2011
November City, Osea
The teenager was frozen wide eyed as three space ships flew slowly over their heads, the roar from the engines drowning out the roar of the excited crowd.
"Hahahaha! Space ships! Yeah, they certainly look like aliens, no? No son, those are the three most advanced fighter jets in the world! The Morgan, the Wyvern and the Falken!" said Maverick. Trigger looked at them again. "We built those!?" said young Trigger
"A number of different countries built them to be precise. But yeah, that's human ingenuity flying up there!" laughed Maverick.
"Did you know kiddo? Two of those planes at one point flew without any pilots! The Wyvern was the remote controlled plane from those stories I told you about. And then there's the Falken. The one that looks so demonic and sharp! That one had an AI!"
"You mean one of those computers that could think and act on its own like a human?"
"Something like that. Stealth, internal weapons, missiles, Lasers, all neatly packed in it! COFFIN system oh man wish I could have been in such a cockpit advanced data link capabilities, an AI to either fly unmanned or assist the pilot when manned. And boy, it's fast! That was a 6th generation indeed! The Wyvern is fifth generation but it could easily be upgraded to the sixth!! The Morgan, haha now there's a weirdo! Fourth generation that's got the armaments of the future, but none of the subtlety you know, like stealth. Pick and choose just one feature and you can say it touches all points in the time line! Well at best it's just a 4.5 gen!"
"I don't understand these "generations"." Trigger muttered. Despite his grumpy tone, he could not take his eyes off the plane.
"It simply means, the future can let you do so much more than what the present allows." said Maverick.
"Would I fly one of those when I join the air force?" Trigger looked at his father. Maverick's face twitched and he had a difficult expression. "Son...I...I know I said I would support you, but maybe you should go for something else? You are much too brilliant to just go out and fight."

.............................

October 31st, 2019
OFS Admiral Andersen, hangar
Trigger's old prison mate Avril was working on a plane he had never seen before. Apparently, they had brought it in from Tyler Island when they found it among the Supply Ships. The moment he saw her he decided to quickly thank her for all she did for his plane back at Zapland and now here. But, it might have been helpful if he actually said something instead of just bowing his head in front of her once before walking away! Count couldn't help but laugh at her puzzled expression. But he was still dealing with the news that Tabloid, their anarchist and resident voice of doom, had died during the previous operation. He died trying to rescue some people. Him of all people, risking his life for others.

Dr. Schroeder who had escaped with Avril and other refugees were now on the Osean aircraft carrier. He now rushed up to Trigger. Schroeder looked absolutely crazy right now. The best Trigger could make out was that Schroeder was a Belkan scientist working for Erusea and considered himself responsible for everything that's happened and the current situation.

"These drones are 7th generation, Trigger! All the capabilities of a 6th gen, energy weapons, stealth, extreme mobility, advanced data link. They are armed to the teeth! Two laser weapons! And their missiles continue to track targets even after being evaded several times! Drone control capabilities too! They have drones of their own! The modular design is the next step in fighter evolution! Do you hear me!? The cockpit can function independent of the main engines! So when you shoot them down, you make sure that all of it goes down!!!" Schroeder ranted like an absolute madman.

Seventh gen...? Modular.....? What...? Trigger couldn't understand anything Schroeder said. But he seemed to want to help.

"That plane you see Trigger? You have to use it. Your fifth generation fighter is too heavily damaged to get ready in time. Avril is fixing it up for you. It's a hypersonic aircraft! The only thing faster than those drones!! Mihaly when he was younger flew it for the international hypersonic programs. The plane could fly upto speeds of Mach 10! But it'll be only half that speed with the weapons we've added to it. It's not supped to be a fighter. Flying it is madness, but your need surpasses the danger! Just watch out, it's mobility is not great, and it's completely out of balance. Hit and run! Just hit and run. We've given you lasers and missiles. Is there anything else I can do for you? Anything else I can tell you??" rambled Schroeder.

"............Where is the 'ON' switch?" asked Trigger.

..................................

November 1, 2019
"The end of the era of fighter pilots maybe upon us. But not today." Maverick said on the final day of Trigger's training.

"It's definitely not today, either" said Trigger as he took off, engines blazing.