Operation Kami No Tasuke

Yokota Air Base, Fussa, Tokyo
July 28th
7:00 AM

We left the house early, Xi'an came to pick us up in a minivan and we headed to the airport to get on the plane to Okinawa. When we arrived we went straight to the area where they were waiting for us and what a sight there was, about 7 Boeing C-17 Globemaster, the heavy transport planes of the air force were waiting in line getting ready to leave. They were being quickly loaded with as many emergency supplies as possible, there were also a lot of soldiers waiting their turn to board the planes as well. This would be the first of several trips on an emergency humanitarian relief operation. It seems that apart from the three cargo planes that our base had, the others were from Kadena Air Base, which came during the night bringing as many wounded people as they could and would now make the return trip with us.

Most of the U.S. military personnel came from Akasaka Press Center and Yokota Air Base, but they were not the only ones, there were also several from the JSDF, the Japanese Army, who of course would also come to help. Cedric came out to greet us and to tell us which would be our plane, it would be mainly a cargo plane but also soldiers would come because every available space was necessary, we could not take an almost empty one as we would have liked. And our group, as always, could not be weirder: A girl in a wheelchair, two androids, a little girl doing cosplay, Tamamo, my mother, and her daughter Maria, although there was also Tifa hidden in my sister's bag. As usual, Adelis introduced us as her security team. But the looks of disbelief were constant during the trip, it was understandable, I would also be the same, however, the mockery of some idiot was not missing.

"This is stupid"
"A cripple girl in a wheelchair on the plane"
"Just what we need, "special forces" wasting space."

"Well, she's coming with us because your mother is on the cargo ship."

"What did you just say!"

"That your mother is fat, genius!"
"Isn't it obvious? Do you need me to draw it for you? Give me an empty book"
"All this plane will never be half of what she is."
"Hell, your mother aside, how are you even in service?"
"You look like just opening a can will give you cardiac arrest"
"If you didn't come along we could have packed a few more boxes"
"The cargo on this plane is food for people in distress, not your lunch"

"I'm going to show you what pain is midget!"

"Don't get up, you'll throw the plane off balance! You'll make us crash!"
"No doubt you're a key member of your platoon"
"In a shootout, you are the cover"

"CALM DOWN, BOTH OF YOU!"
"You shouldn't have said that."
"And you stop provoking the agent"
"This is a serious situation"
"When we get to land, we'll have a lot of work to do"
"Save your energy for using a shovel and not for talking."

"Okay, because even though it may not seem like it, being a commander means that I have to babysit you, and also the fat man, so I'll give you some advice so that you don't say you're a bad leader later on"
"So, I'll give you a few pieces of advice so you don't say you're a bad leader later on"
"I've already got a lot with my figure, thank you"
"...."
"Okay first and foremost is the time!"
"After an event as tragic as the earthquake that happened yesterday a lot of people have been trapped and need to be rescued"
"The average life expectancy is 72 hours after that it is very difficult to find people alive"
"Don't waste time!"
"Rescue as many people as possible!"
"You will eat, rest or die later"
"But for now, it is your turn to work as angels"
"It is in your hands to save lives, to save a child, to save an old man, to save a doctor who in turn will save more people"
"Don't stop to help someone who needs food, help someone who is begging for help under a building"
"A lost child will find his mother later"
"But the mother must first be rescued from the car in which she was trapped"
"Let's also bury the dead later"
"Let's try to make them less first"
"...."
"Second, the place is quite dangerous in itself"
"There are buildings that are just waiting for someone to walk by and collapse"
"Many power lines have been cut and there is no way of knowing which one was high voltage"
"But in particular, always be vigilant"
"Even though this is not a combat zone, it does not mean that the probability of being killed by gunfire does not exist"
"After such a destructive event, maintaining public order is quite difficult"
"There is always the idiot who pretends to be lord and master of the post-apocalypse again"
"There is probably someone out there right now taking advantage of other people's disgrace to make money"
"My advice is to always have a gun in your hand no matter where you are"
"Keep an eye on your surroundings, and keep an eye on people"
"Help them, but also expect that you could get stabbed"
"...."
"Third, if any of you still can't speak Japanese, please stay with someone who can"
"There are desperate people asking for whatever help they can get"
"They will be giving you important information, information with which you will have to make God's decisions"
"Decide who lives and who dies"
"For that you need information and for that, you must listen to the people"
"You can look for a local translator, but keep in mind that the information they can give you may be biased"
"...."
"Finally, know your limits"
"If you see that something is a lost cause, or that there is no solution, do not hesitate to retreat and also ask for help by radio"
"If you see a group of thugs that outnumber and outgun you, don't be a hero and get out of there"
"Civilians are more likely to survive alone under the rule of a criminal than a soldier of a rival faction"
"Do not hesitate to leave people behind to rescue them later"
"Except with exceptions of course, but that is up to each of you"
"You will see if it is convenient to sacrifice your life for others"
"...."
"That was my Tedx about the world economy of bread, thank you very much"

"What an optimist you are"
"You almost sound like you hate everyone" said Cedric. 

"I hate everyone when it is a serious business"

"You know, even though you've saved so many people at your age"
"You don't sound like a hero at all"

"I am not a hero"
"I'm just a sinful man trying to not  become a demon"

After my little altercation and small talk, the atmosphere calmed down. For the rest of the trip, the others tried to keep their spirits up by trying to tell jokes or anecdotes. They were trying to be cheerful now that they could, as they probably wouldn't have time later.

The trip took about 3 hours to reach the island of Okinawa. When we had the island in our sights I went to the cockpit to get a better look, but the view was not promising, much of the city had been destroyed, and the lighthouses near the coast seemed to have been wiped off the map. The most intact place was our airstrip, Kadena Air Base, It is the largest and most active U.S. Air Force base in East Asia. We had to wait several minutes because the air traffic was a real nightmare, as it was the only place where planes could land. Dozens of planes and helicopters had the control tower completely occupied, and all of them were acting as ambulances bringing the wounded as fast as they could. As this place was built with an enemy attack in mind, it is logical that it was the place that could best withstand the damage. 

We arrived at around 11 a.m, after landing, as soon as the door of the plane opened, several soldiers were waiting for us to start unloading the plane as quickly as possible to prepare it immediately for the next trip to evacuate the wounded. As we walked further in, we could see a hundred tents, both military and civilian, people who had lost their homes taking shelter. A field hospital had been set up in a hurry, but it could not accommodate the number of people arriving, as it had been planned to attend to soldiers wounded in a battle, not a whole city was destroyed in one day, even the soldiers' barracks had been reassigned to families and several soldiers were sleeping outside on the grass.

When we arrived a group of officers came to us to guide my mother to the base Control Center, where all the commanders and captains, both the U.S. Army and the JSDF., were meeting to try to decide what to do next and to more efficient about the rescue efforts. 

The first thing was to know the area, Kadena Air Base was located in the center of the main island of Okinawa, but it was not the only one, in the surroundings, there are dozens of other islands, all of them inhabited and also affected, several of them have been damaged since yesterday's earthquake, right now every available helicopter is trying to act as an ambulance, so there was no reconnaissance team available. The best that could be done so far was to load some drones with food and drop it on the islands hoping for the best.

But that was not the only news, the base was also running out of supplies at an alarming rate and had to ask for help from other bases in Korea, Indonesia, and the Philippines to send what they could, but things were slow in coming. Also, the Carrier Strike Group 5 had not arrived yet, they would be arriving later this afternoon, they were on their way back from Hawaii after delivering the tactical nuke I gave them some time ago. They were the ones bringing the heavy equipment such as demolition and construction equipment, a real field hospital in addition to what they have on board, and also nuclear generators that could help supply part of the city with power.

Adelis took control of the place and immediately put my daughters to work. They accessed the little information and communications to try to better establish what was going on. After a couple of minutes of deciding the priorities, they came up with a better plan of action than just helping those who came here.

"The largest number of troops should move to the city where the most people were living and rescue the most people in these 72 hours"
"It is necessary to collect more information from the adjacent islands to establish priorities"
"If send again more reconnaissance drones I could control them and see their status"
"Right now, despite the difficulties at Kadena Air Base, this place is in the best condition"
"Efforts should be focused on the southern part of the island"
"The hospitals near the air base are in good condition to remain operational"
"However, Ryukyus University Hospital is the only one in the south of the island that is still intact, there is a high possibility of survivors and they need help"
"A team must be deployed to ensure their safety and help them as soon as possible"
"The site has no electricity or communication sources"
"By law a hospital has fuel to use power generators for 72 hours"
"Ryukyus Hospital has suffered severe damage and we are in the middle of the second day"
"At best they have only 36 more hours of electricity"
"Without it, many of their patients could die"
"Two teams of engineers must be deployed to repair nearby power plants"
"Once the power is restored and the seriousness of the hospital's situation is established, the Okinawa civilian airport must be put back into operation"
"In this way, we will be able to establish a second camp and transport/rescue line"
"With it, we can start to travel to the other islands and try to restore communications"

"Okay, all right."
"I can lead the team to the hospital"
"I'm from the area, I know several routes that could take us there" Said a JSDF official.

"When the aircraft carrier USS Essex arrives, I will send it south to establish the second base camp" Said my mother.

"I can help!"
"I know how to fix a lot of things"
"I can go to one of the power plants and see how to fix it" Said Momo by surprise, volunteering to help.

"A nun?"
"What do you know about electrical power engineering?"

"Well, this nun is smarter than the rest of us put together when it comes to machines"
"Go ahead, I approve"
"I'll give you a team and we'll send you to the place that is most likely to be repairable"
"Elise, I don't think I need to explain but you will be in command of the small expedition"
"Please take care of her"

"Yes, of course, no problem"

"Cedric, search on the refugees for a surveyor or something like that"
"Go to the mountains and check the terrain"
"Earthquake aftershocks are very likely"
"I don't want the mountain to collapse on us by surprise"

"Yes ma'am!"

"Kasumi you can fly right?"
"I want you to go to the sky and help your sister get better information for now"
"As soon as the drones are refueled I will send them into the sky to help"
"Since the phone towers are down I need you to try to help establish communications"
"Prioritize military communications and mark the locations where civilians are calling"
"In this way, you should discover several pockets of refugees that we will rescue"

"Charlotte, you will be the main computer until your break"
"Try to assist the others as best as you can"
"And while you're at it try to put some order in the sky"
"We can't let supply flights be delayed by helicopters on the runway"

"Okay" said both at the same time.

"Everyone else, I want to see you out there moving debris"
"We don't have time, we have to keep rescuing people"
"Come on, move!"

After the meeting, we all moved outside to prepare our exits. I put on the commander's coat that Yamamoto gave me along with a commander's coat that I had gotten (stolen) from the meeting to try to look like I had authority despite the way I looked, and to protect myself from the sun because just walking from the plane to the office room had already burned me, I tried to get some things to repair equipment from the warehouse and prepare to make our way and whatever might happen later. Several refuellers were upset at our departure because we were using all-terrain vehicles and demanded that we use them to continue rescuing people, even blocking the road ahead of us. But the mission was more important and manners were optional today so I just told the driver to keep going, and they would either get out of the way or stop bothering us for good, whichever came first.