REIWA JIGOKUHEN - Chaotic Disturbance of Reiwa Era

Part 8: End of the Struggle | Chapter 100

In a Twisted Space-Time

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New Mexico: over Gila National Forest

A squadron of F-2As belonging to the 3rd Tactical Fighter Squadron flew in an undisturbed formation. Piloting the lead plane, Major Kubota gazed aimlessly at the dark world, vaguely recalling the day the incident began. The unusual scramble, the sudden appearance of 300 B-29s, and the air raid that could not be stopped. Since then, he has been flying undaunted through the sky, which looked exactly the same as it did in the past, but in fact, everything has changed. As a result, the homeland that they were supposed to protect managed to escape the plight of the people, and they were beginning to regain a minimum level of normalcy.

'Though... what is becoming of Japan, I wonder?' Kubota's helmeted head tilted slightly.

The answer may vary from person to person, but one can probably find the greatest common denominator in the dictionary or Wikipedia. And for him, who had taken an oath of office as a member of the SDF, it must be something that he must protect, even at the risk of his life, to preserve the peace and independence of the country.

But the inexplicable phenomenon of the Time-Space Cataclysm has fundamentally altered all such conventional notions. When he was a student at the National Defense Academy, he once heard the term kokutai—national body, used in a lecture. The kokutai is an advanced organism that realizes total unity and harmony, in other words, it is a living organism. As he recalled, it was something like that. Japan is no longer a spiritual or virtual entity, but a transcendent life form with a physical reality.

'They say you can't see borders separating nations from up in the sky, but you really just can't anymore,' Kubota thought while remembering a line from someone somewhere.

What organ of the living organism called Japan is the SDF conducting military operations outside of the clear borders of Japan, and what kind of cell was he? Furthermore, why were his comrades in Djibouti and other Japanese living abroad left behind that day, and why are there still Japanese people alive in this world?

The questions kept pouring in, and no answers seemed to be forthcoming.

"Dragoon, you are about to enter the mission area."

His thoughts were interrupted by Raijin, his longtime E-767 controller.

"There should be some convoys on the move. Hit them as soon as you find them."

"Dragoon 1, copy."

Kubota received the order and activated his sniper sighting device.

"Got 'em."

It took only a short time to spot the enemy. A good number of large trucks of the US Army transports were moving north in a line. The SDF, both regular and temporary, had given top priority to destroying enemy command posts, communications facilities, and logistics networks, but even so, there were still occasional lapses. The need for a thorough sweep of the enemy's airfields had arisen as the armored units broke through to Texas.

"Cleared to attack. Blow 'em all to hell for their inability to learn."

"Roger. Commencing attack."

As soon as the order was given, he operated the controls and brought his plane to the bombing range. The commander of the enemy convoy probably believed that nighttime movement would limit the damage. This is a common sense judgment for people of this era, and it is not due to incompetence. The only thing to do is to continue with the forward movement since the information cannot be brought back properly and the people who analyze it were already under the rubble.