Chapter 28

Anna's jet landed on the flight deck of the Citadel, which was much busier than it had been that morning. Other planes were being launched one by one to where Anna was engaged in combat. The student trainees were gone from the deck, presumably taken inside for shelter.

As soon as Anna's plane came to a stop, the deckhands rushed to it like livestock to the feeder. Anna saw Owen and Charl running out of the island across the deck toward her and Chris.

Anna was happy to see them. She reached out her still lightly trembling hand to a button to open up the canopy. The noise of the outside world immediately rushed in, but rather than being disturbed, Anna felt a sense of safety. The silence of the cockpit was quite terrifying.

"Let's get out of here," Anna said while taking off her helmet.

"Yeah."

The two climbed out onto the recently placed boarding ladders. Owen and Charl greeted the two immediately after they set their feet on the ground.

"Thank God you are okay," Owen said with a concerned face and held Anna tightly in his arms, placing his hand on the back of her head.

Anna buried her face in Owen's jacket. Now that the crisis was over, she didn't feel like she was in that much of a danger, but she enjoyed the hug, nonetheless.

She could see beside her that Chris and his sister were having a similar reunion.

"We saw what happened, you two were amazing," Owen said, not letting Anna leave his arms.

"Hehe, it wasn't that impressive."

"Whatever you say."

Anna indulged herself in the warmth of the embrace. She felt like she was back in the safety of her home.

"Charl, don't cry, it's all over. I'm alright now," Chris's voice came from beside Anna.

"I-I know… but it was so scary. C-Can you please not do that again?" Charl said with a light sob.

"Yeah, I promise."

Owen released his arms, despite the fact that Anna didn't mind staying like that a little longer. There were people hustling everywhere on the deck. No one seemed to have any time to rest after their encounter with enemies.

She didn't know much about politics, but it was obvious to anyone that the attack launched by the Derunce Freedom Fighters was nothing less of a declaration of war, meaning that more attacks will come soon. People could no longer idle around if there were constant, impending dangers.

There were, naturally, a lot of eyes on Anna and Chris ever since they landed back on the deck. It definitely wasn't an everyday occurrence for student trainees to single-handedly bring down an entire enemy squadron. However, Anna thought nothing of it. She had rarely given care to what others thought of her, be it good or bad.

"Now, I believe you need to go make an immediate report to Captain Herbert. He should be at the bridge. The current situation is much bigger, Anna," Owen spoke softly yet firmly.

Anna sensed the change of tone in Owen's voice and realized what he was saying.

"I understand," Anna said and looked at Chris, who was still locked in a tight embrace with his sister.

Chris caught Anna's glance and gave a slight nod.

"Charl, I need to go for a moment. Can you please stay with Sergeant Hastings for now?" Chris said and grabbed onto Charl's shoulders.

"O-Okay, I will wait for you in the living quarter."

Chris nodded and gave one last kiss to Charl's cheek.

Together, Anna and Chris walked off of the busy flight deck toward the carrier island, where the bridge was located. Anna opened the door into the building and entered. During the past week, Anna had never been inside of any control facilities. It wasn't because they had no permission to do so, she was simply not at all interested. However, she did hear from Theo that the island was where Will spent most of his time.

While thinking of Will, Anna was reminded of the event earlier that week. She was a little saddened that Will would be leaving after graduation, or at least according to him, but she was genuinely happy for him. Anna knew that Will had struggled with the class divide and lived a poor life, so she was glad that he was offered such an amazing opportunity to work with the strategic headquarters, which basically guaranteed him status and wealth. Plus, he wasn't exactly cut out for field operations, anyways.

Anna turned the handle of the door to the island and pushed it open with a loud metallic creak. There was not much on the first floor except for some humming machinery. The two proceeded through a hallway up a flight of stairs to the door leading into the main command room, also known as the bridge.

There was no lock, so she pushed it open and entered the room. Right away, Anna was rushed by the dry and hot air radiating from the computers that filled up the room. There was no lighting other than the sunlight casting through the large front windows, which connected the floor and the ceiling, essentially acting like walls. The majority of the room was dim, lit only by the green glow of the screens. Beeping and humming noises filled the space.

It was the first time Anna had seen an operation of this scale. Computers were extremely rare in Gladakia considering the cost of production, so they were only used by the top institutions. Anna had seen some at Hamilton-Douglas Heavy Industries, which was one of the biggest military machinery R&D organizations and manufacturers, but even they had only a couple in each office. The bridge of GMRS Citadel was something else. There were rows and rows of them, each having an operator clicking away. People were walking around all the time and the overlapping conversation was the only other thing she could hear than the computer noises.

As Anna was taking the scene in, a middle-aged man in the distance who was talking to some officers noticed her and Chris's entrance. He dismissed the people he was talking to and walked toward Anna. She recognized him as Captain Herbert, the captain of the Citadel. Realizing that, Anna gave a salute. Chris, who was beside her, did the same.

The captain approached them with a stern face and asked, "Are you Private Hastings and Private Arden?"

"Yes, Sir"

"Follow me, we will talk in my office," Captain Herbert said and walked through the door which they had just entered from.

Anna and Chris followed him down the stairs. The captain was wearing a uniform of the highest decoration out of anyone she had seen on the Citadel. He must have been seasoned participated in many battles, Anna thought. Soon, they arrived at a locked door. The captain took out a key and opened it.

The captain's office was very similar to that of Director Berkeley's, except much smaller. There were awards and certificates displayed everywhere on the walls, and the room was decorated much more sophisticatedly than anywhere else on the ship. The interiors of the Citadel were very metallic and grey, but the captain's office had wooden floors and painted walls, making one not able to guess that it was a room currently floating on ocean water hundreds of miles away from land.

"Close the door behind you," the captain said as he took a seat at his desk in the center of the room.

Chris, who entered the room behind Anna, slowly shut the door.

Anna noticed that the captain's face wasn't of one who was about to congratulate someone, which she had thought was coming.

"We saw the aerial combat. The ones piloting the G-22 were you two, correct?"

His tone wasn't particularly happy.

"Yes, Sir," Anna answered, beginning to worry that she might have done something wrong.

"That was extremely stupid," he said bluntly.

What Anna had feared came true. They weren't being congratulated at all. She wasn't sure why or how, but she knew she had gotten in some sort of trouble.

"Have you not learned that the Citadel's fleet consists of multiple destroyers with anti-air missile launchers on board? Or that the Citadel itself is equipped with the most advanced Close-In Weapon System in the world?" the captain said. He wasn't mad, but he wasn't happy either.

"Y-Yes, Sir, I am aware of that," Anna responded, hiding the shame in her voice.

Indeed, she knew of it, but that didn't for a second enter her mind when she saw the incoming bomber in the air. Of course, why would one launch an attack on something that had the capability to obliterate them in an instant? Obviously, the DFF had no intel on the combat prowess of the Citadel, but Anna had never thought of that.

She glanced over at Chris, who seemed to have similar thoughts going through his head.

"You had no need to risk your lives or the G-22 to show-off."

"With all due respect, Sir, we did not engage with the intention to show-off," Anna said, trying to improve the situation.

"Oh really? Then, tell me why you chased after a squadron which you knew could have been easily defeated by the fleet?" The captain interrogated.

"Um…"

Anna, who was never good with her words, couldn't think of anything to say, so instead, Chris spoke up.

"We were faced with an immediate threat, who had the obvious intention to bomb GMRS Citadel. Without the time to think of the alternatives, Private Hastings made the decision to answer the call of our duty to eradicate the enemies and protect our nation's interest."

Chris's voice was clear and firm. Anna thought it was natural for the child of the highest commanding power in the country to have a way with his words, but she was impressed regardless. It seemed to have an impact on the captain, as well, who responded with a deep sigh and lost a large amount of his frustration.

"Yes, I understand, and it's very noble of you. It's just, you two are of very high-status lineage, and there would be no way I can explain myself if anything had happened to you two, but now that I think about it, there probably wasn't anything that could have happened. I saw your dogfight, and you two do indeed live up to your parents' names," the captain's attitude had changed dramatically.

"Thank you, Sir," Chris said.

"It goes without saying that you two defeating the enemy squadron didn't come back empty-handed. The DFF clearly knew nothing of the Citadel's abilities, and thanks to you guys, they still don't, which will make the future much easier. Moreover, I am sure you have understood by now that we will be going to war at the western front. We have already sent telegraph messages to the capital and the strategic headquarters. It won't be long before war breaks out. You two academy students single-handedly defeating a squadron to start off this war will do wonders for the morale. We will capitalize on this, so you two will likely receive an award sometime soon."

"That's great news," Chris had no apparent shift in tone in his voice.

Anna was pretty excited by it, however. In her country, where military was everything, awards received from service can be of very high significance and can often dictate one's status. However, Anna wasn't thinking about that. Both of her parents were decorated from head to toes in awards and earning her first one felt like her first step in carrying on her parents' legacies.

"Well, now that war had been unofficially declared, I have become very busy. You two are dismissed. The commander will further inform you soon, but I believe your field trip will have to end prematurely," the captain said with a wave.

"We understand, Sir. Please excuse us," Chris said and turned around to open the door.