ASAHI NO NISHISEI - Rising Sun Goes West (2)

Short Story | RIMPAC Over 60 Years

This is 13 years before the Volume 5's Epilogue.

- Bokutotsu Zen'u

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May 3, 2087

Palau Harbor coastal area, Malakal Island, Republic of Palau, Pacific Ocean

It is the end of the 21st century, and the world has become a desolate place where the world economy and all orders have disappeared into chaos due to the unprecedented catastrophe of the fall of the People's Republic of China and the disappearance of Japan, and ethnic conflicts are frequent around the world. The majority of the world's human population has been thrown into conflict and ethnic strife, forced to live in poverty and hunger, and driven by greed. Only a few countries, including Japan, have governments in power and functioning properly.

A huge ship is floating in the devastated seas of the earth. The name of the ship, with the rising sun flag on its stern, is the Fusō, the world's only flying battleship for atmospheric and space navigation owned by the Imperial Japanese Navy. The Fusō was currently anchored in the territorial waters of the Republic of Palau, a country in Oceania.

"RIMPAC in this day and age... even so, it's a beautiful place."

Captain Satoru Suzuki, the captain of the Fusō, gazed out the window of the first bridge at the cobalt blue sea. Even at the end of the 21st century, an era of chaos, the Palauan sea was filled with beauty that belied this fact.

The Self-Defense Forces, which had suffered tremendous losses some 50 years earlier, including the loss of the 3rd Escort Group in a battle against the remnants of an arrogant magical civilization, as well as the loss of many fighter aircraft such as the F-15J, F-2, and F-35C, supplemented its national defense with the 28th century flying battleship Fusō and its onboard aircraft to fill the missing defense gap.

Later, Japan returned to the devastated earth in "The Return in 2040," and the world is shocked to see the return of the Land of the Rising Sun. The existence of Fusō, the culmination of the over-technology of the 28th century, was immediately revealed to the world via embassies in Japan. The International Federation, a new international organization replacing the United Nations, demanded that the Japanese government submit the Fusō, claiming that it was equivalent to a weapon of mass destruction, and requested that Japan join the International Federation. Naturally, however, the Japanese government refused to submit the Fusō.

However, the Japanese government could not ignore the new international order, and it would be a disadvantage of the IF not to have Japan, which had maintained its national strength and was not affected by the collapse of order and the aftermath of the conflict, as an ally.

In 2051, the Constitution of Japan was greatly revised, and the SDF was renamed the "Imperial Japanese Armed Forces" after the Japanese government changed the name of the country on the document to the "Japanese Empire". Since then, Fusō has continued to play a role in national defense as the Special Task Force under the Imperial Japanese Navy Self-Defense Fleet. Naturally, analysis, research, and utilization of the 28th-century technology possessed by Fusō are steadily underway, in addition to the practical application of nuclear fusion power generation and the independent development of reusable space travel planes. In 2068, the world's first nuclear fusion-powered aircraft carrier, the Hōshō, was built. In 2076, the world's first independently-developed, dual-purpose atmospheric and space fighter aircraft was officially adopted and named UF-3 Universe Zero. Furthermore, in 2075, they are advancing to the moon's surface.

Local citizens gathered at the port of Malakal Island to watch the navies of various countries as they gathered. In addition to the Japanese Navy, warships from the Korean Navy, Chinese Navy, ASEAN Joint Navy, the Brazilian Navy, and the Indian Navy have already assembled.