Chapter 13: Air Ninjas of the Rising Sun
Anyone whose tuned in to Japanese TV knows they have some crazy ideas.
Game Show Host: You want Million Dollar? You can win happy smile face Milllon Dollar when you eat... 'Bodily Waste!' You eat waste that comes out human body for lots of mega millionaire dollars! Waste like pee, sweat, snot, spit, loogies, dead skin, vomit and poo-poo!
(Large table with people eating bodily waste is shown)
Host: You eat most food without throwing up yourself and you win million dollar! Bodily Waste! Eat It! (Starts slapping contestant in face as he eats) Mao! Mao! Bodily Waste! Waste is power! THE POWER!
(Teen Ttians look on in disgust)
Raven: Who would watch that?
Starfire: Japanese people?
Raven: Well obviously, but what kind of Japanese people?
Starfire: Japanese people who enjoy eating the refuse of their fellow man.
Robin: You mean like homeless people?
(Other Titans give him stern looks)
Robin: What? Whaaaaaat? Homeless people eat garbage.
Well the concept of Japanese weirdness is not a recent phenomenom. The Japanese had a few strange ideas when it came to designing the Imperial Air Force's planes. So today Robin you're going to be looking at some Japanese prototype fighters, and these are actual fighters because they were not designed to be Kamikaze weapons.
Robin: Might as well, Star says I'm sleeping on the couch tonight.
Sucks to be you. By the way that means GIR is back.
(GIR begins to fall down from the top of the hanger)
GIR: I'm flyinnnnnnggg! (Slams into floor) YAY!
Robin: Oh joy.
Now onto our first Japanese Fighter. Concieved during 1944, a Japanese Military attache in Germany wittnessed the testing of the Me 262. After relaying the information back to headquarters the Japanese Imperial Navy commissioned the Nakajima Aircraft Manufacturers to build them their own jet fighter to help them in shooting down American bombers over Tokyo. It was to be built by unskilled labour and have its wings foldable so it could be hidden in caves and tunnels in defence of the home island. Needless to say the Japanese scientists in charge of the task had a big task ahead of them.
Prof. Chang: I protest to being the Japanese scientist. I'm friggin Chinese!
You're the only Asian we got, deal with it!
Chang: Jerk.
First things first, the Japanese had to make their own jet engine from scratch. After several models they eventually got it working. Now you're probably asking yourselves why Germany didn't just lone them a turbojet engine. Well they tried, but the sub got blown up on delivery so it sucks to be the guys at Nakajima, more so for the sub carrying the engine.
U-boat Captain: I regret nothing... except actually dying.
The Aircraft was named the Nakajima J9Y, or the Kikka for short. It was standard design for an aircraft but at the same time similar to the 262. It had a smaller frame and no swept back wings. Strangely though its landing gear were borrowed from broken Zeros and other aircraft.
Scientist: Why are we using scrap parts?
Chang: Its called a shortage of raw materials caused by American Bombers over Tokyo. Where have you been the last few months?
The delays in actually creating the engine probably led to the Kikka being designated as a 'Special Attacker' instead of its original role as a fighter plane.
Chang: What does special attacker mean?
Brain: Nothing, it just means all your hardwork won't go to waste.
Chang: The name sounds weird. How is an attacker special?
Brain: Its special when it attacks... and stuff.
Chang: I don't quite follow you.
Brain: Look, all we got left are Kamikaze squadrons. What do you think?
Chang: Oh god, you're telling me I've just spent millions of dollars devolping a stupid a plane that you're just going to blow up anyway!
Brain: Essentially yes. Think of it as giving the military a brand new pet goldfish that we don't care for and dies the next day. You'll get over it.
Chang: My hard work is being used to kill Japanese pilots, how can I just get over it?
Brain: When I tell you that unless you do you'll be flying the first one off the tarmac.
(Short silence)
Chang: I'm over it.
Brain: Thought so.
The plane had a few war-time test flights. It did well in its first trial on August 7 1945, except for its incredibly long takeoff. The second test flight four days later had rocket assited take off units installed on the plane to lessen the length of said take off. But unfortunately their positions were miscalculated and the pilot didn't see them go off. He aborted the take off and the plane was damaged when it hit the end of the runway. It had to be repaired before it could try again and by that time...
Chang: We're ready for another test flight, come on people lets get down to the field.
Pilot: Sir, whats that large mushroom like cloud in the distance?
(Chang looks over his shoulder and see mushroom cloud)
Chang: Ah sh-t!
The other variants of the fighter designated Kikka also never went into the test phase. However had the Germans been successful in supplying their Japanese Allies with a working turbojet engine then the Japanese wouldn't have had to scrape around the scrapyard to make their own and they could've gotten a plane that was just as fast and just as powerful as the Me 262. The Kikka's only prototype now resides in America's National Air and Space Museum.
Robin: Isn't it weird that the spoils of war for the United States always seems to be weapons and stuff the enemy had?
Well stealing cash and food is a bit pointless now. So they gotta take something. But the Kikka wasn't the only freaky airplane the Japanese tried to make. In fact they probably made one of the weirdest fighter planes of the war. The Kyushu J7W, or more simply known as 'The Shinden", was a backwards canard designed airplane.
Robin: Canard? The hell does that mean?
It means the tailfins for the plane are located on the nose. The same went for the propellor, it went on the back of the plane.
Robin: The back? Why? Whats the point of that?
It makes the plane more manuverable then most fighter aircraft... or at least thats the assumption. Essentially it was a plane that was designed backwards from the ground up. It could reach speeds of up to 469 mph and was armed with four 30mm Type 5 Cannons. If its manuverability was really as good as they said it was then it could've been a deadly interceptor aircraft. However only two prototypes were ever built and the first flights of the plane were also in August 1945 like the Kikka. Guess what event ended its development?
Robin: Man, Japan's secret weapons came real late didn't they?
Blame it on overconfidence, their assumption of a quick victory or their poor development facilities that were being bombed at the time. Either way the Japanese just didn't have the capacity to create secret weapons. What few advanced planes they could get were slow in development and the Americans had by then achieved air superiority. They just couldn't compete with America's industrial might. Well at least at the time...
Chang: They may win the war, but they shall never defeat our low priced high quality electronics and far superior advances in automobile comfort, customer satisfaction and safety! WA HA HA!
(This joke has been brought to you by the combined efforts of the Toyota and Toshiba companies)
So yeah thats basically it, Japan wasn't the economic powerhouse it is today back in World War II.
Robin: So we won the war against them by essentially not having our factories bombed to kingdom come.
Yes, thats really all that can be said. So we're pretty much done with this segment.
Robin: Wow I went through this entire chapter without that stupid Robot almost killing me.
(Suddenly a Shinden plan begins backing up behind Robin)
GIR: I'm a pilot! WHEEEE!
Robin: Oh crap!
(Robin runs from spinning propellor blades as plane continues in reverse)
Robin: You have it in Reverse you idiot! Turn it around!
GIR: Everyone knows the propellor goes in front stupid.
If either the Kikka or Shinden had been built earlier, probably with German help, their actions could have disrupted America's bombing campaign... but only temporairly of course before that big old bomb slammed into their heads.
Robin: Someone stop him! He's gonna kill me!
(Plane continues following Robin out of Hangar)
GIR: COOKIES!
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As night came, Ravenna and Logan departed from the carrier on a small raft and made their way to the nearby island. They were hoping that they would land, find what they needed to know and get out there before they were discovered by the enemy. Ravenna seemed to have gotten over Logan unintentional insult of her dead friends. When he tried to apologise she simply told him to forget about it. Perhaps she didn't want an apology, maybe she already knew he was sorry about it. Nevertheless now wasn't the time anyway. As they brought the raft up onto the beach they now had to begin the second phase of the mission. Find out what the Germans and the Japanese were doing here and stop their operation. All it required was them putting the airfield and all its planes out of commision. That meant sabotaging the runway, the planes in their hanger, the air traffic control tower and anything else of military importance on sight. It would not be an easy mission but if they were to discover what the Axis was planning it had to be done.
They quietly sneaked off the beach they had landed at and made their way into the island. They quickly came upon the airfield as they approached the treeline. Logan took out his binoculars and began to survey the area in fron of him.
"I can see guard towers at the front and at the corners of the field's perimeter." He told Ravenna "A lot of nasty guards too. Don't see any Germans though, mostly Japanese. Can tell by the uniforms."
"Whats on the Airfield?" Ravenna asked
Logan moved the binoculars over to the airfield.
"Nothing really on the runway right now." He told her "Wait, theres something in the hangers."
Logan spotted it out of the corner of his eye, an airplane, but from here he thought it looked like it was parked with the tail facing the runway. Of course when he looked closer he saw it was in fact parked the right way, the plane itself just looked backwards. He could see it through the hanger doors, the cockpit was facing in the direction towards the tail flaps that were placed on the nose. And if his eyes weren't decieving him he could spot a propellor in the back of the plane sticking out just barely.
"Looks like the Japs have some new fighter." He told Raven "Built with the propellor where the tail is supose to be. Which means its not a jet, but it looks pretty fast none the less."
"Anything else?" Ravenna asked
"No, not-" then Logan spotted something out of the corner of his eye "wait, I see something."
The airframe emarged rolling down the runway and preparing to park itself in one of the hangers. For a second Logan though he saw a particular German Jet Fighter.
"Looks like a 262." He said, but then he noticed its different wing configuration and markings "No, scratch that, its Japanese. The wings are straight and the markings on it even make it more obvious."
"The Japanese have a Jet Fighter?" She pulled the Binoculars from Logan's grasp without even asking and looked for herself "The Germans are probably sharing their advanced Jet fighter technology with the Japanese in exchange for these facilities and resources. Thats why they look so much alike."
"Can I have my binoculars back please?" Logan asked "In America we kinda like to ask for things before we take them."
Ravenna snorted and handed them back to Logan.
"So what now?" Logan asked
"We need to sneak in and take out the facility." She told them "I'll take out the guard on the right corner tower. When he falls, get to the gate, cut through it and we can get in relatively un-noticed."
"And then we find the Germans and sabotage their little co-op with the Japs, got it." Logan said "Just try and be quiet taking the guy out."
"No worries." She told him "Its all a matter of timing."
Ravenna looked through the scope at the guard, he was pacing around slowly in the tower, guarding as best his abilities of course. She was waiting for the right moment to hit, an explosion, a plane taking off, anything loud enough to deafen the sound of the gun shot. Just her luck one of the Japanese Jets went out to the runway and fired up its jets. Ravenna took her chance and while the loud screeching perferated the sky she fired one shot at the guard in the tower. He went down quietly and the rest of the camp remained unaware of his death.
"Nice shot." Logan said, impressed by the spectacle "You need to teach me that sometime."
While she didn't acknowledge his compliment with a thanks she did give him a light smile, before returning to her serious demeanour.
"Go now." She told Logan. "I'll stay here and make sure you aren't found out while you cut our way in."
Logan nodded and he went to the gate. Silently cutting through the fence he then motioned for Ravenna to follow. They snuck onto the airfield. Now the tricky part began. The two snuck behind the closest hangers and began working their way through the facility as silently as they could. Opening the back maintenace doors to each of the hangers one by one, they found many of the jet and backward designed Japanese fighters. They also found some stockpiles of the Suicidal "Baka Bombs" in some hangers, obviously there for storage until more Betty's could be sent to the base for their use. The Japs and Germans had indeed been hard at work to have built so many of these advanced prototype aircraft.
"What do you think they're making these things for?" Ravenna asked "America owns the Pacific skies, or so I'm told."
"We do," Logan assured "but my guess is they're feeling the heat from our bombers on the mainland. Otherwise they wouldn't be asking for German help. If they get enough of these things into the air we could loose a lot of good B-29 pilots."
"So lets get sabotaging then." Ravenna suggested
The two began their work quietly, going from hanger to hanger they began to destroy the delicate plane engines on the Japanese Jets. They opened the engine hatches and cut a wire or two. For the jets they used some nearby tools on thge work tables to clog up the turbines. They unplugged the fuel lines for the backward built prop-planes. All of it done discreetely so as not to alert the pilots when next they entered their planes. Once or twice they came upon a guard or engineer inside the hanger and Logan had to take them out with a silenced pistol to the head and drag their bodies to the back of the hanger. They were careful not to cause to much of a ruckus and keep their voices to a minimum soa s not to alert any guards nearby. They had steadily worked their way around the airfield, missing only a few hangers on the far side of the field whish was more heavily guarded then their side. They found themselves on the opposite side of where they entered, near the control tower. But that target would have to wait, for straight infront of them was the large testing grounds for the airfield, where the German scientists were obviously stationed, helping the Japanese with their goals. It would be there where they would find the information on what the Germans were planning... hopefully.
Logan and Ravenna managed to sneak past the guards surrounding the facility. It wasn't an easy task but they were able to make their way into the main building's basement by breaking through a window. They found themselves in a large storage bunker that took up a large portion of the basement. It was packed to the gills with weapons of all kinds, none of them Japanese.
"Just as I thought," Logan said opening a weapon case and finding MP-40s inside. "The Germans are using the island to maintain their war effort away from war torn Europe in the pacific."
"And not just regular weapons either." Ravenna said, picking up an X-7 rocket "More then enough here to keep the war going for months if not years. But how exactly are they transporting it all to Europe?"
"Not sure, but I bet its on one hell of a big plane or even bigger sub." Logan told her "Better set some charges in this room too, make sure we set them back a few million pounds of stolen Japanese Gold."
Ravenna nodded and began setting charges on some of the weapons crates with Logan.
"Blowing this whole storage chamber up could weaken the structure of the buildign above as well." She told him "We could end up causing the whole building to fall ontop of everyone inside so I suggest wenot be among them when we set these things off."
"Good idea," Logan told her "but first we got figure out more about whats going on here."
Logan and Ravenna finished setting the charges and made their way up into the building. They didn't encounter much as they headed down through the halls of the structure, save for a few snoring Japanese workers and soldiers in their bunks. They weren't here for them, they needed information. They eventually came to a large construction floor of the facility. There were a few workers on the floor for the night shift it seemed. The two hid behind some crates and looked over at what was going on. Japanese workers doing exactly what Logan already knew, making German weapons, from MP-40s and 44s to X-7 rockets and Panzershrecks. But still no answers as to how they were getting their weapons to Europe in time. They far worse prospect was that the Japanese were getting even more advanced weapons out of this bargain then the Nazis had planned. The Japs would probably have figured out rocketry sooner or later if things kept going on like this. Jet Aircraft firing at American Soldiers in the pacific was a bad enough prospect, but if Tojo actually got his hand on some of Hitler's Wonder Weapons... well he didn't want to think about it. The value of this place being blown was now an even higher priority then it had been when they landed here.
Just then two people walked from around the corner, one was a Japanese Official of some kind, the other a very mean looking guy in a SS uniform and a scary mask over his face.
"Deathstroke."
Logan turned to Ravenna, who said the words with a very low and disgusted voice. As if saying the very name made her want to vomit. Since she hadn't been to the Pacific before, she obviously was talking about the German.
"You know the Kraut?" Logan asked
"Waffen SS," Ravenna said "one of Himmler's favourite Generals. He butchered thousands ont he Eastern Front alone in his campaign of terror."
"Sounds like a stand up Nazi." Logan sneered sarcastically "But whats he doing so far away from Berlin? Taste for Frsh Sushi with Sake on the side?"
"My guess is he's involved in all this somehow." Ravenna told him "I saw him at the airbase where I got the intel about this whole Operation. He's probably running the show."
Deathstroke was arguing with the official it seemed
"I don't care if the order isn't ready," he told him "I need as many weapons on the plane tonight. The Eastern Front is crumbling and if the plan is to succeed I need enough weapons to supply my men so they can buy me more time to amass my forces."
"We are trying Deathstroke-san," The Jap told him "but the men have been working hard all day testing planes and working in the factories. I don't think we can get the plane loaded up in time before next light. Even if we woke up the whole base to help load the bombers with supplies."
"I don't care how long it takes, just load the 390s and get me off the ground." Deathstroke ordered "I need to be back in Berlin yesterday."
"At once Deathstroke-san."
The Jap left Deathstroke and German began to walk away.
"Whats a 390?" Logan asked
"Unsure," Ravenna said "but if it can get him to Berlin by tommorow its a pretty long range bomber."
"Long range enough to hit New York?" Logan asked rethroically.
Ravenna knew what he meant.
"We need to find this bomber before Deathstroke takes off with it." Ravenna told him.
Suddenly a box from up top fell beside them, they looked up to see a lone Japanese worker terrified at their sight. He suddenly shouted-
"Yankee! Yankee!"
Ravenna quickly shot the man with her rifle from close range. Too late, the whole floor was alerted now. As they stood up and ran out of the room the alarm rang throughout the facility.
"Thats our cue to leave then!" Logan shouted "Run for it!"
The two began racing back the way they came. Japanese soldiers clad in their underwear had leapt from their beads and grabbed their rifles when the alarm had gone off. Logan quickly kicked the sleeping quarters doors in and began gunning the newly awaken guards as they rushed to met them. The few awake guards weren't much of a challenge either. One of them an at them witha sword in hand from around the corner. Ravenna shot him point blank with a pistol and the two continued one their way back to the storage room. They quickly got in and locked the door behind them. Getting out of the basement through the window they ran back towards the control tower. As they ran Logan finally pressed the trigger for the charges they had wired and a few seconds after they began to reach the control tower the testing and manufacuering facility behind them went up in a firey explosion from the ground up. As workers ran to find out what the hell was going on Ravenna and Logan made their way inside the control tower. The long guard sitting there at the desk tried to stop them but he didn't pull his pistol out fast enough and Ravenna got him with her own. They planted their last high explosive charge on the main support beam inside and rushed out. Logan activated it and the tower went up in smoke. Tumbling to the tarmac and crashing ontop of the pavement the airfield command was now out of commission and the base was in complete chaos as to what was going on.
"I think we've worn out our welcome.": Logan told her
"What was your first clue?" She asked him
Planes began rushing out of their hangers and exploding seconds afterwards, a result of Logan and Ravenna's sabotage. Except the few hanger they missed, as they rushed across the tarmac and back to their exit they saw three large shilouettes taxing off the run way. From here Ravenna could see their large wingspans, their huge engines and their bulky ugly design. But other then that she coudl not see what the plane was and it looked like nothing she had ever seen before.
There was no time to wonder what these bombers were, but she had a hunch it was the 390s Deathstroke had talked about. Ravenna continued to follow Logan out of the now chaos infused airfield and back to the insertion point. They got back into the raft and began rowing away from the island.
"Mission more or less accomplished." Logan told Ravenna "We now know what the Japs and Krauts were doing and put a stop to it. Plus we know what the Germans are using to transport the stuff, or were now that the base is blown. That 390 bomber."
"I think I saw them starting to take off from further down the runway." Ravenna told him "I couldn't make out much except they look like ugly beasts."
"We can't do anything about that now." He told her "We can tell command when we get back to the carrier and tell them about it. But by the time we do they'll probably be too far away to launch a squad to look for them."
"At least we know our new mission," Ravenna told Logan "find out more about these 390s and what they're role in Operation: Vengeance is exactly."
Logan nodded in agreement. When they were a little further away from the island he spoke up again.
"Say," he began "good job tonight. You know with the sniping of the guard and sabotaging and stuff. You're pretty good, for a Ruskie."
"You're not so bad yourself," Ravenna complimented "for a Capitalist of course."
"Very funny," He told her "you'll grow to like me."
"We'll see Lieutenant, we'll see."