The evening sun filtered through a hazy dark window, a dusty beam landing on an old wooden desk. It was a fairly simplistic room, one that was professional, yet not extravagant. One that despite its looks, was where some of the most important decisions in history have, and will be made. Yet for now, a middle aged woman lays face down on the desk, stacks of paper standing menacingly next to her head. A loud rap on the door was heard. Lazily, the woman looked up, as if to confirm there had been a knock. The door was banged on a second time. Groaning the woman sat up straight and stretched before straightening out her hair and rather embarrassingly wiping away the drool.
"Come in!" she called.
The door opened revealing a uniformed, aged Valkyeria man. While not particularly imposing or spectacular in physical form, he did have one very notable feature. His right eye was glossy, and while many would simply cover it, he displayed it proudly. For he was, almost ironically, Walt Hoffer, commander of the Airborne Fleet. He smiled and with a small chuckle, approached the desk.
"Madam Chancellor, I hope I didn't interrupt your.... work? I generously assume?" he said with a sly smile.
"Oh fuck off Walt, I've been approving these damn fund requests for the upcoming festival all day! I haven't even had time for coffee...." she said, relaxing at the sight of an old friend. The old man once again chuckled and casually walked over the covered window, suddenly pulling back the curtains, the harsh beams of the evening sunset piercing the previously dim room. The Chancellor winced at the light and glared at Walt. "So what are you here for today? To annoy me once more?"
"In the academy you were such a good student, well, for the first two years, then you revealed the your true natu-"
"Hey, what I did there is in the past. Besides, my actions made me a legend!"
"Indeed, as the greatest delinquent whoever lived. You're such a terrible role model, you know that?"
"The point, Walt. Stop turn fighting me for it and get to it."
"I want you to fly in the opening ceremony."
There was a sudden silence in the room. The Chancellor stared at Walt with shock, but the old man did not flinch. "Me? Flying? I haven't flown in years! You think that I sho-" she attempted to sputter out, but Walt stopped her.
"You were the top of your class and a natural. Natural talent doesn't just fade away. I've seen you staring longingly as you inspected the Strike Witches flights. You want to be in the sky again. Badly! This will be your chance to get up in the air again, if anything, for a moment. Not to mention how spectacular it would be. Think Helena! You, Chancellor of Avalia, a great leader, showing how in touch she really is with the true heart of our people, our race!" Walt said sincerely. The Chancellors brilliant orange eyes, for a moment, almost did seem to gleam again. At the very idea of being up in the air once more. To be in her true element. She quickly looked away from Walt when he obviously noticed.
"You're a bastard, you know that? The Empress of Kataylabinsk will be attending you know! It will be our opening day for the talks about cementing our relations..."
"So what? Even more reason to participate. To show them that you're much more than a talker. You're a fighter!"
"I'll think on it.... Anything else?"
"No Madam Chancellor. That is all."
"Then go. I still have a letter to write." The commander nodded, and began to make his way to the exit, but hesitated before exiting. The Chancellor looked up from the letter she was about to write. "What? Something else?"
". . . Do you remember the last chorus of the song?" He asked, not glancing back her. The Chancellor grinned warmly. No, she had never forgotten that line, nor the whole song. But it was her favorite part. The embodiment of the pilot. Grudgingly she cleared her throat.
"Up I go, into that wild blue yonder
flying high, up into the sky
Feeling the air, pass before the great thunder
Here I come, ready to die
I will live in fame, or go down in flame, but!
Nothing will stop our unyielding flying force!"
The Airborne Commander smiled and nodded. "Good." was all he said before exiting the office. Helena sighed, leaning back in her chair, lazily looking out her window. The sun casts a brilliant light across the sky. In the air, the contrails of a flight of aircraft could be seen. Closer to the skyline, airships of both military and civilian lazily moved across the scene. "Flying as a Witch again, huh?" she thought aloud. She then returned he attention to the all important letter. The latter to the People's Republic of Kataylabinsk.
- The Letter -
To Premier Commissar Yekaterina Velikaya, Leader of the Working People, Hero of the Revolution,
It is an honor, at last, to truly speak directly to the leader of the nation of Kataylabinsk. Ever since I have read about your exploits, I have personally wanted to meet with you first hand. You see, you showed how any nation can change for the better, not the worst, when the people understand that they themselves hold the power to change. My people have learned that lesson long ago, and have never forgotten it. For a former Empress, one who could of simply continued that wretched tradition of suppression and subjugation, you did not look away and did the right thing.
I am only humbled by your actions, and wish I would have the pleasure of speaking to many others like you. However, this world is a dangerous one, especially for our people. Tradition is a powerful thing, one of the strongest chains of them all. It has chained my southern neighbor for centuries and there is no sign of it breaking, especially now. We both understand how destructive, how oppressive the monarchies of the old can be, and there they are, one of the biggest, oldest monarchies of the world at my southern doorstep, constantly threatening both my nation and yours with utter annihilation. My nation, my people, have done our best to take away the gift of flight from them, but I fear that will never be enough to quell their hoards.
Thus, I formally invite you, on the behalf of the Senate, the people of Avalia, and my own cabinet, to personally come to my nation's capital for the Liberian Festival. It celebrates the day my nation, the lands of Avalia, finally broke their chains and became free. The day we dug in our heels and told the world we would not go quietly into the enslavement of our theocratic, monarchic oppressors. The past is over between Avalia and Kataylabinsk, and its time we looked to the present, and to the future. So, one our most proudest days, I invite you to celebrate freedom with me and the people of Avalia, and to discuss that future.
Sincerely,
Helena Vortzeria, Chancellor of Avalia
With that, Helena put down her pen and stood up from her desk. The sun, slowly dipping below the horizon, the night finally upon her.
