Chapter 3- Seafire of the Setting Sun
Quick author's note: I went back and edited the earlier chapters. In chapter 1, "flight limit" has been changed to "redline" to reflect the information with this chapter. I have also changed St. Gloriana's 5-year winstreak to where St. Gloriana's and Saunders have both won 7 of the past 10 championships combined, but with the former winning the past two championships. Finally, in chapter 2, Ryu now sees a girl with white hair in the classroom. Thank you for your attention, and I hope you enjoy the chapter.
The Zuikaku
She arrived just before lunch. Her light brown hair reached just beyond her shoulders, resting like a queen on her throne. Her pointed eyes locked onto Ryu like a predator, but the boy said nothing. For what threw him off was her confident smile: not as if she thought highly of herself, but rather as if she simply enjoyed her existence. Tsubame Inaba, Student Council President of Oarai Co-Ed High School, had come for him.
"Excuse me, Mrs. Ishida? May I borrow Mr. Morimoto for a second?" Ryu was either very lucky or very unlucky. Given how his life had been going recently, probably the latter.
Now just outside the classroom, he closed the door behind them. Not a second after, she began, a reassuring smile on her face. "Hey, Mr. Morimoto, when you choose your elective, be sure to choose sentouki-do, alright?"
How could Ryu feel anything but pride? He was right, after all. Those trucks he had seen earlier really were for sentouki-do. "Wait, I thought Oarai didn't have a sentouki-do team. When did that change?"
She retained her smile as she explained. "We've restarted it and I want you on it. So be sure to say yes, okay? Practice is after school today."
Ryu couldn't stop a wide smile from forming on his face even if he wanted to. Another team? Another chance to fly? How could he not take it? Tsubame adopted a smug smile as well. His face was all the answer she needed. Oarai now had a team and two experienced pilots to lead it. Maybe, just maybe, they had a chance.
Later that day:
Despite how well-kept it had been, the hangar had a strong smell of dust and gasoline, and the insides were all a sort of beigish-brown. Somehow, though, Ryu liked it more than the cleaner Gloriana hangar.
Tsubame stepped up onto the portable stage, mic in hand. In front of her stood the entire Oarai Air Force and a projector she wheeled in from the school itself. Behind her stood a projector screen from the same room. The unofficial "practices" so far made many reconsider joining the team. Classroom sessions and simulator time couldn't replace the act of flying itself. Not like that could be avoided - the Japanese Sentouki-do Association had grounded all teams over the break. Something something fairness.
"Alright, then, let's get started! I know you're all finally certified for flight, and really want to actually start flying the planes. First, though," she added, "The Association and MEXT want everyone to review the rules, just in case, so we're gonna do that. Yes, we've already been through them. No, we don't have a choice."
She ignored the silent but visible groans as she took out a remote and pressed a small button on it. The projector blasted a stream of light onto the screen, which now read "Rules of Sentouki-do." She pressed the main button, and a wall of text sprang up.
Tsubame decided to summarize it. "Firstly, all matches are elimination matches that last for two hours, maximum. In case the battle isn't over by then, the match goes to the team which has shot down more planes. Second, you can bring as few planes as you want, but you can't bring more than specified."
One of them with spiky blond hair chuckled. "What if we bring zero?" He got a few chuckles before Tsubame interrupted.
"Very funny, Kaito. Anyways, the limits are as follows: 15 for the first match, 20 for the quarter- and semifinals, and 25 for the finals. Also, we aren't allowed to go to the battlefield 72 hours prior to the match."
The next slide was a single rule with multiple subpoints. "We can't use jets or any design that didn't result in a single production model before August 15, 1945. College students and professionals can use jets, but we can't." Tsubame continued. A few groans broke out among the crowd.
Tsubame waited for things to calm down a little. "I know, I know, but there were multiple accidents with poorly trained students… well, lemme put it this way: it's there for a good reason. The rule also exists so that richer schools don't dominate because they can actually afford them." She continued onto the next paragraph, "Also, for safety's sake, as well as to make it more fun, planes may be modified for better reliability, maintenance, or even performance within certain bounds, like in the other armed sports."
She went back over to the side of the stage to get her bottled water and take a sip. She carried it back to the front, put it down, and continued with the next slide. "Okay, so we have safety features in these planes. The bullets are designed to shatter on impact, bulletproof glass for the cockpit, ejector seats, and an on-board system. The system mostly controls your instruments and such, but will also tell you when you're leaving the match area or going below the redline or flight limit. Speaking of which," she flipped to the next slide, "here's the list of everything we can't do. It's a very useful list. The main things are, don't: use any parts or equipment the Confederation hasn't sanctioned, leave the competition area, fire on humans, fire within a no-fire zone, attack an inoperable vehicle, gravely disrespect the judge or other participants, or stall or throw the match. Also, don't tamper with opposing vehicles or create custom ammunition. Not that we should have a problem there, but still."
She continued after a brief pause to catch her breath. "Finally, we have the redline and flight limit. Basically, 750 meters above a "common surface", which is basically trees or the ground or buildings or whatever, we have normal damage measures. The onboard system detects when your plane's control surfaces have "taken enough damage" and locks those specific surfaces up. If your aileron is shot enough, then it becomes locked with the rest of the wing and it doesn't work. When enough of the plane has taken enough damage that it can't fly, your plane is considered "inoperable", where everything but the weapons is unlocked and you return to base. If both your ailerons are locked and/or your tail or wing is "shot off", you're done. Below "the redline", it works a little differently. It's too dangerous to do what it normally does, because you could crash if an aileron doesn't work. Instead, the instant you take enough damage to lock up a vital surface, like an aileron, your plane is out. Not that you're allowed to fly 250 meters off the ground in official matches anyways. This'll make more sense later when we get into combat."
The crowd could hardly sit still. Many of those who had been glancing at the planes were now staring. But with as much experience as Tsubame had, it couldn't hurt to run her plans by an expert. "Now, we will be flying later today, but we're going to go over the assignments one more time first. In the meantime, feel free to check out the planes again." Motioning over to her right, she then called out for Ryu. "If you'd please come with me. Ms. Nakahara, you too."
She looked out at who she called for. Everyone else was looking at Ryu with wide eyes, each of them wondering who this guy was and why he was being chosen, but not one of them uttered a word. Ryu looked uncomfortable, but was clearly trying to ignore it. He made his way through the stares and joined her.
Michiko sauntered towards Tsubame, unburdened from the crowd. She, too, was looking at Ryu as she passed, but not out of shock… no, not shock at all. Not with her forehead slightly creased, and her defiantly deliberate strides. Neither of which would be confusing if it weren't that her eyes were sprinkled with… something else. Elation? No, not quite. Love? No, that didn't explain it either.
Ryu, on the other hand, evidently was a little shocked at the fact that he was being singled out. And why this other girl was being consulted as well. He looked especially at her white hair… A flash of recognition electrified his face, but he said nothing.
Ryu and Michiko followed the president into the hangar's office. Clearly, it hadn't been used in ages: boxes were everywhere, and the entire room was coated in dust. Tsubame set her papers on the desk and sat down. Typing on the laptop she had left there, she pulled up a log of some sort. "This is everyone's record on the simulators on a variety of aircraft…"
Oarai Co-Ed School student council room, the day before:
Tsubame sat in her office, probably the only one in the building that late. Through the computer screen on her desk, she could see her fellow student council presidents Anzu and Yu.
The latter was finishing his report on the heishi-do team. His mouth smiled almost dismissively, but his eyes didn't tell the same story. "…so I can't say I'm confident we'll win, but we might give them a run for their money, which isn't nothing at least."
Anzu looked serious, for once, as she listened, but soon plastered on her classic relaxed smile and took a bite of her sweet potato. "I'm sure you'll do fine. Like you said, heishi-do teams rely more upon training than they do equipment." But she reverted her face with a sigh as she continued. "As for Oarai Girls', I don't know what we'll find tomorrow, but we didn't find much in the way of documents or clues. Regardless, I'm not sure that whatever we do find can compete with St. Gloriana's later this week, much less the others. I'm sure everything will work out the best it can, but what 'the best' means, I don't know."
Tsubame gave a slight sigh as well. "We think Morimoto will join us, but even if he does, there's not a lot we can do. We only found a few planes, and none of them are the same. If Morimoto comes in big, then maybe. But it's a long shot regardless…"
Ryu and Tsubame had helped everyone else go through their checklists, but now it was their turn. Michiko, as Ryu's newly-assigned wingwoman, held the clipboard for him and, in a series of call-and-response, made sure he was ready to fly.
Gas, undercarriage, gear, propeller, seat belt and switches. Everything was in order. Onboard systems working fine. Emergency instruments and the emergency locator transmitter were all good to go. Radio transmission was 5 by 5. A seemingly endless list brought nothing short of elation to Ryu, because each check was one step closer. Ailerons, elevators, rudder, everything was working. Finally, the last item on the list. "Flaps." They moved as expected. "Check." All good to go.
Michiko got back into her own plane, but was substantially more shaken than when she had gotten out to help Ryu with his checklist. Taxiing over to one of the runways gave her time to think. She was actually about to take off. Anticipation and dread blended together until she could hardly tell which was which. All those years of watching sentouki-do had led her to this moment. All her dreams of the blue frontier were about to become reality. If she could get off the ground.
The radio crackled to life. Ryu's voice came in loud and clear. "Alright, Ms. Nakahara. Remember what you practiced. Getting the plane off the ground is an easy, simple concept for what you've done already." Okay, but she did that in the simulator. Actually flying is differe-
He might as well have read her mind. "I know it was in the simulator, but trust me, you can do this. I know you can." Okay, the Dragon of St. Gloriana's was asking her to trust him, trusting her, when she didn't even trust herself. No big deal. There's a lot of things she doesn't know, and she has about 0 room for error. No pressure or anything.
Sitting at the edge between the expanse and the physical, the empty space and the solid surface, she managed to calm herself down. She was third-last to go, and nobody had crashed yet. Even Miku was able to get off the ground, and she crashed in the simulators more than anybody flying today. Michiko, of all people, should be able to do this.
She looked down and noticed the labels on the flap slide, namely the one that said "takeoff". One of the advantages of having reproductions only. She nervously increased the throttle after setting her flaps. Her plane waltzed down the runway, working itself up to a run. She slowly pitched the nose down and got a good look at the end of the runway. Speed increasing, it was time to pull up. Sink or swim.
Here goes nothing.
She gently pulled the stick back, and felt the G-Force pull her in the same direction. But still she climbed on and on. She climbed until it was time to raise her flaps, until it was time to set her gear up, until the empty sky enveloped her. Now she was among the many to take flight into the beautiful world of sentouki-do. She gazed breathlessly at her surroundings as she banked around the carrier to wait for her vanguard. Looking at it from here, it was clear that she didn't know it well enough. She had never been over to the other side of the ship, or even the town in the middle. Ahead of her was the sea, as dark a blue as the sky was light.
Michiko looked down at her system screen, then back out her cockpit. That was nothing like the simulations, the books, the recordings of past sentouki-do matches. Nothing she had done could prepare her for this. And it was glorious.
The radio crackled to life with Tsubame's voice. "All right, our instructor hasn't arrived yet, so for today, let's just get used to flying."
Ryu supplemented her statement. "I recommend you fly with your wingman for a little. And no, you don't have ammunition loaded."
Ryu tapped his onboard system's screen. Now speaking only to Michiko, he made a suggestion as he headed towards the carrier again. "Follow me. Let's have some fun." Gaining speed as they dove, they closed in fast on a small cafe on the far port side of the ship.
Dickens sipped her mocha as she reviewed the photos she had taken earlier. The almost-setting sun made looking at the phone a little difficult, but it wasn't too bad. After putting her drink down, she began to review so she'd remember what all to detail on. Two early Panzers, a tank destroyer, a puny Japanese tank, and a weird American one. This new team shouldn't be a threat, even in the practice match. Doesn't hurt to be prepared, though. Coffee in one hand, phone in the other, she sat analyzing her work.
She was so engrossed in it that she didn't notice that whirring sound until its source was almost on top of her. Her coffee went flying with the two planes above her.
"WHAT THE DICKENS?!" she yelled. Fortunately, none of the coffee got on the phone, as she was facing a different way. And while she didn't get a photograph, she recognized one of them as a Spitfire or something similar, and the other was clearly some Russian plane, but that wasn't half as important as their markings. A dark blue circle on the outside, a white one at the center, and a light blue one between them. If those colors didn't give their allegiance off, the marking on the tail did: the Oarai schools' logo. It was only a glimpse, but it couldn't have been anything else.
The two planes zoomed over the establishment unaware that Dickens now had more to report than a few tanks.
Ryu and Michiko completed their horizontal flyover of the carrier in seconds. The speed was exhilaratingly powerful for Michiko. Instead of turning around, however, Ryu led her to the surface of the ocean. They soared just above the tranquil waters, which acted more as a natural mirror than anything.
"It's… incredible." She said as she looked over the glassy sea. "Not just being up here: flying. I always knew I wanted to do it, but I never realized how great it really is."
Ryu raised an eyebrow. "You a fan?"
Michiko bashfully smiled. Her free hand was now subconsciously dedicated to messing with her hair. "Yeah, I'm, uh… I'm a big fan of military aviation. Especially sentouki-do. I absorbed everything I could find about either like a sponge. Books, TV shows, anything I could find were, uh… they were treasures to me. I've… kind of become the main aviation and sentouki-do expert here over the team's previous training sessions. I even got to watch, in person, the finals last ye…"
The silence weighed upon them both, and Michiko's free hand dropped back to the stick. She timidly broke the pressure around them with a meager "Sorry." It was the best she could do.
"…No, you're fine. What happened happened. So… uh… you handle that plane pretty well for your first time. A little clunky, but not bad."
"Oh, uh… thanks… I studied the manual a lot. Flying it is a different thing though."
He smiled a little. "Well, the best way to learn to fly a plane is to do it, so you'll get there. I think you'll be a good pilot."
She chuckled a little.
Ryu was the last to leave the hangar. Mainly because he waited for everyone else to be gone before starting up the Seafire once again. He put a hand on a propeller blade of Michiko's Yak-3 as he passed it. It was said this plane could even beat the legendary Spitfire in a turnfight. What a wonderful wingman - er, plane.
Going through the checklist on his own this time, it seemed that everything was in order. The plane had a little gas from the practice, but it couldn't hurt to add a little, just in case. Fortunately, he remembered seeing the fuel handlers do it back at Gloriana… Gloriana. Where Ryu had a team that wasn't… this. Not that he hated Oarai as a team, but they… they weren't professional, crisp, they didn't have that "championship winner" quality. Those brothers in that… unique plane could hardly fly straight. Unique… that's a word to describe Oarai. Having finished fueling his plane, Ryu softly slammed the button to open the hangar doors. His thoughts strapped back into his mind in much the same way as he strapped into the Seafire. Unique isn't good enough to beat St. Gloriana's. Well, to say Oarai's nothing but unique would be unfair. There were a few bright spots on the team. President Inaba flies the D.520 like a hawk. The two interceptors seem to work well together. And his white-haired wingwoman just exuded potential. But it's not what he had: a proper air force. That he took for granted and threw away.
At least he got a second shot though. If he was gonna make the most of it, he'd have to train above and beyond their hours, into and beyond the setting sun. Thank God he got certified to fly with instruments last year. While there's no such thing as a one-person dogfight, Ryu could practice high-G (or relatively high-G, anyways) turning.
The first one hit harder than he remembered. His blood rushed away from his brain, leaving only a single thought.
Just like old times.
What happened to Dickens' coffee was a shame, but at least her leftover Yen could get her some tea to go. She took out her map to see where to go next. She was getting picked up at the airfield soon, so might as well see if she can get more on those planes from earlier.
As she approached where the old hanger probably was, that Spitfire or whatever from earlier was taking off. That must mean… Voila! The hangar doors were open. She took out her phone once more.
About 15 minutes of photo-snapping later, her escort off of the Zuikaku was ready.
"You're just in time. I just finished up here." Dickens gave a smug face and took another sip of her tea. Just as it entered her mouth, that plane from earlier gave her another low pass. She spit it out as the wind nearly knocked her down.
"I SWEAR TO… AAGH!"
The pilot hurried Dickens into the plane and began the takeoff procedure. Ryu finished his low pass and began a big circle around the carrier. A Westland Lysander realistically meant only one owner, but confirmation couldn't hurt.
Coming level with the plane, its roundel became clear: a red teapot and cup on a white background, encompassed by a blue circle: the roundel of the Gloriana Transport Command. St. Gloriana's logo on the fin flash made it all the more clear. The two planes flew alongside each other for quite some time. Ryu's presence alone sent a message.
Eventually, the Seafire's onboard system beeped at him, telling him of its low fuel level. Ryu turned back for home as the Lysander carried on into the night.
The Ark Royal
The chandelier was glimmering with its own light, providing the table a sense of light the sun no longer could. Assam put a package labeled "Oarai - Planes" on the table between her and Lemongrass. "Here are the photos Dickens took of the planes. She even got one of the Spitfire."
The boy flipped through the photos, narrating the object of each as if he was reading off a recipe. "Let's see: a P-63 Kingcobra, an early P-51 Mustang, a J2M Raiden, a Hawker Tempest, a D.520, a Yak-3, I'm not even going to pretend to know what these two are, and a Spit… no, it has an arrestor hook… Seafire. Not bad planes individually, but I'm not sure they can work well together. And they only have nine."
Darjeeling didn't hesitate a minute. "One cannot fly into flying."
Orange Pekoe gave the ceiling a pensive look before guessing "Fredrick Neitzche, I think?"
"Correct. It's unfortunate I don't know too much about planes, but they probably won't go too far, right Lemongrass?" Darjeeling gracefully spoke. Usually, she'd receive some common "I'm almost insulted you have to ask." answer. Today, however, Lemongrass was staring at the photo of the Seafire.
Nettle asked the obvious question. "Is everything alright, Lemongrass?"
Matcha, sitting at Lemongrass' right hand, was curious too. "What are you looking a… is that…"
"That's him. That's Morimoto. He's… flying for Oarai?"
Assam set her tea down. "Oarai was fairly eager to take him. I guess we should have seen that coming."
It took the whole table staring at her before Assam remembered the call was only between Chamomile and Oarai's Student Council President. "…Or so I'm told."
Darjeeling put her empty tea cup down next to the file with Oarai's tanks and chuckled a little. "Good save, Assam." She took a moment to think out loud as Orange Pekoe refilled her cup. "Morimoto is a danger to himself and others. Why would Oarai immediately put him back into service? I have a feeling we don't know everything yet." Assam scribbled a note.
Nettle, having finished examining Oarai's infantry weapons, gave his piece. "Well, at least it won't hurt our school if something happens."
Matcha, sitting at Lemongrass' right hand, passive-aggressively commented. "I forget how you heishi-do types can be so… coarse." She sipped her tea and silently laughed at Nettle's heavy glare.
"That's enough about the heishi-do team, Matcha." her commander chimed in. "In any case, we shouldn't have a problem. If it's just starting up, Morimoto will probably be everything they have that can go against us. And even if the entire team trains as hard as him and becomes as good, they only have 9 planes."
Darjeeling smiled. "Don't get complacent. As they say, 'Success always demands a greater effort.'"
Orange Pekoe smiled and adjusted how the teapot was set. "Winston Churchill."
"Naturally."
Author's notes:
So in the beginning I was hoping to iron out a chapter every week or few weeks, and that, uh, hasn't happened, so we're just gonna officially go to "when it's done" status. On that note, I would like to thank you so much for waiting for the chapter.
I would also love to give a big thank you to Rihnoswirl, Rosy the PIAT-teer, and DiscountTomasBoltun for all their help in editing my story thus far. I completely forgot to mention that for the earlier chapters, so I apologize to them for that. I would also like to thank LoFiFozzy for his help on this chapter. It has truly been a tremendous help and the story wouldn't be half of what it is if it weren't for them. Be sure to check them out. Furthermore, this chapter would not be complete without thanking MusashiBear and Rosy the PIAT-teer again for allowing me to use elements of their story. You should check them out. MusashiBear is primarily on Wattpad, but they both have works on this site as well. But first, leave a comment if you have something to say. Anything constructive helps. Or if you want to guess what the unrevealed aircraft is, you're more than welcome to.
Now for some comments:
TheTubaGuy: Thank you for your comments on the story. You've also noticed a lot about the story that I was hoping would strike the audience, and predicted even more. As for the style of the story, you've noticed I'm trying something more novel for Ryu's inner narration. I will definitely keep what you said in mind, though. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work and I should change it. Also, I hope I answered your questions well enough in this chapter. If not, don't hesitate to let me know so I can clarify or expand.
Joanjoanleonar, my previous story, Black Hawk Down, was a one-shot. There wasn't much to continue. Besides, this was my main focus even while writing that.
And I see you, G3.