This is not the first time I'm writing a fanfic, but it surely is for this website. All trademarks and properties are part of their respective owners.
(June 15, 2025, Off the coast of East Japan, 1411 hrs.)
At a dogfight training exercise in Japanese waters, the most famous ace of the Usean War, Reaper, began to lead a squadron of mostly inexperienced rookies to the fire zone. Though peace has returned following the success of Operation Eternal Liberation, a lot of work needs to be done in order to ease the scarred planet of anxiety. Thus, the United Nations Forces began to hold drills regularly. The flight the ace was on was entirely composed of upgraded AV-8B Harrier IIs, which are kept in service for a few years longer thanks to Wernher and Noah Enterprises, which recovered from the assault of the now-fallen USEA Federation.
"This is Reaper, we are approaching the fire zone, bearing 048, Angels 3." He said in his radio to an AWACS monitoring the exercise, callsign 'SkyEye'.
"This is AWACS SkyEye, roger." He told the approaching planes. "Targets are drones with high mobility. Upon entering the zone, you are weapons free."
"All right, nuggets, listen up!" Reaper announced. "As soon as we approach the zone, give those drones some bullet holes! Don't worry about your plane."
"Roger." One pilot, callsign Gremlin, responded.
"Umm...roger, sir." Another said in the radio with anxiety.
"2nd lieutenant Youji Itami, am I correct?" Reaper requested.
"Yes, sir. Just feeling anxious about those planes we are flying." Itami replied with some confidence.
"Well, you better not worry much since those birds are much easier to handle." Reaper assured. "Alright then, let's go."
The drones that the flight was assigned to began to use evasive maneuvers in order to evade the lock-on of the missiles, which has live ammunition. Itami and his fellow pilots began to do just the same, but only to get behind it. As soon as he has a tone with his short-range missiles, he proceeded to fire it.
"Fox 2, Fox 2!" Itami shouted while the missile flies to its target.
"Bandit down!" He announced immediately after the missile took down the drone.
"One drone down." SkyEye declared. "Continue with exercise."
"Almost on him." Gremlin said as he began to use the cannon.
"Guns, guns, guns!" He shouted as he pulled the trigger, blowing up the drone in the process.
"Enemy down!" He announced with some pride.
"Second drone down." SkyEye again declared as the rookies and Reaper are shooting down the drones.
"Leave the last to me!" Reaper announced.
He got onto the back of a drone and armed his missile. When he got the tone, he launched the missile
"Fox 2!" He shouted, but the missile missed the target.
"Missed. Switching to cannons."
He armed his cannon and aimed his reticle at the drone. As with all techniques of dogfighting, one has to remember the principles. He aimed his reticle at the front of the drone in order to get a hit and pulled the trigger.
"Guns, guns, guns!" He shouted as a barrage of bullets hit the drone. Moments later, the plane exploded.
"Bandit shot down!" Reaper declared as AWACS SkyEye watched the monitor
"Third enemy drone shot down." SkyEye confirmed the kill. "Alright, a few more drones and that wrap things up."
For the next few minutes, more drones appeared in the combat zone, giving the Infinite Team more chances to shoot down. After that, they are down to their cannon, the only weapon with remaining ammo that can still be used.
"Nice work!" Reaper congratulated. "Another more kills and drinks are on us tonight!"
"Copy!" the pilots replied with pride.
"...even a visit to the doujinshi convention in Ginza I heard about." Reaper continued with what Itami is doing for the next few days.
"Guess we have some more visitors to cater." Itami commented with some embarrassment.
"I wouldn't mind checking it out..." Reaper said. "...especially..."
"All units, all units, cancel all training exercise!" SkyEye declared in urgency. "We have an emergency situation!"
"What is it AWACS?" Reaper requested.
"We have reports of unknown enemy forces appearing within the Ginza district!" SkyEye further informed the pilots.
"Wha...don't tell me...?!" Itami said in disbelief.
"That's right Itami." Reaper told him. "I guess we may never visit this year's event. Whoever those SOBs are, they'll pay for this."
"All flights, head for Tokyo airspace at bearing 266!" SkyEye ordered. "Apply full thrust and engage any hostiles!"
"Roger!" The flight responded.
Immediately after the order was given, they began to fly to Tokyo.
(Ginza District, Tokyo, 1455 hrs.)
"This just in, chaos is happening in Ginza!" The news reporter on the helicopter reported his findings in disbelief. "Romans are now terrorizing the populace as bloodshed and panic took hold of the country! The bustling energy that used to fill the city streets has been replaced by confusion and fear!"
On the ground, things are way worse. A gate in the middle of a busy road appeared out of nowhere and an Imperial army marched out of it. While the horns of war are played, men in Roman armor and a number of monsters like gremlins and pigmen began a rampage, dealing fatal blows to many civilians in the crossfire.
"This place...they are made with marble and iron." The general said. "I wonder who made these things."
"Don't worry about it, sir. We'll make the submit to the Holy Name of the Empire." his deputy suggested.
When Reaper and Itami's flight are in Tokyo, they are greeted by the roar of a dragon. This shocked almost every pilot in the flight, when they noticed not one but a flock of it in the air.
"Wha...just why is a dragon flock doing up here?!" Gremlin exclaimed.
"Just stay calm, nuggets!" Reaper assured. "I dealt with several foes which are way stronger than those monsters."
"Right!" Itami responded.
"AWACS, we have bogeys in the air...and they're all dragons!" Reaper reported. "We also discovered a large battalion of soldiers in Ginza and are massacring civilians!"
"Copy that, Reaper." SkyEye confirmed. "Take them all down! Keep the city safe!"
"Roger, SkyEye!" Reaper replied. "Nuggets, you are weapons free! Keep the city safe!"
"Copy!" the flight responded.
The flight began to engage the numerically superior Imperial army. Reaper proceeded to engage the dragons alongside a few pilots. He gave Itami an order.
"Itami, take care of the army below us and be careful with civilians!" Reaper ordered. "They might still be alive!"
"Itami, I copy." he said in response. "Moving to engage."
The lieutenant then proceeded to head to the main fighting force, but knowing what his mentor said, he decided to use his GAU-12/A Equalizer cannon to attack the battalion below while keeping collateral damage to a minimum. While the 'Romans' continue their bloody rampage, the invader's leaders were optimistic.
"We'll take this land from them!" The general said in glory. "None shall-
Suddenly, a roar is heard overhead.
"Wait, is that..." An invading soldier said in disbelief. "Don't tell me it's..."
"...an iron eagle?!" The general said with the same expression. In front of them is Itami's Harrier, hovering with his cannon armed.
"Guns, guns, guns!" Itami shouted as a rain of bullets gave the invaders a deadly cost to pay. "You'll pay for cancelling the doujinshi event!"
Every soldier fell like they were target bullseyes in training. With shock, they felt helplessly outgunned by a single pilot.
"What kind of sorcery is this?!" The general asked. "Our invincible might just..."
The general was shot by one of the bullets, killing him instantly.
In the skies, Reaper and Gremlin began to engage the dragons that are crowding the airspace. They armed their cannon since the flight believed that the dragons are not fire-breathing types. The duo then maneuvered their planes to attack position.
"Gremlin, take those two." Reaper asked.
"Copy." Gremlin replied. "Moving to engage the dragons."
The two fired at the dragons with their cannons. In just mere moments, the dragons fell unopposed. Some tried to fight back with their lances but to no avail.
"Got 'em!" They announced simultaneously.
With the battalion down, Itami can land his plane safely to rescue other civillians trapped in the crossfire. With his sidearm in place, he can get them to safety from the 'Romans'. He found some men and women hiding behind a door.
"Sir, mam, get to the Imperial Palace." He requested. "You'll be safe there."
"Thanks for your help." A lady said. "We feel terrified by what happend."
"My pleasure". Itami responded as UNF tank and infantry divisons took over the scene to mop up any resistance.
"Are you 2nd Lieutenant Itami?" A soldier asked him.
"Yes, sir!" Itami replied with a salute. "I'm 2nd Lieutenant Itami, number two of the Infinite Squadron."
"Thanks, lieutenant." The soldier replied back. "We'll take things from here. Get the civilians to the palace."
"Yes, sir." Itami finished with tolerance.
"Itami, can you read me?" Reaper said in Itami's aircraft radio. He ran to reply.
"Yes, captain." Itami responded. "Everything's under control. I'm on the ground escorting some civilians."
"Okay then." Reaper said with relief. "Let's bring them home."
At high altitude, a recon plane of unknown origin was observing the events down below. A radio transmission was made between it and an unknown commander.
"This is Gespenst, the UNF has surrounded the Gate." The pilot reported his findings.
"Roger, Gespenst." The commander replied. "We'll continue monitoring the target at hand. RTB."
"Roger."
(Yokota Air Force Base, 1800 hrs.)
At the crew mess hall, numerous UNF personnel, including every pilot from the Infinite Team, were holding a minute of silence for those who died in the chaos. After that, they began to honor the man who helped turn the tide of the battle, Youji Itami. Everyone cheered as he is welcomed with respect and congratulated him with thanks.
"Good job with the support! I would like to sortie with you anytime!"
"Itami, you're the man!"
"Thanks!" Itami responded. "Just doing my job with honor."
He sat down with Reaper and Gremlin, whose real name is Takeo Kurata, a close friend of Itami.
"You're sure in some good mood today." Reaper complemented.
"Yeah..." Itami responded "...but the doujinshi..."
"No need to worry. As long as that threat never happens again, doujinshi is within your grasp."
"Hey, Itami!" Takeo called. "Ever seen today's episode of Meikom?"
"No, I didn't." Itami replied frankly.
"Better watch it later, it's good!"
"Oh, okay then. Hope it's good like what you said." Itami answered with a smile.
"Better leave it like that." Reaper said with curiosity "You have some interests, but your nature may prove to be something that keeps you calm and focused. I like it".
"Thanks, captain." Itami responded with respect.
"Same here." Takeo answered with the same tone.
"Gentlemen!" A commander asked the team.
"Sir!" The pilots in the team said.
"You people just gave those Romans one big headache." The officer continued. "I got some news. In light of this, we are preparing to send a expedition team to the other side of the gate. And that means you three are going to be part of it."
"Sir?"
"That's right, captain." The officer responded. "Your team will be the only fighter squadron for this task force. Don't let the country or the whole world down."
"Copy, sir." The captain continued with respect. "We'll report immediately for the expedition."
Takeo and Itami fell when they hear the news.
(September 18, 2025, Ginza District, Tokyo)
Three months after the Ginza Incident, the UNF has decided that in order to get reparations from the other side of the gate, they launched a task force to do just that. News reports keep flooding in as the announcement was heard all over the world. Protest erupted almost immediately due to their opposition with the plan. Many news networks reported the scene.
"This just in: UNF military forces are preparing to enter the gate in what many suggest as a reparation demand to the government at the other side. Though protests continued due to the nature of the intended goal, many are getting a sense of relief."
As the trucks, tanks and APCs are preparing to head out, large platforms carrying three planes covered with tarp are there with their wings detached to another platform for space clearance. Unknown to many, the planes belong to the lnfinite Team. In one HMMWV, the pilots are sitting in their seats waiting to move.
"All right, you two." Reaper called Itami and Takeo. "When we reach the other side, the first we do is just wait for our planes to be reassembled."
"Okay, captain." Itami repied. "But are you sure about this? These guys are pretty much done for the moment we started shooting."
"Yeah, you're right. I have a bad feeling about this idea."
"Are we going to meet with a cat girl? Takeo asked with some excitememt. "If we meet new people, she may be around."
"We might apparently." The captain answered.
A few moments later, the signalman gave the go ahead to move out. One by one, army units entered the gate in an attempt to negotiate with the leaders there. Takeo, Itami and Reaper are preparing for what's next.
"Look's like a new sky awaits us." Itami said in his mind.