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.

Summary:

Everything seemed normal back at Area 88, though the base privately mourned the deaths of their pilots after Patrick Reed, former US Navy Lieutenant and former wingman of Mickey Simon, went on the side of the rebels in the Asranian civil war. With his unfortunate death passed on by the mercenaries after Paul and Mickey had given him the "last words", what other things will Area 88 find themselves on? 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 20: The Unknown

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

Day 18, Asran

What a long and terrible day that was. After our dogfight with the five-man MiG-23MLD squad that the rebels have sent in against us, it turned out that the leading MiG-23 was Patrick Reed, Mickey's former American comrade who fought in the Vietnam War.

I initially didn't understand why Patrick went on the side of the rebels. But from what Mickey told me, he was an initial pacifist on being deployed in Asia. I guess that on part of Mickey's ranting on forcing the poor guy to fight, he turned himself to a mean killing machine with no second thought, just like most of us here in Area 88.

I don't know if I should write this, but I'm praying for the poor guy's soul and hopefully, he could move onto the next life soon. But the main thing for me is that I hope Shin and I could get the hell out of this damn place once and for all. I heard that he's got a single kill to go before Saki could begin his recommendation to the Asranian General Military HQ to began discharge proceedings for him.

I'll have to remind shades boy if I could be in the same line as well. Don't want Ryoko to worry about me.

Somewhere in Japan

"Yes, it's me." A man in his late 20's was alone in a dimly-lit room, drinking wine from a champange glass. "Yes, I understand."

The man slightly fidgeted in his seat before replying to his caller, "Your proposal was agreed to. That's good..."

Moving himself on his chair, the light emitting from a nearby interior lamp post reflected the man's face, who turned out to be Satoru Kanzaki. Raising his glass, he made a toast with his caller.

"For me... and for McElle Corporation."

Jet Hangar, Area 88 Base

Shin and Paul were on hand to watch Gustav perform compulsory maintenance on Shin's watched the old technician make some repairs on the F-5's landing gear.

"You better swap this damper." Gustav pointed out to Shin, showing him the right landing gear.

"No," insisted Shin. "it's fine right now."

"You sure?" challenged Paul. "You maybe want to follow the advice of Gustav if you don't want to have trouble when you land."

"He's right, Shin." agreed Gustav. "You always wanted the best before, so why not now?"

The two men did not answer, making Gustav forget about it. "Ah well. Let's swap it when you return from your next battle."

Shin walked away from Gustav, who began to conduct more maintenance on Shin's plane.

"Huh?"

Paul was wondering also where Shin was going too as well. "Where's he going right now?"

Gustav faced Paul instead as Shin left the area. "Paul, wanna give me a hand in fixing Shin's F-5?"

"Sure." shrugged Paul. "I've got nothing to do anyway. Besides, I've used an F-5 before in the air force."

Shin Kazama's Quarters, Barracks, Area 88 Base

Grabbing a marker pen from his table, he approached towards his calender with the item in hand in order to scratch off a day from it.

The Japanese freelancer stared at it, reflecting on how long can he hold his sanity.

"Will I stay here forever, or will I be able to get out of here soon?"

Conference Room, Yamato Airlines (YAL) Headquarters, Tokyo, Japan

Inside the YAL Headquarters' conference room, President Tsugumo had called on a meeting with the board of directors for an important meeting. Satoru was also summoned in the meeting as well.

"President," addressed one of the directors. "your compassion is all well and good, but we need to take rational measures here."

"By rational," suggested President Tsugumo. "I assume you mean a personnel reduction."

The director held a compiled report near President Tsugumo. "The high pay scale is putting considerable pressure on our earnings. In this situation, we have no other way."

Another director spoke out to support his colleague. "Even if we do take out a loan from the McElle Corporation, they'll expect a personnel reduction!"

President Tsugumo went to reflect on the views of the directors before addressing Satoru. "Kanzaki, what do you think?"

All the directors faced the youngest man to attend the board of directors meeting, waiting to see what the rookie had to say.

"It may not be my place to say this as a junior member," said Satoru, not wanting to give the directors a bad impression of him. "but everywhere in the air transportation business, those measures are being applied."

Satoru went to emphasize his point to President Tsugumo. "However, we wish to be a place where those who work here can take pride in their company."

Grumbling came from the rest of the directors, unsure of his suggestions.

"Is it okay to wreck the company for that end?"

"You're a kid who doesn't know the first thing about management!"

"Truly..." Satoru slammed his hands on the table, wanting the others to hear him out for a little while. "Truly we can reduce our costs by cutting personnel. However, the wisdom and experience of those who would be laid off will be lost forever."

"To Yamato Air, that would be an immeasurable loss!" shouted the brown-haired man.

Outskirts of Barracks, Area 88 Base

"My last morning?"

Shin stood all alone by himself near the barracks, pondering on what would happen next.

"Wanting to be alone, eh?"

Paul came up to Shin from his back, startling him a bit.

"Yeah."

However, the sound of a camera shutter brought to the two pilots the attention of Makoto, who was nearby.

"The sound changed." commented Shin, eyeing him from a distance, since he was kneeling near him.

"Bought a new one?" suggested Paul, still finding him a bit suspicious. The photographer didn't know what they were talking about.

"The shutter's sound." emphasized the blond pilot, helping Makoto know what they were talking about.

Makoto defended himself. "It's been Nikon the whole time."

Shin explained on what he was speaking about. "At first, it sounded like something cutting into me." Makoto stood up and took another photo of Shin before answering his comments.

"To me, it's the never changing sound of the shutter."

The three men soon heard a Land Rover jeep parked nearby. Greg was at the wheel, waving to Makoto.

"Hey, Shinjo!" hollered the Danish freelancer. "Take a photo, would you?"

"I'm not some cameraman for some tourists, you know!" shouted Makoto.

Jet Hangar, Area 88 Base

Minutes later, Makoto found himself taking photos of Greg and his A-4 Skyhawk.

"That's good." said Makoto, taking the first shot of Greg near his Skyhawk. "Right there."

"I'll take one more." The reporter stood up after kneeling on the ground to take a good photo of the bearded man.

Greg climbed up to the cockpit of his Skyhawk. "Don't give that to the newspapers." He then gave a pose of himself completing his climb on the ladder. "This face is pretty popular back in my country."

"By that," proposed Makoto. "you mean you'll have bill collectors after you?"

The bearded man chuckled at the reporter's question. "Yup."

"Relax." promised Makoto. "You can't sell pictures of a secret base that easily."

"Then why did you come here?" Greg's face suddenly turned into a semi-suspicious look.

"To take pictures of a bearded guy."

"What the heck?" Greg scrutinized him carefully.

Makoto began to rewound the film back on his Nikon. "Out of film."

Nearby, Paul had been listening to the conversation all along from the nearby empty jet hangar.

"Makoto Shinjo," murmured the Filipino mercenary. "You just gave yourself away."

Warehouse, Area 88 Base

"You've been using a lot of film lately." grinned McCoy, speaking to his top customer in Area 88.

Makoto shrugged. "I've gotten a lot of requests to take photos since Rocky suggested we put them up in the cafeteria."

"Hey, Makoto." Rocky came inside the warehouse, running all the way from their quarters in the barracks.

"Hey." Makoto waved back to his colleague.

The old scrounger eyed the two reporters. "Nice to see you're doing well." Makoto took the film roll set wrapped in plastic under his arm.

"Is it time?" Rocky whispered to Makoto, who nodded at his inquiry before addressing McCoy.

"Do you think I can get a line to Japan again?"

McCoy smiled at him. "I can do that, somehow." He then faced the reporters. "Is this about your real business?"

The two grunted at him, who shrugged it off like it never happened.

"I'll talk to the guy in the connection room." offered McCoy. "You do your best, too." Makoto and Rocky walked toward the warehouse entrance when McCoy threw a line at them.

"Just one more plane."

Makoto and Rocky halted, hearing his words.

"What is?" inquired Makoto.

"This about Shin?" added Rocky.

"Yeah." McCoy then stared at their eyes, knowing that they want to inquire about more what he said.

"Oops," grinned the old man. "can't say anymore than that."

"Not gonna talk, huh?" Makoto wanted some answers from placed a wad of 1 dollar bills on the counter, Rocky did the same too.

McCoy slipped his hand on the bills, not uttering a word to them.

"Hey," yelled Makoto, getting furious. "we gave you the money! Tell us!"

"In my shop," explained McCoy. "you can buy anything if you've got the money, be it information or a combat airplane," He glared at the two reporters. "but there's one thing I won't sell."

The white-haired man leaned his face to the two SO reporters. "What do you think that is?"

Makoto frowned. "I have no idea."

McCoy grinned even wider at the man's frustration before answering.

"Freedom."

"I see." Makoto decided to shut his mouth and let McCoy explain himself. Rocky, likewise, decided to do the same.

"You need to work through your three-year term or pay 1,500,000 dollars to get out of here. That's it."

"Does that..." stuttered Rocky, wondering on the many possibilities of McCoy's explanation.

"You can't mean..." muttered Makoto.

"When it comes to money," continued McCoy. "I'm the most irritating out of everyone out here, so I surely know."His smile became wider when he said the rest. "Just one more, or at most two, he'll have all the money he needs, and he'll be free."

"Can this be?" Makoto suddenly became jelly on his feet.

"The boss man's gonna be furious about this!" Rocky became a bit worried when McCoy explained the conditions that Area 88 personnel need to leave the country.

The two ran away, hurrying to who knows were, while McCoy thanked them for coming. "Thanks for coming!"

Outside, Makoto stopped on his tracks, taking a brief moment to think things through.

"Is that really okay?" Makoto stared at his camera. "Revealing things now won't help."

"Makoto," His black-haired man tapped his shoulder from behind. "What do we do?"

Makoto did not answer Rocky's question, preferring to listen to the sound of an A-4 Skyhawk taking off from the base's main runway.

Cafeteria, Area 88 Base

Makoto and Rocky entered the cafeteria, looking for Shin. After a bit of searching, they found him seated with Paul. The two pilots were drinking when the two reporters went to take some seats nearby.

"Are you going back to Japan?" questioned Makoto, taking his seat in front of him.

Shin stared at him, angry that someone else knew of his secret. "Who told you?"

"McCoy."

The Japanese pilot calmly sipped his mug while Makoto threw another question at him. "Are you?"

"Not yet." replied Shin calmly.

Rocky asked Paul, who was seated beside Shin. "What about you?"

"I have the money needed since I shot down a lot of bogies." answered Paul. "But not yet too."

"Just one more?" whispered Makoto, wanting to confirm McCoy's rambling to Shin personally. He then asked another question, "Can you be free?"

Shin slammed his mug on the table. "That's got nothing to do with you."

Paul noticed Makoto and Rocky wanted to say something when he intervened. "Just listen to him this once."

"You asked me once..." began Makoto. "why I was chasing you around." His statement made Shin pay more attention to him.

"Actually..." Makoto started to explain his reason, but found himself unable to.

"Damn it!" He slammed his clenched fists on the table.

Paul stifled a yawn. "Are you going to tell him or not?"

"Listen!" Makoto tried to explain himself again. Rocky slapped his face in humiliation. "I..." Makoto found himself hanging. "I..."

Eyeing a glass of water, he snatched it and emptied its content on his throat. He wiped his mouth with his right arm and stared at Shin's lonely pupils, going to explain his reason for the third time. Paul got a bit confused on his actions.

"What's with him?"

"The reason I came here..."

The red light blared inside the cafeteria, indicating an alert status was to be initiated on Area 88.

"I'll hear about it when I get back." Shin stood up from his seat. Paul followed his lead.

"That's right." Makoto had his eyes closed, smiling a bit. "Let's do that."

Feeling a hand on his left shoulder, he looked up to see Shin staring at him. Paul was nearby, waiting for Shin to hurry up. Shin got his hand off his shoulder and walked out of the cafeteria, with Paul beside him.

"Makoto," Rocky consoled his colleague. "you should have told him right now."

Makoto stared at the empty table in front of him.

"Yeah," agreed Makoto, looking at the empty table again.

"Maybe I should have."

Runway, Area 88 Base

Shin, Kitori had their jets assembled on the main runway of Area 88. At the insistence of Roundell to Saki, Paul agreed to come along and provide cover to the first two.

"Looks like the enemy's got some free time too. Let's keep them company." Kitori hailed the other two on her secure radio channel. The three pilots acknowledged one another by giving a thumbs up.

"02-Section here. We're about to launch as scheduled, over." Paul made a radio communication with the control tower.

"Acknowledged." reported the control tower radio officer. "Good luck, guys."

"Right." Paul faced Shin and Kitori and broadcasted his radio message on their secure channels. "Okay guvs! Got the go signal."

"Okay." said Kitori.

Shin, Kitori and Paul then took off from the runway simultaneously, ready to take on some rebel fighters that had apparently intruded on the base's airspace.

Makoto and Rocky ran out of the abandoned cafeteria, seeing the three jets in the sky.

"Will they be okay with just the two of them?" questioned Makoto, who had missed their departure.

Mickey looked at the reporters in a very confused manner, "What's with you two anyway?"

"It's just a regular run." insisted Kim. "They'll just take one or two down and run the rest off."

"Are you sure?" inquired Rocky, not very sure of Mickey and Kim's analysis.

"Yeah." nodded the turbanned boy.

Makoto murmured, still catching a glance of Shin's F-5. "Is that so?"

"Did something happen?" Kim asked the two reporters.

"No..." Makoto began to stutter before answering completely. "Nothing."

"Shin," Makoto watched the planes disappear from his view. "come back alive."

Commander's Office, Area 88 Base

"Is it Kazama?"

Roundell sat on a sofa near the commander's desk, reading a note on his hand. Saki, on the other hand, watched the three jets flying out of Area 88's airspace towards the approaching enemy.

President's Office, Yamato Airlines (YAL) Headquarters, Tokyo, Japan

President Tsugumo had attended a meeting with a lone official from the McElle Corporation after deciding that they should get a loan in order to save YAL from financial trouble.

"Given our existing business relationship," began the McElle Corporation official. "do you think I can receive a good answer?"

President Tsugumo replied sarcastically. "Isn't that why we're meeting here?"

The official nodded. "Then let me explain McElle Corporation's conditions."

Unknown to the official, President Tsugumo held on the ends of the leather armrest for dear life, as life the meeting was his last day on Earth.

Ryoko was outside the room, rapping her knuckle on the wooden doorframe.

"Father?" The pink-haired girl opened the door, revealing a dark room in front of her. In front of her was her own father, sitting by himself in the darkness on one of his leather chairs.

Ryoko approached her depressed father. "What happened?"

Her father did not reply to her concerned daughter, leaving her in the dark as well aside from himself.

Makoto Shinjo's/Goh 'Rocky' Mutsugi's Quarters, Barracks, Area 88 Base

"Kanzaki." Makoto began to write a letter to his sponsor, with photos of Shin lying around his desk. "About that one shot you hired us to get..."

Rocky mumbled in his cot, "Is that the letter you're giving to Kanzaki?"

"Yea." Makoto continued to write his letter down. "No matter how I think about it, it all seems boring." He stared at the photo of Shin staring at the blue sky during the first day he met him at Asran and the photo of Paul waving goodbye to an Asranian Air Force Bell UH-1D Iroquois.

"It's a lot more interesting to take pictures of his heart." The brown-haired reporter scribbled the words down on his letter.

Cafe, somewhere in Tokyo

Ryoko was in her usual spot in the cafe, speaking with Satoru over the negotiations that her father had went through with the McElle Corporation official.

"What is the meaning of McElle Corporation's loan conditions?" questioned Ryoko, hearing the details from her father last night.

"Even if you ask me." defended the well-mannered man. "Evidently, they think far too much of me as well."

Ryoko was a bit stunned. "But..."

"I phoned McElle's Johnston." explained Satoru. "No matter how many times I said That's terrible, what do you think he told me?" He gave a deep breath before repeating the words that Johnston had told him,

"We won't establish a fiduciary relationship with Yamato Air unless you're running it, he said."

"I still don't understand." Ryoko did not take his explanation too lightly. "So what does a betrothal between you and me have to do with the loan?"

"I think that's a misunderstanding as well." replied Satoru, looking a bit concerned. "Perhaps they're thinking that if I was the son-in-law, he would take that personally and run the company better than he would otherwise."

Ryoko then rebutted his thoughts. "Then try and relieve them of their misunderstanding! That's the least you can do."

Satoru's brown eyes narrowed at first, then widened. "Oh, that's right. I found evidence of where Kazama and Yeung are." His remarks left the pink-haired woman astounded.

"It seems a friend of mine in Paris has promising information."

"Is that true?" demanded Ryoko upon hearing the surnames of Shin and Paul.

Satoru seemed to have smirked to Ryoko. "I wouldn't lie to you. Leave it all to me."

Airspace, Desert, Asran

Shin, Kitori and Paul have flown over the desert of Asran, seeking out their enemy. Shin was leading Kitori and Paul to the approaching rebel fighters.

"Three enemy planes confirmed." Shin studied the screen of his Emerson AN/APQ-159 radar in front of him. "Will engage in two minutes."

"Roger." Kitori and Paul replied in unison.

Dropping the external fuel tanks, the three pilots flew further into the desert. Their distance was getting closer and closer to a potential dogfight situation.

Outskirts of Warehouse, Area 88 Base

Greg was standing near McCoy, who was relaxing near his lounge chair.

"Hey, about Shinjo and Goh..." began Greg, talking to the old scrounger.

"What about them?" said McCoy, fanning himself to get some heat away from his perspiring head.

Greg hesitated for a bit and asked, "What did they come hear for?"

"They came here to take photos." assured McCoy, smiling. "what else? Why are you asking this now?"

"It hadn't bothered me up until now." sighed the bearded mercenary, turning his head to the right. "Here, um, well..." He then turned his back around. "Everybody's asking him for photos, right?"

"Then I started wondering." McCoy began to listen very carefully to Greg's hypothesis for the reporter's presence. "This is a secret base, he says, and he can't sell the photos that easily."

McCoy voiced his opinion on the matter. "I've got some information that Shin wasn't interested in." The man grinned at Greg before he asked him,

"Wanna buy it?"

Airspace, Desert, Asran

A MiG-21 fired its 30 mm NR-30 cannon, doing a barrel roll at the trio. Shin and Kitori were able to dodge them by conducting their own barrel rolls; Paul got out of the way a while ago and was zooming his F-1 towards his target, but decided to turn around and play chicken with Shin and Kitori instead.

Kitori got behind one of the MiG-21s before she locked on its afterburner with a Matra Magic R550. She watched as her target erupted into flames.

"On to the next one!" Kitori beamed, seeing a jet fly over her Mirage F1.

Shin was chasing the second MiG-21 in pursuit. Paul was busy scrambling to locate the third MiG-21.

"Shin!" Paul happily called on his radio. "That guy's all yours! Happy hunting!"

"Roger!" grinned Shin under his oxygen mask. Turning his full attention back to the MiG, he began to adjust the cursor towards the afterburner, getting a lock for him to unleash his Sidewinders. At the last minute before a complete lock, he fired one of the AIM-9 Sidewinder missiles towards it.

Watching the Sidewinder miss on its own, Shin gritted his teeth at his frustration of not getting a potential kill that could end his fate in Area 88 and back to Japan.

"Calm down..." murmured Shin to himself, trying to gain control of his problem. "Rushing to attack the enemy will get me nowhere."

Shin tried again by firing the 20 mm Pontiac M39A2 cannon, but its 20 mm bullets never met its mark as the MiG once more evaded his attack. Frustrated, the Japanese mercenary swinged his F-5 around and got near the MiG's rear for the second time.

Seeing his hand shaking in nervousness and fear, Shin took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a brief minute. Opening his eyes, he then whispered his last words for the enemy MiG-21 pilot.

"This... will be the end of it."

Chapter 20 END