Ace Combat: Ranma's War

Disclaimer: Ranma ½ belongs to Rumiko Takahashi; Ace Combat belongs to Namco; Area 88 belongs to Kaoru Shintani; Full Metal Panic belongs to Shoji Gatoh; and Stratos 4 belongs to Bandai Entertainment and Studio Fantasia

Mission 105: Heartbreak

"Ow! Ow! Ow!"

"Please hold still…"

Ran gently applied the iodine-soaked cotton on one of many scratch marks sporting Captain Bartlett's face. All around them, the entire dinning area of Kou Chin's was in shambles. Tables and chairs overturned or broken; shattered pieces of glass, ceramic and pottery scattered everywhere; and food, once delectable and pleasing to the senses was churned about in various styles of messes, one would have thought a vicious food fight had occurred. Mikaze and her teammates were busily cleaning the place and trying to bring back a semblance of order. Alice in the meantime was profusely apologizing and seeing to the last set of disgruntled guests out the door. Alice finally sighed in relief and turned to the girls and smiled.

"I'm sorry you girls have to clean this mess…"

"It's okay," Mikaze said, taking the time to pause from her sweeping, "it's the least we could do after what Ranma did." She looked about, referring to the disaster area around her.

"No, no," Alice sagely shook her in response, "I'm much to blame for all of this. I should have anticipated Arisu for doing something this daring. That darn cat."

Ayamo had notice Karin listlessly standing in the middle of the room for sometime while doing the heavier choirs of cleaning and have decided to check on her.

"Hey Karin, you've been standing there like, forever. Is there something wrong?" As Ayamo grasped Karin by the shoulder, from behind, she thought she heard her making a whimpering sound. "Karin? Are you crying?"

"The food…sniff…all of it…sniff…wasted…sniff…" Tears gushed out of her glassy eyes as she eyed one spoiled dish on the floor to the next. Ayamo could only bring about a forefinger to her throbbing temple, exasperated by Karin's behavior. "Oh, Karin…"

"I wonder how are Ms. Sayaka, 2nd Lieutenant Nagase and Mr. Makoto doing in their search for Ranma?" Shizuha said out aloud to herself for everyone to hear after having finished wrapping up the some of the garbage.


"Ranma!...Ranma!..." Kei Nagase has been shouting that name for nearly half an hour in the hither lands of the Sand Island not far from Kou Chin's after Ranma trashed it and fled, bearing Arisu with him.

Mostly underdeveloped, Sand Island's less than two-thousand, including the military personnel of Sand island Air Base, are scattered in several pockets of communities, leaving most of the island uninhabited. Although these communities are connected by roads and other forms of infrastructures these tend to get neglected and not maintained in time due to budget constraints and lack of a formal bureaucratic entity.

"Ranma!...Ow!" Having not given the chance to change out of her uniform, and even if given the opportunity, Kei Nagase's wear were not suited for the jungle outdoor she was treading, resulting in her stumbling due to the uneven footing and spraining an ankle in the process. She grimaced in pain as she held the sprained spot on her foot. "Ohh…"

The rustlings of foliage nearby alerted Nagase, making her forget her discomfort.

"Ranma?"

"Reowww!"

Startled, Nagase stumbled backward, landing on her haunch, as something black and furry emerged out of the vegetation and dashed past her.

:"Rrrrah! Damn you Arisu!" flustered Nagase, recognizing and cursing the cat – the cause of all this trouble.

"Reowww…"

Nagase sat deathly still on her spot, slowing turning her head toward the sound of the new mew, this one more sinister in tone, like that of a predator. There a couple of yards away was Ranma, crouching on all fours, which was strange since he was still in uniform himself and was acting like a cat which made him somewhat silly-looking. But for Nagase the situation was anything but silly judging from the feral expression she saw in Ranma's face. Neko-Ranma slowly paced for Nagase without removing his fierce gaze off her. Nagase wanted to stand and make a run for it but her body wouldn't move, her mind filling it with overbearing trepidation.

"Ranma!...Nagase?"

Nagase wordless stared at Sayaka and Shinjou who just arrived at the scene; Ranma stop his advance and switched his attention on what he perceives as an annoying intrusion.

Upon seeing Nagase's peril, Shinjou immediately searched for something on the grassy ground. Finding what he's looking for – a broken tree branch, he made a threatening gesture with it against Neko-Ranma.

"Stay away from her you…!"

Ranma growled menacingly at this, focusing all his attention on Shinjou. The photojournalist regretted his act of bravado as Neko-Ranma leaped and lunged at him. Shinjou brought the piece of stick before him in defense hoping to fend-off the attack.

For a split-second, Ranma stops in midair and like a blur made a series of swiping slashes with his 'forepaws', shredding Shinjou's club into splinters. The force of the blows made Shinjou to let go of his sundered, impromptu weapon, less he gets torn to ribbons by Ranma's strikes, causing him to clumsily back-peddle and fall, sitting on the ground. Ranma landed on the ground and stood menacingly before the startled photo journalist, ready to make the finishing move.

"No Ranma! Stop!" It was Nagase.

Ranma stopped in his tracks and faced her, seeing the fear and concern on her face. He mellowed down all the sudden and started to patter towards her, purring calmly all the way.

He was a couple of paces away from her when Nagase tensed and braced herself, closing her eyes shut, for the world of pain that was to come. It didn't happen. Instead she felt wet and warm sensation in one of her lower legs.

"…That…that tickles…stop it!" She opened her eyes and there licking her after mentioned anatomy was Ranma in a rather playful cat-like way which made her blush with extreme embarrassment.

"…Stop it I say…" she pleaded, but didn't dare aggravate the situation any further, unsure of Ranma's unpredictable behavior.

Neko-Ranma did the unexpected and pounced over and onto Nagase, forcing her lie completely prone and on her back. He then proceeded in lapping on her left cheek.

"…No Ranma…stop…this has gone to far…" grimaced Nagase, wanting this 'innocent playful antics' of his subordinate to end and now. Somehow one of Ranma's 'paws' shifted and pressed on Nagase's chest by accident. This was definitely going way, way too far for the 2nd Lieutenant's tolerance.

"RANMA YOU IDIOT!"

Nagase made a powerful uppercut, which would have made Akane jealous of her, sending Neko-Ranma flying and flaying up in the air and into the distance.


Two figures stood out in a black backdrop, their backs turned to someone. The whole scene was rather like a blur. They were talking to each other but the words they spoke were incomprehensible. Turning around, they beamed over the unseen someone, but their smiles seem sinister. Their eyes cannot be seen, either they're blocked by thick-glossy glasses or covered by the bangs of their hair. They were saying some things about the 'person' in question, but again nothing understandable could be discerned from them.

The scene changes and a gun come into view. Shots were fired from the weapon, the explosive discharges ringed with chiming clarity.

"NOOOO!"

Karin bolted up from her bunk, huffing and catching her breath; cold sweat drenched her whole being, matting her hair and night clothes, her eyes were wide in abject terror. She looked around, letting her eyes adjust to the darkened room that is the girls' barracks. There to her left she made out the sleeping forms of Ayamo and Shizuha, both sharing a double-bunk. The sounds of profound snoring made Karin look down from the perched position. Below her was Mikaze, sprawled out of her blanket in silly pose. Karin noticed something glisten from the rim of her bedmate's rhythmically gapping mouth which she guessed as probably drool. She sighed both in amusement and relief, glad that she has awaken from her nightmare. Lying back once again, she stared at the ceiling, her expression becoming solemn.

"That dream again…"

Karin seems not mindful of the tears flowing out of her eyes as they ran down her cheeks.

"Mother… Father…"


The next day, reports of unidentified aircraft seen flying over several cities on the western shores of the Nipponese mainland, flooded the various media and communications outlets of the Far Eastern Island, prompting speculation and a hint of hysteria among the populace.

At least one of these aircrafts was sighted near Sand Island. Observers and spotters of the base ID them to be Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) with data gathering capabilities, something that Federation forces on the island were not too comfortable of and had to be dealt with as soon as possible. Wardog Squadron was sent out to answer the call.

"Wardog, this is Sky High, radar shows that all UAVs are heading back to their point of origin. Their trajectory points to an unidentified maritime vessel twenty miles off the Coast of Sand Island. We have already informed the Nippon Maritime Self-Defense Force of the matter and they're on their way but since you can get there faster we hope you can clean up before they arrive."

"What do you have in mind Sky High?" Captain Bartlett asked while trying to rubout the itchiness of one his band-aid welts on his face.

Sky High didn't answer immediately. "Wardog, you have been given the go to intercept and destroy the 'drones'. Make sure none reach their 'mother ship'. Under no circumstances are you to attack or provoke the 'spy ship' without further transmitted orders. Is that clear Wardog, over?"

"Roger Sky High, Wardog will proceed as ordered. Wardog out!... Alright team, adjust course and heading to vector 018. Prepare to fire afterburners on my order, looks like we're going clay pigeon hunting today 'ladies'."

Ranma frowned at the remark but gave no further mind.

"Fire afterburners, now!"

Wardog increased their speed to cover their ETA with the returning UAVs before they get back to the unidentified ship.

Mikaze spoke up. "Hey Ranma, don't you think it's good for a change that we don't have to kill anyone."

Ranma didn't answer. He was slow in picking up.

Mikaze continued. "I mean, we're up against drones this time, aren't we? So that means no pilots have to die, right?"

Ranma brighten up all the sudden on that realization. "…You're right, Mikaze," turning to an impish expression, "you do act smart sometimes," finishing it with a grin.

"Why thanks, Ranma… Hey! What's that suppose to mean," gripped Mikaze.

"I hate to pop your bubble you two but don't put your hopes up on that," butted Captain Bartlett, "they could have friends nearby. Just like that Bear the other day. So stay on your toes and be ready for anything."

Both Ranma and Mikaze pouted in silence, hating the Captain for his realism and at the same time knowing that such idealisms shouldn't affect the sworn duty they've taken.

"Two miles to targets," Nagase reminded everybody.

"Alright, let's see if you all improved in your aiming skills. Nagase, Ranma, take your respective teams and shoot down those drones with your guns only. I'll just lie back to make sure no one jumps in on us while you're doing your turkey shoot."

"Roger, Edge's group engaging! Let's go Ayamo, Shizuha."

"ROGER!" responded both girls.

"Ranma…I mean, Stallion's group, engaging!"

"We're right behind you, Ranma." Mikaze informed him.

Six F-5s went in to attack formation, setting their targeting sights on the UAVs - unbending in their course and reaction, or rather lack of reaction on the impending threat bearing on them. The rapid blaze of gun fire pierced the pressing, roaring winds as a tracing trail of auto cannon rounds, from Nagase's plane, zeroed in on one of the drones, destroying it in a spectacular display of smoke and pyrotechnics.

"I leave it to you girls to do same." Nagase said, backing up the give her wingmen the opportunity to strike on their own

"Alright, let's do this, Shizuha! My trigger finger has been itching for a while now." Ayamo fired her stream of rounds which missed the target by mere inches.

"Take it easy with the ammo, Ayamo! We can't get careless here, even if they're just unmanned vehicles," said Shizuha, managing to bag down her first drone.

Ayamo just huffed in derision at her friend's wise-talk and initial accomplishment stepping up her efforts in scoring some kills.

The attack has commenced. Drone after drone fell to gun fire from the Wardog fighters. They were unable to effectively resist or escape the barrage, lacking in any form of defense or evasive speed.

"Woohoo! This is more fun than any shooting game!" Ayamo excitedly exclaimed, downing her second UAV.

Shizuha just sighed in resignation over her friend's carefree streak and concentrated on her shooting.

Mikaze finally shot down a drone. "I did it! How are you doing, Karin. How many have you shot down?"

"Four." Karin simply said, already going for the next target.

"Four! Wow! That's great, Karin…" Mikaze felt shameful of her small achievement over Karin's but quickly dismissed it. Silently she told herself that she could do better as well. Realizing something she turned to ask Ranma. "What about you, Ranma? How many did you get?"

"Um…just one…so far."

"One! Just one! And I thought it's just me."

Ranma didn't answer back. The truth was he hasn't shaken the thought of those enemy pilots he killed the other day. After his first drone kill, the feeling of guilt came back, flooding his thoughts of imaginary faces of those doomed pilots.

"But I guess that shows," Mikaze continued, "that you and I are alike, we're the same kind of feather, so to speak."

Ranma wasn't really listening, still lost in his brooding thoughts.

The last of the UAVs was finally taken down.

"This is Wardog to Sky High! All UAVs have been destroyed. Unless you have something in mind for the ship below us, we'll be heading home, over?"

"Roger Wardog, radar shows all UAVs have been destroyed, good job…Wait a minute…Warning! New aerial contacts inbound to your coordinates from Vector 267 and closing in fast. IFF has identified them to be hostile, eight in all, four MiG-21s and four MiG-29s."

"MiG-29s!" cried out Shizuha. "I don't think we could handle those things. They're just out of our league with these planes of ours."

"Do you want to take charge, Ms. Know-it-all. Because that would be just fine with me…"

"I didn't mean anything about it, sir. I'm sorry."

"Listen up everyone; we'll be doing this by the numbers. Ranma, take your squad to the right! Nagase, yours to the left! We'll try to catch them in a pincer maneuver."

"What about you, sir?" Ranma asked.

"I'll take them head on, just to keep them guessing."

"Isn't that too risky, sir?" Nagase was worried for the Captain.

"Don't argue with me! Just do what you're told. If this works Now on my mark will break. You got that?

"ROGER!"

"Good… Mark!"

On cue Wardog broke off into three groups with Ranma's and Nagase's flights executing their respective turns, trying to get into a flanking position with the enemy planes while the Captain's F-4 sped up on a direct course for them.

"Let stir things up a bit shall we."

The Captain acquired a tone – a lock-on; pressing the firing mechanism on his joystick he releases a heat-seeker. Quickly switching his weapon selection he then fires a SAAM, aimed at the same chosen target. As he anticipated the MiG-21 manages to evade the first missile but not, the SAAM. The rest of the enemy planes break formation and scatter. Captain Bartlett picks out the nearest target and attempts to tail him for the kill.

Ranma's group picks out a weaving Fulcrum, trying to orient itself for a better position but became their target instead.

"I've got a lock! If you two have it too, take the shot! Fox One!" Ranma fires one of his wing-tipped missiles. Both Mikaze and Karin did the same with theirs.

"Fox One!"

"Fox One!"

At least two of the group's rocketing ordinances homed-in true, hitting and obliterating the Fulcrum in the air.

"We did it! We shot it down!" Mikaze cheered, but for Ranma a heavy, awkward feeling sank in his chest, down to his stomach, when he saw the enemy fighter plane got hit and destroyed. A warning, beeping sound brought them to their senses.

"We're being locked!" Karin warned.

One of the Fulcrums managed to wheel about, bringing itself to bear on Ranma's flight. It then releases one of its own missiles on them.

"Scatter and evade!" shouted Ranma. The girls responded on command, much due to their flight training. They broke formation, decreasing the chance of being tracked by the incoming missile.

"It's locked-on on to me!" panicked Mikaze.

"Evade! Evade it, Mikaze!" encouraged Ranma although he himself was worried for her.

Mikaze increased her speed and tried as much as she can, straining her control stick to the limits, in getting away from the homing missile.

"Come on…come on…"

As the missile was closing in it suddenly lost track of its target and flew out of harms way.

"Whew! I did it! I managed to lose it!"

The Fulcrum responsible for the attack got marked by Karin, during the commotion, and tried to shake her off but eventually got felled by two missiles from her. Both Ranma and Mikare were just amazed by the girl's reaction and skill.

"How did she get there so fast?" wondered Mikaze.

'Is she really a novice pilot?' Ranma thought. His attention was suddenly diverted when he spotted the lone Fishbed arcing into view.

"I'm going after that one. You two cover me, okay?" Without waiting for a response, Ranma shifts his course in pursuit of his quarry.

"Hey, hang on, Ranma, wait up!" Both Mikaze and Karin adjusted their heading to following in with their squad leader.

"You got a Fulcrum heading for you!" warned Captain Bartlett to the girls.

"What!" exclaimed Mikaze. Strafes of auto gunfire zipping past their planes indicated a MiG-29 was marking them as his targets. "Darn it! Now we won't be able to go after Ranma."

Both the MiG-21 and the F-5 were evenly matched in terms of firepower and speed and so it wasn't difficult for Ranma to almost catch up with weaving Fishbed ahead of him.

"…I got him…" Ranma had the MiG in his targeting sights, his inching trigger-finger slowly depressing the firing switch of his guns.

"…I-I can't do it…"

Suddenly the Fishbed drastically reduced its speed and executed a one-eighty degree arcing, side-flip to the left, putting it above and behind Ranma's F-5.

"What!" The maneuver surprised Ranma, putting him on a desperate defensive, fumbling with his F-5 in order to elude his prey turned aggressor.

The Fishbed open fired with a salvo of gun fire, barely grazing Ranma's plane.

"Damn it! How could I be so stupid?" Lock-on warnings sounded, putting Ranma's situation further in a pinch. "Is he going to fire a missile at that range? I'm not sure if I could dodge it."

"Yes you can…"

"Huh? Who said that?" Ranma noticed everything around him: the jiggling of his hand on the throttle, the flickering and flashing of his flight instruments, even the world outside his cockpit – seem slowing down with a sense of haziness; only his thoughts were normal and clear, and that voice…

"I am you. But that doesn't matter now. You have only few moments left before you go into the blaze of glory. So just shut up, listen, and do exactly what I say because our existence is at stake here."

Ranma didn't like the 'voice', but this is not the time to argue, however the whole situation was disorienting that he's not even sure if it was actually happening.

"Don't doubt, or you're dead…Get ready now. When I howler the command you just do it. Don't worry I'll help guiding your reflexes. After all I'm you…"

Ranma took a deep breath, throwing away all concerns in to the wind, letting his martial arts training of a sound mind and body kick in, calmly waiting for the right moment to execute the planned action.

His missile lock warning system spiked indicating that the enemy had a prefect missile lock-on on him.

The Fishbed opened fired, its missile whistling in, it was going to be close.

"Break left, NOW!" Ranma's F-5 veered sharply to the indicated direction just before the missile would strike him dead on, darting past by aimlessly.

Surprised by the sudden and quick maneuver of his quarry, the Fishbed was forced to fly on. His is enemy now to his left and behind.

"Slowdown a bit, but make sure you don't stall!"

Ranma did what his was told and decelerated; his plane was beginning to slightly shake.

"Now, turn right and accelerate!"

Ranma felt he wasn't in control. His hand seems to have a life of its own, directing the plane in ordered execution, putting him now behind the Fishbed.

"This one is good, but predictable. He's going to evade to the left next. Adjust to one-hundred and five degree axis by three meters. Get ready with your guns…"

Ranma was going to ask what the fuck the voice was saying when mathematical and scientific signs and symbol began flooding his vision, mapping out the most probable course and trajectory of the Fishbed, and the best time and location to strike it. Ranma almost felt nauseous by all of this.

The Fishbed made its predictable move.

"Now! Fire!"

Ranma hesitated for a millisecond, then he complied. Guns blazed and a trail of auto cannon rounds raked the rear half of the Fishbed's fuselage. Fire broke out and tail of black smoke trailed behind as the MiG-21 made a plummeting decent.

"You IDIOT! That should have been a sure kill! Why do you still doubt yourself?"

"I… I…" Ranma's attention switched when he noticed a parachute appear behind the felled Fishbed. A sign of relief escapes him. At least one gets to live to see another day, Ranma thought. Hopefully his friends by the ship will pick him up, he added.

"That's it, I'm outta here! Man, you're sure are not cut out to be a naturally born killer."

"Huh?"

"Good luck to you, but don't come back crying when you come looking for me…"

"…Stallion? Hello? Can you hear me kid?" It was Captain Bartlett's voice.

"…Umm…yeah…I mean yes, sir. I can hear you."

"You were out of it for a while there, kid."

"…I'm not sure myself on what just happened." Ranma was disturbed as he tried to retrace the 'strange' happenings he thought to have precieved.

Wardog was finally reassembling in formation. Not a single enemy fighter flew in the vicinity. Their missile warning systems became active again.

"Missile warning still in affect!" reminded Shizuha to everybody.

"Where! Where! I don't see anything!" said Mikaze, searching the around for the unseen enemy.

"They're right below us as well," warned Captain Bartlett as a missile swooshed off the deck of the unidentified ship below them. "Watch out, Nagase!"

The anti-aircraft missile had a sure locked-on on Nagase's F-5 forcing her to break flight formation to evade it and to spare the rest of her squadron of the potential danger. The SAM unerringly followed her on.

"Damn it, Nagase!" Captain Bartlett quickly left the squadron to follow his Second Lieutenant. Ranma and the rest were unsure how to go about by this and just remained in formation.

"Damn! I can't shake it!" No matter how much maneuvering and weaving she did the versatile rocketing projectile matched her course and was closing in deathly fast.

"Nagase! When I say so, break right!"

"Captain!"

Heartbreak One was flying in from the left and perpendicular direction of Nagase's path.

"We're going to cross each other Nagase, get ready!"

"But Captain…"

"Just do what say…Now! Break right!"

Nagase forego her doubts, knowing that her Captain was depending on her. She did what she was ordered to and made and sudden an almost ninety-degree turn to the right. At that moment Captain Bartlett rolled his F-4 to the right, on to its ninety-degree vector. Both plane's undersides nearly touched each other as they passed each other.

The heatseeker's guidance systems momentarily got confused by the sudden change and mix up in heat signatures but eventually made its choice and went after Captain Bartett's fighter.

"The Captain did it! He shook the thing off of 2nd Lieutenant Nagase," said Ayamo.

"Yeah but it's now going after the Captain," quickly added Shizuka, seeing Captain Bartlett's F-4 desperately to shake off his deadly pursuer.

"C'mon! You can do it!" grimly muttered Captain Bartlett, already straining his machine to its limits in acceleration and mobility but these and his years of experience were not enough to get him through this peril.

The missile was a couple of meters away from Heartbreak when its electronic systems registered that that it was within the minimum detonation distance to its target. It exploded into a cloud of fireball and shrapnel, sending a massive concussive forced that would have shredded any fighter-sized target. Fortunately for Captain Bartlett, he managed to make one last desperate weave with his plane to avoid the brunt of the explosion.

"He made it!" exclaimed Mikaze in jubilation.

Ayamo wasn't so forgiving. "That's it! That fucking ship is going down!" She broke off of formation.

"Ayamo come back here!" pleaded Nagase.

"Ayamo, don't do it! We have no orders to engage the ship…" Ranma wanted to add his concerns for the pilot of the downed MiG, who would probably depend on the ship for his rescue, but could make himself say it with the messed up situation they were in.

What sense of reasoning Ayamo had went out the cockpit as she disregarded the calls of her superiors. Her F-5 made for the decent, closing in on the confirmed hostile maritime craft. The 'enemy' ship did not take the situation sitting down as it readied itself to face off the aerial threat with a second missile launch.

Missile threat systems began flaring up again. "Oh no, you don't!" said Ayamo, already having target acquisition on the enemy ship; she barreled it down with her twin cannons, tearing it into shreds and climaxing with a spectacular explosion.

"Wardog, you were ordered not to engage the 'ship' in any way…" Sky High's admonition went unnoticed by Wardog as they see to condition of Captain Bartlett and his plane.

"Captain, are you alright? Please respond!" asked Nagase, with a mixed feeling of concern and remorse.

"…This is Heartbreak One. I think am okay…I can still feel the toes on my feet. But I can't say the same for 'her'.

"'Her'" inquired Mikaze.

"He referring to his plane," answered Shizuka

"Oh, I knew that," defended the Honjou girl, feeling sheepish for her ignorance.

"What do you mean, sir?" Ranma joined in.

"The stabilizers seem shaky; I can't make any sudden turns for now. Plus number two engine is showing signs of malfunction, I'm not sure. How does it look out there?"

"It looks fine to me," answered Ranma, seeing that the F-4's engine acting fine but cutting out the part of superficial and structural damage that was evident due to the missile blast earlier. But in Ranma's opinion, the structural damage appears minimal if not manageable for Heartbreak, although he does notices the Captain's plane wobbling a bit.

"Maybe you should eject, as an SOP, with all due respect, sir?" voiced Nagase, feeling unconvinced of Ranma's assessment.

"Maybe you're right, Nagase? The Air Force could always replace these things, but not the persons flying them. But still, me and this baby go a long way…"

The Captain's reminiscent talk was rudely interrupted by the frantic message from Sky High. "Wardog! Wardog! Three new contacts, bearing vector 248! Closing fast! IFF indicates they're hostile but are of unknown make. We have no info on these types of aircrafts."

"What should we do, engage them, sir?" Mikaze asked.

"Wait," Sky High suddenly piped in, "these signatures…they match from the incident a few days ago…yes, confirmed. They're the same planes you've engaged from before, those 'yellow planes'"

Ranma reacted with shock. "Captain! It's them…"

"Yeah, I know…Change of plans, everyone. Put everything into your afterburners and fly like hell back to base! We're outta here!"

"What!" exclaimed Ayamo, "they're just three of them and seven of us? We can take them!"

"Ayamo...those planes…it only took two of them to shoot down and kill eight of my friends in that incident…"

"No way!" said the Nakamura girl, the realization dawning on her. "Those are the fighters from the report?"

"The exact ones," answered Captain Bartlett, "only this time there's just three of them. They must really think highly of themselves to underestimates us, but am not going to risk on taking them on right now. So if all wish to live, run now. There is no shame in doing so."

"Damn…" cursed Ayamo.

Wardog regrouped in formation and made for a runabout course for Sand Island Air Base. The 'yellow squadron' matched their course and increased their speed for pursuit. Captain Bartlett requested from Sky High for any available reinforcements in the area.

"Negative, Wardog but we'll keep on trying to get the word. Just hang tightl."

"They're gaining on us!" said Shizuka as she takes note of the Captain's damaged plane slowing Wardog down.

"They're probably after us for deep-sixing 'their' ship. They won't stop until blood is spilled," grimly stated Captain Bartlett. Looking at his radar scope he saw that their pursuers were fast gaining on them. Well aware of the condition of his F-4, there is little hope for Wardog to outrun those infamous yellow planes. The Wardog Captain made a decision. As hard it may seem at the moment, Captain Bartlett's plane left the flight and tried to make a runabout, right toward the yellow planes.

"Captain! What are you doing?" asked Nagase, her voice becoming frantic.

"I'll try to slow them down, to give you a better chance in getting away," he said, his F-4 was shaking more violently than before due to the strain he's putting on it.

"No! That's crazy! You don't stand a chance against them, not in your plane's condition! Please come back!"

"She's right, Captain," joined in Ranma, "it's just suicide. We'll wait on and cover you as you join in back in flight…"

"It's too late for that now. You'd lose too much ground by doing that. Just continue on your course and everything will be fine."

"NO!" cried Nagase, choking with suppressed tears. "It won't be fine! Not without you. And if you won't come back then I'm joining you."

"Me too, Captain," quickly added Ranma. "We're family, so we should stick together…"

"DAMN IT, YOU IDIOTS! DO YOU WANT ALL TO DIE?"

Everyone was shocked into silence by the outburst.

"Don't you both have people under you to take care of? Do you want them to meet the same fate of those who came before them?"

Silence followed by contemplation of the Captain's words.

"I'm giving you all a chance to get away! If any of you so much as yaw a couple of degrees, by God if I somehow survive this I'll give you a hell of a reprimand that you'd wish you've never known the name Captain Jack Bartlett!"

"Captain…" lamented Nagase.

"Besides," Captain Bartlett smirked to himself, "I won't let myself get killed that easy." The Captain's wobbling F-4 increased speed, distancing itself further away from the squadron.

"Captain!" Nagase vainly called out to him.

"Alright, let's see what you've got!" His missile warning system acted up. "Eh? They've got weapons at that ranged? Gotta compensate, increasing speed to shorten the gap."

One of the yellow fighters open fired, releasing a missile.

The Captain's warning system spiked, indicating a solid lock-on his plane.

"This is going to get hairy." Reaching the maximum range for his SAAMs, Captain Bartlett counteracted the offensive move of the enemy by firing one of his own missiles. "Just keep it steady…" He tried his best to keep his target locked-on, not minding the imminent missile strike. "…Stallion, I mean Ranma."

"Yes sir!"

"I'm leaving it to you to lead Wardog back home safe. Promise me you'd do it, Kid."

"I-I promise…" was all that Ranma could say feeling rotten for the dilemma brought upon him.

"Don't say such things, Captain! Eject now while you still can!"

Captain Bartlett switched off his communications. That was the last he heard of Nagase's voice. "I'm sorry Nagase…I really am."

The incoming missile was only a few seconds away from him, while his SAAM to his target was less than thirty seconds to impact.

"Guess we won't be getting to have that get-together date, Sayaka…"

The missile squarely hit Heartbreak, vaporizing him in ball of flame and wreckage, his electronic signal with his SAAM prematurely severed causing it lose guidance and control and to swerve away from its intended target.

"Captain Bartlett!" Nagase shouted her heart out on the confirmation of the Captain's demise.

"…He's gone…We have our orders 2nd Lieutenant…let's follow them as the Captain order us to do." Ranma was not sure if he said such words, whish was very unlike of him.

"You have no RIGHT to say that! You're out of line!" snapped Nagase in response.

"Out of line? Listen to yourself Kei-Nagase. Get a grip of yourself! We all do! The Captain gave his life for us for a chance that we might get away and live on. Let's not make his sacrifice a waste!" Ranma was fired up and amazed at the same time. Just as he thought, he has gone a long way since his Nerima days, becoming more mature and responsible – something that he has to get used to in the days ahead.

"I hate to break the melodramatics but those yellow fighters are still after us and gaining," reminded Shizuha.

The three yellow planes, unhindered by Captain Bartlett's valiant but vain attempt to slow them down, increased their speed and were nearing within striking distance with their weapons.

"Ranma, what do we do?" Mikaze asked, giving her support to the pigtailed-haired flight leader.

The rest of the girls asked him similarly, only Nagase remained silent.

Ranma was at lost with the situation. If they continue on fleeing without increasing drastically their distance from their pursuers they'd be eventually be shot down one by one. On there a similar fate awaits them if they turn around and engage the enemy. Either way things were not looking good for Wardog. A radio transmission broke in out of the gloom.

"This is the 108th Suiko Squadron to unidentified hostile aircrafts. You are in violation of Nippon airspace. Turn back to your point of origin at once or we will be force to engage and destroy you."

'Woah! The 108th Suiko Squadron? They're Nippon's vanguard, the best of the best in aces. Why are they here?"

"Stop complaining Ayamo! Don't you see they're the reinforcements," pointed out Shizuha. "Any reinforcements are a welcome by me," she added.

As expected the three yellow planes responded to the challenge by breaking the chase and heading back toward the opposite way as they saw that they were outnumbered if not outclassed.

A collective sigh of relief came over all of Wardog, knowing that their salvation was attributed by the timely arrival of the 108th Suiko Squadron, they then solemnly turned to tragic reflections on the one would made it possible for them to reach this far, Captain Jack Bartlett.