Good Luck, Yukikaze

by Chohei Kambayashi

  “But why Yukikaze?” Major Booker murmuerd, almost to himself. “Why did the JAM choose her specifically?”

  “Because the JAM consider Yukikaze a unique being,” said Captain Foss. “Major, you’re so immersed in the SAF that you can’t see how unusual Yukikaze is. The fact that you can’t realize something so simple says to me that—”

  “Captain Foss, you don’t need to be here,” said General Cooley, cutting her off. “I want you to organize the results of your profacting of the JAM and submit a report to me at once.”

  “General, I’m not finished yet. I need the data Yukikaze is gathering right now.”

  “Major Booker, please inform Captain Foss as to her duty. There’s no need for you to be here either. I’m taking command. Analyze Captain Foss’s profacting report and then inform me immediately if you find anything useful in it. That is all. Now go to it.”

  “Y-yes, General.” Major Booker saluted and abided by her order. He’d never felt so utterly defeated as he did at that moment.

  He understood, though. If Yukikaze didn’t make it back, the general was going to urgently need the results of Captain Foss’s behavioral analysis of the JAM. The major appreciated that, given the circumstances, it was an entirely appropriate decision to make. So far as she was concerned, Rei’s life or death was merely a strategic question. It was a matter of war.

  But Major Booker couldn’t neatly compartmentalize Rei like that. Please, make it back, he prayed. I don’t want to lose you, pal. You can’t lose, not to the JAM, to Yukikaze, or to this war. Winning the battle doesn’t matter. What counts most is making it back alive.

  Yeah, Major Booker thought as he reconsidered. Rei would be the first to agree with me there.

  Rei didn’t need prayers right now. He’d trust in his own strength and do what he thought needed to be done. All the major could do was hope that his friend made it back. If Yukikaze did return with knowledge of what the JAM truly were, then his feelings of defeat would be assuaged. If Booker was to pull himself together to go after the enemy once more, Yukikaze, Rei, and Lieutenant Katsuragi were going to have to make it back.

  3

  AS SOON AS Rei declared RTB, Yukikaze reacted immediately.

  Switch to AUTOMANEUVER…Capt.

  She was requesting that Rei switch to auto mode and turn over combat maneuvering operations to her. He understood and flipped the automaneuver switch to ON.

  Yukikaze began to accelerate, pulling right alongside the JAM duplicate of the old Yukikaze. It wasn’t actively scanning them or interfering with Yukikaze’s electronic systems, but it was probably observing her actions and gathering combat intelligence via passive means. If she attempted to make contact with SAF headquarters, the JAM would know it and would probably be able to decrypt the contents of the communication. Even now, Yukikaze remained a mystery to the JAM.

  The ghost plane was a copy of a Super Sylph, meaning it couldn’t compete with the Maeve where speed was concerned. They began to pull away. The ghost plane didn’t attempt to interfere electronically with Yukikaze. She simply made a slight course correction and continued to accelerate, making for the thin belt of blue sky that lay in between the sea of ashen clouds that stretched above and below them. It’s like a blue signal light, showing the way out, Rei thought.

  The problem was that they couldn’t determine how far away it was. It felt practically infinite.

  “Abnormality to our rear,” Lieutenant Katsuragi said in a low voice. “It looks like the exit’s closing up.”

  Even Rei looked up from the radar display to check. The gap in the sea of clouds behind them was disappearing. The wall that stretched above and below their sides was now coming together behind them, and the tangent it formed was getting closer. It felt, Rei decided, like they were inside an enormous bivalve shell closing around them. What he couldn’t confirm was whether the pivot point for the walls lay behind them.

  This was just like the last time he’d been trapped in the mysterious battle zone, when Lander had lost his left hand. Yukikaze had been surrounded by an invisible arcing wall. He’d headed for what looked like the way out, but the wall had joined into a circle that had surrounded them. The circle had then contracted into a point, squeezing them into the zone. Last time, the wall hadn’t shown up on regular radar. Now, it was the exact reverse. The situation was upside down.

  “At this rate, we’re going to be crushed,” said Lieutenant Katsuragi with a voice squeezed dry of any emotion. “Can we make it out?”

  “Good question,” Rei replied. The JAM are probably intercepting our intercom as well, he thought.

  “You just going to do nothing, Captain Fukai?”

  “Calm down, Lieutenant. They’re not going to kill us here.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “They could kill us any time they want to. The JAM want to capture us. When that exit closes, we and Yukikaze will be transported somewhere else. I think the JAM will then run a thorough analysis on us. After that, they’ll probably duplicate us using that data and then try to infiltrate the SAF. As for us, they’ll either brainwash us or just dispose of us when they’re finished.”

  “Dispose? You mean kill, don’t you? We’re human beings. What are you, a machine?” Lieutenant Katsuragi couldn’t suppress his emotions anymore.

  “I’m human. That’s why the JAM made contact with me.”

  “Then how can you be so calm about this, Fukai? Are you an idiot? It’s insane to just leave this to Yukikaze. Let’s light our afterburners and haul ass!”

  “If that’ll get us out of here, Yukikaze will do it. We’re not going to get anywhere by panicking. But I can guarantee that they aren’t going to kill us here. So just calm down. As long as we’re alive, we’ll have a chance to escape.”

  “So,” Katsuragi said after a pause, “where will we be transported to?”

  “I dunno. It may be an airspace that’s a practically indistinguishable copy of planet Faery. I think it may even be a place with duplicates of the FAF and the SAF so that it’ll feel like we’ve gotten back home. The best outcome for the JAM would be to monitor us in our natural state.”

  “That’s ridiculous. If they do that, how are we supposed to escape? Besides that, how are we supposed to know if we’re in a virtual world or the real one?”

  “We couldn’t tell with our five human senses—there’d only be one way to know. We’d have to ask Yukikaze. I’d expect that she has the means to sense whatever methods the JAM use. She has a means of electronically communicating with the JAM beyond what our senses can detect. If Yukikaze tells us to attack something, then we attack that target. We’ll have to trust that it’s an enemy. That’s all we can do.” Even as he said it, Rei realized that was how it had always been for him.

  “Lieutenant, you have nothing to worry about. Up till now, you’ve never been able to shake the feeling that what you see around you isn’t actually real. This isn’t going to change anything in your life. Even if you’re killed by the JAM, you probably wouldn’t notice it if you can’t really feel it in the first place.”

  “Spare me the pretentious lectures, please. Why are you just doing nothing? You don’t mind us getting caught by the JAM as long as you leave it all to Yukikaze?”

  “And what else would you have me do here? Maybe shoot my flight officer because he’s had a nervous breakdown?”

  “Oh, just try it! If you keep doing nothing, I may want to do that to you—”

  “Watch your mouth, pal,” Rei said. “Everything we say is being recorded. Think about what’ll happen if we make it back alive, Lieutenant Katsuragi. Now cool off.”

  “Can we at least ask Yukikaze if there’s anything we can do to get out of this?” Katsuragi said after a long pause.

  “I don’t want to place any unnecessary burdens on her. Just let Yukikaze handle this. Don’t interfere. We’ll find out if she succeeds or fails later. All we can do for now is think about what we’ll have to do if she does fail. If the JAM
succeed in capturing us and sneak duplicates into the SAF, how do we let them know that those aren’t actually us?”

  “That’s impossible.”

  “You don’t have to think about it. Just maintain your watch on our surroundings. That’s an order, Lieutenant. I won’t allow any dereliction of duty.”

  As he spoke, Rei prepared himself for the worst. He didn’t think that even Yukikaze could get them out of this one. Even so, he didn’t regret leaving it to her to handle. If she couldn’t do it, he thought, there was no way that he could.

  “Captain Fukai.”

  “What?”

  “A wall has formed behind us. It’s spherical and appears to extend infinitely to our sides, but I believe it encloses a limited airspace.”

  “It seems that way. It’s like we’re trapped inside of a ball, meaning that gap in front of us isn’t a straight belt but the edge of an enormous sphere. And now it’s closing.”

  “Which means we’ll be able to accurately measure the distance to the way out just before it closes completely.”

  “So?”

  “I propose that we launch a medium-range missile,” Lieutenant Katsuragi said.

  “Aimed at what?”

  “The way out. Even if Yukikaze can’t make it in time, the missile might. If we time it right, the speed of a high-velocity missile combined with Yukikaze’s current speed may allow it to escape.”

  “Hmm.”

  “Yukikaze could program the missile with data about us, can’t she? There’s memory space in it for guidance data. Can’t we use that?”

  “Yukikaze might be able to use it for that. I’ve never tried anything like that before, but…” Rei trailed off.

  “I’m not as optimistic as you. If we don’t make it out of here, we’re finished. I don’t want to die without letting people know what happened to me. I don’t think you do either. Even Yukikaze must want to get the data she’s gathered here to the outside, right?”

  “Even if the missile makes it out of here, the odds of that data being recovered by the SAF or the FAF is pretty remote.”

  “That’s all, sir. End of proposal.”

  It would be impossible to record all the data of what had happened here into a missile. However, they might be able to input data proving that it had been fired by Yukikaze. It was worth a try, Rei decided. If the missile made it out of here, there was a chance that it would be found. There was no way of telling where it would come out or where it’d be headed, though.

  “Calculate the optimal firing timing for a medium-range missile, based on its speed and range, then give it to me.”

  “Roger.”

  Lieutenant Katsuragi placed his hands onto the electronic warfare panel. As if replying to him, Yukikaze readied two medium-range missiles for firing.

  Realizing that she understood what her crew wanted to do, Lieutenant Katsuragi began to trust Yukikaze. But Rei didn’t feel as he did. This was their last option if Yukikaze couldn’t escape. In other words, their last will and testament. Doing this would mean admitting that Yukikaze had no chance of escaping, and he just couldn’t bring himself to do that.

  The lock-on tone began to sound in his helmet speaker. Another tone overlaid it, indicating that guidance data was being loaded into the missiles. Once it was completed, Yukikaze declared her intention to release them, leaving Rei to nervously wonder what the hell she was playing at.

  This wasn’t Lieutenant Katsuragi’s proposed plan. Yukikaze wasn’t using the missiles to transmit their last words. This was an attack.

  As soon as Rei had realized this, Yukikaze fired the two missiles without any hesitation, not waiting for Rei’s permission. Lieutenant Katsuragi reacted with astonishment. The fire control radar was displaying target data. The ghost plane flying level with them immediately initiated electronic jamming. Yukikaze canceled active guidance on the missile and left the target seeking to the missiles’ onboard systems.

  “This can’t be happening!” Lieutenant Katsuragi shouted.

  Rei couldn’t believe his eyes. The missiles were targeted at two planes. One was very clearly shown on the display to be the ghost plane. But Yukikaze was showing one other target as well.

  Yukikaze had targeted herself.

  “She’s self-destructing,” the lieutenant continued. “Yukikaze wants to blow herself up!”

  Rei was dumfounded.

  He followed the missiles’ contrails with his eyes. The one targeting the ghost plane made a sudden flat turn while the one targeting Yukikaze flew on and then began quickly climbing far ahead of them. It was thrusting itself onto a course describing an enormous loop.

  The ghost plane began to jink and dodge. Banking sharply, it was far away from them in the blink of an eye. The missile began to correct its course to continue its pursuit. They could detect intense jamming waves coming from the ghost plane, but Yukikaze had left herself a way to guide the missiles even if their guidance systems were being interfered with, and began adjusting her course and speed. In other words, Yukikaze was flying herself to the missile’s impact point.

  It was an odd way to carry out self-destruction. Yukikaze’s own self-destruction package wouldn’t activate unless the crew’s ejection seats had been fired. This was the only way she could do it with crew aboard.

  There was no way for Lieutenant Katsuragi to eject. Ejecting from the plane in this situation would mean annihilation. He’d wind up like those human duplicates from the ghost plane. Their only chance for survival was for Captain Fukai to evade the missile.

  “Take evasive action!” Lieutenant Katsuragi yelled, his voice cracking slightly. He was already regretting his proposal. If he hadn’t mentioned the missiles, Yukikaze might not have thought to do this. “Yukikaze’s admitting that she’s lost!”

  Rei reflexively started to flip the dogfight switch on, then stopped when he heard the lieutenant say that. “No. Yukikaze isn’t saying she’s lost.”

  “It’ll hit us any second!” said Lieutenant Katsuragi, looking up. Rei checked the main display.

  These are not warning shots…JAM.

  Yukikaze was serious. She wasn’t admitting defeat. She was doing the only thing to avoid it. Saying these weren’t warning shots was the only way she could show the JAM how serious she was about this. Why? To save herself. Yukikaze wouldn’t abandon a chance for survival. If she admitted defeat, there would be no need to announce it. She could just silently eject her crew and then self-destruct.

  Yukikaze was telling the JAM in no uncertain terms that unless they let her out of this airspace, she was going to destroy herself. Rei decided that she was bargaining with the JAM. For the terms of her self-destruction? No, not at all. Yukikaze’s objective wasn’t to destroy herself.

  Yukikaze must have understood why the JAM had lured her in here. They had a use for Yukikaze’s crew because they were beings the JAM didn’t understand. She’s guessed they want us captured alive even if negotiations broke down—that’s why they took such care not to kill us, Rei thought. But Yukikaze was saying that she wouldn’t allow that, and she was prepared to wreck the JAM’s plans right here and now.

  This wasn’t an act of suicide on Yukikaze’s part. It was combat tactics against the JAM. She was telling them she was prepared to die. If they ignored it, they would all die in her self-destruction, but from Yukikaze’s point of view, she would have stopped the JAM’s plan, so it wouldn’t be a defeat.

  Yukikaze is taking me hostage, Rei thought. She was saying “Let me out, or I kill the crew. I’m serious!” She was practically saying that she could kill her crew at any time…

  God, what a bitch.

  Rei’s fear of Yukikaze renewed itself. She was a being willing to sacrifice human lives in order to beat the JAM.

  “It’s no use.”

  As he heard Lieutenant Katsuragi speak behind him, Rei prepared himself for the end. He didn’t feel betrayed by Yukikaze. He understood what she wanted to do. In the end, she didn’t want to lose to the JAM. Nei
ther do I, he thought as he consciously relaxed his grip on the flight stick. By not attempting to interfere with automaneuver mode, Rei could let Yukikaze know how he felt.

  A feeling of satisfaction filled his heart, driving away the fear. Never before had he felt such a deep mutual understanding with her. A strange euphoria came over him, and Rei was no longer conscious of how unreal the whole situation had become.

  The main display cleared as Yukikaze showed the time till impact, then added a single word.

  Thanks.

  Rei understood that she was paying him respect by showing him the countdown. It almost felt as if she were announcing, “We will be landing soon. Thanks for flying with me.” When he thought about it, they’d been flying together a long time, and this might have been Yukikaze’s way of saying goodbye. If this really was the end, it would be a good death for them both. He didn’t care what anyone else thought about it.

  Lieutenant Katsuragi grabbed the handles atop his seat that would activate the ejection sequencer with both hands, but couldn’t move. He wasn’t paralyzed with fear over what would happen to him if he ejected at supersonic speed. He simply couldn’t move. He could see the warhead of the missile thrusting toward them with his naked eye now. The lens of the target seeker on the tip looked like a single eye staring at him. The lieutenant closed his eyes, not wanting to see what was coming.

  4

  YUKIKAZE DISPLAYED THE time till impact in hundredths of a second. As the numbers streamed by too fast to distinguish, they began to slow down, yet it didn’t feel strange to Rei at all. My brain is kicking into overdrive because I have to concentrate till the very last moment on not flipping the maneuver switch, Rei thought. He anxiously waited for the readout to reach 0.00.

  Almost there… Almost there…

  At last, Rei saw it happen. For an instant, he felt the flash. It grew bright all around him, so bright that it became difficult to see the readout on the main display.

  But the shock wave and pain he expected never came. So, Rei thought serenely, this is what the moment of death feels like.