July 29th, 2026.
Alerts ring around the Hayashi, just as Hitomi announces on the intercom from the ship's bridge:
"Russian fighters are heading for the Hayashi. Scramble immediately. I repeat, scramble immediately."
The first wave of Russian planes, consisting of Su-27 Flanker fighter jets and Tu-22M Backfire bombers, fly towards the Hayashi, with the Tu-22Ms firing Kh-22s at the ship. The Phalanx CIWS turrets on the Hayashi immediately begin firing at the missiles, with two missiles being obliterated in the hail of bullets.
Junji and Shiki board their F-35Bs while the Russian planes buzz over them and the Kh-22s streak by the ship, with one stray missile hitting one of the SeaRAM turrets.
"Whoa. Ivan's really mad today." Junji said, witnessing the SeaRAM turret explode.
"And he's gonna hit again!" Shiki yelled. "We have to get in the air."
Wasting no time, both Junji and Shiki blast off into the air in their F-35s, immediately attacking the Russian planes.
Witnessing the spectacle from the bridge, Hitomi turns to one of the crew members nearby.
"I'm going out." Hitomi said. "Is the helicopter ready?"
"Yes, captain." The crewman replied. "But are you sure you want to go out?"
"I want to see how these idiots fare in combat." Hitomi continued, all the while fuming, repeatedly tapping her right high heeled shoe on the floor.
"If you say so, captain." The crewman said.
On the flight deck, as Russian Su-27s and Tupolev bombers fly overhead and the Phalanx turrets continue to fire wildly at everything around them, Danji and Hirushi are also boarding their F-35s when they see Hitomi boarding a CH-47J Chinook transport helicopter, its engines already turned on.
"What the?" Danji asked. "Am I seeing things or is that the new haughty captain boarding one of our helicopters?"
"Is she crazy?" Hiruchi also asked. "Why is she going out into the battlefield at a time like this?"
"Never mind that." Danji replied. "We gotta save the ship. I heard there's another wave coming in."
Danji and Hiruchi take off from the Hayashi's flight deck, with Danji immediately destroying an Su-27 with cannon fire. The Chinook takes off around the same time.
Meanwhile, Junji and Shiki engage in dogfights with several Su-27s. One of the Su-27s pulls off a Cobra to get behind Junji, only for Junji to engage his F-35's thrust vectoring, allowing it to hover and giving Junji an opportunity to fire an AIM-9 Sidewinder at the Su-27 as it passed by, destroying the Russian plane.
"Splash one Sukhoi." Junji said, just as he reverts his F-35's thrust back to normal.
Shiki chases after another Su-27, with one also on his tail, firing cannon shells at his F-35.
"Blast it, Junji." Shiki said. "Where the hell are you?"
"I'm here, Shiki." Junji replied, immediately giving chase to the Su-27 attacking Shiki.
"Get this Russian off my tail!" Shiki yelled over the radio.
"Roger that, captain." Junji said. "Fox Two."
Junji fires another AIM-9, forcing the Su-27 attacking Shiki to release flares and fly into the cloud cover, with Junji in hot pursuit.
"Thanks, Junji." Shiki said dryly as he resumes the chase.
Meanwhile, aboard the Chinook.
"Where are they?" Hitomi asked exasperatedly.
"Calm down, captain." The Chinook's pilot replied.
Just then, the Su-27 that Shiki is pursuing appears, with Shiki close behind, trying to get a missile lock on the Russian plane when he notices the Chinook.
"Huh? Is that one of our helicopters?" Shiki asked.
Hitomi, looking from one of the Chinook's windows, notices the Russian plane immediately pulling a Cobra, forcing Shiki to overshoot.
"Idiot." Hitomi shouted angrily. "How did he fall for that?"
"Captain, you must calm down!" The Chinook's pilot yelled frantically.
The Su-27 spots the Chinook and flies towards it. Shiki, noticing the Su-27 moving to attack the Chinook, goes on full afterburner. The Su-27 fires its cannon at the helicopter from above, with one of the shells ripping into the cockpit, turning the pilots into bloody chunks and causing the Chinook to spin out of control with Hitomi still inside. In the process, the cargo door of the Chinook is torn open, with Hitomi, now terrified, trying to hold on for dear life inside the chopper as it tumbles into the sea.
"Damn it!" Shiki said, immediately breaking off the chase to fly close to the out of control Chinook, trying to avoid colliding with it as it falls.
As the Chinook continues to tumble, Hitomi loses her grip on the rope and falls screaming from the helicopter, with her officer's cap, blown upwards by the wind, being shredded to pieces by one of the Chinook's twin rotors.
Shiki, seeing Hitomi falling, is shocked to see her, but immediately has a crisis of conscience, torn over whether to save the young captain who chewed him out days earlier or leaving her to fall to her death.
"What's that angry new captain doing there?" Shiki asked himself. "Is she crazy? She's gonna die now. But I shouldn't save her, right?"
But the sight of Hitomi falling is too much for Shiki to take, and he immediately flies his F-35 very close to her. Just as he does so, the Chinook crashes into the water.
"Damn it all!" Shiki said.
With reluctance, Shiki blows his F-35's canopy open and engages the thrust vectoring controls, allowing him to get close to the falling Hitomi.
Hitomi is shocked at what she sees.
"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?!" Hitomi screamed. "YOU'RE GONNA GET YOURSELF KILLED!"
"I DON'T CARE." Shiki yelled back, resolute in his decision. "I'M NOT GONNA LET YOU DIE!"
Hitomi gasps, surprised at what Shiki just told her.
Shiki levels his F-35 to allow Hitomi time to grab his hand, knowing they're close to sea level altitude. As soon as Shiki starts pulling Hitomi into the canopy, her left high heeled shoe comes loose, being sucked into the F-35's left air intake.
"Awww, damn. The left air intake's gone bust." Shiki said. "I'm running on reduced power."
"Isn't it obvious?" Hitomi asked, now crammed into the cockpit by Shiki. "I lost my shoe, you dumbass."
"Well, that makes my day better." Shiki replied, immediately tearing out his oxygen mask. "Now I have to find someplace to ditch without us dying a fiery death."
Hitomi immediately notices a moderately-sized island.
"I see an island. We can ditch there."
"Are you for real?" Shiki asked Hitomi exasperatedly.
"I am giving you an order." Hitomi replied.
"Yes, ma'am." Shiki said sarcastically.
Arriving at the island, Shiki uses his F-35's thrust vectoring to reduce the plane's speed, trying to avoid a full-on crash just as the plane gradually gives out. With enough willpower, Shiki manages to stabilize the F-35 long enough for it to land on an open field, with Hitomi holding on to him tightly. The F-35 comes to a stop on the field, with the left wing almost completely torn off from the impact. At the same time, the Su-27 that Shiki had been chasing earlier flies away on full afterburner.
A female voice comes out from the Su-27's radio.
"Sir. Requesting permission to return to base. I'm low on fuel."
"Permission granted, Flight Officer Shirapova." A gruff voice from the opposite end of the radio said.
The Su-27 enters the clouds, still on afterburner.
Meanwhile, the Hayashi, still under air attack, continues to hold out under Danji and Hirushi's protection. Flaming debris from destroyed Su-27s and Tu-22Ms continues to litter the water as well as the Hayashi's flight deck. Su-27s and Tu-22Ms continue to explode one by one under intense cannon, anti-air and missile fire. To make matters worse, the two pilots and the Hayashi's crew are getting tired from the constant Russian air assaults.
"Damn!" Hirushi cursed on the radio. "You shoot down one Russian plane, another takes its place."
"There's no end to these damn Ruskies." Danji said, all the while continuing to fight off Russian planes.
Suddenly, Danji's radio comes alive with a message from the Hayashi's control tower.
"Lieutenant Hatayama, we've got more radar contacts. Some are intermittent, they may be enemy stealth fighters."
"What?" Danji asked. "Don't tell me the second wave's here."
The second wave of Russian planes, consisting of Su-37 Terminators and Su-57 Felons, appears into view. Anatoly and Valeriya, flying the two lead Su-37s, take point.
"Hehe. We have them now." Valeriya said gleefully, noticing the intense anti-air fire from the Hayashi's Phalanx turrets.
"Let's finish them off." Anatoly replied.
With Danji and Hirushi too preoccupied with the earlier wave of Russian planes and the Hayashi's anti-air defenses gradually giving out under intense pressure, all hope seems lost as the second wave closes in for the kill.