Red-One, Double-Echo, runway is clear.
Considering what a pain in the butt it is, recon-in-force doesn't pay much.
Oh well, it's part of the job.
We have an emergency situation!
Firefighting unit, first-aid unit: hurry!
Damn, a secondary disaster!
What's wrong?
Bullets From the Sand
It's a sniper, Sir.
How many of them have infiltrated the Area?
Probably just one.
Rake the position where we think he's concealed with the anti-aircraft guns.
Yes, Sir.
Fire!
I wonder if they got him?
Try going out there!
YOU go out!
What are you talking about?
At times like this, the lower-ranked guy is the one who goes out.
What are you saying? What if I get shot?
You're fine, you're fine; nothing's gonna happen.
Hey! Cut it out! Whoa!
Seems like he's gone.
It's fine. Come on out!
Owww! It hurts!
Johnston!
I wouldn't do that.
You bastard! What's the big idea, taking pictures?!
If you go to help him, you'll just become my next subject.
Snipers always spare the life of their first quarry.
It's so they can take aim at the fools who go to save him.
So what do we do?
Now!
Sure is quiet.
I can practically hear the sound of sand dunes crumbling.
Bank!
They got TJ! Bank!
They got TJ!
Flare! Flare!
It's no good! I can't shake them!
Double-Echo, this is Zebra Squadron, requesting a rescue!
Zebra Squadron, this is Double-Echo.
I'm afraid we're unable to put any planes in the air.
What are you talking about?! We're surrounded by enemies!
Below me! You bastards! Help us!
Listen to me. This is our present situation.
Double-Echo, help us!
It's just one man, right?!
Carpet bomb the places he's likely to be!
If we do, either he'll get blown away or he'll run away.
Yeah, yeah!
That's right!
Show him how terrible a bombing is!
All we need to do is scorch him out.
Yeah!
You underestimate him. Yeah!
You underestimate him.
Those guys aren't human. They're sniping machines.
If they are,
then when all's said and done, you're a picture-taking machine.
Treating people's living or dying as food on the table...
You're the same as a sniper, aren't you?!
I n that we capture life and death on the other side of a lens, we may be the same.
But there's this:
a sniper steals lives.
I leave the truth of a life for posterity.
Do you, now?
Hah! I haven't got time to listen to an outsider's esteemed opinion.
Shinjou, do you know something about snipers?
Yeah, a little.
Do you, now?
As I recall, it was during Congola's civil war.
The unit was pinned in place because of a sniper.
The impatient squad leader requested the air force to bomb the vicinity for them.
Of course, they thought they'd gotten the sniper.
But the bastard was alive.
The unit's soldiers fell prey one by one.
After some time, when the shooting stopped,
the place was a mound of corpses.
We just barely managed to survive.
The guy had stayed hidden in his trench,
and even with explosions going off in front of his face,
he never moved an inch.
He kept his sights right on us.
Mickey, have you ever watched an enemy die?
You guys aim at fighter planes.
Common soldiers fire machine guns at random and pray they'll happen to hit an enemy.
A sniper is different though.
He takes away the enemy's life with certainty, right there in his scope.
He does what he does
fully understanding that his action leads to the enemy's death.
That's the kind of guy you're up against.
Who is it?
One aircraft is on the runway.
It's Smiley!
He's being idiotic!
I never imagined all operations at Area 88 could grind to a halt due to a single sniper.
That idiot Smiley, trying to play the hero!
There's not enough distance for takeoff runs!
The Phantom needs a long run to make liftoff as it is!
He died without even being sniped.
...doing something like this...
This won't be resolved unless somebody goes up.
The result of our discussion of the proposal from Kazama is this:
we've concluded that the probability is low, but it can be done.
We'll mount boosters on the Tiger I l,
and avoid the wreckage with a short-distance takeoff.
You're saying to take off without any illumination?
That's an act of suicide!
No way that can be done!
What do we do about the sniper? He'll be shot on takeoff again.
Is it okay if I participate too?
The more the better.
I'll take you up on that then.
So about that sniper...
Treating life and death as food on the table again, huh?
You said it!
Say what you want.
Supposing the sniper is aiming concurrently at two targets...
After he fires at the first target,
how much time do you think it takes to get a bead on the second target?
Go on...
If it were me, I could click the shutter in five seconds.
I see.
So if a decoy can get us five seconds somehow,
Shin can get into the air.
That's what I'm saying.
Five seconds...
If I have five seconds, that's plenty.
I'll get in the air.
He only needs to be able to fly for thirty minutes!
Make it as light as possible!
They say to mark him the instant he fires, but are we gonna be able to?
That's why everybody's on watch.
He said $30,000 for whoever finds him.
Get too greedy and you'll get shot clean through.
$30,000! $30,000 he says!
If I were taking shots of planes going down that runway...
I guess I'll gamble on one shot with a flash bulb.
I'm getting cold.
Let's warm each other up a little.
Don't fool around!
Hey, do you think he'll be okay with a bulletproof vest?
He... he should be okay.
But what if he aims at his head?
Uncle's not planning to die, is he?
He couldn't be.
Anyway, Kitri, get off of me!
I don't want to! I'm cold!
Is this really all right, Sir?
I'm well aware of how much my life is worth in this country.
It's our one and only chance; we can't afford to fail.
It's time.
Let's do it.
Any time you're ready.
Five...
Four...
Three...
He did it!
Did you see him?
Nope! Did you see him?
How about you guys?
Nothing!
I can't see a thing!
Did you see anything?
No...
Uncle...
Not spotted in northeast quadrant.
They haven't spotted him in the southeast quadrant. Not spotted in northeast quadrant.
They haven't spotted him in the southeast quadrant. Not spotted.
Not spotted in the northwest quadrant. Not found.
So it didn't work.
This is Shinjou. I took a shot with a flash bulb. Give me fifteen minutes!
Commander Saki...
The placement is right at the forehead, huh?
Are you okay, Sir?
There's nothing wrong with me. Have you located the firing point?
No, not yet.
So this time I really will have to put my life on the line.
We have one hope left, Sir.
Shinjou is developing his film now, so just maybe...
So the Area's future is riding on Shinjou's photos?
Yes, Sir.
Relax! Relax!
Shinjou! How's it going?
Quiet! Shut up and wait!
Shinjou...
This is my battlefield.
I can fly for five more minutes.
Show up for me.
Is it hopeless?
Shinjou! Still nothing?
He's there!
There he is!
Really? I'm coming in!
Kitri...
Kim, get on the phone!
Oh, right!
Where's the point?
I don't know.
Out of the way!
Where?
The black dot in the middle. Where?
The black dot in the middle.
This? This black dot?
That's it.
Kim! November-3! That's it.
Kim! November-3!
November-3!
November-3...
It's November-3!
November-3!
He's too close to the tanks! Bombing is impossible.
Three more minutes...
Minimal gas left too; only one chance.
Will your rifle shoot through me? Or will my cannons blow you away?
Too bad about the $30,000.
Damn!
Ah-choo!
So there are times when you're useful too, huh?
I just got tired of taking shots of blank-faced pilots.
There's no body.
The only things here are a rifle and a sandglass.
Why did he need a sandglass in the desert?
He was measuring how much time was left in a life.
His target's life? Or his own life?
That's decided at the instant he pulls the trigger.
There are times when a soldier must attempt even what he knows to be impossible.
There are operations that must be carried out even though he knows comrades will die.
That is the destiny of those who live on the battlefield.
A life-or-death tightrope act is about to begin.
This is Area 88,
Tightrope at the Speed of Sound This is Area 88,
Tightrope at the Speed of Sound the launching point for supersonic wings to thread through a ravine.
Tightrope at the Speed of Sound
Taiyou ni yakitsukusarete
Kodoku na yozora ni hoshi o miru
Kasuka ni kikoeru merodii
Natsukashisugite omoidasenai
Senaka muketa nukumori
Senjou no dansu
Hitomi tojite
Tsuka no ma no yume ni asobu
Yasashisa koko ni wa iranai
Kurayami wa tsuki ga terasu