Yukikaze novel - opening chapter
anampostale
animation, but have absolutely no clue about the story: here is the
opening chapter of the yukikaze novel translated. hope it will clear
up some of your questions and make your watching experience of this
awesome work more enjoyable.
special thanks goes to Chibikit of anime-kingdom.net, Boris, and Rich
for helping out with English editing.
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Sentou Yousei Yukikaze (Revised Edition) - opening chapter
-Kanbayashi Chouhei
translated by anampostale
English editing by chibikit
---
To truly see a fairy, is to look into her eyes.
---
FAF Special Force Squadron
Take any given period in history. As one draws their view of the maps
of the period back, it's a rare instance to see a land area not marked
by war, conflict, or opposition.
If one were to paint the areas of conflict red, even on today's maps,
it would seem stained with splattered blood. The history of mankind is
also a chronicle of wars: people have struggled against each other or
Mother Nature in the ages past, and the same holds true today.
However, comparing today's map with the past, one can find a red dot
in Antarctica that symbolizes a war different from every other in the
past. It is but a very small dot and perhaps easily overlooked -
actually, even today people have forgotten about this dot - yet, it is
there.
One thousand kilometers from the South Pole, roughly 170 degrees west:
a point on the Ross Ice Shelf. Its size is no more than a mere 500
meters in radius.
That is the hyperspace "Passage." The alien JAM's Earth-invasion
pathway.
The Passage is shaped like a giant spindle. Its maximum diameter is
about 3 kilometers; its height over 10 kilometers; and the bottom of
it thrusts into the Ross Ice Shelf. If weather conditions are good,
the Passage can be seen like this: it is, without a doubt, a huge mist
column that looks like a giant missile shot down from the sky.
No one knows when the Passage came into existence. Mankind first
learned of the JAM's existence when they flew out from the Passage and
launched a preemptive strike 30 years ago. Then, in order to repel and
fight back the JAM, we went through the Passage. From there, the Earth
defence's reconnaissance squad reported the discovery of an unknown
planet. Behind them, the great fog column that pierced through the
ground stood towering over the surroundings, and there was dense
forest all around. This planet - Faery - still carries many mysteries,
even today. Which star system does it belong to? Both geographical and
biological studies have yielded almost no progress.
On the Earth side of the Passage, if one were to take a laser beam and
aim it into the column, the light would go through and come out in
Faery space as if the light came from deep within the Passage itself.
Indeed, perhaps this fog column is intended to function as a pathway.
However, perhaps one might also think that the white fog column is not
a passageway, but rather another universe that exists there, inside
the cloud. An illusion, perhaps?
Nevertheless, the JAM are no illusion. Mankind fought JAM, and the war
rages on today. The threat of JAM has not disappeared; it's just that
the battlefield has moved from Earth to planet Faery.
***
Today, the Earth Defense Organization's main combat force is the FAF
(Faery Air Force). The FAF's main troops are spread out along the
Passage's circumference on Faery's side - in the six bases of Sylvia,
Brownie, Trold, Siren, Valkyr, and Fairy - with the command
headquarters located in the largest base, Fairy.
***
At the moment, the strongest unit in the FAF is the twin-engine
tactical fighter plane codenamed the Sylph. Armed with advanced
electronic weaponry, the engines of these high-powered jets have been
repeatedly improved for high performance in the atmosphere of Faery.
Due to the high production cost, there aren't many Sylphs around but
the FAF has since increased production on its modified models. Among
these few original Sylphs, 13 of them have been further outfitted with
an advanced AI (artificial intelligence) system. Some call these Super
Sylphs. Although they match other Sylphs in appearance, they are
completely different machines. These Super Sylphs are computers with
wings and high-powered engines.
These 13 Tactical Combat Reconnaissance Sylphs are assigned to the
FAF's Special Air Force 5th Squadron.
If one looks at the published command structure chart of FAF's corps,
divisions, and squads, the Special Air Force 5th Squadron is but a
small division that exists within the Tactical Aviation Combat Corps
based at Fairy. In truth, it has its own independent command center
and exists as an autonomous unit. Today, merely saying "Special Force"
would be referring to this 5th Squadron. Though the official
abbreviation for this squad is SAF-V, official reports aside, most
people just omit the "V" part. Within the FAF, everyone just calls it
the "SAF."
At the inception of FAF, the existence of a "Special Force" wasn't at
all important. The SAF was formed because the current FAF staff
predicted that it will be necessary to obtain tactical information
with high accuracy. It was not just by chance that the SAF, whose main
job is to collect all the data on the frontline, was given the best
Sylphs to do the job; it was a necessity. Nowadays, computers with
high computational power have become necessary in fighting with the
JAM. Without a computer, one cannot fight against the JAM. Each Super
Sylph, deployed in actual combat in data gathering roles, have a
high-performance computer equipped onboard. Extremely advanced, unlike
those of other fighters', posessing real-time analytical ability,
these core computers have an interface that allows them to directly
connect to the central tactical computer located in the heavily
guarded Special Air Force command center situated deep in the depths
below Fairy. The computers on the Super Sylphs can be considered as,
practically, parts of the main central computer.
The SAF, therefore, is the most computerized division within the FAF.
The overriding command given to the SAF is that they must make it back
to base at all costs. The SAF gathers information on the frontlines
and all the files pertaining to combat data are saved on the Sylph
until returning to base. Easily disrupted radio circuits are used only
under emergency situations.
It's very rare to see all thirteen Super Sylphs out on missions. Only
one or, at most, two Super Sylphs are sent out at a time to observe
fighter jets from other squadrons. Should the observed squadron be
annihilated, the SAF's duty is not to cover and rescue them but to
gather all combat data and return to base. In order for them to
complete missions, the Super Sylphs are equipped with radar comparable
to that of an AWACS (Airborne Warning And Control System) aircraft and
external fuel tanks. Also, in order to protect the plane and the data
it carries, and only for that reason, they are armed with potent
weaponry.
Watching one's own comrades die without lending a helping hand and
returning to base is a heartless thing to do. The pilots that execute
missions like these are required to have a heart as cold as a
computer's. The SAF's pilots are chosen from those who fulfill this
requirement, as well as having a "special" personality that rids them
of a sense of humanity. These pilots trust a computer's judgment over
a human's and operate their planes to perfection. They function as the
Super Sylph's tactical "organic computers" and carry out these
cold-blooded missions. These pilots surely come from different places
and have varied backgrounds; however, the FAF does not make such
personal data containing these peoples' pasts public. To the Special
Air Force, the important thing is not these peoples' past but their
personality - which should be as if "a machine has somehow been
mistakenly made into a human."
At the moment, the war against the JAM requires people like this. This
de-humanization of human beings might be the ultimate goal of the
JAM... or so I've thought lately. Even if that is not the case, if the
SAF were to become a more efficient force in repelling the JAM, as
long as the fighting continues, more and more pilots of this kind will
be needed. To the Earthlings, the JAM are a real threat.
***
Today, it is rare to see the JAM appearing on Earth. The FAF on the
other side of the Passage, on Faery's side, is holding the JAM's
invasion back. The Passage is too insignificant, and the fight on
planet Faery is too distant from the daily happenings on Earth to
relate to. As it stands now, the threat of JAM has been forgotten.
Many people today think of the battle between the FAF and JAM as
something like a fairy tale from picture books. However, even now the
JAM is poised to strike at Earth. The threat has not disappeared. The
JAM might be planning a second major invasion, or they could be
launching indirect attacks while maintaining the current situation.
The alien life form JAM is still an unknown. No one knows what they
are thinking and by the time we find out it may be too late. We cannot
forget about the JAM. They are not "humans with a different colored
skin."
They are a real threat to all humanity.
-Excerpt taken from Lynn Jackson's "The Invader" 15th edition
-end
Translator's note: to avoid confusion, I've spelled the planet "Faery"
and the FAF base "fairy", even though the spelling is the same in
Japanese.
Editor's note: I have edited mainly for flow and clarity. Only one
major change - "patrol aircraft" is replaced by "AWACS craft". While
it is probably not a literal match, the idea is that the Super Sylph's
radar system is far more advanced than a standard aircraft's. As
"patrol plane" can refer to a normal fighter on a patrol mission, I
have made this change.
Posthumandude
>opening chapter of the yukikaze novel translated.
You rock my face.
Julian Fong
Does anyone else think that Japanese fiction writers don't seem
to believe in the "show, don't tell" rule?
--
Julian Fong
jhf...@aol.comXYZZY
http://www.evilnet.net/~jhfong/
- Per ardua ad astra -