AREA 88: The Base

Originally simply the designation for a Royal Asran Air Force base, along with Area 81, Area 85, etc., for the sake of convenience, it began to become a blanket term referring to the foreign mercenary units stationed there.  From the middle part of the story, “Area 88” was established as the name of the unit led by Saki Vashtar.

With a “no questions asked” recruitment policy, Area 88 quickly became a home for the “best of the worst” – fighter pilots with no where else to turn.  Despite the rag-tag nature of the team, the pilots of Area 88 are a true cut above the regular Royal Asran Air Force troops.  They are said to have “eyes in the back of their heads” and “use magic to avoid missiles.” They are fighter pilots that live to fly, with “jet fuel flowing through their veins” – a group that Major Roundel, the base second-in-command calls the “Knights of the Azure.”

In the early days, the majority of the mercenaries were just in it for the money.  Some, like Mickey, just couldn’t give up the thrill of the battlefield for a mundane civilian life, and some, like Greg, were on the run.  Regardless, the one unspoken rule at Area 88 is that a man’s past is his own.  When you could die any moment, all that matters is the present.  However, after Project 4 occupies the Asran capital, sending King Zak into exile in France and effectively ending the civil war, many of the core members stayed on, despite the diminished remuneration.  Under Saki’s command, the band of misfits was forged into a family.

For a look at the main pilots of Area 88, please check out the cast page.

Set Up

As a mercenary base, Area 88 functions rather differently than a regular military base.  First and foremost is the decreased level of support.  The mercenary pilots are more or less treated as small business sub-contractors – meaning they do not receive a regular paycheck, but are instead paid on a “per kill” commission basis, with the film from on-board cameras being analysed to confirm the destruction of a target.  Different types of targets (i.e. tanks, missile batteries, jet fighters, etc.) have different pay rates, depending on the difficulty level and pilots also sometimes receive pay bonuses depending on the nature/requirements of a particular mission.

As such, pilots are also required to cover their own overhead and expenses.  They must purchase their own jet fighter and are then responsible for covering its maintenance, munitions and spare parts.  Fuel for authorised missions is supplied, but pilots must cover the costs of any sorties they fly “on spec”.  This system means there is a need for an on-the-ground supplier, a role Old Man McCoy is only too happy to fill.  McCoy famously quips that he can get anything you need – from toilet paper to tactical nuclear warheads… just as long as you can pay the price.  Those aren’t just empty words though, McCoy has a nose for money and all the right connections.

After nearly all the tactical fighters at the base were destroyed in a sneak attack by the rebel mercenary unit, “The Wolf Pack”, the Asran regular Air Force supplied Area 88 with 10 Kfirs purchased from Israel.  During this period of time, the regular system was suspended and a hand-picked set of pilots were offered the planes free of charge in exchange for two months of undisputed service.  Although the mercenaries lost the ability to refuse orders for the duration, their maintenance and fuel costs were also covered, and they were even given kill bonuses.

Unit Formation

Given the mis-matched nature of the forces, early on, units were formed as a matter of convenience on a mission-by-mission basis.  Attack units were organised by function, such as ground attacks and aerial dog fighting and each section was denoted by a colour code (Blue, Brown, Purple, etc.).  Larger attack groups, such as were present during the major assault on the Desert Carrier were given “Family” codenames, based on alcohol (Whisky, Champagne, etc.).

After the restructuring at the training base in Greece, the units were formalized and given names such as “Twist”, “Conga”, “Tango”, etc.  Also, in order to properly integrate them into the Royal Asran Air Force, the pilots were given proper ranks.  Shin Kazama, Mickey Simon, Greg Gates and LeRoy Henderson are all made Captains and are assigned to command a squadron. Warren Coldman, Ken Schnitz, Gustaf Gynt, and Riley O’Connell were appointed as second lieutenants and made second-in-command.  Previous to this, the mercenaries were able refuse an order and pay a penalty if they felt the mission parameters were deemed tactically unfeasible or beyond their combat skills (as Shin did, strategically, in the first chapter).  However as regular military soldiers, the mercenaries lost the right, but they also gained the ability to issues orders to their subordinates.

With Saki in charge of the Area 88 Air Wing, and Major Roundel as his Deputy-Commander, Shin, Mickey, Greg and LeRoy were each placed in command of a Squadron of 36 men.  With 3 squads of 12 to a company, one each assigned to their appointed seconds, the company commanders each selected two more platoon leaders. These, in turn, each selected 3 squad leaders.  As such, the Area 88 command structure was as follows:

  • 1 Air Wing (144 men, Commander: Saki, Deputy: Roundel)
  • 4 Squadrons (36 men each, Commanders: Shin, Mickey, Greg, LeRoy)
  • 12 Flights (12 men each, Commanders: Warren (+2), Ken (+2), Gustaf (+2), Riley (+2)
  •  36 Sections (4 pilots each)

Equipment and Weapons

Arguably, the two-most prominent aircraft to be found at Area 88 are the Israeli-built Kfir, used by the Royal Asran Air Force as its main fighter, and the versatile A-4 Skyhawk – primarily for its bombing capabilities.  However, as a mercenary air base, where pilots are free to procure their own aircraft according to their own requirements and desires, the amount of different aircraft present is quite staggering.

Throughout the story, McCoy is able to procure some truly impressive equipment, including some (then) cutting edge planes.  Some of the more memorable ones are:

  • Mickey’s F-14A Tomcat – purchased as scrap after swapping the serial numbers of two F-14s that were held in a warehouse in Italy after the confusion caused by the Iranian Revolution.
  • Shin’s J35F Draken – cobbled together from two air-frames in Finland, an engine from a company in the Netherlands, and an afterburner from a used parts company in Germany.
  • Greg’s A-10 Thunderbolt II –  procured after rerouting a shipment intended for NATO and then outfitted with a (fictional) 40 mm Vulcan Canon.
  • Shin’s F-20 Tigershark – a complete mystery as Northrop only built three of these experimental fighters – none of which was combat-ready.

But the most unbelievable thing McCoy was able to get his hands on has to be, hands down, the Enterprise-class nuclear aircraft carrier that was “left at the dock.” 😉

Other Royal Asran Air Force Bases

According a friend of Taeko Yasuda’s who is “familiar with such military matters”, the Royal Asran Air Force bases designated 81 to 88 were supposed to be staffed by foreign troops.  However, this appears to be a mistaken assumption since, besides Area 88, the only other base to appear in the story is the Helicopter Unity base Area 85 and it is staffed by the regular Asran troops.

  • Area 81 was also a mercenary base, but it was destroyed (of screen) early on by a small-scale nuclear strike by the Anti-Government Forces.
  • Area 82 and 83 were combined into Area 85.
  • Area 84 and Area 85 are Helicopter bases supporting the ground troops.
  • Area 86 and Area 87 were disbanded and rolled into the regular Asran Forces.
  • Area 89 was planned and construction of the Mountain Base was intended to house the unit.
  • Area 92 was attacked by the Project 4 Air Force, led by Sera’s father, during the initial invasion of Asran.

Area 88 Base Transitions

The physical location and set up of the base known as “Area 88” changed several times over the course of the story.

Desert Base

The original home of Area 88, the desert base was considered the last line of defence given that it was the closest to the capital city of Asran.  Even after half of its main runway was destroyed after the detonation of the Grand Slam underground missile, the base remained operational.  It was originally abandoned when the land-based Desert Carrier was destroyed, as the detonation of its nuclear reactor contaminated the surrounding area for several kilometres with radioactive fallout.  Although, at the time, the base was deemed uninhabitable, near the end of the story, under much more desperate circumstances, the residual radiation was decided to be acceptable and the base was reinstated – albeit in a much more limited way – as a staging area for the final assault on the Asran capital.  The damaged runway was repaired, but given a camouflage paint job to make it look like there was still a large hole and it remained inoperable.

Mountain Base

Located in the mountains “west of Roproto”, the Mountain Base was originally planned to be the home of Area 89.  Cut clean out of the side of a mountain, the construction of the Area 88 Mountain base cost ten times what it would for any other base.  Given the limited space, the base uses a sophisticated guidance system and arresting hooks to help pilots land their planes.  However, it’s still a tight fit – McCoy’s C-130 Transport plane rubs the ceiling of the main hangar.  Given that the height of a C-130 is 11.66 m, the hangar must be around 12 m in height.

Although originally designed to house a 2,500 m runway, when the base is first used the runway length is a meagre 1,000 m, but is later expanded to 2,000 m).  To assist with take-off, the runway is broken down into ten marks.  Most fighter planes take off from Mark 6, however larger attack aircraft and bombers usually move further back to Mark 8.  A large steam-catapult, with a capacity five-times that of one found on a nuclear-powered aircraft is located at Mark 5 and is used most often by the C-130.  If a pilot needs to emergency abort the takeoff, a net can be deployed 20 m before the exit that slow a plane down faster than brakes alone.

After the fall of the Asran Capital City, the Project 4 led-forces attacked the base and drove out the remaining Area 88 troops. The base was reassigned to the Special Forces of the Asran 10th Air Force, under the command of Gary MacBurn.

Temporary Base

After being ousted from the Mountain Base, the tables turned and Area 88 become the new “Anti-Government Forces” and were forced into hiding.  Finding refuge on a parcel of land owned by McCoy, the Area 88 Temporary Base was forced to make use of caves and camouflage netting as a makeshift hangar.  The runway was nothing but a row of steel plates and, with basically no support staff, pilots were responsible for doing all their own maintenance.  Despite the fact that supplies were flown in by McCoy’s C-130s, they were only able to land at the base during a short 40-minute window of opportunity when the Asranian coastal radar defence system was switched from the civilian power grid to the military one.  As such, equipment and spare parts were at a premium.  What little was on hand was cluttered and confusing – with the F-14 fuel pumps mixed in with the salt and pepper shakers.  After the Project 4 forces locate the temporary base, they mount a massive attack, destroying the fuel and ammunition depots – making it look like Area 88 was finally done for.

Aircraft Carrier 88

However, just when all seemed to be lost, Old Man McCoy arrives in the nick of time with the newest Area 88 base – an enterprise-class nuclear aircraft carrier of all things!  Purchased anonymously by the newly wealthy Shin, and procured through McCoy’s connections off the docks at Annapolis, the newly christened “Aircraft Carrier 88” arrives on the scene to provide Area 88 with a brand new base – much to the delight of former navy pilots Mickey and Roundel! Manned by a crew of former U.S. Navy seamen, Aircarft Carrier 88 proves invaluable to the cause – helping to disrupt the Project 4 supply lines through the Mediterranean, as well as preparing to repel the invasion of Tundaria and the Suez.  Both the Captain and his crew are dedicated to the liberation of Asran, and decide to stay on to defend the coast even after the war is over.

However, just when it seems that the battles are well and truly done, a Project 4 launched Exodus Anti-Ship Missile puts the Aircraft Carrier 88 in jeopardy and forces Major Roundel into sacrificing himself to save the ship.

Coastal Base

Although the Aircraft Carrier 88 was highly effective as a mobile base, given that many of Area 88’s pilots and aircraft were decidedly ground-based – especially after the forces are bolstered by the remnants of the Brasian airforce (and their F-5E Tiger IIs), Saki decides to build up another Area 88 Coastal base. This “overnight castle” was constructed by strategic bombing to create a harbour link for the carrier as well as on-land runways and support infrastructure for the Area 88 team.  Despite being quite effective for sorties facing the Mediterranean, it was ultimately deemed not appropriate as a staging area for the final push to liberate the Asranian capital city from the Project 4 forces – with Saki ultimately deciding to return to where it all began… the original desert base.