Memorial Day with the Blue Angels

Astro and Reno walked into Dr. O'Shay's office to find the professor in a good mood. "Hello boys!" he smiled, do you guys have any plans for this weekend?"

"Sounds like you have some overtime planed for me, Hakase." Reno moaned. "I'd rather not, if you don't mind. I feel rather burned out and could use the rest."

"Me too." Astro said. "In fact the two of us planed to just crash over at Reno's place binging out on pizza and TV."

"That's too bad," the professor sighed, "In that case I'll have to find someone else who'd appreciate a good air show and give away your tickets. Also Astro, Admiral Yelland was hoping you'd come and watch the performance with him."

"Wait, an air show?" Reno said.

"Really?" Astro asked.

"Yes indeed." O'Shay grinned, knowing that he had the two of them hooked. "You do remember Admiral Yelland, don't you Astro? Well he's bringing the U.S. Navy Blue Angels aerobatic team to the Misawa U.S. joint forces base this weekend for a goodwill tour. The team almost never performs outside of the United States, but due to the political unrest in the world the U.S. is looking for ways to improve relations with their allies. The admiral came up with the idea of an open house at the military base and bringing in some entertainment. This weekend is also the Memorial day holiday in the U.S. and the Admiral thought the air show would also be a treat for the U.S. servicemen stationed there. He told me to make sure that you were there, he wants to see you again and I think he has a surprise in store for you."

"Wow!" Astro said, "The Blue Angels! I'll be there!"

"Me too!" Reno said. "Maybe they'll bring some of their A.I. drones along too?"

"I don't know about that son, but you never know." The professor laughed.


Bright and early that Saturday Astro, Reno, Cobalt, Uran, and the professor drove to the military base for the event. The flight operations area of the base shared the same runway facilities as the civilian airport collocated adjacent to the military base. Public viewing of the air show would be from the civilian side of the property, although portions of the base would be open to tours by the public before and after the air show. Dr. O'Shay had been given special passes issued by the Admiral for early admission to the base. Upon seeing Astro in the front seat with the professor the guard at the gate saluted him.

"They seem to know me somehow." Astro said as the car rolled past the checkpoint.

"Yes they do don't they." The professor laughed. "I'm sure the Admiral has been telling all sorts of stories about you to everyone on the base."

"Gee." Astro said, blushing.

Dr. O'Shay managed to find his way towards the main building that housed the U.S. Department of the Navy's HQ at Misawa, and was directed to a parking spot by an MP. They were escorted into the building by a Naval officer who directed them to an office. There seated in his wheelchair was Admiral Yelland. A much younger man occupied the chair behind the desk next to him. The officer behind the desk stood up and saluted in Astro's direction.

"Welcome O'Shay Hakase!" Yelland said, "I'm glad you decided to come Astro!" he added. "You'll forgive me for not standing to greet you."

"Why the formalities in greeting Astro?" O'Shay asked. "It is us that should be saluting members of the Navy, not the other way around."

"Astro is our honored guest." Yelland said. "Let me introduce you to Commander Bob Flynn," Yelland said giving a wave to the man behind the desk.

"I'm privileged to meet you Astro." the Commander said. "I'm the Executive commanding officer of the Blue Angels flight team. The Admiral has told me all about you, it was he who proposed the idea of bringing the Navy Blue Angels team to Japan on a good will visit for the Memorial Day weekend. I was against the idea at first, but when I learned about you I had an idea. Astro, I want you to perform in the air show today with the Blue Angels!"

"What!" Astro said with surprise. "Me?"

"Don't be modest," Commander Flynn said. "I've seen videos of you flying that were provided to me by the Japanese Ministry of Science. You're simply amazing! Having you in the air show would be the perfect way to instill solidarity between the civilians of your country and the United States military forces. Besides, you will spice up the performance giving the people something to talk about for years! What do you say?"

Astro bent down to avert his gaze downwards at the floor, with his right hand behind his back. With a deep blush on his face he said, "OK, if it's important for the good relationship between our nations, I agree."

"So that's why you had me pack my equipment in the trunk of the car!" Reno laughed.

"What equipment?" Astro asked.

"Hakase asked me to bring along your portable tune up analyzer and two extra tubes of your energy fuel." Reno told Astro, "I couldn't figure out why, Hakase you knew about this, didn't you!"

"Yes Reno, the Admiral clued me in on what to expect." O'Shay said. "I wanted this to be a surprise for Astro."

"Well then Astro, I think we should head over to the Blue Angels hangar area so you can meet the rest of the flight team," the commander said. "They'll brief you on the flight maneuvers they want you to participate in and there will be a practice session before the first show of the afternoon."


Reno walked around one of the two F/A 18 Hornet aircraft parked in the hangar. He lightly ran his fingers over the polished metal surface of the jet fighter.

"Like what you see, son?" The navy pilot asked him.

"It's a beautiful airplane." Reno said almost drooling.

"Would you like to sit in her cockpit?" The pilot asked.

"I sure would!" Reno cried out in excitement.

The boy was helped up the ladder by the naval officer and he carefully sat in the pilots seat and looked around him. "Wow! He said. "I wish I could fly in one of these."

"Well we do have a few two seat trainers on the base," the pilot said, "come look me up after the show and I'll see what I can do."

"Wow! Doumo arigatou gozaimasu!" Reno said. He took the stick in his hand and imagined flying the Hornet. "Hey is this trigger armed?" he asked.

"These show aircraft are identical to the combat versions," the pilot explained, "however, the guns have been removed and replaced with smoke generators for the air show. But they won't activate on the ground, so don't worry about causing an accident."

Reno climbed out of the aircraft, and walked over to where Astro and the professor were standing. Uran and Cobalt were looking over the other F/A 18 on the other side of the hangar. Astro sat down in a large padded office chair that had been wheeled into the hangar, and the professor had brought Reno's equipment from the car.

"So you'd rather fly in one of those than with me?" Astro asked.

"I can fly with you anytime, Astro." Reno said. "How often do I get a chance to play 'Top Gun' in a real combat aircraft?"

"Yeah, I get it." Astro laughed, adding "OK Dr. Frankenstein, time to tune me up."

Reno opened Astro's chest panel and connected several cables.

"You usually hate this routine." Reno said.

"I'm sure I'm not going to enjoy it any more than usual," Astro said, "but I know I'm going to enjoy the end results!"

Reno started the diagnostic computer and Astro's analysis and tune up procedure began. Astro twitched about as the machine fine tuned his flight controls and reflexes. The procedure took about ten minutes,during which time Astro gripped the armrests of the chair tightly with his fists.

"OK, one more little thing." Reno said as he inserted a metal cylinder inside of Astro's chest cavity. "This is a canister of smoke fuel. You'll be able to add this to your jet fuel mixture in flight by a mental command to leave a visible smoke trail during the performance just like the Blue Angels can in their F/A 18's."

"Cool!" Astro laughed.

Reno removed the last of the test cables and closed Astro's chest panel. "OK buddy, all done!"

"Are you ready?" Commander Flynn asked Astro.

"I guess so." Astro answered. "I've already seen the flight routine charts and I have them memorized."

"OK then, let's get airborne!" the commander said, leading Astro out to the flight line.

Astro walked behind the commander towards the taxiway where five F/A 18 Hornets were warming up their engines. Cobalt and Uran followed their brother with Reno to where the Commander of the flight team was gathered.

"I thought the Blue Angels flew six aircraft in their flight patterns." Astro said.

"Yes that's true," Flynn said. "However today we only need five because you're going to take the point position."

"What!" Astro cried out. "You want me to lead the formation!"

"You got it!" Flynn said. "This is going to be the Angels best show ever."

"But, I've never tried this before!" Astro protested. "This will be the first time I've even practiced with you guys."

"I'm not worried about it," Flynn said, "So why should you be? From all the intel I've read about you Astro, I know you'll do just fine." The commander stooped down to look eye to eye with the boy robot. "Don't you understand? Human pilots don't have any embedded DNA or instincts from years of evolution to help them control their airplanes in flight. We had to learn it all, developing the skills and reflexes required, we have to get comfortable with the aircraft that we literally wear and try to make them part of our own bodies. You on the other hand are a living flying machine. Like a bird, you are at home in the air, flying is part of your AI, ingrained into your DNA. I envy you Astro, I wish I had your abilities and skills."

"Gosh, when you put it that way..." Astro said with a deep red color growing across his face, "I'll take the point and do my best!"


Dr. O'Shay stood next to Admiral Yelland near the reviewing stand at the center of the airfield. Reno, Cobalt, and Uran were behind a roped off area near the runway with a large number of Navy officers as the five Blue Angel aircraft taxied one behind each other to the main runway of the airport. Astro hovered in front of the aircraft until the pilot behind him radioed "Astro when you're ready, give the command to takeoff."

"OK then, let's go!" Astro replied. He flew straight and level over the runway and then pulled up, reaching a speed of 400 mph. Astro was in the point position of a diamond formation with the five Navy aircraft, one either side of him and three behind him. They flew in a tight formation as they went through the routines that Astro had memorized from the flight book. They performed loops, barrel rolls, and other maneuvers transitioning from one formation to another.

The squadron then broke out of formation into two groups heading in opposite directions. The aircraft turned about and headed towards each other, passing by each other with only feet separating the aircraft. Astro corkscrewed himself about the aircraft, zooming in between them while leaving a smoke trail out his arm jets.

The individual F/A 18's each performed solo aerobatics involving inverted flight, inside and outside loops, and hammerhead stalls. Astro performed some of his own, zooming upwards and then diving towards the earth only to complete an inside loop tighter than the Hornets could ever hope to perform.

After nearly an hour in the air, the squadron rejoined into the diamond pattern and lined up with the runway to land. Astro again took the lead position and the team followed him back to the runway.

Astro hovered in the air as the Blue Angels returned to the hangar area so they line crew could get their aircraft ready for the afternoon's air show. As the last of the airplanes entered the hangar, he landed near the main hangar and ran to catch up with the pilots as they returned to the flight room. All five of them gave Astro a slap on the back. "That was great work!" They said.

"We're going to have a light lunch." The commander told Astro, "Do you need anything?"

"I think Reno will want to check my energy levels, but I'm OK." Astro said, "Do you have any pizza in the mess hall?"

That response got a rousing laugh from the Blue Angel Pilots. "Hey guys, let's buy Astro a Pizza!" They carried him over their heads to the base mess where Reno was already waiting with Dr. O'Shay, Uran and Cobalt.


The six Blue Angel Pilots sat on one side of a long table with Astro, Reno, Cobalt, Uran and O'Shay on the other. Uran picked up a slice of pizza and held it up in front of her face. She sniffed it and took a small byte. "Yech!," she grimaced, "I don't know what you boys see in this stuff, it's horrible!"

"You don't know what you're missing," Reno said, "But that's OK, there'll be more for Astro and me!"

Cobalt picked up the slice that Uran had flung in his direction and took a big bite from it. "UMMM, Pepperoni!" he said. "This stuff is the greatest."

"Boys!" Uran sniffed, pulling her lower eyelid down with a pinkee as she starred at Reno and her brothers.

"Don't worry Uran," Dr. O'Shay said, "I've ordered sushi for us both."

"You mean you don't like pizza, Hakase?" Reno asked.

"I do like it, Reno," the doctor replied, "But it gives me gas."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that." Uran laughed, "You always fart after eating cheese."

"URAN!" Astro said, face palming, "did you have to mention that in public?"

The Navy officers tried to keep straight faces, even as they heard the conversation between Uran and her family members. Some of them could relate as they were also parents with young children.


Right after lunch the flight team gathered in the main hangar for another briefing. Astro sat with the flight crew as Commander Flynn went over the details of the afternoon's show performance. As the briefing concluded, the five Hornet aircraft were towed from the hangar to the flight line. Several fuel trucks were waiting there to refuel the aircraft.

Astro looked out in the distance at the crowd that had begun to gather. A tall reviewing stand had been erected for the occasion. It had a large covered booth in the middle of it, with glass walls. Astro zoomed his vision in for a close look. Seated in the air conditioned booth was Emperor Akihito. Seated next to him was his grandson Hisahito, who Astro often played shogi with.

The Blue Angel pilots climbed into their aircraft and started their engines. Astro hovered in the air in front of them as the group began to taxi toward the runway for the start of the afternoon's performance. The United States Marine Corp band had been brought over with the Blue Angels, and they slowly marched onto the runway to take up a position in view of the crowd. They started their performance with the U.S. National Anthem, as one would expect, but upon finishing that they immediately started playing 'Kimigayo', the national anthem of Japan.


After the Marine Band finished with their performance, the Blue Angels lined up on the runway for takeoff. Astro hovered in the point position in front of the rest of the planes, waiting for the signal to take off. He could hear the public address system blaring in the background. The voice was that of Admiral Yelland who was talking to the crowd. He must have had a prepared speech, as he made his announcements in both English and Japanese.

"The United States combined armed forces welcomes our Japanese friends to the Misawa base to enjoy a holiday celebration with us. Today for your entertainment we are proud to offer the performance of the famous United States Navy's Blue Angels aerobatic team, which will be lead today by your own Tetsuwan Atomu!"

Astro heard the announcement, but he was too busy concentrating on what he had to do to allow himself to get embarrassed by it.

"Ready to take off?", Commander Flynn radioed from the airport control tower.

"HAI!" Astro replied, nodding to the aircraft behind him. The five Hornets followed Astro down the runway and lifted skywards in a tight diamond formation. The air show was under way!


An old Duce and a half truck sat parked in the base motor pool. Everyone on the base that had noticed it thought the antique was part of the the days events and had ignored it. Sitting in the cab of the truck, Skunk Kusai and Acetylene Lamp sat quietly. They watched as the air show began with the takeoff of the Blue Angel's flight team.

"Looks like there's been something added to the show." Lamp said with concern.

"Yeah, imagine that." Skunk cackled. "Good thing we've got that extra SAM back there."

"Are you crazy?" Lamp said with a worried voice. "That's Astro up there."

"Yeah, I know." Skunk replied. "That's why I had a special warhead made up just for him."

"You knew that Astro would be in the show?" Lamp asked.

"A little birdie told me." Skunk giggled, "I've got ears inside of the base."

Kusai slid the rear window of the truck cab open and shined a flashlight into the back of the truck. There were three miniature missiles mounted on mobile launchers in the back of the truck. The launchers could be raised into position and the rockets fired from a control panel in the cab of the truck, which itself was shielded from the fiery exhaust of the rocket motors.

"Two of those missiles have multiple warheads, each one of them can take out three aircraft." Skunk explained to Lamp. "The third missile is equipped with a targeted EMP weapon, and its got Astro's name on it!"

Skunk slide the metal panel of the window shut, it was part of the blast shield that would protect them from the missile's exhaust when the rockets were fired.


Uran tugged Cobalt by the blue band around his shorts. "What's the matter Sis?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"I'm bored and I want to look around." She whispered to him.

"Don't you want to watch Ani perform?" Cobalt asked.

"Why?" she asked, "I've seen enough of him flying and showing off."

"You're jealous," Cobalt said.

"Well, aren't you?" his sister asked. "Neither of us can fly."

"We both have flown, it's no big deal." Cobalt answered. "I've used strap on jet packs once in a while, and you even had O'Shay install leg jets in you once."

"But we never showed off." Uran said, "Astro always does. So are you coming with me?"

"OK." Cobalt whispered back. "I guess I have to keep you out of trouble."

The two of them quietly snuck away from the stands where Reno and O'Shay were sitting. The two of them were so engrossed with watching the air show that they didn't notice the two robot kids disappear.

They walked towards the part of the base that was normally off limits to the general public. Today there were tours going on and with the air show overhead, nobody stopped them from walking into the barracks area. Uran admired the statues that had been erected on the base, including one of General Douglas MacArthur on horseback. They continued their way into the military portion of the airport, Cobalt saluted an Air Force servicemen in uniform, and the man returned the gesture. It appeared that civilians on the base were not a big deal, at least today.

They made their way into the motor pool area. There were quite a few Humvee's parked about, along with various kinds of trucks and automobiles. Sitting by itself on the far corner of the lot was an old truck that looked like it had seen better days. Its motor was running, and the vehicle shook slowly on its worn suspension.

"That's a classic two and a half ton truck," Cobalt told his sister. "The U.S. used them to haul all sorts of equipment around in the second world war, and in the conflicts in Korea and Vietnam."

"How do you know that?" Uran asked.

"I've read the books that Reno collected on military vehicles," Cobalt said. "Lets take a closer look, I've never seen a Duce and a half up close before."


High over the sky Astro lead one group of planes in a mini formation as they performed several high gee maneuvers. The other group of three Hornets mirrored their actions on the other side of the field. The two groups broke apart, and each of the planes then performed a solo maneuver. As the aircraft intermingled they released smoke trails that hung in the air behind them. The crowd roared with delight as the aircraft made several low passes over the field, the roar of their engines reverberating.


Lamp punched Skunk on the shoulder. "So what are we waiting for?" he asked.

"Patience!" Skunk laughed. "We've got to make this look like part of the show. We'll launch the missiles just as the Blue Angels go into their capper. They'll divert into two groups and fly past each other at high speed with barley enough air between their wings to walk though. That's when I'll fire the rockets. Those multiple war heads are loaded with gobs of shrapnel, it will look like an unfortunate accident, the planes will appear to have collided with each other."

"What about Astro?" Lamp asked.

"A few seconds later, before the smoke has cleared the EMP weapon will fry his electronics!" Skunk replied. I've got the launch sequence all timed out and programmed into the equipment. All I have to do is press that red button on the dashboard. So just sit back and enjoy the show!"


Cobalt and Uran were close enough to the truck to hear what the two criminals were saying to each other. Uran had seen Skunk's face though the drivers door window of the truck.

"It's that no good Kusai," she whispered to her brother.

"They're going to attack the air show." Cobalt replied back. "We've got to stop them some how."

"Maybe we can sabotage the missiles." Cobalt suggested. He walked on the tips of his feet, quietly approaching the back of the truck, Uran followed him.

"Lift the canvas cover so I can get inside," Cobalt told Uran, "But be quiet about it!"

Cobalt carefully climbed into the truck. Uran held onto the bumper as he stepped inside, bracing the vehicle so the two thugs in the cab wouldn't notice the suspension sag as Cobalt added his weight to the back. Once inside, Cobalt lit his eye's search lights on a dim setting so he could see inside the darkened interior of the truck's cargo area. He crawled under the first launcher and looked for the access panel of the missile's guidance system. Finding it, he used a finger nail as a screwdriver and removed the panel, gaining access to the missiles electronics. Cobalt opened his chest panel and extracted a network cable. He plugged the free end into the missile's computer and began to hack into it. It took him maybe thirty seconds to figure out what Skunk had intended, and he then altered the program. After unplugging himself, he replaced the cover and then crawled over to the second rocket, where he repeated the operation.


Astro was having the time of his life. He increased his hearing 1000 times so he could hear the reaction of the crowd below him above the roar of the Hornet's jet engines. The show was now nearing the end, where the final display of aerobatic precision by the flight team would be demonstrated in a tight flyby with barely a foot between wing tips. Astro would perform a corkscrew flight pattern, weaving in and out of the tightly spaced aircraft as they passed by each other at over 400 mph.


Skunk's finger hovered over the red button on the dash board. "They're about to enter the final portion of the show." he laughed, "Ready Lamp?"

Skunk pressed the button.


Cobalt had only got part of the upload on the third missile completed when he heard the motorized ramp of the first launcher raising the missile into firing position.

"Get out of there Ani!" Uran yelled. She reached into the truck and grabbed Cobalt by the bottom of his left boot and yanked him clear of the truck just as the first rocket fired. The two of them ran clear of the truck and looked up.

"Did you finish the sabotage?" Uran asked.

"Only on two of the rockets." Cobalt sighed. "I don't think the upload on the third was completed when you yanked me clear of there."

The second missile followed the first out of the back of the truck. The rockets exhaust was colored by red, white and blue flames.

In the cab of the truck, Lamp and Skunk admired their handiwork as the rockets flew across the sky towards the converging aircraft. "Hey, that looks nice!" Lamp said.

"Exactly!" Skunk replied. "I mixed some fireworks powder into the rocket fuel so it would look like part of the show!"

The final missile roared out of the truck only seconds after the first two. Out of the corner of his eye, Astro saw the SAMs leaving the patriotic colors of the US behind them in their exhaust. "Guess they're part of the show." he thought.

The five aircraft and Astro converged, with two of the missiles quickly approaching.

"Right on target!" Skunk cackled, "do your daddy's bidding!"

Suddenly two of the rockets turned upwards, zooming several thousand feet into the air above the blue Hornets. They arced away from the airport and exploded over the ocean, to the applauds of the crowd.

"What!" Skunk yelled, "Those missiles weren't supposed to do that!"

"Well, it looks like the last one is still right on target" Lamp said pointing.


Astro was busy timing his flight pattern to avoid the five aircraft that were about to converge on each other in the fly by pattern. He was totally unaware of the EMP weapon that was closing in on him.


Uran grabbed her brother by the arm. "Do something Koby!" she screamed

"I think I know the missiles control frequency." Cobalt thought out loud. He brought up his heads up display and visualized the guidance circuitry of the rocket. Kobaruto tuned his internal radio to the missiles link channel and reached out with his mind to grab control of it.

"I think I can turn it." he said closing his eyes and concentrating.

Uran was about to lose it as she watched the flying bomb home in on her older brother, who was oblivious to his danger.

Suddenly the third missile broke off from its track and made a 270 degree bat-turn. It headed towards the ground and detonated underneath the parked Duce and a half.

The truck was thrown several hundred feet into the air, somersaulting as it went. Lamp and Skunk were lucky to have their seat belts on as they went along for the wild ride. The truck landed in the Misawa Lake, slowly sinking after it hit the water. Lamp and Skunk bobbed to the surface, clinging onto a floating seat cushion that had broken free.

"What the fuck happened?" Skunk asked, "I had those missiles programmed perfectly!"

"Yeah sure you did!" Lamp said punching him in the face.


With the final maneuver of the show over, Astro lead the Blue Angel flight team back to the runway. They taxied back to the hangar where the commander was waiting, along with Dr. O'Shay and Reno.

"That was a great show!" Reno said, giving his best friend a nuggie between his hair spikes.

"Yeah, I had a blast!" Astro said, "And that extra bit with the pyrotechnics overhead was great too."

"That wasn't part of the show," Commander Flynn said. "It seems that some terrorist group managed to get a missile launcher on the base and attempted to shoot down the Blue Angels with a trio of SAMs. We're lucky their guidance systems malfunctioned."

"That wasn't luck!" Uran yelled as she and Cobalt came running onto the hangar staging area from out of left field. "It was Koby that saved the day!"

"What?" Astro and Reno replied together.

"Well I guess Uran and I kinda wandered off and found this old truck on the other side of the base," Cobalt said. "I snuck into the truck and sabotaged the missiles."

"Well then," Flynn said, holding up a silver medal by a ribbon, "I was going to give you this medal for your performance Astro, but maybe I should be giving one to Cobalt instead!"

"NO!" Cobalt said. "This was Astro's big moment!"

Astro grabbed the ribbon from the commander and hung it over his brothers neck. "I was only showing off my flying while Kobaruto was showing off his bravery! This medal belongs to him!"

"You know, I think that truck landed in the lake." Cobalt said.

"I'll be right back!" Astro said, as he flew off.


Skunk and Lamp sat shivering in the base lockup. "I don't know what's worse," Skunk said, "having my plans foiled by that half wit brother of Astro, or having to be yanked out of the cold water by him!"

"Just shut up you baka!" Lamp said. "Everything you touch turns to shit. I should never have agreed to help you on this stupid idea."


That evening there was a fireworks display over the base. Bar-b-que pits were set up, and lots of food was being served. The crowds stayed till way past midnight. Finally they bid their farewells to Admiral Yelland and Commander Flynn and got back into O'Shay's car to return to Metro City.

Cobalt fingered the silver medal that hung on the blue ribbon around his neck. It was embossed with the emblem of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels and was signed by the six official members of the flight team.

"You should have this Astro," Cobalt said, "Not me."

"Hey, you saved their lives, and mine too!" Astro said. "It's your's and I don't want to hear another word about that!"

"Yeah, you're my big brother hero!" Uran said, giving Kobaruto a big bear hug.

Cobalt blushed. For the first time in his life, he really felt happy.