Area 88: Dogfighters

By: Ominae

Rating: T

NOTE:

All characters of Area 88 are under the copyright of Kaoru Shintani, TV Asahi and Group TAC. I exclusively own the rights to the character Paul Yeung.

Disclaimer: Thanks to all those who reviewed my Area 88 story. I thought that this story would garner a few reviews than I've expected and yet, I was wrong. 11 reviews in just 6 chapters. Thanks mate. You guys may have noticed that I've also uploaded my Najica Blitz Tactics story. If you ever do stop by and read it, please review ASAP! Pretty please! I need to know some of your insights. Thanks and happy reading on the 7th chapter.

Summary:

With Shin Kazama's F-8E shot down from the sky by guerilla MiG-21s, Area 88 has gone into a semi-state of panic over the possibility of losing their most prized ace freelancer fighter pilot in the Asranian civil war. Shin, trying to survive in the desert, begins to recall the years that he had spent with Satoru Kanzaki before the betrayal took place and his subsequent arrival. Paul, Kim and Mickey were now deployed to search for the remains of Shin's F-8E and for the pilot himself. Can the trio beat the odds and find Shin before it's too late as his life is now currently hanging in the balance? Stay tune to this chapter to find out.

Note - Any underlined name in this story indicates that an aircraft has appeared for the first time in any chapter with its detailed specs at the end.

Chapter 7: Found Again at Last

Journal of Paul Yeung, ex-Captain, Philippine Air Force

Day 5, Asran

Have received word from Saki and Roundell during an emergency debriefing session that Shin had been shot down over the Asranian desert by rebel MiG-21 Fishbed fighters.

So my fears were correct. The Soviets (and subsequently, the Chinese) had been supplying the communist guerillas with new and sophisticated fighter planes in order to augment their obsolete MiG-17 planes that they've been employing as their standard fighter planes for the first few years.

I've only chased out some intruding Soviet planes in the few years of my stay in Basa after a stint in the army. But do I recall seeing MiG-21s among the planes that I've chased out? This is one thing that I've to think about first because I can't remember. But what about Shin? I still pray that he would be safe out there, even if the Middle Eastern desert might be harsh.

Hopefully, some answers will be there...

Eventually.

Somewhere in the desert, Asran

"19 hours"

Gustav overlooked the yellow desert sands of Asran with a set of binoculars in finding Shin. So far, there has been no luck.

Makoto and Rocky looked at Gustav, puzzled.

Gustav placed his binoculars away from his eyes before he explained his comments. "That's the longest someone can last out here without water."

"You serious?" asked Rocky.

"I'm afraid so." answered Gustav, emotionless tone in his voice.

"That means that..." trailed Makoto.

"But..." narrated Gustav. "Once there was a pilot who lasted three days in the Libyan desert with barely any water."

"That's good to hear." said Makoto, a bit enthusiastic in his reply. "You know someone like that?"

"But that doesn't change the fact that Shin may be dieing of thirst. We've heard stories that he's not with the Self-Defense Forces." suggested Rocky.

The technician smirked at the two Japanese journalists. "He was Antoine de Saint-Exupery."

Makoto whistled at Gustav; Rocky scratched his head and smiled a bit. "Oh him, I almost forgot. I did a paper about him when I was in high school."

Gustav walked from the sand dune that the trio were standing in, leaving Makoto and Rocky behind.

"Hey, wait." yelled Makoto at Gustav. "It's 19 hours after you drink your last drop of water, right?" The two reporters chased after Gustav, who was near his Land Rover.

Behind the sand dune, an empty water flask lies in the desert sand, buried in half.

Apartment, somewhere in France, early 1980s

Shin Kazama tried to struggle with two men in suits and shades, believed to be of Middle Eastern descent.

"What are you doing? Let me go!"

Shin was pinned down on a table by the two men as he tried to break free of their grip.

"You want to be shot as a deserter, huh?"

A man in a business suit and shades, somewhat in his middle '30s, came up to Shin Kazama. He had a mustache on. Waving a piece of paper on him, he then explained to the Japanese national the purpose of their visit.

"Shin Kazama, as of midnight today, you've been drafted into the Kingdom of Asran's foreign squad." To prove his point, he unfolded the paper in front of Shin, which gave him a good shock.

"That's...impossible!" mumbled Shin, looking at disbelief at the paper and his supposed signature.

He then remembered one person who could have done a thing like that.

"Kanzaki?"

Somewhere in the desert, Asran

A flight helmet dropped down on the desert sand, its purpose no longer needed as Shin trudged on the desert, trying to figure out what went on the days before he was deployed to Asran.

"Why...? Why did he make me do that?"

With a final gasp, he went down on his knees before he fell on the yellow sand, face first.

Bar, somewhere in France, early 1980's

"Shin! Hey, Shin!" said Satoru, trying to get him up. "This is a form to proving that you've spent the night here. Sign here." Satoru waved the paper in front of him.

"Proving that I've spent the night here...?" Shin had one eye open, showing drowsiness.

Still a bit weak, Shin tiredly signed the paper, not knowing what will happen next.

Apartment, somewhere in France, early 1980's

"Via this contract, for the next three years, you will serve in the Kingdom of Asran's air force." The mustached man kept the folded paper in his coat.

"We will not ask you for any information regarding your past or where are you from. As long as you're a skilled pilot, anyone is welcome."

"No way..." whispered Shin, still not convinced and pinned down by two Asranian security agents. "Kanzaki..."

The mustached man snapped his fingers, prompting the agents to get Shin to stand up while still being held in their grip. The future Yamato Airlines pilot wanted to shake free from their grip and forget everything that the Asranian security agents have told him about."

"KANZAKI! WHY?"

Somewhere in the desert, Asran

Shin slowly woke up from his temporary coma, one eye open while the other was shut. Still a bit weak, Shin recalled one of last meeting with Ryoko.

"Shin!"

"Shin!"

"Shin!"

Shin was able to mumble the name of the voice to the desert wind.

"Ryoko..."

Somewhere in Japan, late 1970s-early 1980s

"You really do love airplanes, don't you?" Ryoko sat on the grass in front of Shin, seeing a Boeing jet fly past them.

"My one dream since my childhood has been to fly." Shin stared at the sky, admiring the big Boeing jet as well.

Ryoko frowned a bit as his answer. "Is the sky the only thing you like?"

Shin was a bit startled at her question, making Ryoko giggle, then her facial expression changed.

"You'll be in Paris starting tomorrow, right?" Ryoko looked at the sky once more, this time she looked happy.

"Come back soon, okay?"

"Ah, I've been looking for you guys."

A much younger Paul Yeung, clad in a brown jacket and olive green BDU-style pants, came towards Shin and Ryoko from behidn the two.

"How are you doing, Shin?"

"Great!" Shin did a high five with Paul before he came up to Ryoko, who stood up and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Hey!" Ryoko gave him a tight hug, placing her head near his chest.

"Right..." Paul patted her sofly on her back before speaking with Shin. "When's your flight?"

"I think in the morning." Shin shrugged his shoulders.

"Well..." Paul disentangled himself from Ryoko's hug. "Just take care of yourself, alright?"

"Yea..." Shin smiled and patted the upcoming AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) officer on his shoulder. "I'll be back, I promise you guys."

Somewhere in the desert, Asran

Shin had his fingers dig through the sand, a bit tired before he called out to Ryoko again.

"Ryoko..."

Airspace, Asran

Kim, Mickey and Paul zoomed over the Asranian desert from the sky, searching for their lost pilot.

"Did you guys find him?" Mickey looked his side to check for signs of Shin's plane.

"Nope." said Kim, a bit disappointed at his findings.

"Nothing at this area." mumbled Paul, checking the radar display on his J/AWG-12 panel. "I wonder who shot him anyway?"

"I'll try contacting Gustav." interrupted Kim on his radio channel.

The three mercenary pilots zoomed over the desert, hoping that they would find their missing pilot.

Inside Land Rover, somewhere in the desert of Asran

"Understood. I'll keep heading East."

Gustav held the radio microphone in his hand, communicating with the other party while driving the Land Rover jeep.

"Roger." replied Kim.

Makoto, seated in the passenger seat, and Rocky, seated at the tarped cargo compartment, stared at the desert as the jeep passed by, eyeing for any sign of Shin Kazama himself.

Makoto took his metal cup and held it over an opened water dispenser jug, getting some water for him to consume.

"I brought that for Shin!" scolded Gustav, not wanting him to waste the water.

"Who cares?" defended Makoto. "19 hours, right?"

Gustav answered only a few minutes later at his statement.

"Are you suggesting that he's dead?"

"No way." Makoto slowly consumed the liquid on his metal cup, not wanting to believe that Shin could really be dead.

"Out here, there's no way that you can survive without water." The photographer chugged the rest of the water down the throat, enjoying its fresh taste.

"Good stuff." Makoto stared at the bottom of his metal cup. He stared into the front of the Land Rover, until he instinctively saw something shining on the left side of the Rover in the desert.

"Stop."

Gustav pressed the brakes of his Rover pretty hard, Makoto jumped out of the vehicle with his camera, Rocky poked his head out of the tarp, wondering what his colleague is trying to accomplish.

"What's wrong, Shinjo?" yelled Gustav from inside the Land Rover jeep.

Makoto picked up a flight helmet, having the seal of the German Iron Cross.

"It's Kazama's helmet!"

Gustav and Rocky began to scan the desert sand, now that they had a clue on his possible location. Looking left and right, the technician and the SO news reporter began to pant a bit, desperate for a sign that Shin's body might be around.

Gustav finally saw something in front of the vehicle, a black spot.

A black spot that could mean somebody is out there.

"Shin! I've found him!" Gustav got back into the Land Rover and stepped on the gas, heading towards Shin's possible fatigued body.

Makoto frowned a bit that Gustav gota headstart ahead of him. He ran in order to give chase to the van, his mind filled with thoughts and questions.

"I'm way too soft." Makoto nearly tripped over some sand during his running marathon against the Land Rover. "How can he still be alive?"

The Land Rover was the first to arrive. Gustav and Rocky dismounted from the vehicle with Makoto catching up later. Rocky cradled his body, getting him to a comfy spot with Gustav pouring a cup of water for him.

"Hey Shin! Wake up!" yelled Rocky, trying to revive the fainted pilot.

"How is he?" Makoto stopped for a moment to take a photo of the fainted mercenary.

Gustav brought his ear close to Shin's mouth, hearing him mumble something.

"Kan...zaki..."

"Kanzaki?" mumbled Gustav, who was a bit dumbfounded at his mumbling. "What's he talking about?" Makoto and Rocky stared at one another with shocked eyes, wondering if Shin really had something with Kanzaki.

"Water..." whispered Shin hoarsely, lips getting dry from the yellow sun.

"Can you get up?" Makoto was still shocked at Shin's mumblings a while ago when Gustav tried to help him up on his feet.

"Take a nice, long drink." Gustav handed Shin one cup of water after another, giving him the nourishment that he needed to survive in the desert heat.

Gustav, Rocky and Makoto stood by and watched Shin drink all the water that he could consume.

"It's good..." whispered Shin, bit relaxed that he had found some water at last. "I never thought that water could taste this good."

"If you know how good water really tastes, you can live in the desert." suggested Gustav, a bit relieved that Shin was still alive.

"I can live..." mumbled Shin, a grin plastered on his face. "I'm alive!" Shin stared at his hands, filled with sooth from the desert sand. "I'm alive!"

Gustav, Rocky and Makoto were looking at him in disbelief, wondering why Shin was staring at them.

"You three look like angels to me." complimented Shin, overjoyed to see his saviors.

"Maybe we're demons." mocked Makoto, gripping his Nikon camera. "Wouldn't you have been better off dying here?"

"I can't die here." insisted the Japanese freelancer pilot.

The three men stared at him, wondering what did he just mean by not dying alone in the Asranian desert.

"Even if the God of Death comes for me, I'm going to survive." Then, he heard a camera working. Makoto just took a photo of a Shin Kazama, grinning that he had survived in the desert after being shot down by guerilla MiG-21 Fishbed jets.

Three jets zoomed overhead to see Shin alive and well.

"It's Shin." stated Kim, looking from the interior of his Harrier.

"Thank goodness he's still alive and kicking." added Paul, looking at the scene below his F-1.

"Looks like it." pouted Mickey to the two pilots on his radio link. "When he gets back, I'm gonna make him pay my fuel costs." Paul chuckled at Mickey's frustrations.

"Don't take it personally on Shin."

Makoto and Rocky helped Shin to his feet, walking him slow towards the opened Land Rover that Gustav had held open for the fatigued pilot.

Commander's Office, Area 88 Base

"Kazama's been found." explained Roundell. Saki looked at him over his right shoulder while standing near the window overlooking Area 88's runway.

"Send out a rescue helicopter."

"Yes sir."

Somewhere in the desert, Asran

Nightfall has come over the Asranian desert. Medics had loaded Shin's stretcher on a Royal Asranian Air Force UH-1D helicopter.

Makoto stood by, taking photos of him being loaded onto the chopper. Rocky stood by as well, casually observing the scene. Gustav waited for the reporters next to the Land Rover jeep.

The two Japanese SO News Correspondents gave a thumbs up to Shin for a successful rescue. Shin, in return, gave the two reporters a thumbs up for a job well done.

After watching the Bell UH-1D take off with Shin in tow, Gustav walked back to the Land Rover jeep, eager to get back to base. Makoto and Rocky walked to the Land Rover, until the head technician told them something.

"This isn't a taxi."

Makoto stared at the setting sun, smiling to himself. "I want to see the sun set in the desert." He entered the jeep's passenger door, while Rocky chose to hop at the rear, partially opening the tarp in order to let himself in.

Starting the ignition of the Land Rover, Gustav drove the jeep back to base as the sun was continuing to settle into Asran.

Inside the Bell UH-1D, Shin stared at the red sky, relieved that he had been alive as last.

"Rocky, Makoto, Gustav. Thank you for saving me. Now I can work hard to get back to Japan to see Ryoko once more."

Makoto and Rocky stared at the sun, smiling to themselves for something that they've done right for now.

"Hey Makoto?"

Makoto stared at rear to see Rocky, smiling also while leaning on the jeep's tarp covers.

"The setting is beautiful, don't you think?" Makoto then looked at the sun from the passenger side door, grinning at his answer.

"Yeah, Rocky." replied Makoto, going back to stare at the red sky. "It sure is."

Unknown to the two reporters, Gustav slightly smiled too, looking to the side to see the setting sun as he continued driving back to Area 88.

En route back to Area 88, Paul Yeung stared at the setting yellow sun with the red sky at its background. He placed the visor of his flight helmet back up temporarily, admiring the beautiful sun that he has seen.

"Paul? Something up?" said Mickey, whose F-14 is on his left.

"You seem to be looking at something." added Kim, whose Harrier is on the right of Paul's F-1.

"The sun..." whispered Paul on his radio line. "is beautiful when it sets before dark, when you have a good look at it."

Mickey looked at the setting sun from the cockpit of his F-14, smiling under his oxygen mask.

"I guess you're right, Paul. Now that you think about it, no one ever has a chance to see one once in his lifetime."

Kim boosted his Harrier a bit to see the sun as well. "I never had the opportunity to see the sun set from the outside. But I guess it's a good time to do so now."

Paul smiled under his oxygen mask, now happy to see Shin alive and well.

"Come on, guys. Let's head back home."

The three jets further accelerated the speed of their jet's booster, taking them back to Area 88. While doing so, Paul remembered a story that he had heard when he was young back in his school days in a Catholic school. Up to this day, he still remembers the ending of that story. The ending had happened like this,

"It was meet that we should make merry, and be glad: for this thy brother was dead, and is alive again; and was lost, and is found."

Chapter 7 END