The Eternal Zero Page #2

In an instant' three lives blown to bits.

It's terrifying.

I don't want to die.

What's that?

What did you just say?

When he spoke of not wanting to die.

I remember I felt an intense loathing.

June 5th of the following year,

the Flight Chief's concern

at not having destroyed the US carriers

came back to haunt us tenfold.

The Pacific.

It was the Battle of Midway.

Midway Island

June 5th, 1942.

Those damn enemy carriers

still haven't been located.

Maybe they're running scared from us.

Look at our planes.

They're removing the torpedoes...

The higher-ups must've figured

the carriers are gone.

Enemy carrier group heated.

Switch out bombs for torpedoes.

- We just took them off!

- Give us a break.

Didn't you hear?

Replace torpedoes on the double!

We can't afford the delay.

We need to launch.

But bombs don't sink carriers.

That doesn't matter. We must strike first!

But we might as well sink them?

Then why switch them out

in the first place?

If it's carriers we're after

we should've waited with torpedoes.

If we're attacked now,

it'll be a disaster.

Air defense pilots, scramble!

Good luck.

I'm off.

To starboard!

No match for the Zero!

Dive bombers above!

They were decoy attacks.

That was my experience

of the Battle of Midway.

We'd lost our carrier.

So we ditched in the sea.

And we were picked up by our destroyers.

Father, that's enough for now...

Yes, you must be tired...

No, there's more I must tell you.

In the summer of 1942,

after a spell in the rear,

we were sent out to Rabaul.

The cream of the crop

of the Imperial Navy's pilots were there.

Forming the esteemed Rabaul Squadron.

Miyabe-san was soon promoted

to Flight Leader.

Myself and a man named Koyama

were selected as his wingmen.

Izaki.

How can you stand this guy?

Constant inverted drills...

Our blind spot's below.

He's just being vigilant.

In that case he's overdoing it.

We're the laughingstock.

Our orders are to serve with him.

It can't be helped, right?

Then when a fight develops,

he soon leads us away...

I want to fight the damn Yanks.

Yet he's picky about the little stuff.

Makes a huge fuss

about the tiniest engine glitch...

irregular vibrations at high revs.

Please take it apart and check it again.

All the mechanics steer clear of him.

Do you train like this everyday, sir?

Yeah.

Combat days, too?

Yeah.

How come?

Look what I got sent.

It's my wife and daughter.

When things are tough

and I want to quit, I look at this.

My death will hardly affect the war.

However...

it would change their lives immensely.

For that reason,

it's vital for me

to survive and make it home.

Is life really that important?

Wanting to make it home...

To put that into words,

in that day and age,

was simply unthinkable.

I guess you had to live in those times

to appreciate what I'm telling you.

In other words,

our grandfather

was that much in love

with his wife and child?

Yes.

We didn't use words like love...

But it was for their sakes.

He was so frank about wanting to survive.

For men of my generation

that's an ample declaration of love.

It wasn't cowardice at all...

But not long after that

staying alive

became easier said than done.

The bitterest battles of war befell us.

The struggles for Guadalcanal

and the Solomon Islands.

In these battles, the Imperial Navy

would lose its greatest asset,

most of its highly-trained pilots.

All hands, back to command center.

Today's raid is canceled.

You've got a new mission.

Those dastardly Allies

have attacked one of our airfields

just as it was completed.

They killed the tiny construction crew

and snatched it right from under us.

Our new mission

is to bomb their forces on Guadalcanal.

It's a matter of revenge.

Dismissed!

Salute!

At ease.

To your planes!

270 nautical miles to Shortland...

That makes 540...

Then 20 more...

560 nautical miles.

Impossible. We can't fight at that range.

Miyabe...

What did you just say?

Why are you always whining?

Show some damn spirit!

It's bad for morale. Keep your mouth shut.

Flight Chief...

Why did you say that?

Are you familiar with Guadalcanal?

Not at all.

But I know what 560 nautical miles are.

Three and a half hours to get out there,

eyes constantly peeled for the enemy.

With the fuel needed for our return,

we'll only have 10 minutes

of combat time over the target.

I can just picture

the kind of fight it'll be.

5 hours later.

It was just as he had said.

What's wrong?

I'm going back.

He wants to ram into the enemy.

You mustn't!

Don't do it!

Please, sir...

We made it!

Goddamn it...

We'll get a rescue. Hold on!

Koyama!

Be patient!

At that map reference,

there was no trace of

Petty Officer Koyama.

What's wrong?

But in that area,

I saw many circling sharks.

Chief!

Why not let him sacrifice himself?

Rather than death with the sharks,

slamming into the enemy

would've been far more worthy!

There was still hope at that point.

- You really thought he'd make it?

- I don't know!

But I know suicide is final.

Dying's easy. It's living that needs guts.

There's no point...

It's obvious we won't survive the war.

If my plane gets shot up,

please let me make an honorable sacrifice.

Izaki, don't you get it?

Don't you have family?

Won't anyone grieve if you die?

Answer me, Izaki!

My parents are in the provinces.

Is that all?

A younger brother, too.

You're saying

they won't be sad if you die?

No...

Then you must not die!

No matter what, do your utmost to survive!

That was the one and only time

the Chief ever raised his voice at me.

For that reason,

his words have always stayed with me.

Those words came back to me

in the period after we'd left Rabaul.

In 1944, at the Battle of

the Philippine Sea,

one of the waiting Grummans

punctured my fuel tank.

I figured my time was up

and I was going to crash

into an enemy plane.

BM We...

"Izaki, don't you get it?"

The Chief's voice echoed in my head.

I put myself into a steep dive

and got away safely.

When my fuel gave out

I ditched successfully in the sea.

Then swam through the sharks

for nine hours straight.

I almost gave up so many times.

But each time

the Chief's voice came back to me.

No matter what, do your utmost to survive!

As I stared death in the face,

the meaning of those words

finally hit home.

Thanks to that, I'm here now.

If it weren't for the Chief,

my daughter wouldn't have been born.

Only nowadays

can I say it openly.

In choosing to live by that code,

the Chief was the strongest among us.

Because of that, he stuck to his beliefs.

In no sense was he a coward.

Yet in the end,

he never saw

his wife and child again, right?

No. There was once, after Pearl Harbor.

When the Akagi was docked at Yokosuka.

He told me

he took the time to visit his home.

Miyabe Residence.

Darling...

What's wrong?

Nothing's wrong at all.

But if you're coming home,

please at least let me know.

Sorry about that.

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