purple means he’s a M.A.G.E. Operative— oh, that means magic stuff— and they say he’s a prodigy. Few people manage to pass the test to become one, and fewer still can completely synchronize with their mediums to release an Element. But the captain is said to be able to release any Element he so wills. He was the youngest to ever become a M.A.G.E., and also a genius tactician. He led his team to the top of the ranks in less than a year. Now they’re sent to the most dangerous missions on top of regularly going on space patrol."

He then shifted his focus to the next person in line with a blue bird on his suit, a tall blonde man whose hair was tied in a loose ponytail putting on his glasses.

"Hogan Klein a.k.a. The Sniper. Blue means he’s a weapons specialist. Rumor has it that he can hit a target even though it’s so far all he sees is a tiny dot.”

As his video was flooded with comments asking for the subject's phone number, Ha-yoon smoothly transitioned to the next two pilots walking side by side, immersed in their lively chatter. They were both women; one was slightly taller, with short black hair and similar shade of dark eyes, while the other one had the same features as Hogan, except she had long, flowing blonde hair that gracefully fluttered in the wind and wore bright purple contacts. They both had silver birds on their suit.

"Moving on, next are the only female members of Team Alpha. They’re practically inseparable. Silver means they’re in charge of engineering and comms. Tala De La Rosa, who assisted Dr. Lyle himself in designing the fighters, and the top mechanic and tech expert, Bianca Klein, who programmed Team Alpha’s very own virtual assistant, Ava! Together, they’re a deadly duo of close combat warriors. Apparently they’re still undefeated, even by instructors!”

“Yep! Girl power goals,” Luna chuckled.

The last one Ha-yoon focused on was the shortest of the bunch, who also had a blue bird across his chest.

“Ah… there he is. Karl Takaya Lyle,” Ha-yoon sighed dreamily.

“A.k.a. his idol,” Luna rolled her eyes.

“He was the youngest pilot at eleven"

“I know”

“And his flying records are the highest in the history of GDF. The ace pilot of Team Alpha”

“I know”

“Luna, please. I know that you know”

Karl looked left and right, then Ha-yoon’s breath got caught in his throat when the man spotted them. He felt like he was going to faint when Karl gave a little wave.

“Oh, he found us,” Luna giggled then ran towards Karl, who lifted her up and spun her around.

“Oh and that’s Luna. Karl’s younger sister, by the way,” Ha-yoon said before turning off his camera and admiring Team Alpha from a distance.

-

Half an hour before the flight tests, the cadets donned their suits and were on standby, some already got into their spacecrafts. Karl smiled ruefully as he looked at their faces. “Everyone seems nervous. I know that feeling all too well.”

As Luna put her helmet on, he did what visual inspection he could on his sister’s fighter.

“Did you do your pre-flight check thoroughly? Are your comms properly working? What about your suit? And did you-”

“Karl!” Luna lightly slapped her older brother with both hands, cupping his face. “Relax. I triple-checked everything this morning. I’ve been here since 7:00, okay? Besides…” She held her brother’s hands. “I’ve been preparing for this since day one. I may be the youngest, but don’t underestimate the smartest child in our family.”  

Karl snorted, then tiptoed a bit to bump his forehead against Luna’s helmet since she was slightly taller than him. “That’s true. Have to remind myself that you’re not a baby anymore…” Smirking, he added, “Go get ‘em!”

Luna opened her mouth and looked like she was about to say something, but closed it again. She settled for a bright grin. “Thanks! I’ll see you after the test. Now go away,” she playfully pushed him away then hopped onto her fighter.

Karl joined the rest of his team to watch the test from the control room. Not too far from them, he spotted his mother with her secretary. As if feeling his gaze, Mrs. Lyle looked his way, and when their eyes met, her face lit up into a smile as she mouthed the words ‘Welcome home.’

Grinning back, Karl also quietly mouthed the words ‘I’m home.’

Turning back to the hangar, he saw the medic teams on standby and easily spotted his younger brother, the head of the entire medic division, giving instructions to his fellow captains.

As he watched the medics saluting to Zephyr before running to their positions, Karl remarked “He’s so cool.”

Hogan snorted, then leaned closer to Karl. “Your brother complex is showing, mate.”

The ground crew took their positions then it was time for takeoff. Right off the bat, there were cadets who made mistakes. Some messed up the timing, while others did not take off altogether. There were also those who did perfectly in flight but failed their landing.

Becoming a full-fledged GDF pilot was no small feat. Some failed the maneuver they were asked to do, or panicked when handling emergency procedures and had to be switched to autopilot for their safety.

Despite the chaos, Luna was first to pass. Not long after, she ran towards Ha-yoon, who had just gotten off his own fighter and did a high five.

“She did it!” Karl grabbed Hogan, shaking him.

“Of course she did!” Hogan pulled him in and gave him a little noogie. 

Noticing a fighter lagging behind the rest, Karl frowned when he saw it sway, even if it was just a few degrees. He broke free from Hogan’s headlock upon seeing the fighter losing altitude fast.

One of the flight instructors ordered the cadet to let them take over remotely, but got no response. Suddenly, a missile shot out of the fighter, hitting the one in front.

“Bianca, see if you can hack into it and take control,” said Chris.

“On it!” Bianca bolted to the nearest computer, but was stopped before her fingertips could touch the keyboard.

“We have things under control here, Captain Norland,” one of the instructors, a brown man with a receding hairline, said in a cocky voice.

Karl clenched his fists. “But sir-”

Chris put his hand on Karl’s shoulder.

“Instructor, that cadet is likely panic-stricken. If we don’t do something, more people could get hurt. If there’s anyone brilliant enough to hack into the test spacecrafts’ system and land that cadet safely, it’s Bianca.”

“Rav, there’s no time for this!” A kind-faced, older lady scolded her fellow instructor. “Chris, do what you must.”

“Thank you, Instructor Nakazawa. I suppose it’s settled then,” Chris nodded back then turned to his teammate. “Bianca, we’re counting on you.”

“Yes, sir!”

With just a few strokes, Bianca announced “I’m in! Initializing landing sequence.”

While others sighed in relief, it was too early to celebrate. The cadet in the fighter that had been shot seemed to be unharmed but all he could do was scream for help.

“Judging from where his fighter was hit, the power source must have been damaged, and he's decelerating fast. Most fighters have enough back up power for emergency landings, but he’s probably too scared to think straight. At this rate, he’s going to crash,” said Chris 

With a firm voice, Karl looked straight into his captain’s eyes and said “Permission to fly, sir.”   

Meeting Karl’s gaze, Chris replied with a confident grin.

“Show them what Team Alpha’s ace pilot can do.”