Betrayed souls roam the arid desert, mocking voices waver in the echoing haze. Why do you continue to fight? Why do you continue on living through extremes of suffering? In the desert, men shed their tears for pride or love. This lonely land dries out the heart.
THE BURNING MIRAGE
BOOK 01
SKIES OF BETRAYAL
CHAPTER 03
THE BOUNDLESS WASTES
Three thousand feet over Asran
24 April 1979 - 2325 Hours
In the skies over Asran, near the village of Kiby, the F-8J Crusader piloted by Shin flies alongside a Hawker Hunter FGA.9, piloted by a newcomer, Kim Aba, a young pilot from the Emirate of Hatay. "Enemy aircraft confirmed at vector zero-four-zero. Turning to engage." Shin called out on the radio. Kim, in a rather cocky tone said, "Just watch, Shin! I bet today's the day I score before you! If you do, breakfast's on me!" Shin turned his head to the Hunter, and advises, "Don't get cocky, Kim. If you do, you're done for. Engage." The two planes roll in and engage the enemy formation, a group of four MiG-19s.
"Fox two!" Shin calls out, as he fires a Sidewinder at one of the MiG-19s. He gets a kill. "Splash one." The rest of the MiGs scatter and enter into an all out brawl against the Crusader and Hunter. "Sorry, Kim. You're buying." Shin states as the two mercenary pilots break formation and go after their respective targets. Kim takes on the wingman of the shot down MiG, while the more experienced Shin takes on the remaining two. Kim gets lead on the MiG-19 and fires his Hunter's four thirty millimeter ADEN cannons, "Guns!" The MiG-19's right wing is torn off.
Meanwhile, the two MiG-19s engaged by Shin break hard left. Shin, knowing that the AIM-9D Sidewinder can't sustain lock in high G turns avoids firing. He also avoids firing his cannons out of fear of jamming. Fixated on the MiG element lead, he loses sight of the wingman. Eventually, the MiG element lead levels out, losing sight of Shin's Crusader due to aforementioned fighter's blind spot. Shin gets a good tone on his Sidewinder and fires. The missile hits home. Upon shooting down the MiG-19, Shin puts his head back on a swivel as thirty millimeter tracers from the MiG-19 wingman's three cannons arc over his canopy.
"You are an Ace, Shin. But now it's my turn to be in the spotlight." Kim says as he pulls his Hunter onto the MiG-19's six o'clock. The MiG-19 fires first, putting cannon rounds into the Crusader's right wing before being torn to bits by the Hawker Hunter's cannons. Shin loses control of his Crusader, the altimeter drops like lead, as warning lights and sounds blare in the cockpit. Panicking, the Sunese pilot does everything he can; anything to stabilize his falling plane. Throttling up, he manages to regain control and pulls up less than five hundred feet off the deck.
"Shin! Are you alright?" Kim asks out of concern. "Now I am." Shin replied after unhooking his oxygen mask, he then tunes to the base's radio channel. "Area 88, Double-Echo. This is Kazama Shin, Zero-Zero Section, all bandits confirmed downed. Returning to base." The Crusader and Hunter form up and head back to base. On the way back, the Sunese pilot starts going deep into thought about how close he came to death a few minutes ago. Kim's voice snapped him out of his thoughts, turning his head, he sees the Hunter pilot. He then tells the newcomer, "Kim, breakfast is on me." This confuses the Hunter pilot. He replies, "But... Thanks Shin." The two planes proceed to return to base.
Upon returning to base, Shin enters his room in the barracks. Turning on the light, he grabs the black marker from the table and heads toward the calendar on his wall. Remembering how close he came to death, the Sunese pilot crosses out the date.
Five thousand feet over Asran
2 May 1979 - 1124 Hours
Shin Kazama pursues a MiG-17 'Fresco', trying to get a lead for a kill. "Guns!" Shin stated on the radio as he pressed the trigger. The F-8J's four twenty millimeter Colt Mk 12 cannons barked to life, tearing the MiG to pieces. He sees a second 'Fresco' turn tail and trying to leaving the airspace. Shin turned his F-8 to the MiG-17's six o'clock, and fires a Sidewinder. The missile hits the MiG-17's rear fuselage, tearing the tail off. As Shin looks at his vanquished foe, he says to himself, "Sorry. But it was either you or me."
"Good kill, Shin!" the voice of Kristopher Morison said as his F-101 Voodoo formed up on Shin's Crusader, having shot down a MiG-17, himself. "Thanks." Shin said as the two turned to head back home.
Suddenly, with the sun to their backs, a group of MiG-21bis 'Fishbed's dive on the Crusader and Voodoo. "MiG-21s?! Where the hell did they come from?!" Morison shouted to himself as four of the most advanced fighters in the Rebel arsenal thus far split up to pursue the two mercenary fighters. "Shit! They're on my tail!" Shin shouted as one of them gets lead and fires its twenty-three millimeter cannons, tearing holes into his Crusader. "No!" He thought out loud as he tries to evade.
"I'm not in a good position either!" Morison shouted as he desperately tried to evade the MiG-21s. Inside the Crusader's cockpit, Shin was getting warnings of a fire in his engine. "Damn! The engine compressor's shot!" Shin told his colleague as he too tried to evade the lethal barrage of cannon fire from the 'Fishbed's. In a twist of fate, one of them overshoots and is now the prey. "Good. Now I'm on his tail!" Shin stated as he tried to get in position for a gun kill. However, it was not to be, as the F-8's engine simply quit. "No! No! No! No! No!" He desperately tried to regain control, but it was no use. He makes the decision to pull the lever and eject. He shoots out of his seat and his parachute deploys. He sees his colleague, Morison, try to protect him, but gets shot up as well. He too ejects from his stricken plane.
As the two mercenaries parachute to the ground, Shin cannot help but think about how he got into this mess in the first place...
Flashback - Paris, The Crowned Republic of Amerique
12 November 1978 - 1802 Hours
In the hotel room, Shin was packing his belongings for the return flight home. He hears a knock on the door, and he answers, "Yes?" Opening the door, is his childhood friend, Satoru Kanzaki. "Hey, Shin. What are you doing? Packing your bags already? We're not leaving until the day after tomorrow. Be real!" This got him musing, "Oh I know. You're ready to see Ryoko again, aren't you?" This caused a retort from Shin, "Shut up, will ya?!" Kanzaki continued to muse, "Well, I envy you, Shin, believe me. I mean, she's the daughter of the CEO of Yamato Airlines. You're going to get promoted real fast. I know it." This caused Shin's face to turn red, "N-no, it's nothing like that, Kanzaki. First of all, I haven't even thought about our marriage yet. All I can think about now is flying."
"Well, at least you're not greedy, Shin." Kanzaki says with truthfulness on his face, "But with me, it's different." His face turns to one of sinister ambition, "I'll do anything to get to the top, and I'll let nothing stand in my way." Shin, not picking up on this, says to his childhood friend, "I've always wondered where your ambition comes from. It's a mystery to me. To tell the truth, I envy you." Hiding a sinister smirk, Kanzaki replied with a chuckle, "You're just too nice, Shin." Turning his head to Shin, he said, "Anyway, we've got the opportunity to become first rate pilots for Yamato Airlines. Let's stick to it!"
Shin replies, "Yeah..." He then gets on a new topic, "Hey Kanzaki, when we get back to White Sun, let's go visit the orphanage. I'm pretty sure the headmaster would be glad to see us." This gets a flat out reply from Kanzaki, "No... I won't go." Shin, shocked by this, stammers, "Why?!" to which Kanzaki explained, "I made a promise to myself when we left the orphanage. I decided that I wouldn't return there until I became a millionaire and could buy them a new building. Shin, listen. I'm not going to stay with Yamato Airlines forever. I'm going to start my own airline someday. That is my goal, and I am going to make it, no matter what. But please. Say "Hello" to the Headmaster for me, alright?" This gets a nod of approval from Shin, "Yeah, I will. Thanks, Kanzaki."
Stretching his arms out and putting them behind his head, Kanzaki makes an offer, "Now, let's not get all weepy-eyed, shall we? Let's say we go out and have some fun." Shin skeptical of this, asks, "Fun, huh? What do you have in mind?" Kanzaki replies, "Let's get smashed! We've let ourselves become too dirty with jet fuel and engine oil, so let's wash it off with alcohol. Come on, it'll be great!" With a smile, Shin replies, "Well... Okay, sure."
The next six hours were a nonstop party. "Let's check out another bar!" Kanzaki shouted as he and Shin walked about tanked through the streets of Paris, Shin trying to refuse. "N-n-no thanks! I c-c-c-can't take anymore!" They've become so drunk that Shin states, "Whoa... The Eiffel Tower is flying!" Kanzaki, just as tanked, replied, "Well... If I had to sit on the ground all day, I'd wanna fly too! The Edo Tower flies too!" Shin then asks, "Does the Kobe Tower fly?" Kanzaki continued, "Hell, yes! When they get tired of standing, they all fly!" This gets a worried look from Shin, "Then the sky's gonna be too crowded for us to fly!" Kanzaki came up with a solution, "Well then, we'll just have to stretch a whole lot of nets at ten thousand feet to keep the towers out of our way!" Shin then retorted, "That makes no sense at all!"
At the next bar, Shin was out like a light with a glass of wine toppled over. Kanzaki comes over and shakes Shin's shoulder. "Shin. Hey Shin. Get up. I've got something for you to sign." Groaning, Shin sat up and looked at the piece of paper, "Sign? Where? Will you let me sleep if I sign this?" Kanzaki then explains, pointing to a dotted line at the bottom of the paper, "You have to sign here. It's your permit to for stopping out." Tanked, Shin started signing, "This looks kinda big for a permit. I must be drunk..." And after putting his signature down, he passes out. Kanzaki takes the paper, and says with a sinister look on his face, "So long, Shin."
Five hours later...
Shin lay down at the bar, out cold, until he was hearing a voice, "Hey, you! Get up!" Groaning, he slowly woke up, drowsily, he asks, "Who are you?" In front of him, were two male adults, one with a goatee, another with a hat like you'd see in the old Mafia films. Both of them are wearing suits. The one with the goatee says, "We're members of the Athena Corporation. Get your belongings. You're coming with us!" The man with the mobster styled hat continued, "Hurry up! You're on contract as of this morning." Shin, confused, asks, "Contract? What are you talking about? You guys are making a mistake. I haven't signed any contract." The one with the goatee replied, "Your name is Kazama Shin and you're Sunese, correct?" Shin confirms, "Yeah, that's right. And I'm also a foreign student, sent to flight school by Yamato Airlines." The man with the goatee corrected, "You mean you were. As of eleven o'clock last night, you left Yamato Airlines and joined the Athena Corporation, contracted to the Kingdom of Asran's Air Force. From this point on, you are a soldier. You will follow our orders as such, understand?"
Shin's face turned pale, "W-What?!" The man with the goatee, without so much as caring about this situation, without so much as questioning why the Sunese pilot was shocked, simply told, "Hurry up. Our car is waiting." It was at this point that Shin started to panic, "Kanzaki! Help!" This cry for help only gave him a punch to the face by the goateed man. "Mr. Kazama, do you want to be shot as a deserter?" Continuing to panic, Shin shouted, "I don't remember joining any any damn PMC air force!" He was handed the paper, seeing his signature, his face turns even paler. "Wh-Why? Th-This can't be true! But... This is my signature!" The goateed man explains, "This contract states that you will serve the Kingdom of Asran under the Athena Corporation for three years starting today. We don't care about your past, your record, or your nationality. We welcome everyone, so long as they are good pilots." Shin desperately tries to remember what caused this predicament. He suddenly recalls Kanzaki's words, "I'll do anything to get to the top..." "Hey Shin! I've got something for you to sign." His blood boiling with rage, Shin comes to only one conclusion:
He was betrayed.
"Kanzaki... Why? Why? Why did you do this to me?"
The deserts of Asran
2 May 1979 - 1203 Hours
As Shin lies unconscious on the desert sand, Morrison finds Shin and wakes him up. "Hey! Shin! Wake up! You alright?"
Regaining consciousness, Shin states to no one in particular, "D-Dammit... I...Won't die. I...I refuse to die here..." Morison, hearing Shin, says, "Don't worry Shin, I've activated the emergency beacon. They'll be sending out a SAR chopper to pick us up. We've got to move, though." This was enough of an explanation for Shin to understand. If the Rebels found them, they will be tortured for information. Nodding 'yes', the two started walking, using Morison's compass to get to Area 88 air base by themselves. Shin started thinking out loud, "I... will... survive... and get my revenge... on that bastard! You hear me... Kanzaki?!" Morison started wondering if Shin was either thinking about his past, or was going mad from the heat. "Kanzaki?" the New Edwardian pilot asked in confusion. Shin simply replied, "He's the reason why I'm stuck here in this Hell." Realizing that Shin was here because he was betrayed, Morison nodded. Along the way, they discarded their flight helmets to let their heads get some air. Over the next few miles, their survival kits' water supply started running out.
Finally, Shin collapsed, desperately trying to get one last drop of water out of his bottle. "Shin!" Morison urged as he tried to help his colleague. "I... can't go any further. And the water from my survival kit... All gone too. I guess I may die here after all..." Deeply worried, Kristopher urged, "Shin! Don't give up!" He tried to give Shin some of his water, but it was no use. It too was empty. "Dammit!" Seeing his colleague collapse onto the sand, Shin thinks out loud, "I guess I really will die here... Might as well... I guess..." He then starts thinking, "When I am gone... When I leave this place... All the things I hated in life will disappear too... I am getting tired of the killing... I am getting worn out... This isn't bad, really... Letting the sand embrace me like this... I was going to die eventually... So let me sleep now... Let me rest..."
The two mercenaries start hearing the sound of a helicopter, they look up, and see a Bell UH-1H Twin Huey; their SAR helicopter. The sounds of two jets screaming across the sky as they kept the helicopter safe. The sound of their burners went by overhead, fading into the blue sky.
Shin was given another shot at life... To have another chance at revenge against Kanzaki.
"I will make it back to White Sun." Shin thought as he and Morison rode on the Twin Huey back to Area 88 Air Base.