Good Luck, Yukikaze

by Chohei Kambayashi

  Expecting a JAM retaliatory strike, the FAF set up a defense line around Faery base, sending out several squadrons to fly combat air patrols. The SAF flew recon missions there as well, but knowing the situation at Cookie wasn’t playing out as it normally would, Major Booker reckoned they needed wider-ranged reconnaissance intel. What was happening over at Richwar base, which the Strategic Reconnaissance Corps claimed was paired with Cookie? How about at the other JAM bases? There weren’t enough planes to observe movements at all those places. He rerouted a plane scheduled to run recon at Cookie to another area.

  By doing that of his own accord, Booker was deviating from the operation as it had been set up by the Tactical Combat Air Corps—under which the SAF served—and the entire Faery Air Force. Military operations were established with the understanding that all of the chess pieces on the board would systematically move as they were supposed to. If the lower echelons started acting on their own, the entire operation would become meaningless. However, at this moment, the SAF was trying to grasp the JAM’s strategic movements. It was likely that the JAM were just as interested in the SAF, and that they were observing the SAF’s movements. Major Booker figured they were out there, watching what they did. If the SAF didn’t take the initiative now, the chance to make direct contact with the JAM might slip away forever.

  That was what the major was afraid of.

  There was no time to get permission from high command. To modify the operation, the SAF would have to convene their supreme strategy conference and then put in their request for the entire operation to be reviewed. That was impossible, of course, because there was no time for such a thing. If the SAF were going to do this at all, it would have to be now, and without authorization.

  General Cooley made her decision. The JAM’s shift in tactics was evident, and the FAF was just too massive to be able to keep up with it. In this situation, the smaller and more nimble SAF would be much more effective. They were going to alter the current operation on their own initiative. Strategic reconnaissance operations against the JAM would now have top priority.

  When Major Booker had asked her if she was sure of her decision, the general had replied, “I’m the head of the SAF. I do what I want to do. Nobody ever complains about it. That’s how it’s always been. It’s called being flexible in making use of your resources.” The way she had put it, Major Booker really did feel as though he’d been worried over nothing. Even so, he could see that the general was still prepared to pay hell for her choice.

  General Cooley was prepared to do anything to ensure the survival of the SAF. She’d once even said that joining forces with the JAM might be an option worth exploring. That was more than enough to get her arrested for treason, but she offered no excuses. She would sooner resist than make excuses, and resistance would probably turn into a life or death struggle for the SAF. The members of the squadron, however, felt no need to defend the general, and she had no expectations of help from them. Each individual was acting on their own in order to ensure their own survival.

  As a consequence of how we’re set up, it’s unlikely that the SAF as a whole would mutiny against the FAF, Major Booker thought. But it also wasn’t out of the question that the FAF might back them far enough into a corner to make mutiny necessary. In order to protect herself, General Cooley was considering using the FAF’s own methods. In other words, she was ready to use the military might of the SAF as part of her own individual resistance. If there was any move to have her arrested or executed, all the general would have to do is declare that her unit was prepared to launch an armed resistance en masse. The instant that she did, the SAF would be seen as a rebel force and attacked. The squadron would then have no choice but to fight the FAF. Even if they didn’t want to, they’d still fight, because all but the terminally clueless would realize that a firing squad awaited them all even if they surrendered to arrest without firing a shot.

  A FAF attack wouldn’t mean that the SAF would be banding together in common cause. While it might seem that way from the outside, it would be nothing more than individual minds utilizing whatever abilities they had in order to survive. General Cooley herself was a representative of the sort of person who possessed that sort of consciousness, Major Booker began to realize. That general had made the SAF what it was, and the squadron reflected her character and way of thinking. She had made the SAF not an organization run from the top down, but rather something that was her. A part of her being. The very essence of her. Something that she’d use to strike back if she were struck. That was all. It didn’t matter if it were the JAM doing the striking or anyone else. The general was convinced she was doing the right thing. It was a simple, straightforward conclusion, but he doubted that the people in the FAF would see it that way. There was a definite problem there…

  If the SAF existed as a corps-level organization, like the Strategic Reconnaissance Corps, a flexible response to the attack on Cookie wouldn’t be much of a problem. That was because corps-level formations could take part in the overall strategy conference and give a clear idea of how much individual action they’d need. But the SAF could make no such plays. We’re going to be seen as going rogue, and we need to get something to show for this if we’re going to demonstrate our loyalty. General Cooley must think that we will, Major Booker thought.

  The general would negotiate things with the guys at the top. He wouldn’t have to worry about that. All he needed to concentrate on was how best to utilize their planes. It was the general’s job to worry about the SAF’s position. He was free to do what he wanted to under her authority.

  As soon as he learned that the SAF had canceled their strike against Cookie base in order to resume surveillance on Richwar, General Laitume started complaining. General Cooley was summoned, and it was no exaggeration to say that he was thinking of having her relieved of duty right there and then.

  Laitume knew perfectly well that there was no time to convene a panel of the heads of the various corps to do that in the midst of a major operation. All he’d be able to do was give a personal warning to Cooley and the SAF, demanding that we restrain ourselves, thought Major Booker. But General Cooley, seeing a good opportunity, had turned the meeting into an impromptu official strategy session between the SAF and the commanding officer of the corps to which it was attached. Major Booker had marveled anew at General Cooley’s abilities. He might have been moved by it all, had he not been busy giving a presentation to General Laitume to make him understand why they were doing what they were doing. It was no trivial task, since failure to persuade Laitume would have ended General Cooley’s career.

  Major Booker had explained to him about the JAM’s changing strategy and how the SAF were currently engaged in their own strategic reconnaissance against the JAM. If they let this opportunity slip by, he’d gone on, then they might also lose their chance to make direct contact with the JAM.

  “We have the Strategic Reconnaissance Corps for that,” General Laitume had shot back. “I won’t permit the SAF to do whatever it wants to!”

  “That assumes the SRC isn’t being manipulated by the JAM,” General Cooley had said. “We in the SAF don’t agree.”

  “What was that? Just what are you implying?”

  “There’s no doubt now that the JAM have infiltrated the FAF with their duplicates,” Major Booker added. “I can imagine that they’re manipulating our intelligence, meaning we have to be on guard for any false intel they might feed us.”

  “It’s just as likely that you people are being manipulated by them as well.”

  “And that can be verified by checking for any discrepancies between the intelligence gathered by the SRC and ourselves,” General Cooley had explained in the tone of a tenacious teacher. “If they both agree, then either we’re both right, or else both of us may be supplying false information. In that case, you’ll have to compare it with data gathered from yet another corps. In any case, I’m sure that you can see that the more routes from which we gather our reconnaissance
data, the higher the degree of accuracy we’ll achieve. All the SAF is doing is putting that concept into practice using your own forces, General Laitume. We can’t simply take the SRC at its word.”

  “Our battle with the JAM has reached a turning point, General,” Major Booker said. “While we expect the SRC is going to complain that we’re invading their turf, as we’ve just explained to you, it’s necessary for us to conduct our own strategic recon operations.”

  “It’s a commander’s job to encourage the fighting spirit of their subordinates and keep them motivated,” General Cooley added. “I’m not going to tell Major Booker not to do this.”

  “Our corps’ headquarters is frustrated by their inability to receive intel from the SAF in real time.”

  “That goes with how we carry out our duties. It can’t be helped—”

  Laitume continued, cutting Cooley off.

  “I’m not talking about getting combat intel from your planes. We’re getting worried that the SAF isn’t sending all the information it gathers up the chain of command, that you cherry pick and hide things from us. Don’t say that you aren’t aware of that, General.”

  “That’s a problem that goes with the very nature of the SAF’s duties,” Cooley said. “Our mission is to carry out combat intelligence gathering. It isn’t all meant for public consumption or to be seen by large numbers of people. It’s easier to control intelligence within the confines of the SAF than it is in a larger organization. If, by some chance, any classified information were to leak out, it’s easier to track down the source in a small organization like ours. That’s why the squadron was set up the way it was. Corps HQ is a bit wrong to blame us for that, since as the corps commanding officer, all the intelligence we gather is sent to you. Letting that information go public is your decision, Lieutenant General. The SAF doesn’t interfere in any decisions you make. However, I will give you a word of warning—those who are complaining about us may be JAM, and you need to take their criticism with a grain of salt.”

  “If we start doubting each other, there’ll be no end to it. Blast it all, there’s no easy solution for this problem, is there?” Laitume said.

  “Have you told the other divisions that the FAF has been infiltrated by JAM duplicates, and that there may be more of them even now?” Major Booker asked. “I was wondering if you could tell us.”

  “I informed the high command. I treated it as a highest level secret, but there’s no point in concealing that you people were the source of the information. The FAF has gathered the suspected JAM duplicates into that retraining unit you proposed. The Intelligence Forces are operating in the background to decide who gets transferred to it.”

  “And you’ve determined that you have complete control over that unit, haven’t you? That’s a group of suspected JAM duplicates, you know. I’m not saying they’re all going to be JAM, but still—”

  “The unit is operating autonomously of my corps. That’s because those we suspect aren’t just in my corps alone. It’s already out of my hands. To be honest, losing pilots to that unit is really hurting me,” Laitume said. “I’ve had to stop running recon missions with my own forces. But there’s nothing else we can do at this point. The high command’s made its decision. There was some dissent over it, but Colonel Rombert got his way.”

  “The unit’s been set up under the Intelligence Forces, then?” Cooley asked.

  “It’s been organized as part of the Systems Corps. I’m sure they were operating under the theory that improving people falls under their purview, but in part it was a result of the power relationships between the differents corps. Colonel Rombert is definitely still pulling the strings in the background, though. That man has gained the most from all this.”

  “Putting suspected JAM duplicates in the Systems Corps is a foolish decision,” General Cooley said. “Weapons development and enhancement goes on there. That’s exactly the sort of information the JAM would want.”

  “I was against it as well. For the Systems Corps’ part, they have more of an interest in determining the reason why these people were shot down by the JAM than in determining whether or not they’re duplicates. They’re doing a complete investigation to see if the losses were due to pilot error, mechanical fault, psychological causes, or tactical error. Basically, they’re guinea pigs. The scrutiny may also determine what Colonel Rombert wants to know, which is what makes them different from real humans. It would probably be something like that.”

  “Neither the Systems Corps nor the high command have any clue how important this is,” said Major Booker with a sigh. “They’re planning to send ground forces into Cookie base, right? Those rumors of them forming a ground unit are true, aren’t they?”

  “We began forming a ground force a while ago. As an autonomous ground army, not as part of the FAF. For its part, the FAF wants its own ground force, like the navy has a marine corps. Air marines, if you will. It seems likely that we’ll have one in the near future. You have to say well done to that,” General Laitume said. “It won’t be ready to help with the initial attack on Cookie base, but we can throw them into any operation from now on. The Systems Corps already have several types of ground-based weaponry under development. I don’t know the details, but it’s stuff like armored combat suits with their own onboard power supplies, with small arms munitions designed to destroy the computers in the electromechanical bodies we’ve theorized that the JAM have, and closed-loop communications systems. We wanted them to build tanks as well, but they’re still in the prototype stage and nowhere near completion. The Systems Corps is calling the combat suits ‘powered armor,’ and they’ve already mass produced a number of units. What they’ve produced so far is expected to be formed into an official combat unit. They’ll probably be thrown at Cookie first.”

  “An experimental ground battle,” General Cooley said, as though to herself. “That’ll be worth seeing.”

  “Are you implying you want them to fail, General Cooley?”

  “I’m interested in the JAM. And in what sort of aliens these ground forces will encounter. And if the FAF weren’t wasting its time with internal and external political power struggles, we’d learn about them a lot faster. Introducing these ground forces will get us nowhere. So no, I don’t think they’ll achieve much.”

  “Just what are you implying? According to what I’ve seen—”

  “The JAM tend to match any move that we make,” Major Booker explained. “The JAM build their aircraft to match our level of development. They don’t fly by some unknown means, and their weapons systems are hardly beyond our comprehension. If we introduce tanks, then the JAM will respond with their own. We’ll just be expanding the battlefield to the ground, and I can say this beyond a shadow of a doubt. Whatever the reason the FAF had for not introducing ground forces up till now, it was a wise one. At the moment, all we should do is maintain watch on the skies. That’s how the SAF sees it.”

  Laitume ignored Major Booker for the moment. “You’re saying we’re dealing with the JAM well enough as we are now, General Cooley?”

  “The JAM are desperate. They were the ones who launched a preemptive strike. ‘Well enough’ doesn’t imply that we’re just playing around with them. We don’t know what their objective is, and the SAF is searching for that. Of course, that’s what the entire FAF is trying to find out. I’m not saying that our judgments are absolutely correct. But General Laitume, the SAF is the only unit that’s made direct contact with the JAM. You can’t just ignore that. What’s your decision, General?”

  “Decision about what?”

  “We’d like you to consider the file Major Booker has just presented to you and make an official recognition of the reconnaissance operations the SAF is now conducting. If we have it, we’d like to carry it out without any needless interference from other units.”

  “Are you aware of what you’re asking me, General Cooley? You’re asking me to give you complete carte blanche in how you use your forces while I get to take r
esponsibility for it.”

  “If you formally recognize this, then I can deal with any criticism from the other units directly,” Cooley responded. “You won’t have to be bothered by it. This isn’t the first time I’ve made this request, General. I floated the idea for this recon operation to you at that lunch meeting.”

  “And I believe I told you I wouldn’t allow you to act arbitrarily.”

  “You didn’t say what sort of actions wouldn’t be allowed, and so I didn’t take that as a definite answer. The SAF has come to get that answer, sir. In any case, this is a state of emergency. As Major Booker’s data indicate, the situation has changed radically. If we let this opportunity pass, we can turn victory into defeat. Do you want to be remembered as the general who let a chance for victory slip away from right in front of him?”

  “This is unpleasant.”

  “If there’s a person who finds war pleasant, I’d like to meet them. This is war.”

  “Sir,” Major Booker quickly interjected. “General Cooley hasn’t gotten much rest during this operation, so—”

  “So what? Are you apologizing for her insubordination? General Cooley, are you the sort of person who palms off their responsibilities to her superior and leaves a subordinate to apologize for it?”

  “The major isn’t apologizing for me,” General Cooley said. “He’s just stating a fact. And I’m not trying to palm off my responsibilities on you. It’s only natural that I treat the one in charge as if he were actually in charge. We’re here to have a mission conference, not to curry favor with you. If you think you can’t handle the SAF, then you should consider cutting ties with us. Maybe it’s time the SAF became autonomous. If you approved that, you wouldn’t have to bother yourself with us anymore.”