Prologue

"Five targets on the radar, pursuing us. Lily, lets hide in the clouds, I will go up, you go down, attacking in sync once they get close".

"Roger that, but you own me a bouquet and some chocolate from the officers ration, captain".

"What?.. It is not the time, junior lieutenant, we are on a mission.", Alexis dived into the clouds and lowered the speed of his craft waiting for enemies to come.

"But why? Wasn’t it you, captain, who called me on a date yesterday", Lily did the same, positioning herself below his craft, leaving a decent gap in-between.

"And what, now we are on a mission?.. Never mind, if you get more kills today, ask whenever you want… Enemies approaching!", first enemy fighter dived into the clouds just in between them… only to get shot by a bunch of fire magic blasts from above. "One down!.. But, if I do, you will go on a date with me… Scatter! Two more spotted us!"

"As you wish, but you know I will win today", Lily made a swift loop up and put a freezing barrage at the side of the enemy. "One - one!"

Alexis accelerated his machine and dived down. The third pursuer tailed him, waiting for a good opportunity to load a magic salvo. When the ground started approaching, Alexis sensed a faint aura coming from the enemy fighter. «Preparing a spell, are we?», he did a rapid turn up, while his opponent, to focused on calculating the incarnation, missed to regain control and dived into the ground.

"Best pilots on the continent, my ass. These guys are definitely not the best CSRC can offer. Two more behind at 5 o’clock! I will draw their attention, you attack on my signal!"

"But what about the bet, captain? Already forfeiting?"

"This is not the time. You’ll get your chocolate and whatever, just let’s finish the mission".

"Roger that! I am already on a position, need like 45 seconds to prepare the spell".

Alexis put himself at the view of the enemy fighters, while Lily hid in the clouds above, preparing the incarnation. This time enemies decided to attack in sync and unleashed the freezing salvos at the Alexis’s aircraft. He scattered to the left dodging it and then turned to the right, then down, then left again continuing to zigzag to avoid the fire. A few icicles still scratched his right wing but the machine held for now.

How much time it was lasting? Ten seconds, fifteen, a minute - he lost the sense of time. All that his mind was working on now was dodging. When enemies took a short pause to recharge the spells, he rapidly turned up. Both fighters pursued him, faint auras starting to grow indicating a new salvo is coming. "Lily, now!"

"Took you to long!", Lily unleashed a barrage of stones into the enemy engines. One of the fighters lost control and crashed into his partner. The second pilot tried to dodge but it was to late and they both caught fire and fell to the ground. "Done, make sure to give me my reward this evening!"

"How about going to the club after?.."

"Nope, I already said, captain, you are not my type. Roses and chocolate, don’t forget".

"Got it… Let’s get back to the base, we are almost out of fuel. If we have to leave the machines in the field, Boss will not get it slide".

They turned their aircrafts and headed east back to the base.