A few words from the author: readers are appreciated, reviewers are appreciated even more. Much appreciation to my Beta-reader, Bladed Alchemist
Please note that some of the parts in this story are somewhat improbable, creative liberties were taken. (does anyone else get the feeling that I'm being a little over-ambitious?)
Side effects of this include: nausea, vomiting, drowsiness, abdominal cramping, and inability to say the word "Rhinoceros". Fanfiction is not for everyone, consult your doctor before reading.
"Chinese"
"Japanese"
"English"
Time shift (backwards or forwards)
Enjoy
February 12, 2010; 0803 local time; House of Councilors chamber, Tokyo
The large room was abuzz with conversation as the politicians exchanged worried chatter. The talking subsided as Ken Akamatsu (1), Prime Minister of Japan took the podium.
The prime minister cleared his throat and began speaking. "This emergency meeting of The House of Councilors is now in session." He paused before continuing. " Minister of Defense, Sadamoto Yoshiyuki will fill you in on the details."
A man who was sitting next to him stood up and took the podium. "As you all know around midnight, Sapporo was attacked and overrun by Chinese paratroopers. I have a presentation that might shed some light on our situation. Hiromu-san, if you please."
The lights dimmed as a screen dropped from the celing. A map of Hokkaido appeared on the screen. Sapporo, Chitose and the surrounding areas were stained red.
"Gentlemen, as you can see from the map, in less than a day we have lost a major city and hundreds square kilometers of the surrounding territory. Estimates indicate that about seven thousand of our men have been either killed or captured. Currently we are in the process of regrouping for a counter-offensive. Unfortunately as you all know, military actions require the approval of the Council."
The lights came back on and the screen returned to its original place. The prime minister took the podium again. "We shall put it to vote, all in favor of military actions in defense of Hokkaido say 'Hai'"
The room erupted in a chorus of "Hai" as all but twelve of the counselors voted for the measure.
"Then it's official. As of right now, we are in a state of national emergency." The prime minister said. And Kami-sama help us all
--
February 13, 2010; 1259 local time; Japanese submarine Hikari, Sea of Japan
Captain Iga Tokuhiro looked into the periscope. It was just as the sonar operator had said, a large fleet moving in. He turned to the dive officer.
"Take her to the surface." He said before turning to the communications officer. "Let them know they're entering Japanese waters. I want their origins, cargoes, and destinations."
The submarine breached the surface.
--
February 13, 2010; 1319 local time; Chinese warship Bai Duan, Sea of Japan.
"Commander, we've spotted a Japanese submarine, range fourty kilometers, bearing one hundred degrees to port."
Commander Xiong turned to the seaman. "Tell the communications officers to prepare to recieve transmissions."
"Yes, commander."The seaman said, rushing to carry out the orders. Five minutes later Xiong received news that the Hikari had given them their message.
"Tell them that we are a convoy of aid coming from The Republic of China (Taiwan), we request safe passage to Maizuru."
"Yes sir."
The seaman was about to leave when Xiong motioned for him to stay.
"And prep the helicopters for launch. . ."
--
February 13, 2010; 1345 local time; Japanese submarine Hikari, Sea of Japan.
"Taiwan. . ." Tokuhiro repeated as he looked into the periscope. The ships were flying Taiwanese flags, but he had recognised some of the warships as being Chinese.
"I don't buy it," One of the seamen said.
"Me neither, contact Maritime Defense Command, and load the torpedo tubes" The captain said. "Battle stations!"
The orders were relayed and the men were in position. As another officer looked into the periscope again he thought he saw people moving on the decks of one of the warships.
"Captain! The fleet is preparing helicopters for launch. They appear to be Ka-27 'Helix' helicopters."
Tokuhiro was visibly worried, he turned to his communications officer. "Contact Maritime Defense Command, tell them we have a hostile fleet inbound heading for Maizuru." The captain then turned to the dive officer. "After our transmission, I want this boat under the water as fast as possible. Fire all torpedoes!"
In short order the message was sent and the submarine began its descent. Mere moments after the dive was initiated, the helicopters began their attack run.
"Enemy torpedoes inbound!!" A seaman shouted.
"Evasive action!" Tokuhiro shouted "Deploy countermeasures!!"
"Torpedos, one hundred meters and closing."
"Brace for impact!!"
The first two torpedoes hit the stern of the submarine causing a massive explosion.
"The stern is hit, we're taking on water!!"
The second volley hit the submarine on the port side. The explosions rocked the submarine violently, Tokuhiro was knocked off his feet. He hit his head hard on the periscope. A seaman rushed over to the captain's side. Blood was leaking out of the massive wound in his head.
"Abandon. . . ship. . ." Tokuhiro murmured before losing consciousness.
"Abandon ship! Abandon ship!" The intercoms shouted as another volley of torpedoes impacted the submarine. Splitting the vessel in half. The two pieces of the submarine were completely under the water and sinking fast.
Of the seventy members of the Hikari's crew, only three made it to the surface. A helicopter picked them up and they were taken on board one of the warships before being thrown into the brig.
--
February 14, 2010; 949 local time; Temporary GDF training facility, Kyoto
Keitaro sat down at the telephone. After two days of waiting, he was finally able to call home and tell everyone that he would be staying in Kyoto indefinitely. The phone rang twice before it was answered by Haruka.
"Hinata Dorm, Haruka speaking."
"Hi, Aunt Haruka, it's Keitaro."
Haruka ignored the offensive term and responded. "What's going on? I saw the news about Hokkaido, you aren't going over there are you?"
"No, but they extended my stay here in Kyoto indefinitely."
"That's too bad." Haruka said as Shinobu walked out of the kitchen, finished with the dishes from lunch. "but at least you won't be deployed."
"Who's that?" The youngest Hinata resident asked.
"Is that Su?" Keitaro asked, hearing a voice in the background.
"No, it's Shinobu." Haruka answered.
"Tell her thanks for the food she sent." Keitaro said.
"Auu, are you talking to Sempai?" Shinobu asked, Haruka nodded.
Shinobu gave Haruka her best puppy-dog eyes and a little lip quiver. The older woman looked at her with a stern face before smiling and handing the phone to the young chef.
"Auu, Sempai! We missed you, what's going on? Are you okay? Are you coming home? Are your shirts clean?" Shinobu asked excitedly.
"Woah, Shinobu slow down. I'm fine, but I won't be able to come home for a long time."
"Sorry Sempai, did you like the food I sent you?"
"I loved it, and so did the guys in my unit. We wish the cook at the base could make food as good as you."
"I'll send you some more as soon as I can, Sempai"
--
February 14, 2010; 1002 local time; JSDF security checkpoint 80 miles outside of Hakodate, Hokkaido
Private Hideki Motosua stood watch inside his booth. The situation had been going from bad, to worse, to undeniably FUBAR (2). The latest counter-attacks failed to even budge the entrenched Chinese forces in Sapporo. This was compounded with the fact that the Chinese now controlled all the territory in and around Sapporo stretching to the east and west shores. The Chinese had effectively cut the island in half and were said to be moving south.
Hideki was shaken from his thinking by the sound of five diesel engines coming from a line of trucks that had stopped at the gate. The guard went out to the lead truck. The man behind the wheel was dressed in a dirty GDF uniform.
"Destination and orders?" the guard asked.
"We're bringing some wounded to Hakodate for treatment."
"Well, I need to see some Identification." Hideki said.
The driver fumbled through his pockets before producing an ID card and handing it to the guard.
"Could you hurry this up." The driver said. "We have wounded in the back."
"Sure, sure" the guard said looking at the picture on the ID, which was different from the man who gave it to him. He looked back up and saw the business end of a silenced pistol staring him in the face. The driver pulled the trigger and a muffled "tic" ended the guard's life. Suddenly ten soldiers in GDF uniforms jumped out of the lead truck and mowed down the three remaining guards. Two of the soldiers then ran into the booth. One looked for anything that might be useful while the other opened the gate. The Chinese special forces detachment continued past the checkpoint.
--
February 14, 2010; 1149 local time; Outskirts of Hakodate, Hokkaido
One of the five trucks stopped several hundred feet from the roadside fortifications (Tsunami bunkers, see chapter 2 for description). Three marksmen got out and took up positions in the treeline. Thirty commandos in dirty GDF uniforms got out of the trucks and began to sneak towards the first bunker. Several of the men carried large boxes. After silently overpowering the guards, the Chinese opened the boxes. The boxes contained gas masks and tear gas pilfered from the Sapporo riot police. They also contained fragmentation and flash grenades pillaged from the Sapporo GDF caches. One of the soldiers reached into a box and pulled out a large set of bolt cutters and a pair of thick rubber gloves. He was about to cut the power line into the bunker when he heard some noise coming from inside.
The door to the pillbox opened up and two GDF soldiers came out. The commando quickly stashed the cutters.
"What's going on?" the first asked.
"We're from Sapporo." A commando said, as he pointed to his comrades.
The men turned around and saw the other Chinese commandos. One of the commandos made a hand signal. Two of the marksmen in the treeline saw the move and drew beads on the two GDF soldiers. With two rather loud rifle reports, the GDF soldiers lay dead.
"Cut the wires."A commando ordered as another man picked up the bolt cutters. The wires were severed in short order with a small amount of sparks sprinkling down. Shortly afterward there was a commotion as several soldiers came up to investigate. One of the commandos threw a flash grenade into the bunker, blinding the newcomers before mowing them down with automatic fire.
The Chinese donned the masks and one of them launched a gas grenade into the bunker, about thirty seconds later the sound of coughing could be heard as the gas started spreading through the tunnels (3).
"Go! Go! Go!" The lead commando said as the men started entering the bunker.
The men filed into the pillbox and down the tunnel to the underground hallway.
A bunk room stood at the far end of the small subterrainian complex. Four soldiers were roused from their slumber by the commotion outside as people began to cough violently from the gas.
"Gas! Gas!!" One of them shouted as the other three moved to find gas masks. One opened the door to the emergency supply room and started grabbing masks. He threw one to each of his comrades before donning his own and grabbing a Sub-machine Gun.
"Let's go check it out." He said as he worked the bolt, putting a round into the chamber.
The men walked through the thin cloud of gas. The first soldier saw a man lying on the ground trying to breathe. His bloodshot eyes were filled with tears as he coughed.
"What happened?" The first soldier said as he knelt down next to the man.
"(hack). . . Gas (cough). . . (wheeze)"
The first soldier turned to one of his companions, "Get this man a mask! Get as many as you can find. The rest of you, come with me."
The three men ran down the tunnel, coming face-to-face with a commando. Not bothering to ask questions, the commando opened up with his shotgun. The first man hit the ground hard from the blast to his mid-section. The soldier behind the dead man pulled the trigger on his rifle and sprayed the hallway with bullets, killing the commando with the shotgun.
Suddenly a metallic "plink" sound could be heard near the men's feet. The soldiers looked down, the last thing they saw was a bright flash, the last thing they felt was hot shrapnel.
(1) Ken Akamatsu is the creator of Love Hina (Let's hope if he reads this that he will be flattered rather than offended), as such it would seem out of place to not include him in my fic (fans of other mangas should recognise several names)
(2) FUBAR: Fuc. . . erm, I mean. . . Fouled Up Beyond All Recognition
(3) CS gas is actually banned in war, but I have already taken several creative liberties, why stop now?
--
Extras (in order of appearance)
Yoshiyuki Sadamoto - Creator of Evangalion
Hiromu Arakawa - Creator of Fullmetal Alchemist
Tokuhiro Iga - Submarine Captian in the series Blue Submarine No. 6 (fitting, don't you think?)
Hideki Motosua - Protaganist in the Chobits series (Comes from Hokkaido in the anime)