July 29th, 2026.
Having recently crash landed on the island, Shiki and Hitomi walk away from the F-35 in the open field, with Hitomi still wearing one high heeled shoe on her right foot.
"We're stuck here, aren't we?" Shiki asked.
"Yes." Hitomi replied after a sigh. "We are."
She takes off her right high heeled shoe and then, in frustration, tosses it.
"Okay. Now we have to find a way out of this island." Hitomi continued.
"How so?" Shiki continued inquiring. "We don't even know there are other people here."
"Well, you may have spoken too soon." Hitomi said, gesturing to something behind him. "Look."
Two Russian soldiers and a Spetsnaz emerge from behind the bushes, having heard the F-35 crash land.
"Oh, shit." Shiki cursed. "We have to hide."
Hitomi and Shiki crawl into the grass, hiding on it to avoid being seen by the Russian troops.
"So this is where the Japanese plane crashed." The Spetsnaz commando said.
"Da." One of the Russian soldiers said. "One of our pilots had encountered it, then said it had a mechanical failure."
"In any case, we have to ensure this island is secure." The Spetsnaz commando continued. "We can't have any Japanese skulking around on our land. Search the plane!"
"Yes, sir." The soldiers replied and immediately head for Shiki's crashed F-35.
Seeing the Russian soldiers inspect the plane, Hitomi and Shiki look at each other warily, while waiting for the soldiers to leave.
Meanwhile, the Russian air assault on the Hayashi continues, now more punishing than before, with the destroyer receiving two missile hits from the remaining Tu-22Ms, while Danji and Hirushi continue to fight the swarm of Russian fighter planes.
"There's too fucking many of them!" Hirushi said.
As Danji continues to shoot down more Russian planes with cannon fire, he notices smoke from the Hayashi's flight deck.
"Damn it, look! The Hayashi's been hit." Danji said, horrified at what he had just seen.
"This is what we get for getting a really haughty captain." Hirushi replied, just as Anatoly zeroes in.
"I have you now, little pig." Anatoly said, just as he and several Su-57s lock on to him.
"Blast! A radar lock." Hirushi cursed, as Anatoly and the Su-57s fire R-73s.
Hirushi tries to pop chaff and flares, only to realize that he used up all his countermeasures earlier.
"Shit. Well, it's time for some more fancy flying." Hirushi quipped.
He unleashes the full afterburner of his F-35 and enters into a roll, maneuvering to avoid the deluge of missiles fired at him. Entering into the clouds, he manages to avoid the first two missiles, then the remaining three missiles hone in on his heat signature. In a mad gamble, Hirushi performs a Kulbit, causing the missiles to pass by, collide with one another and explode.
"What?" Anatoly asked, shocked at what he just saw.
"He used a Kulbit to avoid our missiles." One of the Su-57 pilots replied.
"It looks like we have to do things the old fashioned way." Anatoly said.
Anatoly and the Su-57s continue to give chase, firing their cannons at him.
"That's right." Hirushi said, satisfied that he has forced his opponents into a close-quarters dogfight. "Come to daddy."
At the same time, Valeriya gets into a dogfight with Danji.
"Rusky on my tail." Danji said, lamenting his predicament as the Su-37 comes up behind him.
"You're mine." Valeriya said, as she tries to get good tone for one of her R-73s.
"Is this the end?" Danji asked, then he suddenly hears a voice in the radio.
"JS Hayashi, we have received your distress signal." The voice spoke.
"Huh?" Hirushi asked.
At that moment, a swarm of AIM-120 AMRAAMs appear from out of nowhere. One hits a Tu-22M square in the cockpit, killing the pilots inside and causing the bomber to explode. Another hits an Su-27 right below the engine intakes, forcing the pilot to eject as his plane tumbles into the ocean in flames. Two Su-37s and an Su-57 get tracked by several AMRAAMS, with only one Su-37 being destroyed when it fails to evade the missiles.
Danji, Hirushi, Anatoly and Valeriya are stunned to see squadrons of US F-22A Raptors and F-15EX Eagle II fighter jets coming to the Hayashi's aid.
"Chert! American stealth planes." Valeriya cursed, enraged at the interference of the arriving US warplanes.
"Valeriya, it's too crowded for us here now." Anatoly said. "We must disengage and return to base."
Anatoly and Valeriya, along with what remains of the attack force, fly away from the Hayashi.
"They're running away." Danji said, mocking their fleeing opponents. "Good. Crawl back to your masters."
"We sure showed them." Hirushi said, all the while chuckling.
Danji and Hirushi land on the damaged Hayashi, just as US Navy repair ships begin their work on the damaged destroyer.
An hour later, on the bridge.
"What?" Danji asked incredulously. "Shiki's plane crashed?"
"Yes, Lieutenant." One of the Hayashi's officers replied. "We also heard reports that Captain Sasamiya's helicopter has been shot down. We don't know the final status of Captain Sasamiya either."
"Damn it!" Hirushi cursed, angry to hear his own Captain is missing. "We have to find Shiki."
"That reminds me." Danji asked. "Where's Junji?"
At that moment, Junji's F-35 returns, landing on the flight deck, damaged from a missile hit but still functional.
Junji arrives at the bridge minutes later.
"You crazy kid." Danji said, elated to see his fellow squadron mate alive.
"All thanks to my training, sir." Junji replied. "I shot down four Ruskies today."
"Wow." Hirushi said. "That's amazing. Our Junji's a bonafide ace now."
"Hehehe. That's our boy." Danji said.
"So, what's happening?" Junji asked.
"Junji." Hirushi said. "We have a problem. Shiki's missing."
Junji is shocked to learn of his Captain's disappearance.
"The Captain. Missing?"
Back on the island, Hitomi and Shiki walk on a forest, trying to avoid patrolling Russian troops.
"If you want to blame me for this mess, just say it." Shiki said sarcastically.
"Are you implying it's my fault we're stuck here?" Hitomi replied, irritated.
"Well, you had to show off." Shiki continued.
"I wasn't showing off." Hitomi said. "I only wanted to assess you and your squadron's abilities in combat under my command, that's all."
Shiki sighs out of frustration, his conflicted feelings returning.
"I just don't understand you, Captain Sasamiya. I don't understand you at all. I don't even know why I even saved you in the first place. Why are you always so angry?"
Shiki breaks down in tears. Hitomi, realizing how vulnerable Shiki really is, and realizing how harshly she judged him and his men, holds her hand close to her chest in between her breasts.
"Do you really want to know why I became an officer?" Hitomi asked, her tone now more relaxed and calm.
"What is it you want to tell me?" Shiki asked, still holding back tears.
As her voice starts to break, Hitomi, now crying herself, tells Shiki the reason behind her becoming an officer of the JMSDF.
"It's because I killed my dad when I was only six-years old."
Shiki is shocked as Hitomi recounts her tragic past.
"It was so long ago. I was living in a cramped-up apartment with my parents back at Saitama. I was the nicest girl in my elementary school. I had friends. The teachers were so nice to me. Of course, my mom was always there for me when things got out of control. My dad was a really hateful bastard. He kept on hitting my mom and me. Sometimes, he hit us with a baseball bat so hard that our bones broke. One day, when I came back from school, I saw my mom's head bashed in with the bat and my dad hitting the corpse with it, brain matter and all. I was so scared. That monster I'm ashamed to even refer to as my father saw me come in and he chased me to the kitchen. When my dad, in his murderous rage, tried to hit me with the bat, I instinctively picked up the kitchen knife on the floor and stabbed him repeatedly until the life went out of him. The police ruled it as a murder-suicide. I was a mess. I wasn't the same after that. I grew up without friends. I graduated from high school without any friends. I don't ever see any hope for myself living a normal life, so I joined the Defense Force. I had good grades at the defense academy, and that's how I ended up as Captain of the Hayashi at 23."
"Wow, I didn't know you have this much of a burden." Shiki said. " Then again, I get having family issues."
"You do?" Hitomi asked curiously.
Shiki details his experiences growing up.
"Yeah. My dad went into asshole mode after my mom fell ill and died back when I was 12. I always argued with him, but it never escalated to the point of violence. We always talked with each other. If anything, he's the reason why I became a pilot. Now he's in some dilapidated retirement home somewhere back in Tokyo. Now matter how I look at my dad now, he's still family. That's why me and Danji had to teach Junji and Hirushi, so that we'll always be together through thick and thin."
"Maybe I misjudged you and your fellow squadron mates." Hitomi said. "I guess I'm not a good Captain after all, huh?"
"That's not true at all." Shiki replied. "You're not just a good captain. I think you are a really good person too, Hitomi."
"Really?" Hitomi asked.
"Of course." Shiki continued.
"Hold on. Did you just call me by my name?" Hitomi asked again, clearly confused as to why Shiki called her by name instead of rank.
"Well, I called you by name not because we're both Captains." Shiki said. "It's because I want the both of us to know each other more, you know."
The thought of getting to know Shiki causes Hitomi to blush, and eventually giggle and laugh.
"I'm sorry, you find it funny that I want us to know each other more?" Shiki asked, confused.
"It's just that I haven't had someone make me laugh in a long time since I was a kid." Hitomi said, now fully smiling.
Shiki smiles knowing that he finally found someone who understands him apart from his squadron mates. Suddenly, their conversation is interrupted by the sound of an Mi-8 Hip transport helicopter flying overhead, searching for them.
"Let's find someplace to take shelter for the night where the Russian troops won't find us." Shiki said. "I'm sure Danji and the others will rescue us soon."
With the sun setting, at the crash site, now full of Russian troops and Spetsnaz, accompanied by several T-72 tanks and a Tunguska mobile anti-aircraft gun, the search continues, even as more Russian troops are airlifted into the scene by Mi-8s. One of the Spetsnaz commandos finds Hitomi's discarded high heeled shoe and picks it up, realizing that there are indeed intruders on the island.