[sorry if it seems like a mess, but ill try to clear it up.]

(24 Hours earlier)

The clicking of silver switches on the instrument panel echoed through out the cockpit. A loud slow whine started emanated from engine no. 2 which quickly turned into a loud roar as a plume of brown and grey exhaust shot from the pipe, the propeller blade spinning fast as it cut through the air. A loud low hum engulfed the cockpit as three more switches were flipped in order, the same whining noise following and quickly being replaced by loud roars and puffs of smoke. The B-17 shook and vibrated as Juan looked out the cockpit and viewed over the two engines that were on his side. Joe, with a lit cigarette in his mouth glanced over his side and checked on his responsibilities that were quickly spinning only feet away. Throughout the Tokyo international airport, lines of olive drabbed B-17's and B-24's, their paint weather and heavily chipped started their engines which turned into a large rumbles that silenced even the loudest of jets that were parked. Commotion turned into controlled chaos as young mechanics and ground controllers ran between the spinning blades of parked bombers. Jeeps and smaller vehicles raced across the concrete airfield carrying men and supplies out and away as dust began to fly in every direction. The constant ear-splitting roar of Wright Cyclone and Pratt and Whitney engines made every person inside the terminal look at the direction of the heavies. They took out their phones and cameras taking pictures and videos of an event that was hardly seen in public as they kept staring wide eyed. Juan opened his cockpit side window and started hitting his fists with his thumbs out, motioning for the chucks to be removed from the large black rubber tires. A scrawny kid grabbed a old and used rope with fibers sticking out and pulled hard as both wooden chucks went flying forward and rolled along behind the kid as he ran bent over. Juan smiled and gave a thumbs up to his ground crew as he closed the window with a thump. A sea of propellers spun in almost complete unison as the first B-24 with colorful nose art slowly started to move forward. Slowly followed by another B-24, and then by another as the lines began to move towards the takeoff strip. A brightly checkered jeep suddenly drove onto the strip in front of the first bomber, flying a flag which made the B-24 follow it with the same pace. Bomber after bomber started to roll forward to join the intricate dance that was going on; bombers stopping for others to cut in front of them as they waited. A tense feeling of nervousness was brewing between everyone as they watched all the bombers that were packed with live munitions get into neat straight lines, all looking at the first bomber who now was at the beginning of the strip, waiting for the flare that would launch them into the blue sky.

A deafening hum echoed throughout each bomber as the seconds turned into what felt like hours as all the young pilots stared at the huge control tower that was at the terminal, waiting anxiously for the flares. The tower was crowded with flight directors, both American and Japanese as they rambled and looked at the airfield that was littered with aircraft. The feeling got stronger and stronger as time stopped; all eyes glaring down the tower unblinking. All of a sudden, two bright red flares shot up from the tower side by side as they fell back down to Earth. The lead B-24 then revved its' engines to full throttle as it began to race down the strip. Its engines roaring louder than before as small bright camera flashes emanated from the background. Everybody held their breath as the built up tension and nervousness was about to explode. It all turned silent, mouths wide open, eyes unblinking as the bomber's wheels gracefully left the hard ground as it flew past the tower. Quickly, engine after engine screamed to life as bomber after bomber flew by with tremendous speeds, wheels going up, still spinning as they climbed in the distance. Juan and Joe looked out their cockpit to see B-24s taking off one after another like clockwork. 10 minutes passed when the B-17's finally rolled up to take off. Juan felt like his heart was about to explode as he tried his hardest to keep calm as he moved the heavy bomber to the edge of the strip. Joe leaned sideways and lowered a level which clicked into its slot on the floor; turning off a light that read above 'tail wheel lock'. Juan's and Joe's hands flew throughout the cabin as they flipped switches and levers. Juan slightly tensed up as hit gloved hands squeezed his control yolk tightly, feeling the sweat moisten his tan gloves. "We're set" he said with a tone full of nervousness and slight panic. Joe moved his glove a bit and checked on his watch. After glaring at it for a moment, he turned towards Juan and nodded. Juan took a deep breath and said with his most confident tone that had traces of nervousness "Here we go boys" as he and Joe grabbed the throttles and started to push them forward. the B-17 then started to speed up down the runway; Joe, Juan and Chris who was standing behind them looking at the instrument panel all stared forward at the runway the raced beneath them. Juan held tightly to the yolk as started to pull back slowly at it, feeling as the vibrating bomber started to leave the ground. Juan held his breath and suddenly, he felt nothing underneath him as the bomber gracefully took off, its dark shadow shrinking smaller as the plane gained altitude. Onlookers and personnel looked at the B-17 with a lively Speedy Gonzales nose art as it took off to fight in another bloody school match.

"Look at that view" commented Joe as he kept adjusting throttles. Juan glanced down towards a packed city whose occupants all looked up towards him; he feeling their eyes all stare him down. Everybody in Tokyo abruptly stopped and glanced up and slightly covered their eyes as the bombers flew overhead, their loud humming covering the city as they formed into their groups. "I cant get rid of this feeling, it always hits me when we go up" softly said Juan as his browsed over each dial on the instrument panel. Thin lines of white smoke danced throughout the cockpit as Joe took a puff of his cigarette. "Don't worry skip, I do too. I can't tell you how many times I almost shit myself thinking we might crash and blow up on take off, not that would make any difference seeing what we go through on a weekly basis". Juan glanced at his co-pilot that was looking down below, his cigarette barely on his lips as it kept releasing its calming poison. Juan's hands softly trembled as he started to release the tight grip of the control yolk; his breathing slowly going back to normal as he tried to focus on the task at hand. "Didn't expect the sun to be this bright" griped Joe as he put his right hand above his eyes and looked up out of the top window. "You still got our sunglasses?" suddenly asked Juan as he too looked up. Joe immediately reached his hand down his right side of the seat and pulled out two pairs of large, reflective round glasses that gleamed bright as the sun hit them. He passed one to Juan as he put on his; the glasses reflecting everything that was pointing in its direction. Juan put his on and looked through the amber tinted eyes as he kept going with his mental checks. He slowly paused and looked at the corner of the windshield, his eyes not moving away. He softly smiled and silently prayed to himself a verse he had been saying for a while.

"What's that up there?" asked Yukari as she pointed to a corner of the windshield where a small photo was taped on. Erwin looked at and slowly pulled it off the metal frame. On the slightly worn picture, was an image of Jesus Christ with a blue and red beam coming out of his heart at different angles. "I don't know, I think it might be that deity that western religions speak of, Jesus I think was his name" commented Erwin as she turned over the photo and found some small writing on the back of the photo. She gazed upon it, however not knowing what it said she placed it on top of the instrument panel. As she placed the photo there, she looked out and saw the nose of the aircraft which had a huge hole where the navigator would be positioned. She got out of her seat with a swift movement and went down to the passageway that would lead to the nose of the B-17, only to find the entrance blocked by the twisted fuselage that smashed in when the plane crashed. "What's the rush Erwin, you didn't seem like your usual self there?" asked Yukari with a surprised tone and emotion on her face. Erwin looked back at Yukari, but quickly glanced away towards the floor. "What's wrong? You're beginning to worry me" asked Yukari, whose voice was mixed with concern and fear. "nothing, its just, the crew of the aircraft, they keep coming in my mind." slowly said Erwin, her heart feeling slightly heavy. "Oh yeah, I was wondering about that; what happened to the crew?" I didn't see any parachutes, and most of their personal belongings are still on board, do you think they jumped?" curiously asked Yukari, her prying eyes not leaving Erwin. Erwin looked at the instrument panel, her eyes seeming to look at something that was hundreds of miles away. "No, they didn't bail.." Yukari's eyes slowly widening by the second. "You mean?" she silently asked; Erwin gave a smug look as she looked back at Yukari as she slowly said with a confident tone" because I saw them last night. There was a brief moment of silence between the two until Yukari's eyes opened as wide as they would go and she yelled "YOU SAW THE CREW?!". her voice almost breaking when she tried to understand what Erwin said. " You mean.. th-they landed this thing on our ship? How many did you see? How did they look like? Were they academy girls from japan? " she bombarded Erwin, who tired to chose a question. She put her hands up trying to calm Yukari who kept asking away. "yes, I saw them; there were about 10 of them, so it was the whole crew." Erwin calmly said as she tried to recollect events from the incident. "Wait, you said you saw the whole crew right?" quickly interrupted Yukari as she looked at Erwin; "yeah" she nodded. Yukari's eyes darted off as she thought in her head something that began to bug her. "Were any of them wearing parachutes?" she immediately asked. Erwin looked down while she thought hard, trying to remember every last detail as she sat down on the cold wood. "I saw most of them were wearing the white harnesses, but no actual parachutes if I remember correctly." Yukari kept thinking after the new information entered her ears as she tried to piece everything together. " So if there were no parachutes, and they made a crash landing; so that means they couldn't bail out even if they wanted too "exclaimed Yukari." I wonder why though" she added, her mind seeming to be high in the sky. Erwin then remembered something else that saw, her eyes opening in shock. ' None of them were wearing high altitude gear that bomber crews would wear unless they...' thought Erwin. She quickly snapped her fingers which made a loud click as she slightly smiled, but quickly dissipated as she looked up at Yukari. " I know why they didn't bail out, and I knew I saw it before. U.S aircrews crews did it back in 1943, on the run at Ploesti. Most of the crews didn't carry parachutes for the same reason why these guys didn't have any either." she confidently said. Yukari's mouth slightly dropped open when she also realized "you mean?" ; "yeah" slowly replied Erwin as she glanced back the instrument panel.

" I still can't believe we are doing this run at low level, seems like it wont fucking work." abruptly said Joe as he looked away from the instrument panel towards the formation of B-17's as they flew across the ocean, being followed by a another group of bombers a mile behind. The sky was clear light blue, dense clouds floating in the distance as they seemed to connect to the teal colored ocean; its ripples barely noticeable to the naked eye. " If you don't believe this won't work, then why the hell didn't you say anything during the meeting back in Cali when the commanders were planning it." said Juan with an annoyed cocky tone. "Cause I was falling asleep, why didn't you say anything then?" quickly retorted Joe. "because I was too entranced by the plan, I listened to it all" smugly replied Juan. "bitch you looked like you were fucking braindead in there." Joe chuckled. "Drool coming out of your mouth and all" he added. Joe put out his cigarette on a jerry-rigged ashtray as Juan pulled out a used pipe that had teeth marks on the plastic and scratches on the varnished wood. He put it in his mouth, his dark wispy mustache bending around the top of his lip as he bit down on the plastic. "Why do you even have that?; you don't even smoke" bluntly commented Joe as he looked at Juan, his glasses reflecting Juan's face. "Cause it calms me down, you know this Joe. For god sakes we are going in less than a hundred feet and those jap students are going to throw everything at us including the damn kitchen sink!" Juan exclaimed. "I should have fucking said something, fuck!" he added. There was brief silence between the two until the intercom suddenly sparked to life as Rick asked "Uh skip, we are about fifty miles from target and I'm wondering something skip; why didn't we pack any parachutes?" The constant humming of the four engines sounded throughout the B-17 as Juan let the words sink in. "It because of the level we are going in, parachutes at that height will be useless. You'll skip like a rock on the ocean before it opens, if at all." Juan replied in concerned tone. "We need some thing to listen or I'm about to loose my fucking mind" he added in discontent. "hey brock, do you think you can find something for us and maybe the group?" asked Joe as he gripped his throat. "sure, I've been eying a station since we left Tokyo; still think we are in range" happily replied Brock.

Music started flowing through the headsets as everybody started to enjoy the view as they looked out their windows, their eyes meeting other eyes in different aircraft. "Hmm' thought Juan as he listen to the song as it kept on going. "What" asked Joe with slight surprised. "The song, its Kendrick...Money Trees" slowly replied Juan. "I didn't know Japs listened to Hip Hop, uncensored too" Joe bluntly said. Juan started to silently mouth the song as he stared forward , his eyes never leaving the B-17 that was slightly above them, leading the formation. "its the same song we heard for our first ever match" casually spoke Juan, his mind going back to the first match that almost became their last. His thoughts drifted away as the bomber slowly lumbered with the other giants, their crews in their own personal bubbles as they laughed; trying to enjoy the flames of their youth that could be easily be blown out. "Sir, we are about to enter the arena airspace" cautiously said Rick over the intercom. Juan broke from his trance as he listened to the words that suddenly brought fear. "Al..alright, boys we are entering the arena, lets test our guns quickly." he announced. All the gunners cocked their weapons as they clicked put the first round into the chambers. Suddenly, short bursts of ear-deafening cracks emanated from all over the aircraft as sharps clinks quickly followed by the falling empty shells as they hit the floor. "looks like we are good then" said Juan, his voice beginning to tremble. The music slowly stopped as Brock quickly came on the intercom, his voice full of doubt and slight fear. "Skip, we haven't met up with out escort yet and I can't pick up their signal. On top of that, Mount 'N Ride directed all of the group to start heading down to 100 feet above the water to begin on the IP". "Right, alright boys, looks like our girl and her squad couldn't make it. They probably tangled with he enemy team before they can reach us, but either way keep sharp and don't waste any ammo, got it?" nervously said Juan as he tried to show some bravado to boost morale. "This is it" said Joe as he took a deep breath, Juan taking out his pipe and placing it beside him, his hand slightly shaking. The bombers started to slowly dive to the pre-determined height, fear and anxiety in the atmosphere of each bomber as they dived, eyes staring in every direction.

Minutes slowly passed by as everyone was on alert, their hands tightening on their guns as they scanned the sky. "We are about 10 miles to target;we are about to begin the bomb run in a few minutes" announced Rick. he looked down at his table, to a map that he hadn't used before. 'hope to god that fucker doesn't mess up my map I let him borrow' thought Rick as his slowly turned to a figure he bought only a few hours ago in a small shop. "Why did you buy that thing?" suddenly asked Erik as he turned his head back to Rick. "Makes you look like a dirty weeb man" he chuckled. "cause I know what art is you uncultured mongoloid." retorted Rick. Erik slightly smiled as he turned back around and kept kneeling in front of his twin 50. cal. ;"art" he mumbled. In the distance he saw something peculiar and squinted his eyes. "Jesus Christ" he loudly said as is eyes widened. "What is it?" asked Rick with curiosity; he looked past Erik, his eyes widening as well, "Son of a fucking bitch" he muttered as he kept looking past Erik's shoulder in the cramped nose. "The fuck is that?" blurted out Joe as he slowly took off his glasses. Juan kept looking forward and saw black, small black lines lazily rise into the sky in the distance as small little black specs were flying through them. " I thought they said the refinery was abandoned long ago?!" yelled Joe as he looked at Juan, whose eyes were hidden by his sunglasses. "BANDITS!, ELEVEN O' CLOCK HIGH!" screamed someone over the intercom. Juan's heart immediately raced as he looked up, holding his breath and glowered at the sun. he was barely able to see a bunch of black objects when another voice interrupted, full of fear like the first; "BANDITS, COMING IN AT 6!". All guns swiftly moved to the oncoming attackers. Everybody waited for the fighters to pounce, waited for them to get in range. Within seconds cracks of thunder erupted out of each bomber as yellow/orange tracers shot into the sky. Voices bursting through the channel as they announced different fighters that were attacking. The Japanese fighters zoomed by through the low formation, their guns blasting away at the bombers. "Bogey 4' high, Brock you see him?" asked a voice; Brock immediately answered by moving his gun. " I got one high and another on my back!" yelled a voice in the formation. "I got him" confidently said Brock, his machine gun erupting as he fired away. Tracers flew past the fighter as it zoomed by another bomber, which immediately trained all it guns at it. Verbal chaos shot through the intercom as each member called a fighter, quickly shooting at it as smoking empty shells bounced off the floor. Yellow tracers followed a dark green Japanese zero as it past a bomber. They hit the target which flickered as they impacted, blood immediately covering the shot up canopy. It kept flying as it crashed into the water and cart-wheeled on its wings until it exploded. Gunfire continued as the fighters zoomed past the formation in every angle. Chuck aimed down his gun as a silver zero came into his sights; heart racing as he pulled the trigger without hesitation, blasting away at the fighter as it quickly burst in flames and flew over the B-17, crashing into the ocean only a few hundred feet away. "I got one!" he cheerfully said kept shooting away as more fighters pounced. "Watch out cockpit there's one heading straight for ya" Said Tony as he looked up at a oddly painted Zero that was heading straight towards the front of the bomber. Juan and Joe looked with horror as the fighter got closer and closer, only to be driven off at the last second as Erick shot at it , missing his shots by mere inches. The fighter swiftly rolled on it's side and buzzed by the bomber with feet to spare. Juan took up one of his hands and stuck his middle finger out as the fighter passed. "That bitch was glaring us down!" yelled Joe; "I know who the cunt was, and he doesn't fuck around" sternly said Juan as he looked around the sky. Joe looked at Juan with eyes of morbid curiosity. "didn't expect him showing up, we're are twice as fucked now " he quickly added. A loud explosion broke through the loud chaos; turning everyone's head where it sounded from. A b-17 with it's outer wing engulfed in flames started to go down as engine number four exploded into flames, turning the entire right wing in a burning mess as it plunged into the ocean, exploding into a thousand bits that skipped across the water, no survivors emerging. "Fuck, I think that was Richie and his boys" yelled Joe as he glanced back at the wreck that was quickly being left behind. "Keep going guys, don't let up on those pricks" he yelled, his heart sinking deeper as he imagined the death those boys went through. "Skip, we're starting the bomb run!" yelled Rick over the intercom, his voice trembling as machine gun fire ripped through the skies. Juan's eyes staring wide as the smoke got bigger and bigger, explosions rocking on the tiny island.