This carrier is assigned to the United Nations force that patrols the area around the Passageway for any JAM or FAF units that may attempt entry from Faery. Interdiction against the JAM I can understand, but the puzzling part is the FAF. The Earth Defense Force has devised plans to defend against the FAF even though it is part of the very same organization under U.N. command. It is behaving as though the FAF, and not the JAM, were the invaders.
However, the Earth forces normally don’t take such an aggressive stance. Admiral 56 and its group were deployed in response to an unusual dispatch from the FAF.
In preparation for future operations we are sending over a Sylphid fighter in order to test the Phoenix Mk-XI engines and flight control systems in Earth’s atmosphere. We will be conducting analyses to measure their degree of efficiency in alternate conditions. The test plane will be from the Special Air Force 5th Squadron. The pilot will be Lieutenant Rei Fukai. Systems will be monitored by flight officer Major James Booker. The time and date will be…
Since this announcement caused quite a furor on Earth, even I soon learned of it.
Major Booker, I used every professional source and personal contact I had to secure permission to be aboard this carrier and cover the story.
It’s summer in the Antarctic. The skies are very clear. Here on the bridge, Rear Admiral Nagumo is holding a pair of binoculars to his eyes. “Ahead full,” he says.
“Ahead full, aye, sir,” calls back the first officer.
Admiral 56 steams ahead under full power to greet Yukikaze.
An AWACS plane is already in the air. The captain has just issued orders to launch interceptors.
YUKIKAZE TOOK OFF from Faery Base. She was fitted with new Phoenix Mk-XI engines; they were somewhat smaller and lighter than the Phoenix Mk-Xs but had greater output.
“It’s hard to believe this is the first time I’ve ever flown with you,” Major Booker said.
“Uh-huh. Don’t pass out on me, old man,” Rei replied.
Engine control systems, normal. Fuel flow rate, check. Fuel transfer system, normal.
“I’m not that old,” the major protested. “I can handle it. I’m still an active-duty pilot, Rei.”
“This isn’t like the fighters you used to fly.”
Yukikaze accelerated, heading in the direction opposite to that of her normal duties, toward the Passageway that would allow them to transit directly to Earth.
In the rear seat, Major Booker struggled to breathe in a regular manner, afflicted by the high Gs they were pulling. He wondered if Rei always flew under this kind of physical stress and renewed his appreciation for just how exhausting being a combat pilot was.
“Thirty seconds to airspace entry,” said Rei.
The target designator appeared on the HUD. They were rapidly approaching the enormous ash-gray column of mist that towered over Faery’s forests. Numbers in the lower righthand corner of the HUD scrolled down, marking their time to contact.
“Let’s go, Jack. Time to pop our cherries. We’re taking a dive to Earth.”
Suddenly, the deedle deedle deedle of the radar warning receiver chimed in the cockpit. Booker started. An enemy symbol appeared on the RWR display.
“A JAM fighter! Where’d he come from? Closing fast.”
“Calm down, Jack.”
The wall of mist around the Passageway’s airspace was now filling the view ahead of them. They were past the point of no return. The numbers on the HUD were reaching the end of the countdown… 1… 0. The dive-in cue appeared.
Yukikaze shuddered. They were wrapped in ashen darkness. Their radar was non-functional, as were the radar altimeter and external comm equipment. An alarm shrieked, as though Yukikaze were screaming that she’d lost sight of the enemy, and a caution alert blinked on the HUD, warning that their current position was unknown.
Less than two seconds after entering the hyperspace corridor, they emerged on the Earth side. They were flying supersonic, the enormous pillar of mist quickly receding behind them into the distance. Yukikaze’s engine control system immediately measured the ambient atmospheric conditions using a score of sensors, and then began making adjustments to optimize the engines’ operation. The avionics control and barometric altimeter automatically reset to Earth mode. Rei had no time to check the operation of these new systems; he had to trust that they were working correctly.
Master arm switch to ARM. FCS, activated. RDY GUN, RDY AAM-6.
“Where’s the JAM, Jack?”
“Right below us.”
Just as Rei sent Yukikaze into a descending roll the JAM initiated an explosive high-G acceleration burst, separating from Yukikaze like a rocket. Rei immediately launched two high-velocity short-range missiles after it. The enemy responded by launching infrared seeker missiles to neutralize them.
The JAM aircraft was a bit larger and more powerful than Yukikaze. Rei advanced the throttle against its limit and tore after the JAM at maximum power. It dropped its external power boosters and fled.
“What the—? What is it doing?”
“It’s after Admiral 56,” Booker said, his voice tight. “It’s trying to get in range to launch an anti-ship missile. The JAM are trying to completely isolate the FAF from Earth. If they sink Admiral 56, the EDF will blame us. Rei, we have to shoot it down, no matter what.”
“We don’t have enough fuel. We won’t be able to get back.”
“It doesn’t matter. Lieutenant, this is an order. Take that thing out!”
“Understood.”
THE EDF TASK force’s AWACS plane confirmed Yukikaze’s exit from the hyperspace corridor. But within seconds, the symbol being tracked on the radar screen split into two. Yukikaze was operating an Earth-use IFF transponder, but the other blip was negative on the IFF. An unknown. The radar operator hesitated, unsure what to do.
Just then, a message came in from Yukikaze, broadcast on the international emergency frequency: “Unknown aircraft is a JAM.”
The operator, confronted with a JAM threat for the first time, panicked. “Shoot it down!” the young man shouted. “It’s the FAF!”
The captain of Admiral 56 did not panic. He gave the order to launch interceptors and then murmured to himself “Goddamn FAF, bringing the JAM here with them…”
Admiral 56’s eight interceptors acquired the JAM and immediately moved to engage it. However, they had never faced one of the alien fighters before. The JAM simply flew into their attack without trying to evade, as if it were sneering at them. It launched eight missiles. Admiral 56’s interceptors were destroyed within seconds. With the obstacles eliminated, the alien craft resumed its flight toward its target.
The ship’s captain couldn’t believe what was happening. That’s what the JAM are capable of?! he thought in consternation. An alarm sounded from the CIC, warning that the JAM fighter was closing.
“Ready point-defense weapon system. Ready antiaircraft defenses. Hard to port.”
“Hard to port, aye, sir.”
Admiral 56 began to swing to the left.
Rear Admiral Nagumo was about to give the order to launch all remaining interceptors, but it was already too late.
However, the interceptor squadron deaths hadn’t been in vain. While the JAM was engaging the ship’s fighters, Yukikaze had closed the distance between them. The alien aircraft skimmed the ocean’s surface, seeming to slice it in two with its shock wave, on a straight-line course for Admiral 56.