"'Til the Seas Give Up Their Dead" Author: Hugo "Animal" Chikamori E-mail: hchikamori@yahoo.com Rating: NC-17 (mildly graphic language), extreme violence *(war) Classification: Mac/Harm R; Death for some extraneous characters... Spoilers: None, except whatever comes out of Animal's demented mind... Summary: War is declared between Japan and the United States. Amidst the furor of the anti-Japanese sentiments arising in the United States, the men of the VF-41 Black Aces put it all on the line for their country. During this war, a chance meeting between two young officers results in a platonic romance. DISCLAIMER: The characters Harm Rabb, Jr., AJ Chegwidden, et al. belong in concept if not name) to CBS/Bellisarius. No profit is being made from this story, nor is any infringement intended. Top Gun characters belong to Paramount Pictures and Don Simpson/Jerry Bruckheimer (Part 1/???) Naval Station Pearl Harbor, Hawaii 1900 ZULU PST March 26th, 1994 The quiet afternoon sun played on the harbour as the USS John F. Kennedy rode anchored in the calm waves of Honolulu Harbour. Lieutenant Commander Hugo "Animal" Chikamori stood quietly on the flight deck as he gazed over at the USS Arizona memorial. It was a bittersweet memory. The VF-41 had transferred to the USS John F. Kennedy and was temporarily assigned to the U.S. 7th Fleet. The USS Arizona was the memorial dedicated to the sailors lost in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour. A lot of people still mentioned it as the sneak attack. Animal was Japanese-American now and it brought an ache in his heart as he gazed at it. Part of his heritage had been the cause of this. Commander Kelly walked up behind him. "Animal. Thoughts?" "Just pondering...sir." Animal replied. "That people never learn lessons forged in the heat of war." "We have to put that behind us." Commander Kelly said as he stood next to Animal. Animal thought to himself. It was fitting that since they were going out to do battle against Japan, that he was looking at the Arizona memorial. He thought 'well, here's a Japanese-American, American fighting man to the core, who's going to wage war to defend the ideals of freedom. I hope you folks can appreciate the irony of that. ' Animal looked at Commander Kelly. "It seems pretty ironic, sir, that the last time that the U.S. Navy fought Japan, it was over Pearl Harbour. And here, I am, in the same Navy fighting against Japan and the very heritage that gave me birth. At least there are no concentration camps this time." he muttered. "You can be damn sure that I'm fighting to protect freedom, sir." "I have no doubt about that, Lieutenant Commander." Commander Kelly said warmly. "I had to deal with racism, myself. Lieutenant Commander. But we're officers in the United States Navy, we deal with that and move on and take our posts, do our duty. We serve the country that we live in, protect the ideals of freedom, not the independent views of certain individuals who may think differently than we do. We preserve only their right to the freedom to think those particular thoughts." "Yes, sir. That makes the utmost of sense to me." Animal replied. "It's getting chilly, I'd better go in." The first few notes of Taps sounded across the harbour as the light visibly dimmed. The commander turned, saluted the memorial and turned to go into the island. Animal stood there for another long minute as all the deck-workers turned and saluted. Animal waited until the last notes of the Taps died down, snapped a crisp military salute towards the Arizona Memorial, about-faced and headed towards the carrier's island (the big tower like thingy to the side of the carrier deck.) He was about to open the door when a young sailor came up to him. "Sir, when do we get underway? I mean, when are we going to make contact with the Japs, sir." Thank goodness that it was dark enough for the young sailor not to notice the young officer's grimace when the perjorative was used. "We get underway tomorrow evening at 1900 hours. Sailor." "Thanks, sir. I bet you're anxious too to kick some Jap butt too, aren't you, sir?" the sailor grinned. Animal could only think sadly that he might be fighting his relatives, and that a lot of people, on both sides of the conflict would perish, and for what? "Well, sailor. A lot of people will die on both sides. A lot that could have been prevented. But if it stops the situation from getting out of hand, then yeah, you could say I want to kick their butt." Animal replied as he opened the door. The light shone on his face. The sailor looked at Animal's face, it was the face of an Asian officer. "I'm fighting family. But rest assured, if it comes right down to it, I will fight, just like I expect everyone of you will. Do you understand?" "Yes, sir." the sailor responded, stiff with military bearing as he noticed for the first time the gold oak-leaves on the officer's collars. "I understand, sir." " Good, now, let's get inside, cause we've got a long haul tomorrow." " YES, SIR!!!" the sailor gave him a smart salute as he walked past the young officer. US Marines Recon 2nd Battalion, 1st Platoon. Naval Station Pearl Harbor. March 26th, 1994 Captain Sarah "Mac" Mackenzie, USMC looked over at the platoon which she was in command of. They were to be loading onboard the carrier for the attack against Japan. It had been a long haul since Parris Island, and Quantico (officer's training), but she had made it and had been in the Marines now for the past 8 years. If she managed to get through this war, she would probably become the youngest major in the history of the Corps. Technically the captain's rank was a position for a rifle company command. But since she was a woman, the Corps had decided that since Capt. Mackenzie had not had the "under-fire" experience, that she would be more suited to commanding a platoon instead. They weren't about to take the Bosnia incident into mind before giving her the benefit of the doubt. 'I guess, to them, Bosnia was just a grass-fire compared to what's going to happen here.' she thought. Major Phil Karancheski looked over at her, " Hey, Mac, you ready to load-up?" " Yes, sir..." she grinned,"We're ready to move out..." " Alright, let's get them up the ramps and onto the flight-deck, we've got a quickie report to do and then we're off for the rest of the night, while these squids get us underway." Major Karancheski replied as he put his clip- board away. " Yes, sir... YOU HEARD HIM, MEN!!!" Mac turned the volume up on her voice and bellowed," 2nd Platoon, ATTEN-HUT!!!" The men's slamming of their combat boots were one simultaneous bang, on the dock's cement. " 2nd Platoon RIGHT-FACE!!!" The men turned to their right. " FO-WARD HARCH!!! GET YOUR TAILS UP THE RAMP, MEN..." Onboard the USS JFK Animal leaned out the side of the hangar deck where the Marines coming up the on-ramp were double-timing it into formation. Animal grinned at a slightly older Lieutenant standing by the ramp. " Hey, Zapper..." Animal grinned. " Yeah, Animal...what's up?" Lieutenant Harmon Rabb Junior, a cocky, self-assured pilot grinned. Animal looked at him with a wicked smile..." So, thinking about an interservice transfer?" " Why?" " Because, take a gander at what's coming up the ramp after all these jarheads..." Animal snickered. The Marine captain came up the ramp. " Geez, a swan leading a bunch of turkeys?" Zapper grinned. Mac took one look at the two Navy officers. She gave them a look that could freeze water. " Can it, SQUID!!!" she snarled as she walked past them and up to the front of her formation. " ooh..." Zapper grinned. "Looks like she's got a bite." " Looks like your Diane..." Animal commented wryly. " Gee, but I'd say that she's a goose, with a bite like that..." They both chuckled and wandered off. Mac looked at the two departing Naval officers. Major Karancheski snarled,"Gee, it's too bad they're not holding hands..." Mac snickered," Squid officers think they're God or something..." she thought 'but those boys look rather cute...but they're such officious jerks...' (two weeks later) 2200 ZULU Just off the coast of Japan. Two F-14's. "Zapper, radar check reads clear." His radar intercept officer said as he peered into the scope. Lieutenant jg Dale Crandon "Scope" looked at Harm through his oxygen mask, lifting a thumbs up to confirm that there were no enemy radars painting the aircraft. Animal was in the other F-14. Lieutenant Mick "Scooter" Doerksen worked the radar in the back seat of Animal's Tomcat. The night was dark and they had about 2 and a half more hours before they trapped on board the carrier again at zero-dark thirty. By that time, their relief would be on station. As it was, they did a formation flight circling just above Tsushima strait. Combat Air Patrols, as it was said were three hours of absolute boredom, possibly interspersed with a few seconds of sheer unadulterated terror. As it was, the so-called war against Japan had been summarily a campaign of "hanging outside the other side's doorstep and hoping that they would open the door..." Only two times had the other side come up to tangle with the F-14s and those two times, the F-14s had dispatched the Mitsubishi F-1s with relative ease. Animal had yet to see a kill, but it was said that there would be chance enough, once the attack got underway. Right now, it seemed as if the entire war was a siege to smoke out the enemy. Radar Station NAS Atsugi (under Japanese control) Petty Officer 3rd Class William Parker looked up at the Japanese guard that was standing just outside the barracks rooms that held several dozen men from the formerly US Base. The F/A-18's and F-14s had been brought inside hangars and gone over by the Japanese Air Force. The F-15Js and the F-16Js had been refitted to take the US armament that was lying around. Possibly the F-18s and F-14s as spoils of war, would be taken and used against the US. Parker had been a POW for about two weeks now, since hostilities had been formally declared. Back on board the USS JFK Animal and Zapper had a light breakfast and went to their racks to catch up on some sleep. It would be a pretty nasty afternoon flight, since they had received orders to bomb the living daylights out of Atsugi NAF. They knew that US citizens and US Military persons were being held there as Prisoners of War, but it was hard to say what would happen if the base was attacked. Under the Geneva Convention, POWs were entitled to humane treatment. But humane treatment was a subjective term. What one country called humane would be considered barbaric by another. NAS Atsugi Pilot's Barracks 1300 hours Lieutenant 1st Class Kazuo Chikamori looked at his squadron leader. 'It was a foolish gesture' he thought. The entire squadron was to launch an attack on the USS John F. Kennedy. What would happen. The carrier's outer defences were too strong. Half the squadron would be shot down before even approaching the carrier. <"What of the entire squadron...half our men will be killed reaching the carrier to attack and then the other half will be shot down coming back... We cannot underestimate the revenge of the Americans..."> Captain Michio Kawakami said, wording the actual words that Kazuo wanted to say. <"We have the Emperor on our side..."> the Lieutenant Colonel said as he glared at the captain. <"Lieutenant, you will take the F/A-18 up...we will start putting the aircraft, that the Americans so fit to have left us, into use..."> Kazuo nodded and bowed his assent. 'so, we try to make a statement by turning their aircraft against them.' he thought as he went to gather his flight gear. Fast Eagle 204 & Fast Eagle 205 Inbound towards Atsugi. 1330 hrs Covering six F-18s loaded with Mk 83, 1,000lb iron bombs and AIM-9L Sidewinders on their port and starboard wingtips pylons, the F-14s streaked towards the Japanese mainland. " Animal, cover me, I'm taking lead this time..." Harm replied as he eased his F-14 up to the lead position. " Roger, you got it..." Animal eased back on his throttle as he let Harm's aircraft take the lead. There was another flight of 6 Hornets inbound loaded up to the hilt with Mk. 84 2,000lb laser-guided Snake-eyes. These were covered by Maverick and Iceman. There was a third flight of 8 F-18s with two HARMS (radar emission detecting missiles) and a full load of Mk. 82's being covered by Metalman and his wingman, Wolfman. Atsugi NAS 1330 hours Kazuo flipped his switches on the instrument panel of the F-18. The F-18's engines had been started by the cart beside the aircraft which was now being pulled away by a Sergeant aircraft technician. He lowered the canopy and engaged the nosewheel of the aircraft. The F-18 taxied to the runway, Kazuo now getting the feel of the aircraft. The F-14s proved to be too complicated for the Japanese Air Force to bother giving up two fighter pilots to fly them. The aircraft had now been repainted over with the "asahi" (rising sun) logo on the wings instead of the "stars and bars" that the US aircraft formerly had on them. The five aircraft that had been rationed out to the best fighter pilots in the Japanese Air Force. As soon as he got to the runway, he engaged the afterburner. The aircraft took off like a fox with it's tail set on fire. The Hornet was a highly maneuverable fighter. Kazuo looked at his wingtips. He was armed with four Sidewinders. That would be enough for him. USS JFK By the Flight Deck. Captain Sarah Mackenzie stood looking grimly at the helos that were to send her assault platoon in to Atsugi. The air-raid that was going on was just to soften up the defences. She looked up rather startled to see a bit of camoflage make-up being thrust in her general direction by a grinning Major Karancheski. " Thanks, Phil, but you know that green doesn't go well with the color of my eyes..." she quipped as she started dabbing the green, brown and black around her face. Karancheski snorted," Well, think of it, Mac, as warbunny makeup." he snickered..." Other wise you'll stand out like a beacon." "OK, ok...hint taken..." she grinned as she finished dabbing the last of the gunk around her ears to cover the pale pink skin. " Gee, now I look like the covergirl for Soldier of Fortune magazine..." she muttered then looked up at Phil with a mischievous grin, "So, dear, how do I look?" she quipped as she batted her eyelashes at him. " Like you'd scare the living daylights out of Charlie Manson..." the tall Marine grinned. " You look like a psychotic jungle-bunny..." Mac snorted as she turned around and watched her men file out to the helos, the Marine Sikorsky S-76 Seahawks. She and Major Karancheski follow- ed the men on board the lead Seahawk. The Bell AH-1J Sea Cobras were already flying just waiting to escort the helos to Atsugi. Japanese Air Force F-18 1345 ZULU PST The American F-18s were beginning their attack as the F-18s and F-16s of the Japanese Air Force circled over head. Just above them in the clouds were F-14s utilizing their look-down AWG-9 radar. Two of the F-16s died in brilliant explosions as long-range AIM 120s took them out. The other F-16s and F-18s started maneuvering to counter the attack. Kazuo maneuvered his F-18 to intercept a wayward F-14 that was trying to flame his friend's F-16. Wolfman Victory 103 " Wolf, I've got an F-18 painting me." Wolf's backseater growled... " Is it ours or is it theirs..." Wolfman snarled back..." Don't wanna hit one of ours..." He slammed his F-14 into a hard left turn as a swarm of tracers encircled his Tomcat. Wolfman barked out "Oh, shit..." as a series of holes stitched his F-14's port wing. " What's the damage..." he asked his RIO. His RIO was silent for a minute... " They might have punctured our hydraulics...Damn, our flap drive-shaft has just been severed." This would cause major problems. With the port flap drive shaft inoperational, their maneuverability had been cut in half. A light came on the control panel. This was the hydraulic indicator light signifying that the wingtip hydraulic line had been severed by a bullet. " Damn it..." Wolf snarled as he tried to stomp on right rudder and full flaps to right the turn. The F-18 that was following him, kept coming. " Victory 103 to Victory 107, I've got a bandit crawling up my ass... I've got damage to my flap drive shaft, it's been completely severed, I can't seem to get myself out of a left turn. Get this asshole off me, so I can get some breathing room to fix this situation...Expedite..." Wolf barked into the UHF. A crackly reply came from the radio..." Victory 107 to Victory 103, roger that...inbound...70...e...on...way..." " SHIT THE RADIO'S DEAD..." Wolf slapped the front of the control panel. It was not turning out to be his day. F-18 Japanese Air Force Kazuo saw that the F-14 was in trouble. The left wing flaps were hanging from the aircraft dangling uselessly, and he had shredded the vertical port stabilizer. It was just sheer fortune on the part of God that the F-14 had not departed from level flight. The F-14 was finished as Kazuo started to lock the F-14 up for a kill. Just then a hail of tracer fire was seen as another F-14 came in behind him and started firing away from extreme range. "KUSO..." he snarled in Japanese as he split-s'd down and away from the fight. Victory 103 " We can't hold the plane much longer..." Wolf said to his RIO as he unhooked his oxygen mask to speak to his RIO, since intercockpit communication was down too. " Got ya..." The RIO said, but then the F-14 coupled up and started into a flat spin as it leaned inverted. "FUCK!!! PLANE'S COUPLING UP, PLANE'S COUPLING UP!!!! GODDAMNIT!!!" " Punch it...man, punch it!!!!" " Can't reach the ejection seat handle..." his RIO grunted straining against the G-forces. " Shit...a little more..." his fingers strained inches from the ejection seat loops. " Can you try for the ones just below your knees..." Wolf snapped out. " Goddamnit...I'm trying...A little more..." " Fifteen thousand, airspeed two-hundred, we're gonna drop like a rock at one-eighty..." " Fuck you...man...you wanna punch out, go ahead..." his RIO snarled back at him. " Screw it...came along for the ride..." Wolf retorted. Finally, the RIO managed to loop one finger around one of the loops and yank. The explosion of the canopy blowing off and the sudden wind around the aircraft cockpit made speaking impossible. The canopy hovered just above the aircraft caught in the windstream. The rear ejection seat fired first, slamming the RIO into the canopy at over 100 knots, knocking the canopy away, breaking his neck and killing him instantly. The front seat fired next but the tip of the starboard vertical stabilizer caught Wolfman's leg tearing it from the rest of his body. Wolfman bled to death coming down by parachute. Fast Eagle 204 " 2 Contacts, bearing 290, five miles, Inbound 800 knots combined closure. Too far to get an accurate paint on them..." Harm heard from his backseater. Scope eyeballed the radar. " Keep trying..." Harm replied to him. " Keep using your Mark 1 eyeball, and see if you can see'em." Scope replied. " Roger..." Harm said, as he keyed the UHF..." Fast Eagle 204 to Fast Eagle 203. 2 bogeys, inbound 800 knots, 290 degrees." " Roger, copy..." Animal responded quickly, as he armed his AIM 120 Slammer (AMRAAM). " Arming Slammer. Locked on the lead..." " I copy, I've got the trail..." Harm replied. " Wait on my mark... Let's see what the AWG-9 indicates." The F-14s at this distance would have use their long-distance video camera under the nose of the aircraft to ID the incoming aircraft. " I see them, they're F-18's." " Positive ID?" Animal said," Looks like we're gonna have to go into the phonebooth for this one..." He snarled as the the F-18's blurred by them. " Contact 2 left, at 400 knots, Coming Left. Break left." Animal and Harm slammed their F-14's into a high-G left turn to come around on the tails of Hornets. Animal's eyesight saw a red circle hastily painted on the left wing of the pursued Hornet. " ID is confirmed bandit." The AIM 120 growled in his headset tracking the F-18. The bandit was off boresight. " Fangs out!!!" hooted Scooter from the backseat as he craned his head to see where the F-18 was. The F-18 was in a high-g right turn at about 420 knots, superb cornering speed for the F-18. Maximum turn ratio for velocity. Animal checked his speed on the HUD. He was matching the F-18 knot for knot in airspeed, but the weight of the F-14 was pulling his rate of turn back and he couldn't seem to get his nose on the bandit by just yanking back on the stick. " Animal, we're bleeding energy like a stuck pig..." Scooter yelled out. " Shit, don't I know it..." Animal bit out. Rolling the F-14 into a barrel-roll right, he managed to bring the F-14's nose onto the F-18 for a quick snapshot that sent 20mm dancing on the wings of the F-18. " You the man!!!!" Scooter said as he watched Animal take the F-18. " Harm, you grab the other bandit, I'm all over this one..." Animal's bandit was bleeding fuel into the air as it took another high-g turn. Harm grabbed the other bandit and started after it. Scope read out. " Harm, he's two degrees left and trying to run for it." Harm looked over at the bandit. The bandit was selecting burner and running. " Great...he's got heat signature." Harm said," Selecting Slammer..." " Contact...locked, getting good missile tone..." Scope grinned behind his oxygen mask as he tapped the radar. " Got a good tone, got a good tone...going for the shot...Fox 1." Harm said out loud as he jockeyed his F-14 into shooting position on the bandit. The missile dropped off the F-14 and rocketed after the bandit. 5 seconds later a flash had told him that the missile had made contact. The enemy bandit had a trail of flame coming from the back of it and it was cork- screwing crazily through the air. " Good kill, good kill..." came Scope's enthusiastic cry. " Harm's got a kill..." Harm replied over the UHF. There was dead silence..." Animal...where are you, man..." Dead silence. Pursued Japanese F-18 Captain Masahiko Tanabe was under heavy fire from the American Tomcat that was chasing him. The F-14 had already torn up his left wing with a heavy barrage of fire and he was losing fuel. The F-14 was still pursuing him and the aircraft appeared to want to pursue him all the way back to Japan. Capt. Tanabe was one of the Japanese Air Force's top pilots, but he knew that he was overmatched by this American Tomcat pilot. This Tomcat pilot was tenacious and wouldn't stop until he had destroyed Tanabe's aircraft. Fast Eagle 103 " Animal, you planning on pursuing this son of a bitch all the way into Japan..." Scooter said nervously as he peered at the scope. " If that's what it takes." Animal said grimly as he kept after the bandit. The bandit showed no signs of wanting to turn and fight it out so Animal just kept chasing after him. Fast Eagle 104 " I've gotta go after him..." Harm said to his RIO. " Damn it... Animal, where are you, buddy." Turning his F-14 towards the co-ordinates that he had last seen Animal before the furball, he accelerated in that direction and kept going. " Harm," Scope said," He was chasing that bandit, you think he might have got the bright idea..." " Oh, shit!!!" was their dual chorus as Harm yanked his F-14 into a heading that would take them towards the Japanese mainland and over Atsugi. (to be continued)