Monarch 1: Perseverance

1 - Kazuyuki and Rekka

The total duration of the goodwill flight to Japan was currently 6 hours and 45 minutes. The Williams siblings were hard at work wrapping up their studies for the day. They had been working on their Japanese and had become near fluent. So now they were working on their general studies for their High School Entrance Exam for a new accredited high school in Fujisawa Japan. They were told their admittance to Fujisawa High was critical. But they didn't understand why at the time.

The Boeing 747-8 the siblings were flying on was full of medical supplies and non-perishable foods for disaster relief. They were flying in a few months after a major typhoon caused widespread and excessive damage to almost all major cities in Japan, so the US Government offered both money and resources. This 747 was actually being donated to the Japanese government, so the entire crew was Japanese. Aside from cargo and the siblings, the other passengers were Japanese militants that were visiting the US during one of the intercultural festivals between the US and Japan.

The only other American person on the plane was the guardian of the siblings, who was assigned to them by the U.S. government and had been with them for almost 5 years now. U.S. Army Sergeant Major Jace Williams was currently asleep on the other side of the plane from the siblings.

Suddenly, there was a commotion on the plane. Whispers grew into low conversations. Then, they grew into a dull roar. Something caused the 150 passengers to become restless.

"Can anyone fly a plane?!" The siblings perked up as this frantic shout echoed in the hollow body of the plane. They looked towards the cockpit to see a Japanese man sweating profusely. Even from their position in the middle of the plane, they could tell he was panicking badly. No one spoke up, so the man asked again. "Can any of you fly this plane?! The Captain is ill!"

The siblings tensed as they quickly processed the situation. No one seemed to be speaking up. They looked across the plane at Major Williams, who had woken up. He looked at them, then closed his eyes and smiled. He nodded towards the cockpit. The siblings nodded and stood. They quickly made their way to the cockpit, their footsteps echoing on the metal walls. As they approached, the conversations tapered off. The soldiers were staring at the confidently approaching siblings, stunned.

The siblings approached the frantic man.

"But... You are kids?" The man asked in broken English, since he knew exactly who they were.

"We may not look like much, buddy." The eldest sibling said in almost perfect Japanese. Even though it wasn't her first language, she was still able to convey her unrivaled confidence to the man. "But we are ready and willing to help." The soldier was definitely intimidated by the fact that she was so tall (6').

"Please allow me to see the Captain..." The youngest sibling said in a voice so quiet it was hard to tell his natural tone. Without waiting for permission, the youngest sibling pushed past the Japanese officer and made his way into the cockpit. There, he saw what he assumed was the captain on his back, a medic hovering over him. The middle-aged captain was clutching his chest and wincing in pain.

The eldest sister carefully stepped over the stricken pilot and made her way to the first officer of the flight. "Hello, sir. How are you doing?"

The first officer was trying to keep his face calm, but he was beading with sweat and his hands were shaking slightly as they gripped the controls. He looked up at the eldest sister with wide eyes.

"It's my first flight on this plane. I'm not very familiar with it aside from simulators..." He said with a slight shake in his voice.

"It's alright," the eldest sister said, softly. She comfortably slipped into the captain's chair and scanned the instruments. "Have you flown any kind of airliner before?"