Chapter 4 - Air Raid

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Tokyo Bay: Off Haneda Airport

"Dammit, this is the first street in hell!" Captain Jonathan Ryan, a B-29 pilot, roared, his face pale.

The impossible had happened. An unidentified anti-aircraft weapon had swooped in at a madcap speed, easily gutting the plane at the front, while two B-29s ahead of them, piloted by the same crew that had survived the fierce European Theater of war together, had just exploded and been destroyed.

Germany had a dense radar network, anti-aircraft batteries on the Rhine, and jet and rocket-powered fighters. By comparison, Japan's air defense capability was dogshit, although it was very troublesome because of the ocean from the Marianas all the way to their main island of Honshu. How could this be?

Ryan wondered if they had even wandered into another space.

"Are these fucking Japs in league with the Martians!?"

"Look, the terrain was different from our information! And the city!"

"Aah, we're fucked, Manhattan, here we are!"

The co-pilot and navigator shouted in fright, and the radio operator transmitted the situation. An indescribable sense of dread filled the cabin and even the carrier. As well as the unknown anti-air weapon, there was something completely wrong with the Japanese archipelago. It was as if there was no light control, and yet the sky was strangely bright. The coast of Chiba, where there was supposed to be nothing, was covered with vast industrial areas, and Tokyo, their bombing target, looked like a futuristic city. Tall steel towers, skyscrapers, bridges like the Golden Gate Bridge, and a giant Ferris wheel. Even the shape of Tokyo Bay was different!

"Captain, we can't see any fires! Bombing target unknown!"

"Really...?"

The pathfinders that had been flying ahead of them and had been throwing bombs ahead of them to inform the following planes of the bombing target must have been shot down at every turn. If that were the case, it would be better to find a target close at hand that could be attacked, drop incendiary bombs on it, and hightail out of there. He didn't want to stay in this hell for even one second longer. He even felt as if the demon of death is standing right next to them, cackling at their panic.

"Gah, Louis has been hit!" the co-pilot exclaimed.

The B-29 flying in front of them had its wings crushed and was beginning its death dance of crashing down. It's our turn next, huh? God, do something!

"Fine, we'll go for that one!"

Anyway, Ryan pointed to the east side of Tokyo, where a strange Western-style castle was rising.

"We're going to drop everything over there and get our asses all over it!"

"Roger!"

"Open the bomb bay!"

The open doors increased air resistance and slowed airspeed. Ryan handed over the controls to the bombardier and watched as the plane slowly turned its nose toward the target he had directed, and wondered why Tokyo even had a castle that looked like something out of a Walt Disney animated film.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Koto Ward, Tokyo: High-Rise Apartment

He was too late to react, probably because he had consumed a lot of alcohol while drinking with his gymnastic informal acquaintance. As soon as he woke up, a blaring siren hit his earlobe. The smartphone on his desk is still being noisy. Screams and rushing sounds from outside the room. A baby cried. The door slammed, and a neighbor exclaimed, "Iwai-san, get out of here!"

REIWA JIGOKUHEN - Chaotic Disturbance of Reiwa EraWhere stories live. Discover now