Stand & Fight! By TK

Airwoman Hoshi patrolled her part of the base´s fence again. She looked outside and saw nothing but sand. That was all she ever did see when she was patrolling every day. The Japanese Self-Defence Force Base in Dijibouti was the most boring post anybody in the Air Force could get. It was bad enough that Hoshi had to be stationed here, but it sucked that she was never going to be a pilot, which had always been her dream. Sometimes, her thoughts would bounce back to her training days.

"Sorry miss, but you are just too short to fly one of these fighters. And that is saying something since all of us Japanese folk are shorter than most other people in the world." a training instructor had said.

"WHAT?! But for all of my life I´ve been telling people that I was going to be in the Air Force! You can´t do this to me!"

"Cadet Hoshi, just because we have a bunch of fighters and bombers does not mean that we only recruit pilots. There are plenty of other positions to take here."

"Can it at least be a combat role? I´ve always imagined fighting the enemies of our island nation!"

To satisfy her request, the training instructor transferred Hoshi to the infantry portion of the air force. Hoshi was able to pass and was excited upon learning where she was going to go.

"Mom, when you get this message, you are going to be so proud of me! I´m being deployed to that base in Africa we have! I´ll be fighting pirates and protecting Japanese ships! This is going to be awesome!" was the text message Hoshi sent the day she was deployed.

Three months later, the airwoman was wishing that she had just joined a different branch of the defence force. By the time Hoshi had arrived at the base, most pirates had been wiped out by other military forces. This left the JSDF with little to do in the region. There were days when Hoshi prayed for an earthquake to happen in some city so that she could be deployed. Anything was better than walking up and down a fence with a Howa Type 64 rifle staring at yellow dirt.

"Hoshi!" came a yell.

The airwoman turned to see her friend and superior officer, Second Lieutenant Takami, running up to greet her. Unlike her, Takami was an airjockey. He piloted an American F-35 Lightning 2 fighter. He was one of the few pilots who had assisted foreign forces in military operations in Africa. He had bombed at least three terroist bunkers and ambushed a column of terroist vehicles. He had become a celebrity on the base.

"Hello airjerky. How are you?" asked Hoshi.

"Hey now, you can´t just call your boss something like that." replied Takami.

"Going to answer my question sir?"

"For the record, I am doing fine. I´m also wondering who is going to be the next nation to call for me. It could be the United States or maybe-"

"I think you are letting the fame get to your head Takami."

"Now now Hoshi, who said there is something wrong with that?"

Before Hoshi could answer, another soldier came running up. He was panting and grabbed Takami by the arm.

"Lieutenant, get in your fighter now!"

"Huh, why?"

"Some terroist cell from Somalia crossed the border soouth of here weeks ago. They´ve now popped up near the American base! Fighters from all nearby bases are scrambling to assist them!"

"Time to be a hero again! Sit back as I save the day Hoshi!"

As the pilot ran off to his jet, Hoshi asked the other soldier a question.

"Do you think any of those terroists will come here?"

"Odds are that they may just ignore us. The American base is the biggest threat to anybody attacking this tiny nation."

"Too bad. I wanted to go and kick some butt. Things have been too quiet for me."

"You sure you really want to fight? I´ve heard stories of soldiers freezing up in battle just because fear takes over."

"Shut up! I've got this!"

Suddenly, an explosion rocks the base hard. The main gate is flaming as armored vehicles roll through it, terroists jumping out and shooting at everyone they find. Soldiers crumble as they are filled with lead while others run to the barracks and armory to find weapons and regroup against the sneaky attack.

"Wh-What is going on?!" asked Hoshi.

"What the? Who are these-GAH!"

The soldier Hoshi was with is shot while the airwoman is forced to run from two terroists. Hoshi tries to avoid getting caught, but the terroists shoot at her and a bullet strikes her leg. She tumbles down and is held at gunpoint by the terroists.

One of the terroists has a beard and wears glasses. The other acts like his superior, yelling at him and pointing at Hoshi. At one point, the two men just stare at the girl and laugh.

'My rifle, where is my rifle?" thought Hoshi.

She spotted her weapon and tried to grab it, only for a boot to stomp on her arm. She screamed, causing the terroists to laugh at her again. They were enjoying this more since Hoshi was a woman.

The airwoman had tears rolling down her cheeks. She had always wanted to be a hero. She never wanted to just die like a common soldier. And yet here she was, moments from death.

"Maybe if I beg, they may let me live. Wait, they'll just make me some slave to be toyed with if they take me as a prisoner. Dammit, I don't want to die here, not in some country far from home!"

The bearded terroist puts his AK-47 right to Hoshi's forehead, his finger on the trigger. Hoshi shut her eyes, bracing for the worst, waiting for death to take her.

BLAM BLAM!

Suddenly, two bullets strike the bearded man. As he falls, the other terroist swings his rifle around kill whoever fired the shots. However, a bullet to the skull gets him first. Hoshi stares at the corpses in shock until she sees who fired the shots.

"Are you okay?" asked the bleeding soldier.

"I-I thought you were dead."

"My back sure hurts like hell, but I'll live. C'mon, we need to run to the rear of the base. Orders are to abandon it."

"We're pulling out?"

"Too many of those terroists are attacking. Command is going to order our fighter jockeys in the air to blow this place up."

Hoshi grabs her rifle and stands, giving out a small squeak.

"Are you okay?"

"They got my leg. They almost killed me."

"That is war for you. Here, lean on me. You'll be too slow on your own."

"But-

"C'mon! We don't have all day!"

With some reluctance, Hoshi limps over to the soldier and leans on him for support. The two pass by barracks and the mess hall without any encounters with the attackers and are almost to the rear entrance. Then, they see that many of the soldiers are being torn up by a machine gun mounted on a jeep. Every now and then, a soldier shoots the gunner, only for the terroist to be replaced by one of his comrades.

"No one is getting out of here as long as those guys have our people pinned down. Do you have a grenade on you?" asked the injured soldier.

"No! Crap, what are we going to do?" asked Hoshi.

"Well, none of the terroists are paying attention to us. If I can sneak in from the rear, I can eliminate that gunner and use the enemy's weapon against them. Meanwhile, you can make a break for the others and escape."

"Without you? Are you crazy? You'll be killed!"

"I'm bleeding bad. I doubt I would have made it to a hospital."

"Then why did you lie to me?"

"Because I saw that fear that I told you about in your eyes. You were scared. You needed someone by your side. I figured that if I told you I was finished, you would panick. I'm sorry, but you have to go on your own the rest of the way."

"You can't just throw your life away! Let's think about what Takami would do-"

"Do you know how many times during those missions that Takami almost gets shot down. He told me that he always has to keep dodging SAM sites and RPGs. He is surprised that he survivied all of that."

"Then how does he keep going out there with all those rockets being shot at him?"

"Honestly, I don't know. I don't think any soldier knows why they keep going into the field of battle. The fear always hits a person hard in battle. And yet, whenever I get shot at, I just ignore it. Well, no point in boring you any longer. Wait until I reach the truck before you fight your way to the others. I'll cover you."

"Dammit, don't do this!"

Despite Hoshi's pleas, the soldier jogs over to the enemy vehicle. A few men spot him, but are gunned down by the pistol the soldier is wielding. The machine gunner spots the Japanese man and turns to fire. He doesn't get the chance to fire off a shot as a bullet tears through his neck.

"Lucky the others are still defending themselves." thought the soldier.

He shoots the driver of the jeep and climbs on board. He aims at the other terroists and starts firing away, watching men get riddled with bullets. A terroist runs up with a RPG and takes aim at the truck. Before he can fire, his chest gets punched by lead. Behind the injured soldier, a young boy comes out with a grenade and chucks it. The explosive lands between the legs of the soldier, who jumps for it. Just as he lands, the grenade explodes, destroying the machine gun. The soldier tries to get his wits together, but notices that the boy is grabbing his pistol.

'Killed by a kid who doesn't know any better about the people he fights with. Takami is going to be laughing about that after the sorrow passes.' thought the soldier.

"NO YOU DON'T YOU BRAT!"

Hoshi comes running in, gun blazing. Her bullets miss, but the boy is scared off and runs back into the base. Hoshi quickly grabs the soldier and gets him into one of the JSDF vehicles, sitting right next to him. The vehicles pull out of the base just as some fighter jets fly over and fire off missiles that rip the base apart.

As the column makes its way to a river where ships are waiting to pick up the soldiers, Hoshi's injured comrade decides to deal with his curiosity.

"Uh Hoshi, why did you save me back then? I thought you were scared."

"Well, I remembered how I had left you when you got shot. I wasn't thinking much about it then, but I realized how horrible I was leaving you to die. I just couldn't do that again."

"Wow, I never would have thought you would do something like that after you scattered like a rabbit."

"Yea-Wait, what was that?"

"Uh, nothing."

"I guess that if I'm alone in battle, my fear may pop up. But when I see somebody else in trouble, I know that I have to help them. It's one of the reasons for why I joined the JSDF."

"Well, from one soldier to another I think you'll save a lot of lives."

"Thanks...Say, I never got your name."

"Call me Bart."

"Wait, you're Bart? The Japanese-American who always keeps rushing into battle headfirst like an idiot?"

"Wha-Hey, what has Takami been telling you about me!?"

The End