The door to the dining room looms in front of me and I place my hand on the handle, turning and pushing it open. Inside, I can see the table set for dinner already, silverware in perfectly neat lines beside the empty space where the plates sit. Seated at the head of the table is a man with dark hair and stony facial features. His presence seems to command respect and authority.
“Good evening, Father,” I greet the man as I walk into the room and take my seat.
He grunts a reply without looking up from what I presume is a newspaper article on his tablet. I sit in silence with my hands folded beneath the table. A few minutes later, my mother emerges from the kitchen with three plates of food. She sits one in front of my father and me before placing her own plate on the table and taking her seat.
My father puts down his tablet and says a few words over the table, then we set into eating. The food is great, and I devour it happily. For several minutes, the only sound audible is the clinking of silverware on plates. I finish my food first and sit back in my chair contently.
“Akane, how are things going with your career?” my father asks once he’s finished eating.
“Good, Father. I’m gaining a lot of valuable experience right now.”
“Make sure you don’t bring disgrace to our family’s name. By your age, your grandfather and I were already on the track to promotion.”
“I give my all to the job, as always. I’m in good hands with my commanding officers.”
“You mean the rookie commander? I doubt that. It’s bad enough that you turned down the invitation to the advanced infantry training program, then you got yourself thrown in a disgraced air force squadron.”
“Father, my squadron has done a lot to repair its reputation both before and after I joined. A lot of that is due to Colonel Tachibana’s efforts and leadership. He’s a lot more skilled than you may think.”
“At the end of the day, he’s still got less than two years of experience under his belt. That makes him a rookie by all definitions. Most people work their way up the command chain through experience and years of dedication. They keep handing him promotions because he’s a PR symbol.”
“They keep promoting him because he’s good at his job. I haven’t met anyone that’s more dedicated to finishing the mission and keeping the team safe than he and Captain Saruyama. Those two are a large part of the reason our squadron works so well, and I’ve learned that they have—and continue to—sacrifice a lot to keep things progressing.”
“Everyone sacrifices something for the good of the nation. That’s no excuse. You’re supposed to be working your way to promotions, not idling under the command of someone that’s barely been in the service a year longer than you.”
“With all due respect, Father, I don’t like you sitting here disrespecting my commander. He does outrank you, so regardless of how you feel about him, you should show some respect. Besides that, he has helped me through a lot and acts more like an older brother than an officer where it counts.”
“It’s that kind of senseless sentimentality that will get you killed.”
“Excuse me,” I interrupt, pushing my chair back from the table. It’s obvious that this conversation is getting nowhere. When my father is set on something, he refuses to change his mind. Hopefully he’ll cool off sometime soon, but for now I don’t want to keep going in circles with him.
Now that I think about it, that was probably the first time I’ve ever spoken up to him. His presence has always been so intimidating that I’ve almost been afraid to do anything but agree with him. Maybe he’s just not the strongest force in my life anymore. I return to my room in thought before picking my book back up and resuming where I left off.
Chapter 23
Lt. Col. Orion Tachibana
June 3, 2113, 08:00
Bright rays of sun nearly blind me as I walk slowly across the grounds. Warm breezes do little to cool the heat bearing down. Even still, the familiarity of the heat and scenery bring back a little bit of nostalgia. I’ve kind of missed this place.
“Tachibana, is that you?” I hear a voice behind me.
I turn around to see a woman walking toward me. “Yes, it’s been a while Lt. Takamura. How have you been?”
“I’ve been okay. Teaching is a nonstop job, they say. How about you?”
“Busy. We’ve gotten up to a lot since the last time we saw you two years ago.”
“So I’ve heard. Actually, I don’t think there’s anyone left that hasn’t. I heard about Anderson too. I imagine it was pretty hard on you guys.”
“Yeah, it was pretty rough for a while there. We pulled through, though. I think we’re stronger for it, but obviously I wish he was still here.”
“Understandable. Well, I’ve got to get going to meet with my students. I’m sure I’ll see you again soon.”
She walks off in the direction of the instruction buildings and leaves me to myself. Personally, I don’t have anywhere to be for another thirty minutes, so I decide to stop by the cafeteria. I already ate a bit earlier, so it’s really just to kill some time.
At the counter, I grab a glass of peach tea for old times’ sake and pay for it with my ID card. I find an empty table and sit down to enjoy my drink and read over some things on my tablet. In the middle of an article, a hand lands on my shoulder.
“Hey there,” Hitomi says, sitting next to me and taking a sip of her coffee.
“Hey. How’d you sleep?”
“Like a rock. Not used to having a schedule again yet. I am glad to be back, though.”
“Glad to hear it.”
She sits next to me quietly for the next few minutes. I can tell that she’s tired and hasn’t really woken up yet. Usually there’s so many words coming from her that I can hardly keep up. My watch blinks an alarm to let me know it’s time to get going and I stand up from the table.
“Shall we go become students again, then?” I ask.
Hitomi nods, still cradling her coffee cup as if she’s holding onto it for dear life. She downs the rest of the cup in one gulp and we deposit our dishes in the designated area before exiting the cafeteria and going toward the instruction buildings. Outside, we run into Saika and Kat, and they join us on the walk to the classrooms.
The rest of the gang happens upon us as we get closer to our destination and soon we’re in front of the door. I knock and, after hearing a response, open the door. The team walks in one by one behind me. A room full of cadets looks up at us quizzically as we enter, no doubt wondering what a group of officers is doing casually strolling into their classroom.
“Ah, perfect timing,” Lt. Takamura says from the front of the room. “I want you all to meet some of my best former students. From my left, Lt. Col. Orion Tachibana, Captains Hitomi Saruyama and Katsumi Takahashi, 1st Lieutenants. Saika Watanabe and Jason Washington, 2nd Lieutenants. Akane Miyamoto and Michael Thompson, and Captain Andrew Smith. They will be joining us for the next leg of training. Questions, anyone?”
Quiet murmurs break out around the room. Heads turn, looking back and forth across the group of us standing in a line facing the class. Finally, one of the students at the front of the room raises a hand.
“If I may, ma’am, what is the core of the 35th Squadron doing back at the academy?” he asks.
“Cross-training. Their next assignment happens to overlap with the subject matter you will be covering in your post-graduation courses.”
“Will they be here as students or instructors?”
“Both, actually. Where the new content is concerned, they will be learning it alongside the rest of you. However, you should all try to learn what you can from them. Although you are all officially pilots now, it’s not every day that you get the chance to train with veterans.”
“I see,” the man says. “Thank you, ma’am.”
“Anything from you, Lt. Col. Tachibana?” Lt. Takamura asks.
“Sure. We’ll be working together for a while, so I hope to get along well with all of you. For all
intents and purposes, we’re just your senior students right now, so don’t worry about ranks too much with us in the classroom. Feel free to ask us anything you’d like, and we will gladly give you an answer if possible.”
A half smile twitches the corner of Lt. Takamura’s mouth. She’s probably thinking that I haven’t changed much from the last time she saw me. I guess that’s pretty true, all things considered.
“Alright, then,” she says. “We still have another forty-five minutes before I’m due to hand you all off to your next instructor, so how about a mock battle in the simulators? Completely optional, of course, but I’m thinking our aces here against the class. How about it?”
I take a quick look around at the members of my squad for confirmation. “We’re down for it if they are,” I reply.
The class seems to come to a consensus and decides to go along with it as well. Many of them seem eager at the chance to try their skills against experienced pilots in combat. I suppose we were like that at one point, too. At Lt. Takamura’s direction, the class gets up and everyone follows her down the familiar path to the combat simulation room.
A bit of nostalgia hits me as I walk up beside one of the simulation machines. I climb inside one and wait as it powers on. The standby screen floats in front of me as I wait for the rest of the participants to enter their simulators, and for Lt. Takamura to initiate the simulation. As I would expect from the lieutenant, it doesn’t take long.
Light fills the interior of the simulator as the scenario is loaded and the simulated area stretches out around me. A dark, cloudy daytime sky is visible as far as I can see, hinting at the possibility of rain. Seven other planes fly in formation around me as I continue to observe my surroundings and get my bearings. Eight against twenty-four. The lieutenant still loves to make things difficult, I see.
“In this exercise, we’re going to do things a little differently,” Lt. Takamura informs us. “Each plane shot down will be worth one point. Squad leaders will be worth two points, while team commanders will be worth three. To even things out with the numbers, each plane from Lt. Col. Tachibana’s team will be worth triple. The mission will end when all planes from one side are destroyed or the time limit expires. Begin the exercise.”
“You heard the lady,” I tell my team. “This numbers disadvantage is nothing new to us. Let’s put on a good show for our juniors.”
I order Smith’s squad to space themselves five miles away from us and we continue to fly forward, checking our radar for threats. Mountainous terrain passes beneath us, deep valleys diving between peaks and an expanse of hills stretching out in the distance. The occasional flash of lightning is visible within the clouds, but the waterworks have yet to commence.
An alert plays in my headset and I look at my radar to find a new set of contacts at the edge of its range. They’re moving at a sharp angle across our heading that will take them well ahead of us. As I observe, the remaining sixteen planes appear on radar, spaced an equal distance from the first, and the entire formation changes its heading to intercept us
I alert the rest of the team as the contacts close the distance. The two groups of planes on the wings pull out ahead of the center one and increase the spread between them. Looks like they’re taking this seriously. I guess it’s only right we do the same.
“Nine, take your squad out to meet the enemies on the northeast wing. My squad will take the southwest wing. Keep an eye on the center group. They’ll likely split off to reinforce the wings.”
My squad angles toward the southwest enemies and I prepare myself for the coming fight. I arm my weapons systems and flick off the safeties, ready to go. On radar, the center enemies turn all as one group toward Smith’s squad and move to flank them. They’re going to press for an overwhelming number advantage and take us out one at a time. Well played.
“Nine, be advised that all eight center targets are headed your way. We’ll try to make quick work of things over here and move to back you up.”
“Copy. Make it quick. I don’t know how long we can hold four to one.”
I guess it really is a huge disadvantage if Smith of all people is willing to admit that. I return my attention to the enemies quickly closing in front of me and wait for them to get in range. As soon as they get in weapons range, they waste no time getting things started.
A missile lock warning blares from my systems as mid-range anti-air missiles begin targeting me. I switch on my plane’s electronic countermeasures, making it more difficult for them to finalize a target lock on me, but that doesn’t deter them too much. The beeping turns to a wail as at least one missile is let loose at me.
My radar tracks the missile as it closes in on my nose, travelling at least Mach 3. I dump a group of flares and pull up, causing the wail in my ears to stop as the missile switches targets to the countermeasures now floating through the air. The others seem to be doing similar evasions as I come out of the maneuver upside-down.
Time for a counterattack. By now, the enemies have closed well within engagement range of close range weapons. I quickly target a missile for an enemy plane and let it fly towards its destination. The defending plane dumps flares and evades, but a missile from Hitomi at the height of his maneuver sends him crashing to the ground. Another enemy disappears in a similar assault from Akane and Kat.
The fight quickly switches from missile warfare to close-range gunfighting. We crash into the ranks of the hostile formation and start targeting with cannons to take down our targets. The sky is thick with shells and planes as the groups twist around one another. My squad makes sure to keep the fighting as close as possible to make it difficult for the enemies to separate us and enhance their advantage.
I clip the wing of one of the enemy planes, causing it to lose control and go spinning off, crashing into one of its friends on the way down. Another plane comes up behind me and manages to land a few shots on me before I evade and try to shake him off. My onboard computer alerts me to the damage as I bob and weave through the throngs of aircraft zipping around. Shots fly past my head with alarming frequency as I attempt to continue fighting while being tailed.
Hitomi smacks another plane out of the air and the number advantage finally tips in our favor. Kat blasts the enemy behind me as I finish off the target in my sights. All alone, the last enemy plane disappears in a blaze of gunfire.
With the southwest wing of the enemy formation now completely decimated, I check my radar for an update on the situation with the others. It looks like Smith’s squad has done a pretty good job of holding on despite their disadvantage. They’ve lost two planes, but they’ve also taken out another four. My squad closes in to provide some backup.
Just before we reach the other fight, I watch Smith’s radar contact disappear in a swarm of enemy signatures. Saika’s lone blue dot is left wading through a sea of red enemies. I blast into the enemy group with the cavalry, spraying cannon shots as we close in and causing a few of them to break off of her tail as they evade.
The fight proceeds just as hectically as the first. Planes zoom past in every direction as they jostle to get in the best position to deal damage. Akane latches onto an enemy and hunts it down until it disappears in a cloud of smoke in front of her. The maneuver unfortunately exposes her to another group of enemies and they catch her plane with a tight grouping of shots, sending her right behind her victim.
Saika and I team up in chasing down an enemy as he dips and dodges to evade us. Another enemy passes in front of us firing at Hitomi and I roll to the side to avoid the jet, passing it by just a few feet. Both Saika and I let loose a hail of cannon fire at our target and shred the fuselage of the plane. It falls through the sky trailing flames as I pull off and search for the next target.
“Mission time expired,” Lt. Takamura announces. “The simulation will end now.”
The inside of the simulator fades to black and the points for each team are displayed in the center. Sixteen to fifteen. Pretty good work by both sides, if you ask me
. There’s a hiss as the simulator lid opens and I step out of it, hopping down and standing beside it. At the front of the room, the lieutenant begins speaking again.
“Well done, everyone. Managing to take out that many from the Lt. Colonel’s squad fresh out of training is quite an achievement. And for them to hold out against such odds is also to be commended. Sixteen to fifteen is a much closer score than anyone could have predicted.”
“Ma’am, are all veteran pilots that terrifyingly efficient?” one of the pilots from the class asks.
Lt. Takamura laughs, obviously caught off guard. “These guys are a bit of a special case, but seasoned pilots are nonetheless nothing to scoff at and are generally very effective at their jobs. The hard truth is that anyone who’s still airborne in this war is good enough to have avoided being shot down thus far.” Her attention turns to me. “Lt. Col. Tachibana, now that you’ve seen them in action, what are your thoughts on the class?”
“I think they’ll do well. There were some things that could be improved on, but those are kinks that will be worked out the more they’re exposed to. I think this exercise was a good experience for them.”
“Well said.” She checks her watch. “With that, it’s time for me to hand you all off to your other instructor. Let’s get going before I make you all late.”
She walks over to the exit and the class begins following her out. Hitomi comes up next to me as I move toward the door. As we walk, a man and woman walk up to us. I recognize him as the one asking questions in the classroom earlier.
“Lt. Col. Tachibana,” he says. “I’m Lt. Sam Thomas. It was an honor to be able to fight against you in the simulations. I learned a lot of valuable things during the fight, both in combat and command, and I hope you’ll continue to share your experience with us.”
“Ah, was it you in command of the other team up there? Splendid job. Your decision to play up your numbers advantage was great. Given enough time, you guys might have taken us all down.”
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