Athrun stared out the window of the plane he rode in looking out at the mammoth air base below him. He had never seen Sheldon before, but had heard stories about its historic past. So, this is where I've come to train, he thought. Below him, he could barely make out the shapes of several bombers. J-types. He could tell because they were easily recognizable with their upright rear tail-fins, relatively short wingspan for a bomber, and the white paint-jobs with silver linings.
It had been a long flight from Honolulu, where he, Kira, Dearka, and Sai had boarded the plane after transfering over from the Archangel's transport. As always, he carried the picture of he and Cagalli that she had taken on the flight after he'd been found lying unconscious on the beach. Ever since he first laid eyes on the blonde girl, Athrun knew he had loved her. He doubted that she loved him in return, since it was he that almost killed Kira in the past, and had hurt her more than he could have ever imagined. It stung him inside to think of what he'd done. Not only to Cagalli, but to Lacus as well. His former fiance who he'd been such a fool towards, thinking that she could possibly be a traitor to the PLANTs. It made him hurt just to think about what he'd done, and how he could never forgive himself for it. His father had broken off his engagement to Lacus Clyne once he learned Athrun had left ZAFT completely.
Kira sat next to him on the plane and caught him staring at the photo. "Geez, you stare at that so much, in a few days you're gonna burn holes through it."
Athrun could only chuckle at his friend's attempt to make him feel better. Athrun had always been skeptical of going on this mission because he had never officially joined the Alliance and now here he was, about to go on a top secret mission for them. He wished he could just step out of the war and go somewhere peaceful, but people always wanted him to participate because of his skills as a mobile suit pilot. His first G-Unit, the Aegis had been destroyed when he had tried to kill Kira several months earlier. After fleeing Earth, he had returned home, only to discover what his father really wanted in the war: All Naturals Dead. When Athrun had tried to reason with his father, Patrick had shot him.
Realizing that his father had finally gone off the deep end, Athrun had fled ZAFT territory, stealing the Justice Gundam in the process, and came to Earth looking for Kira. He found him aboard the Archangel and although he was originally shot at, Kira convinced the ship's captain, Murrue Ramius, to allow him to board. Ever since then, he had been aboard the Archangel, never involved in a battle, but still helping wherever he could.
The aircraft slowly made its descent and touched down on the runway. It glided to a stop near the main entrance to the base and the people inside began to disembark. Kira and Athrun stepped out first with Dearka and Sai right behind them. An officer delivered them to their quarters. Athrun threw his stuff down on his bed and lay back down on it, looking to go to sleep. Before he drifted off he heard Kira ask the officer, "Who's the officer's on this base right now?"
"Col. Namora's head of the base, as of right now, Commander Mwu la Flaga, second in command."
Athrun saw Kira's face light up.
The main hangar of the air base was huge. Alone, it could house almost twenty Moebieus' and over thirty skygraspers. But today, it held just sixteen aircraft, all J-type bombers. At the entrance to the hangar, the seventy-nine men who had been called upon for the top secret mission stood in a neat row. All wore the same old brown leather jacket and khaki uniform shirt and pants that students at the base had wore years earlier. Kira stood near the middle of the line with Athrun and Dearka to his right and Sai to his left. He could see Mwu, along with the two other officers in the unit, standing to the far right of the line. Mwu grew his beard out, he thought, seeing the blonde streak across Mwu's chin, guess he figured it couldn't hurt.
"ATTENTION! OFFICER ON GROUNDS!"
Kira and the others snapped to attention, arms at their sides, heads straight, feet together. He had taken extra precautions to make sure his uniform, which he had been given when he arrived the day before, and his hygene were in perfect condition for today. He didn't want Col. Namora thinking he was a slob.
Soon a man came walking out of the parked vehicle located several yards away from the group. Kira recognized the tall form, jet-black hair, and sharp facial expression as those of the Thunderbird. Kira had read about him in Prep school.
Namora had been the best pilot the Naturals had ever seen when he was younger. At 24, he was the first person ever to pull the outside loop in under fifteen seconds. At 29, he became head instructor at the Sheldon Air Base. He had taught many famous flyers including Mwu and the late Admiral Halberton of the 8th Fleet. It was during that time that he invented several aerial techniques that are still used by both sides in the war, plus Kira had heard that it was Namora who laid out the design for the Moebieus after he joined the Earth Alliance a month after the war started. It was said that Namora could fly anything you asked him to. Kira was honored just to be in his presence.
Namora marched swiftly to stand before the group, looking over each individual that was lined up. He wore the same uniform they all did, except for his rank insignia of Colonel on his jacket. Kira had noticed that Mwu earlier had put his new Commander's insignia on his jacket too. Finally, Namora stood straight up and addressed the group.
"The mission I'm asking you to train for is exceptionally dangerous. Take a good look at the man next to you. It's a good bet that in the next six weeks...you or he...will be dead."
Kira glanced over at Athrun and saw him glancing back at him. He pulled the same move with Sai and averted his gaze over to Dearka and finally Mwu and the other two officers.
"Everyone brave enough to accept this...Step Forward!"
Everyone did.
The J-type bomber was a thing of beauty. She had been introduced to the Earth Alliance forces several months ago as a speed bomber designed for hit-and-run missions. She could carry four bombs of any size, and had armaments of a double 50-callibar nose-gun and a 30-callibar tail-gun. A crew of five would be needed to fly her: two pilots, a nose-gunner/bombadeer, a navigator, and a tail-gunner. She had been a strictly land base bomber, because the wheels she was equipped with could not withstand the force of a catapault launch from a battleship or carrier. At over 50 feet long, she was one of the premiere bombers in the Alliance Air Cor.
Mwu stood under the wing of the bomber that sat in the middle of the main runway at Sheldon. Hugh was next to him on his left while Frank was up on top of the wing. Col. Namora was standing in front of the bomber, under the nose addressing his men.
"Your grandmother can take a J off on a mile long runway...well I'm goin' to train you to do it in 482 feet! Because at 483 feet...you're dead!"
Mwu saw other men's eyes widen at the task they had been given. Nobody had anticipated this kind of mission, even for a top secret one. They all new what a top secret mission was; the kind where you get medals, but they send 'em to your relatives. He recognized people in the crowd he knew.
Kira Yamato, his friend and wingmate from the Archangel.
Athrun Zala and Dearka Elsman,Coordinators who had 'defected' to the Alliance.
Sai Argyle, a computer expert and crewman of the Archangel who had been chosen for this mission because of his mind and technological skills.
Stevy Barrington and his twin brother Niada, classmates of Mwu's who were three years his junior. They had been the wild ones of the school in his last year, always causing trouble.
Jay Haas, the Barringtons' friend, and the brains behind all of their stunts.
Cooper Bradford, a hero of the Battle of Alaska, saving several transports filled with soldiers from annihilation with just a 30-callibar machine gun.
And Donnie Wiseman, the youngest member of the group at just 15.
In Mwu's mind, they were all heroes. Just the fact that they had volunteered for this mission without knowing what they were getting into showed how brave they all were. All 80 of the men on this mission, including himself, Namora, Hugh and Frank, deserved medals just for volunteering. His attention came back to his commanding officer who was still speaking.
"...once you get it up, you're going to learn how to fly it like a skygrasper, thirty feet of the ground! No one has ever tried or even thought of doing this before. Many of my superiors are calling it a suicide mission. I see that as a challenge. They really don't think we can pull this off. What do you think? CAN WE DO IT?"
"YES, SIR!"
"DO YOU WANT TO DO IT?"
"YES, SIR!"
"WILL WE DO IT?"
"SIR, YES, SIR!"
"That's what I expected. We begin training the take-offs tomorrow morning 0730 sharp. Now there's someone else I would like to introduce to you. My friend, Sgt. Jack Richards Alliance Aviation."
A man stepped out from under the plane. At modest height and weight, he looked about 40 with thinning hair and a dull face. A grin encompassed his face that expressed a confidence that exceeded everything they wanted.
"He's going to help us lighten these fat ladies here."
"Colonel...he's crazy."
That was Kira. He sat in the cockpit of his J-type. It was the bomber he was going to fly over Cuba during the mission. He was second-in command of his crew because his pilot was Mwu. Kira served as co-pilot, with Leo Derisher as tail-gunner, Sai as navigator, and Tim Yiszerky as nose-gunner. Athrun and Dearka were co-pilots aboard their bomber which sat several meters away.
Sgt. Richards had been ordering the crews to strip down their planes of any unnecessary equipment which would make them too heavy to take off. On Kira's plane, he had ripped out the electric arming switch, which armed the bombs for you, the armor plating in front of the nose, several tech lines from the wings, and numerous other items he had deemed unnecessary. In Kira's mind, his plane had been reduced to a flying cardboard box.
Colonel Namora sat several feet away writing in a book about the progress. He turned toward Kira and said, "Listen to him. He's been with me for twenty years, never let me down."
"But sir, he's made us take out everything that we're really going to need to make this mission easier."
"I never said this mission was going to be easy Yamato. In order for this to succeed you'll have to be tolerant of everything that is told to you."
"Yes, sir..." Kira said dejectedly.
The next day, Kira sat next to Mwu aboard his plane. They were the first team to attempt a take-off from the practice runway. Colonel Namora had marked the runway with chalk signifying the number of feet they had traveled. On 482 ft, he had painted a red stripe signaling the death line. If they couldn't get past the death line, they would be dead.
"You ready?" Mwu said.
"As ready as I'll ever be."
"Col. we are prepared for take-off."
"Runway's clear for you guys," Namora said. "Do your best."
Mwu finished checking the systems of the plane and deemed it ready. "Releasing brakes..." He pulled a switch and the brakes that held the plane in place released sending it down the runway. The planes two engines were at full power as they accelerated toward the line.
"Max power!"
Mwu pushed the throttle all the way down and Kira was jerked back in his seat at the increase in G-forces.
"Come on baby, get up...get up..." Mwu coaxed the plane for all its worth, but the plane lifted too late and went over the line with its rear wheels still on the ground.
"DAMN!" Mwu shouted.
"Dammit!" That was Namora.
The other sixteen planes also failed to get off the ground in time, each trying three times. Finally, Namora had had enough. "Put every man on the line now. I'll show 'em how it's done."
Mwu and Kira stood with the other men on the side of the runway at the death line. On the other end, Col. Namora's plane warmed up on the tarmak. Both engines were revved up and ready to go, with light from the jet engines glowing brightly.
"Think he'll be able to do it?" Kira asked.
"I wouldn't put my money on him not being able to." Mwu replied.
Aboard the jet, Namora sat in the pilot seat with Richards next to him. "Let's show these boys how this thing is done!" he shouted. He immediately released the brake and sent the J screaming down the runway.
"COME ON! MAX POWER!" he screamed.
The plane lurched forward rising on its two rear wheels. It neared the line and finally rose off the ground...two feet before the death line. Immediately roars and cheers errupted from the men. Mwu turned to Kira with a grin on his face and Kira replied "Well, if he can do it..."
Five and a half weeks later, Col. Namora stood on the ground looking up proudly at the sky. All sixteen planes had managed to get into the air before 482 feet. Every single one of them had done it. The planes screamed overhead and Namora smile lit up his face. He grasped Richards firmly by the shoulders because he was so eccstatic and shook him violently. "We did it Jack! We did it!"
Richards smiled back at Namora happily...well it seemed as though he was happy.
"Gentleman," Namora said proudly, "my friends in the war department don't want me to lead this raid."
He stood in the meeting room of the pilot house with his men sitting before him. It was time to discuss the final aspects of the mission.
"'Cause they same I'm too valuable. They don't want me flying with the men that I have been assigned. That I've cussed out, spit out, pushed to the limit...and that I've come to respect." Everyone smiled gleefully.
"They want me to stand out on the flight hangar and wave you off...well I don't see it that way. So I'm going with you." Kira heard several men gasp in awe at just the opportunity to be flying next to the legend.
"Tomorrow we head for Nova Scotia to await our transport ship. After that It'll be about a week's cruise to launching point about 750 miles north of Cuba. We take off from the ship, drop our fire and head for Colombia's north coast. Any questions?"
Donnie raised his hand. "Colonel. You've given us the homing beacons which will tell us where the Colombian search parties will be waiting. What do we do if the beacons are switched off?"
"You bring her down any way you can and do your best to avoid capture."
"What do we do if our planes are damaged and we have to bail out over Cuba?" That was Leo.
"Well, in that case I can't tell you what you should do."
Kira said, "What would you do Colonel?"
Namora stared out into space for a minute and then finally said strongly, "I wasn't built to be a prisoner...so I would have my crew bail out. I'd find the sweetest military target I could and drive my plane right smack into the middle of it, and kill as many of those bastards as I possibly could."
Many of the men smiled, but Kira managed to keep himself calm and collected. Athrun and Dearka did as well.
"But that's just me. I'm 45 years old, I'm an old man, you guys have your whole lives ahead of you. So what you do is up to you. Dismissed."
After everyone had filed out of the room except the Col. Mwu, Hugh and Frank, Mwu walked up to his teacher and said, "I think you got 'em pretty well motivated sir."
"Think so?"
"Yeah. Did you hear what they were saying about you. There callin' you the best motivational speaker they've ever heard."
"Thanks Mwu."
Frank said, "So what do we do until we leave tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow morning, we'll find out what the ship is that will carry us to the launching point. Whatever it is, it's captain and crew apparently were assigned to do this, so I wouldn't doubt they'll treat us with hostitilies."
Well, whatever ship it is, Mwu thought, they'll go down in history right beside us, every step of the way.
"Until then, you guys just get as much shut eye as you can. Tomorrow's going to be a big day."
Author's Note:
To give you a sense of imagery, here's what some of the new characters should look like. For John Namora, (think Alec Baldwin), Hugh Swanson, (Brad Pitt with a British accent), Frank Barkhesh, (a young Tom Selleck), Stevy Barrington, (Johnny Depp), Niada Barrington, (Orlando Bloom), and Jay Haas, (Matt Damon with glasses). Sorry if these kind of put you down, but I had to know in my head what these guys looked like and I felt I should at least help you out. Voice your opinions please.