Free War of the Sun by Mack Maloney

strike craft, the Corsairs had the fuel to spare to engage in any dogfights that arose on the way in. Thus each was outfitted with two AIM-9 Sidewinders, and two AIM-120 Advanced medium-range missiles bolted under their wings.
    Next to go were the two Alpha-1 Jets. Essentially an advance trainer/light attack plane and armed with only a single 30mm cannon, one of these Alphas was now carrying six bulging BLU-27 napalm bombs, the other six, cluster bombs. Of all the attacking airplanes, it was the Alphas whose targets had to be hit with the most precision and at exactly the right time. If not, then the entire American effort would quite literally go up in smoke.
    Next to launch in quick succession were the three weak sisters: the IAR-93 Orao, now the “Yugo”; the Indian Air Force Marut, and the Italiano Fiat G.91. Just like their more sophisticated counterparts, these airplanes had been modified to carry an extra heavy load of bombs. But because of their relatively substandard construction, their modifications had taken longer and were far more Mickey Mouse than the other strike craft. (Indeed, some of the extra ordnance was hanging from nothing more than steel cord and duct tape.) It was for this reason that the air service crew was most concerned about the fate of the trio of somehow endearing aerial oddballs.
    Hunter’s jumpjet was the last to go.
    Unlike the other strike craft, the amount of ordnance assembled under the wings of the Harrier was not mind-boggling.
    In fact, all he was lugging on the jumpjet was a 30mm cannon pod. Inside the cockpit, he was carrying his trusty M-16, plus a smaller pistol, which he considered the most important weapon of the mission.
    There was no need to hook up the Harrier to the carrier’s catapult system; the jumpjet lifted off after a short roll down the Fitz ’s flight deck, and after ascending to 4000 feet, it joined the rest of the circling TF Air Squadron.
    Once the 13 airplanes formed up, they turned as one and headed west.
    Yaz watched them quickly disappear over the ever-brightening horizon, and then told his communication officer to send a coded message to Jones back in Washington.
    It read simply: “We’re in the air.”

Ten
    Tokyo
    D EEP WITHIN HIS FLYING-SAUCER-SHAPED castle, Hashi Pushi, the Supreme Warlord of the Asian Mercenary Cult, was crying.
    It was now close to dawn. Usually at this time of day, the whim to indulge in yet another orgy would hit him. On these occasions, he would order a dozen or more “pleasure girls” from the Teishintai Corps. These were young women snatched from each village and hamlet that his ruthless troops continued to capture and occupy throughout the Asian hemisphere. The most beautiful and desirous ones were, of course, immediately transported to his headquarters, where he would use them for his sole enjoyment. The castoffs were left for his top commanders to do with as they pleased. It was perhaps the most well-organized sex slavery operation that had ever existed, and neither he nor his bloodthirsty troops ever wanted for any kind of carnal pleasure.
    It also did wonders for morale.
    But there would be no orgy this early morning. Indeed, Hashi Pushi was convinced that there would be no more orgies at all. At least, not the kind he was used to.
    So instead of ordering his adjutant officer to choose an assortment of young girls for his master, Hashi Pushi told the man to summon what was known as the Hi-Si String Orchestra. Famous throughout Asia as the most talented collection of Asian classical musicians ever assembled, they and their families were captured when the Cult overran the main island of Nippon. Hashi Pushi had them imprisoned in his palace, and whenever he felt the desire for music, they were brought before him to play.
    Not a minute after Hashi Pushi had so commanded, the twenty-four men and women members of the Hi-Si were led into his combination ballroom/ bedroom under the watchful eyes of a dozen armed guards. They