A/N: This is the first combat action for Kousei and Emi. I also took liberty for the squadron's radio call sign, which is "Symphonia".

Yokota Air Base, July 4th, 2018, 19.00 hour.

4th Tactical Fighter Squadron, 1st Air Wing, JASDF.

Nguing, nguing, nguing.. !

Upon hearing the alarm, Kousei and Emi and two other F-15J pilots assigned to the quick reaction alert rose up from their seats and put their G-suits on, then ran as fast as they can to their fighters.

Kousei was assigned to an F-15J Kai ++ with hull number "417", while Emi's plane was numbererd "412". He looked at his checklist as the engine started, and soon began the taxi process.

"Symphonia 2-2, you're cleared to take off." said the controller. 

"Yokota Tower.. this is Symphonia 2-2, affirmative." replied Kousei. He felt that someone is whispered at him while he powered up his F-15's twin Pratt & Whitney F100 turbofan engines and engaged the afterburner for a faster takeoff. 

This is it, Arima Kousei.. make them pay for derailing your dream. Show them how you play the "music of death" as well and as beautiful when you are in the piano.. 

They leveled up to 12.000 feet with cruising speed of 550 knots. All planes were loaded with full air-superiority load; 8 AAM-4 beyond-visual range air-to-air missile and 8 IR-guided AAM-5; all courtesy of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

Upon reaching the Sea of Japan (also known as the East Sea of Korea) Kousei's headset crackled. "This is AWACS Mangetsu (full moon), you are cleared for refueling" 

The F-15s approached an E-767 AWACS and a KC-46 tanker, and proceed to refuel. 

"To all units, we gladly inform you that "Operation Dragon's Fire" is now began. Tonight, your objective is to repel North Korean bombers heading towards Busan, now the temporary capital of the Korea Republic since Seoul has been under constant air raids and missile attacks from the North. Expect heavy fighter escort. All allied assets in the area are now engaged, so you will be on your own for a while... Be advised, multiple radar contacts detected, identified as Xi'an H-6 (Chinese copy of Soviet Tupolev Tu-16) bombers escorted by MiG-29M Fulcrums and MiG-21 Fishbeds."

Kousei remembered the briefings about the North Korean MiG-21s. "Do not underestimate the Fishbeds, as many of those planes has been upgraded by Russia or Belarus over the decade as MiG-21-93 variant, capable of BVR combat."  

The Japanese fighters soon approached the city of Busan.

"I got hostiles on my radar, four bombers with fighter escorts. Give us the order, sir." reported Emi on the mike.

"All Symphonia call sign, keep your radar on sweep mode." ordered the flight lead, Capt. Natsuki Hanae. The flight don't want to scare the North Koreans off prematurely if they locked their targets before reaching the AAM-4 range. 

Capt. Natsuki assigned each bomber to his flight. 

Kousei was assigned the second-northernmost H-6 to be taken out. Meanwhile, Emi was the southernmost.

"Target is in missile range, open fire, Fox 3!"

Using the F-15Js datalink system, the AAM-4s acquired and locked the bombers, beyond visual range. Soon, all the bombers were destroyed, upon the horror of their fighter escorts. 

"Symphonia 2-2, Splash one Badger!"

"First kill, excellent, Kousei!"

The escorting North Korean fighters scattered to avoid the debris of ruined H-6s. 

Four Japanese F-15s vs six North Korean upgraded MiG-21s and two MiG-29 Fulcrums. They are outnumbered two to one. 

"I'm spiked!" as red Kanji characters indicating "WARNING" flashed out on Emi's element leader's HMD (Helmet Mounted Display). 1st Lieutenant Nara Konishi "Symphonia 2-3".

"Hang in there, 2-3." Emi told him on the comm just in time as a KPAF MiG-21-93 fired two Vympel R-77 (AA-12 Adder) active radar-homing missile towards Nara's Eagle. She jinked hard left in order to lure the missile from her flight lead and accelerated up, along with increasing output on her jamming system, she also pumped chaffs to further overwhelm the missile. It works.

"Thanks for your help but you can get yourselves killed for that, 2-4, remember my words." said Nara.

"Symphonia 2-4, Fox 2!" 

"Splash one MiG" called Emi minutes later as she reported her second kill, against a Fishbed.  

On the other side, Kousei is pursuing a MiG-29. The Eagle has better radar and weaponry, but the lighter Fulcrum has better maneuverability and rate of climb. Eagle pilots were advised to not get into the close-quarter turning fight with the Fulcrum if necessary, even as the F-15J Kai ++ operated by the squadron has been retrofitted with thrust vectoring. Especially, in North Korea, MiG-29s were flown by their "elite regiments" (regiment in the Soviet/Russian patterned air forces is equivalent to US Air Force Wing) which has better training and annual flight hours compared to other units. To wrap up the engagements as soon as possible, he used his HMD to target the MiG, and fire an AAM-5 using it's "High off boresight" capability. The MiG, however managed to defeat the missile by deploying flares. Back to square one for Kousei. As the result, he switched into gun.

"Guns, guns, guns" called Kousei as he fired his JM61 Vulcan 20 mm autocannon, which ripped through the MiG's rudder and elevator, rendered it uncontrollable and crashed into the sea near the Port of Busan.

"Splash one MiG, he bailed"

"You doing well, Love Sorrow, keep this up!" Capt. Natsuki complimented.

Three minutes later, after losing two more MiGs, the North Koreans retreated. Then "This is White Wolf, we are in position and ready to support your sector. over" Another flight of F-15Js from the 201st Squadron and F-2s from 303rd Squadron is now in their position and available, escorting C-130s, C-2 and C-3 airlifters and four chartered Boeing 777 airliners, two from Japan Airlines and the other two from it's rival All Nippon Airways, all with Japanese troops and reinforcements en route to Korea.

"Symphonia, protect the transports until they reach Gimhae International Airport."

To their amazement, there are no further North Korean or other bandits present during their escort part.

They might be busy somewhere else, as the DMZ are still a contested and so, their bulk of forces are committed there. Kousei said to himself.

Upon the last transport landed safely, "This is AWACS Mangetsu, all Symphonia call-sign, you are to be assigned to Ulsan Air Base in South Korea effectively today. The vectors has been uploaded into your on-board computer."

"Roger, arigatou."

"Good job up there, Symphonia."

And so the end of Kousei and Emi's first combat mission.

Notes:

1. Fox one, fox two and fox three are Air Force brevity codes indicating air-to-air missile firing:

a). Fox one is for semi-active radar homing missile (like the American AIM-7 Sparrow, Chinese PL-11, which itself based on the Sparrow; and Russian Vympel R-27).

b). Fox two is for infrared homing missile (like the American AIM-9 Sidewinder, Russian Vympel R-73, British ASRAAM, German IRIS-T, Chinese PL-9 and PL-13, Israeli Rafael Python series, and Japanese AAM-3/AAM-5)

c). Fox three is for active radar homing ones like the American AIM-120 AMRAAM, Russian Vympel R-77, Chinese PL-10/PL-12, Israeli Rafael Derby, Japanese AAM-4, and European MBDA Meteor) 

Further reading:

1. High-off boresight missile: https://theaviationist.com/tag/high-off-boresight/