Title: There Will Come A Day Author: Hugo "Animal" Chikamori E-mail: hchikamori@yahoo.com Rating: PG 17 Classification: Angst/ Animal/Mac R Spoilers: None Summary:Major Matthew Ryan Chikamori becomes a casualty in an unpopular conflict, resulting in his receipt, posthumously, of the Medal of Honor. Disclaimer: Harmon Rabb Jr. Sarah Mackenzie, AJ Chegwidden, Bud Roberts, Harriet Sims, et al characters regularly seen on JAG, are creations of Donald Bellisario and are the property of CBS, Paramount and Bellisarius Productions. Animal, Lia, Metalman et al (other than the above) are the creative property of Hugo and Heather Chikamori. Song (If Song Fic): There Will Come A Day "Faith Hill" Author's Note: The writer has received "interesting e-mails" in response to the September 11th incident. The writer hereby indicates that he personally does not imply that he is a recipient of the Medal of Honor, nor any of the other medals. He also does not imply that he is a U.S. Naval Officer. He has created a character who, though carrying his name, is a FICTIONAL character. The author however, was a security officer, who having lost many colleagues in both private and public law-enforcement due to this incident, gets righteously pissed when some no name decides to spit in the face of someone who has sworn to uphold the law. Be that as it may, Please respect and honor those who fight to defend our rights and freedoms; both members of military and law enforcement, for when there is no enforcement of laws, there is total anarchy. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ JULY 17, 2024 AL BASRAH, IRAQ Major Matthew Ryan Chikamori, United States Marine Corps, eased the throttles forward past Zone 2, as he coaxed his F/A-18E Super Hornet's General Electric F414-GE-400 engine's outputs to near max capability. He was lead on an Alpha Strike off the USS Theodore Roosevelt. The CAG, Captain Kaithren V. Rabb, the DCNO's daughter, had ordered a strike on an AA emplacement just southeast of An Nasiriyah. There had been a NO FLY zone in that area since 1991 when then President George H.W. Bush had declared war on Iraq for trying to annex Kuwait. Matt "Viper" Chikamori snorted under his oxygen mask as he went over the plans for the attack. It was reputed to be the most heavily defended target and within easy reach from air bases inside Iraqi territory so any attack would have to be done, fully aware that ground defenses and air defenses would be on high alert. It was a volatile target. His wingman, Captain Kevin "Dog" Burrows. radioed Matt, "Hey, Viper, I got SAMs, three o'clock on the deck." Jamming the throttles forward, and punching off flares, Matt growled,"I see it, Dog..." Looking over, he could see what appeared to be a whole crop of SA-7s coming in at them. Seeing Dog jink left, dropping flares out the aft buckets, the Super- Hornet's ALE-47 chaff and flare dispenser. Dog's sardonic response was. "Well, looks like Abdul finally found his missiles." "Probably figured out how to use them, finally learned how to read the instruction manual," came another sardonic response, female this time, Captain, Ariel "Fox" Kennedy bit out. "NAVINT didn't tell us shit about this..." she snorted, "then again, we're talking oxymoron here..." The three F/A-18Es made up the lead flight going into this mess. Just then their world fell apart in a blinding flash of explosions. "Break right!!!" was frantically called out in the midst of this commotion, while each pilot instinctively jammed their throttles forward and their sticks into their right thigh as they scrambled out of the reach of the tracers lighting up the sky around them. They had run smack into Zsu (Zenitnaya Samokhodnaya Ustanovka)-23-4 Shilka territory and the four computer-targetted automatic 23mm cannons were firing over 3400 high-explosive rounds per minute (combined fire rate) into the same airspace the F/A-18Es were trying to occupy. Just to add seasoning into this whole damned mix, the 24 aircraft mix of ECM, attack, and CAP aircraft had run right into a two-pronged attack of ground and air defenses. A frantic call of "Tally 30, 10 o'clock... inbound!" As a MiG shot past his canopy. Matt realized his element was in serious trouble. Matt ordered "Take the entire element down low and get out of here, Dog." Down in the dirt, they would have some chance of survival, up here, they were sitting ducks. If they weren't picked off by the MiGs, they'd just end up getting picked off by the Shilkas or the SAMs. "What about you?" Dog asked, as he kept his eyeballs peeled for more SAMs. "Just get the guys outta here, I'll deal with the MiGs." was Viper's reply. As Major Matthew Ryan "Viper" Chikamori, USMC aviator, turned to engage the oncoming MiGs single-handedly, he could see his squadron-mates eluding the gauntlet of SAMs and groundfire, and knew that his decision was good. He downed six MiGs, the one that got him, he didn't see. As the horizon pitched out of control, his last thought was that his father would have been proud of him. PENTAGON WASHINGTON D.C. 48 HOURS LATER Vice-Admiral Phil "Metalman" Burrows looked up to see his son, standing in front of his desk. "Kevin? What brings you back state-side? I thought you were on deployment?" "Stress Leave. Dad," Kevin replied. "Our last mission was a screw-up from start to end." He was in Class 'A's, while his dad was in Navy utility whites with shoulderboards, which made a stark contrast. He continued, trying not to choke up. "We lost Matt. CAG is writing him up for the blue button, evidently he took out six MiGs before he bought it." Metalman sighed as he thought 'Animal isn't going to take this well.' "Have you seen Matt's dad?" "No, I thought I'd break the news to you first and get your take on how to approach the CNO." Kevin admitted tensely. "Just break it to him straight." Metalman advised his son, "The CNO will just get annoyed if you beat around the bush." Kevin replied,"Thanks, Dad...I think..." It didn't make it any easier. CNO'S OFFICE E-RING, PENTAGON, WASHINGTON D.C. Fleet Admiral Hugo "Animal" Chikamori was reading over reports as Captain Kevin Burrows knocked on the door. "Enter!" he barked. "Sir." Kevin said as he entered the office, squared off two paces away from the edge of the desk and stood at the position of attention. "Kevin?" Animal said. "What brings you here?" "Sad business, sir." Kevin replied. "What is it? Kevin?" a look of fatherly concern came over Animal's face. "Sir..." Kevin got out, his voice choking up, "Your son, Matt." Animal let him continue. "was killed in action over Iraq. I was with him, as his wingman, on a strike into test their defenses. Out of a group of 24 aircraft, 23 made it home, sir. The flak was so thick you could walk on it. The reason, 23 made it home, sir, was because Matt made the supreme sacrifice." "How did my son die?" Animal's voice was thick with emotion. Kevin continued, "He ordered his element to head back to the ship on the deck so as to reduce numbers of casualties, and took on the incoming MiGs himself. He got six of them before one of them got him. sir." Kevin looked at Animal who nodded,"I went back, disobeyed his orders, and tried to cover him, but it was too late. He was already hit and going down. This was my only reward for trying to save my friend," he said pointing to his wounded arm, covered in a bandage. "I left him behind, sir. I can't live that down." "HORSESHIT!!!" Animal thundered, making Kevin wince. "You followed a direct order from a superior. You did the right thing, Kevin, and if I hear any more drivel about your thinking you left my son behind, I'm going to keel-haul your six." He paused, his voice thick with emotion. "It won't matter much, about how he went, because he went in an unpopular war, that these politicians won't say is a war. But to me, to you, to all those men and women he fought beside, he is a hero. I don't like the fact that he went before me. As Croesus once said to Cambyses, 'In peace the sons bury their fathers, but in war the fathers bury their sons.' but if he was to go before me, better it be as a hero, than in some meaningless accident." "CAG is writing him up for the blue-button, the Medal of Honor, sir." Kevin said, his voice barely audible because of the enormous lump lodged in his throat. Animal sighed, close to tears himself, "That medal, many people pay the ultimate price for it." he snorted. "Looks like my son had to pay it too." He walked around the desk, and patted Kevin on the back. "Don't you try for it. The price is way too high. I would rather see Matt alive again, than receive that medal for him." Animal looked sadly at the blue-button re- flecting on his own ribbon rack in the mirror. "I didn't have to nearly pay as high a price as my son." JAG HEADQUARTERS FALLS CHURCH, VA Major General Sarah MacKenzie-Chikamori looked at her best friend, Vice-Admiral Harmon Rabb Jr., the DCNO who was visiting, who was on the cell-phone at the moment. He nodded and then he hung up. "That was Animal," he announced. "He said he was coming to the JAG office." "I thought he was at the Pentagon." Mac replied. "He said that there was some bad news." Harm said, the note of concern, apparent in his voice, causing Mac to worry. A dark fear crossed Mac's heart. Animal's and her two sons, one Marine, one Navy and two daughters, both Navy, were serving overseas in a combat capacity. And she dreaded the thought of possibly getting notification that one of her children...that something bad had happened to one or more of them. She shuddered. Commander Harriet Sims knocked on the door. "Ma'am, the CNO is here to see you...privately." Harm said quickly. "I'll vacate the room so you and Animal can talk in here." he said. After Admiral (4-stars) AJ Chegwidden had retired, Liandra was the Judge Advocate General, at the rank of Rear Admiral (two stars). The CNO came in. He was short, five-feet eight and a half inches tall, and was wearing his gold encrusted shoulderboards with the embroidered pentagon of 5 gold stars, on his white utility uniform. Animal wore his rank well. His eyes on the other hand looked tired, worn, and sad. PDA rules be damned, Mac went over to him to put her arms around him and then raising a hand to turn his head to meet her eyes, she asked, "Sweetheart, what brought you down here?" "Sarah," Animal's voice cracked. "Close the door." Mac looked at him and closed the door so that no-one could over- hear their conversation. "Sarah..." a tear fell from his eye. "Matt..." he choked down a sob. "Oh...God..." Mac breathed, her heart nearly stopping, as a pain that seemed to pierce the very fibre of her sould ripped through her..."No..." She breathed. "No...dear God...NO!!!" she screamed, "Not that!" she shook her head vehemently. "HE CAN'T BE!!!" "Matt's..." Animal choked out. "He...was killed in action two days ago." he embraced Mac as she fell into his arms, tears running down her face..."Kevin came up to the Pentagon to deliver the message himself." "Not Matt." Mac cried...hysterical sobs wrenching her throat. "Dear God..." She clutched her husband as the both of them cried, unable to truly comprehend the loss of their first- born. Once she was able to compose herself, Mac asked,"Did they even try to recover the body?" Her tone was bitter, knowing that if her son had gone down in the sea or over enemy territory, they would be burying an 'empty casket'. "The Navy is talking about sending in a SEAL team to recover Matt's remains." Animal said. "Well, that's about the least they could do!" Mac snapped. Animal looked hurt as he gazed at Mac who burst into tears again. "I'm sorry...I..." Animal enfolded his wife in his arms as she cried some more. LATER THAT NIGHT Animal had managed to somehow make it through some reports that needed filing when coming out into the kitchen to get some- thing to drink, he found Mac poring over Matt's old family album. As Animal leaned over her, she looked up at him, her brown eyes gleaming with unshed tears and said in a voice, husky with emotion,"I can't believe he's gone..." Animal could only nod as a lump about the diameter of his throat threatened to choke him and reduce him to tears again. They enfolded each other in an embrace borne of sorrow and loss. THE NEXT MORNING (To Be Continued)