The Sky Crawlers (スカイ・クロラ)

Look out! Bandit, at one high!!

I'm hit! I'm losing control! Bailing out!

Watch out! That's the Teacher!

He's on my tail! Help me!

Hi.

Who are you?

I'm the chief mechanic, Sasakura.

Hi, my name's Yuichi Kannami. Pleasure.

You've never seen a female mechanic before?

No, you look familiar, that's all.

Okay, that's fair enough.

You'll be flying her, over there.

Can't I just keep mine?

A rep from the company is coming to take that one back.

They're the same model, I don't get why I can't keep that plane?

You'll get it once you fly her.

It's an order, if you want, take it up with the boss.

What happened to its last pilot?

Why do you ask?

Won't he be here, to hand over the plane?

You'll have to ask the boss about that.

Enter.

Yuichi Kannami, reporting for duty.

I'm Suito Kusanagi. I'm in charge here.

We were expecting you this afternoon.

"The glare of the morning sun was too oppressive."

Camus? You'll be staying in room 204.

You'll be sharing it with a man named Tokino.

Tomorrow afternoon, you two will be going up.

Um...

Dismissed.

Yes ma'am, thank you.

My name's Kannami, I just arrived here today.

Welcome, I'm Yudagawa.

And that guy over there is Uroyuki Shinoda.

How many pilots total are stationed at this base?

Well, now a days, I guess there are only three of us.

The three, that includes you and him?

If you include yourself, that's a total of four.

- Just the four of us? - That's right, just four.

Actually, there's five of us if you include the enchanting Miss Kusanagi.

You mean, she flies, too?

Guess he was out all night again?

Hey, stranger.

I'm Kannami. I just flew in here this morning.

Oh, you're the new guy.

I'm your roommate, Tokino.

I know. I've been to our room.

I suppose you know we're going up tomorrow, too?

Yeah, I heard.

Then, welcome aboard.

Don't tell me this is your first time, man.

On a mission? Or in this bird?

Bird.

I've been flying Mark B's since I was born.

Good boy!

Were you testing me?

Good to know my new partner is not a chicken.

I'm not detecting anything unusual.

Let's head back.

Roger.

Look out! Three bandits!

See them? At 10 o'clock!

You all right, buddy?

I'm fine. No damage.

How many did ya kill?

Doppel.

Bravisamo!

Welcome home, boys.

Good to be back.

Bravo!

Did we suffer any losses?

Zilch.

And what about Lautern's plant? Any updates?

Still inoperative. No sign of activity.

I see. Nicely done.

I'll be going, then.

Ah, permission to ask a question, if you don't mind?

It's about the previous pilot of my current plane.

Jinroh Kurita. He had been transferred here seven months ago.

He had flown 63 sorties. He was quite an accomplished pilot.

Where did he go?

I'm not at liberty to answer that.

Why was he transferred?

Classified.

Did he die?

Whether he has or not does not affect your current situation.

To be or not to be.

That is only a question for human minds.

It's just that usually one gets to meet his plane's previous pilot.

Well, assuming he's still alive, of course.

That plane you have is still new,

so I decided that that formality wasn't necessary.

No, ma'am, she handled like a dream.

Anything else?

I was wondering, are you a Kildren?

Was there anything else?

I see that you're a smoker.

I don't trust any superior officers who don't smoke.

And what is the basis of that?

That's just been my experience, that's all.

Experlence? Will that be all, then?

Yes, ma'am. Thank you.

What I want to know is how you managed to get two kills that fast?

You flattering me?

Nah, I'm lousy at that of stuff.

It was no big deal. They were just rookies.

Modest, huh?

Yeah.

Where were you last stationed?

Dunno. I can't remember.

What you say you and I go out tonight?

Where to?

Looks like that's going to be up to me

Don't worry, I promise you'll have a real good time.

Is this it?

Yeah, their meat pies are great.

I bet you're starving, huh?

At the end of the engagement,

three of Lautern's twin engine fighter aircraft, Rainbows, were downed,

and it is reported that two pilots were killed

and another was severely wounded.

On the evening of October 5th,

the situation on the northern front in Europe has apparently turned more favorable

for one of the two conflicting warfare companies...

Lately things have been going pretty well for us,

but who knows, one day Lautern might just turn the tides.

That was you guys on the news, right? Congratulations.

I'll have a beer and a meat pie for my friend here.

A coffee, please. So, what's so special about this place?

Several things make this place special, but there's one main reason for coming here.

Uh...

I was just thinking about telling him about his predecessor.

Mama gave me the evil eye.

"Mama"?

She cleans up the messes we make with our planes, right?

So, we call her Mama.

Here comes reason number two!

Hi, Naofumi!

Hi!

Come here, I want you to meet Yuichi Kannami. He just started with us.

I'm Kusumi. It's nice to meet you.

I'm Fooco.

Pleasure...

What did you think? About what?

The meat pie.

It was good. It reminded me of something else I've had before.

Don't worry our pretty little head about it.

I take it this place seems familiar to you, too?

Yeah, I guess so.

See ya, Yuichi.

Don't wait up!

- Where's Suito? - Your lady, how's she doing, still scary?

Let's go.

Later, bye bye!

That smells good.

If you're here, it means one thing,

I suppose I can assume that Jinroh'is dead.

Don't know. I don't really know who this Jinroh guy is.

Would you like something to drink?

I wouldn't mind a coffee if you have it.

So, this guy from before, Jinroh.

What kind of person was he anyway?

He was sweet.

He had a soft laugh and an innocent face, just like yours.

But, I could tell, that there was something that weighed heavily upon him.

And whatever it was made me feel uneasy. I asked him about it one time.

I said to him, "Tell me where you keep misplacing your heart?"

So, what was his answer?

He didn't give me one.

But I imagined that maybe he'd left it in the sky.

It would be the best place for someone like him, in my opinion.

Okay lady, then what about you? Tell me, how long you been here.

That's cute. Are you actually calling me a "Lady"?

Hardly.

You're the only lady in this room, as far as I can tell.

Listen to you, you talk like you're a kid.

That's probably because I am a kid.

Hey, do you actually like flying?

Yeah, I love it.

That's always a good sign.

Do you think that you'll come here again?

Good, I hope you do.

Welcome back. So, how did she fly?

I don't think that there could have been a better match.