Second Chance War - 43 Kenneth Taylor, Pilot Extraordinaire

At a small table in a barn out in a field, two men were snoring peacefully at a table. An unfinished poker game lay scattered on the table as well as quite a few bottles of alcohol. Both men were snoring at a good volume, all of the excitement of the previous hour completely forgotten. They were both wearing tuxedos, yet for all their drunken splendor, not a single one was dirtied or disheveled. These men were honest pilots of the United States Navy and they were assigned to Pearl Harbor and just this last night they were celebrating their recent promotions to Flight Lieutenants. They had only fallen asleep the previous hour after having been up all night, but when the Japanese planes started strafing the nearby airfield and the sounds of explosions could be heard, both men awoke with a jolt. They ran outside, the harsh morning sunlight burned their eyes as they watched Japanese Zeroes flying overhead.

“Look at the meatballs on those wings Ken!” One of the shorter of the two called out.

“We gotta get to the airfield George! Come on!” The taller one with the sandy blonde hair called back to his friend George as they both hopped into the jeep they had used to drive to this barn in the middle of nowhere. The planes up above noticed the two’s frantic drive through the fields and on to the highway. According to the maps they were given and their pre-op briefing, those two should be headed towards the nearby auxiliary airfield Haleiwa, which means that they are either pilots or mechanics! A formation of Japanese Zeroes started to dive down and strafe the American Jeep. Bullets stitched the highway in random patterns all around the jeep, sending rocks flying everywhere. The jeep swerved between lanes, rounding the corner of the mountainside they were driving on. The speedometer read a total speed of one-hundred and eight miles per hour, which was incredible, and absolutely insane.

“Step on it, Georgie! They’re right on our ass!” Kenneth yelled as he fumbled around in the backseat for something useful against the strafing planes. Finally, with a triumphant shout, he managed to find a Thompson Submachine Gun, he only had two extra magazines to go with it though.

George noticed that his best friend managed to find a gun in the backseat while he was maniacally driving. “Give’em hell Ken!”

Ken didn’t need any more words of encouragement as he took aim at the nearest plane heading straight towards them. He squeezed the trigger as soon as he lined up the sights.

RATATATATATA!!!! RATATATATATA!!!! RATATATATATA!!! RATATATA–PING!!!

He hit the fuselage and managed to ignite a flame in the cockpit of the plane as his gun emptied! The plane tried to pull up over the mountain and sheered one of its wings off in a haze of sparks as it flew over the mountain.

“HELL YEAH!!! YOU WANT SOME OF THIS?!!” Ken high off adrenaline started shouting at the planes when he saw that one go down over the mountain. He swiftly reloaded the Thompson and took quick aim at another strafing plane.

RATATATATATA!!!! RATATATATA!!!

The plane pulled off quickly, remembering what just happened to its fellow as Ken stitched line across its wings in a shower of sparks and flying metal bits. All of the Japanese planes hung at a distance and took random potshots at the jeep. None of them hit, but there was nothing they could do without risking their planes going down.

Soon enough they drove down the mountain and into a field. At the far end of the field was an airstrip with hangars. Anti-aircraft fire filled the skies above the airfield as Japanese planes were harassing the defenders. Yet no serious damage was done as this was only an auxiliary target and this airfield was well prepared and notified in advance. At the base, the commanding officer noticed the wildly driving jeep with the aircraft behind it trying to shoot it to pieces. He immediately ordered supporting fire to cover the fleeing jeep. Soon after one of the aircraft in the sky above the jeep burst into flame and crashed outside of the airfield as fifty caliber bullets stitched across it, ignited the fuselage and fuel tanks.

George drove right up to the commanding officer breaking into a slide that put them about twenty feet away. They both got out of the jeep and saluted, half in uniform.

“Boys it’s great that you’re here! I’ve got planes, but no pilots! No time to get in gear! Get in those planes and get these assholes out of my airspace!”

“Sir!” They both saluted and ran to the hangars. Mechanics and technicians were undergoing last minute and quick fitting of the two planes they were going to use. They had loaded two P-40 Warhawk fighter planes, but with thirty caliber ammunition, there wasn’t any time to retrofit them with the fifties! Ken and Gorge climbed into their planes, no time for a pre-flight check-up. They started the engines and with a roar, they slowly exited the hangars.

“COVER THOSE AIRCRAFT BOYS!” The commanding officer yelled at the anti-aircraft gunners. Soon the sky above the two Warhawks was filled with tracers and no planes dared get close to the two planes lifting off. George and Ken braced themselves as their aircraft accelerated down the strip, slowly inching into the air. Soon they were free, flying the skies amidst a hail of bullets. Ken took a looked out of his cockpit and noticed two Japanese Zeroes bearing down on the hangar bays even while being fired upon. He jerked the joystick and pressed down on the rudder, his plane taking a wide curve in the air as he dived at the Japanese planes. He lined up the reticle on the inside of the cockpit with the planes in front as he thumbed the trigger, letting loose a stream of thirty caliber rounds!

Ratatatatatatatatatatatatatatatatata!!!! Ratatatatatatatatatatatatatatatata!!!!

The sounds of the machine guns firing lost in the wind, but he could feel the plane jerking with the recoil. Soon in front of him, one of the planes caught on fire, he scored a hit on the fuselage again! It quickly burned out, with so much wind pressure the fire wasn’t able to last long, but there was a big hole in the wing, causing the plane to lose airspeed rapidly. Ken took advantage of this to let another stream of bullets loose and he was rewarded when his rounds penetrated the cockpit, ripping the Japanese pilot apart in a haze of gore. The plane rapidly tumbled out of the air without a pilot to control it, turning into a blazing inferno on the ground.

“Ken I need help here!” George cried on the radio. Ken looked around and tried to spot George. He found him at his ten o’clock position. George was being chased by three Zeroes. Another yank on the stick and a shift in the rudder and he swung his plane gracefully in the air. He increased the throttle, pushing his Warhawk to her limits, rapidly closing the distance in the air. He lined up behind the Zeroes in haste and squeezed the trigger.

Ratatatatatatata! Ratatatatatata! Ratatatatata! Ratatatata—CLINK!!

Shit! Ken looked at his dashboard. Weapon Jam was lit red. Nothing he could do about it. He managed to clip the tail of one of the planes, it was forced to abort and try to limp back to its carrier fleet. Ken keyed the radio.

“Georgie! My weapon jammed! Play some chicken?!”

“Just like we used to do?! When the Flight Lieutenant would get mad at us?!”

“Just like that brother.”

In sync the two Warhawks pulled off a highly advanced maneuver. George’s Warhawk flew underneath and over the first plane while Ken pulled ahead of the second plane. Both lead their respective “victims” in opposite directions while dodging aircraft fire by weaving left and right. Suddenly they both climbed straight into the sky and flew towards each other, their shadows following suit. At the very last second, Ken and George yanked their joysticks up as hard as they can while slamming the rudder. Their planes took a sharp downwards turn as if they had hit a brick wall in midair. The two Japanese planes were not so lucky as they crashed nose first into each other, exploding in midair, raining parts all over the sky.

Ken and George scanned around for any other aircraft but there were none. Ken had no choice but to land because his weapon had jammed, and George followed suit. As Ken climbed out of the cockpit he was greeted by the commanding officer.

“Great flying son, command passed down the word. The Japanese planes are pulling out, this battle is over. Get some rest, you’ve earned it. God knows we’ll be going to war soon.”

Ken walked away from his aircraft feeling great. He was looking forward to the upcoming war. He had a feeling there was going to be more action where that came from.