Sky-cracking Rider

Hey, hey, you bunch of bastard cakes, I've finally seen through you.

Chen Fei sat in the cockpit, feeling a bit lost.

Aside from video games, he'd never actually taken off by himself before!

He saw the nearby No. 212 start its turboprop, and the short-haired girl in the front seat made direct gestures to him, unmistakably pointing outside the hangar.

Damn it, I can only bite the bullet and go.

First step, fasten the seatbelt.

Second step, put on the helmet.

Third step, open the communication channel.

"Rookie, are you ready?"

As soon as the connection was made, he heard the voice of Irinei Rusios.

A jet roared past on the main runway with a huge rumbling sound, lifted its nose, and pierced straight into the sky.

Chekhov Big Bear had run first, leaving behind the entire "Genuine Fragrance" Squadron!

Several other A-39B "Big Mouth Monster" light turboprop attack aircraft followed closely onto the runway, taking off one after another in a race against time to secure air superiority for the 911 Aircrew Base.

"Ready."

Chen Fei ignited the engine, and the nose turboprop spun rapidly, the vibration transmitted to the fuselage quickly reaching a balanced state.

The PT6A series turboprop engine, optimized over decades, was a mature technology with very few drawbacks, fuel-efficient, high output, reliable quality, and stable performance.

The five propeller blades stirred the air at high speed, easily propelling the 3.5-ton fully loaded aircraft.

The control tower communication hadn't been restored yet, but someone was standing near the turboprop aircraft, holding up a large whiteboard for the pilots in the cockpit to see.

Direction 253 (just south of due west)

Distance 65 kilometers

Altitude 8800 meters

Number 18

Speed 0.4 Mach

Identified as A-39B "Big Mouth Monster"

IFF Code: 911-33585#

"You hurry up and follow, I'll be watching you, be brave."

With the voice of Deputy Squadron Leader "Devil Pepper" Irinei Rusios, No. 212 slid out of the hangar, gaining speed.

On the main runway, the taking off turboprop aircraft's wingtip beacon lights flickered red and green, diving into the night sky.

"Damn it, let's do this!"
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Chen Fei gritted his teeth, increased the throttle output, and controlled the "Big Mouth Monster" to glide forward slowly.

The worst-case scenario was another physical landing, but this time he had a parachute, so it wouldn't be too bad.

Ever since he confirmed he was impervious to swords and guns, his courage had grown substantially; he was no longer the obedient child from a little over a month ago.

There's something toxic about this place, the 911 Aircrew Base!

Luckily, the ground crew knew he was a real rookie; they guided him the whole way and even had whiteboards with written instructions to caution him. Slowly, No. 211 "Big Mouth Monster" glided towards the waiting area of the main runway for takeoff. It was the last one, so there was no need to worry about other fighters rushing him from behind.

Chen Fei didn't dare to go fast, fearing a little tremble of his hand would send him crashing into the grasslands, which would be quite the spectacle.

Combat damage and self-inflicted damage were completely different things, and he really couldn't afford a "Big Mouth Monster."

Especially at this critical moment, damaging a plane before the fight even started would probably make Manager Hanna want to hang Chen Fei up and whip him to death.

Aligning the nose, he slowly pushed the throttle to the max. The strong thrust pinned Chen Fei to his seat, and the speedometer began reading: 30 km, 60 km, 80 km, 120 km, 170 km, 230 km, 300 km… pull the stick!

The artificial horizon began to tilt, and the altimeter rapidly climbed. After breathing a slight sigh of relief, Chen Fei finally caught sight of the other five "Big Mouth Monsters" circling above the 911 Aircrew Base, waiting for him.

"Good job, Rookie, keep climbing; we will follow you!"

The encouraging voice of "Devil Pepper" Irinei Rusios entered Chen Fei's ears.

Although the takeoff was somewhat sluggish and not crisp, at least it was a smooth takeoff.

"What's the altitude? Where's the squadron leader?"

Chen Fei had no choice but to maintain the angle of pulling back on the stick, keeping the No. 211 "Big Mouth Monster" in a steep, high angle of attack as it climbed. After all, safety came first.

He took a moment to glance down at the ground; the sparse lights within Aircrew Base 911 simultaneously dimmed into complete darkness.

After the combat pilots had collectively taken to the skies, the entire base entered blackout conditions, with all ground personnel prepared for air defense.

"Climb to 9,100 meters, don't worry about 'Peanut Butter'; he's going solo!"

As Irinei Rusios responded, she maneuvered her No. 212 aircraft to closely follow behind Chen Fei's No. 211 craft on its left rear.

Besides the No. 215 aircraft, the other four "Big Mouth Monsters" were trailing behind her No. 212 machine.

Before gaining enough altitude advantage, they would not consider directly engaging the enemy.

"This is 215. The enemy has split their forces, the first group heading 210, at an altitude of 7,500 meters, 40 kilometers away; the second group heading 290, at an altitude of 8,000 meters, 45 kilometers away."

The No. 215 "Big Mouth Monster," equipped with electronic reconnaissance pods, had refueled and rearmed on the ground and was still airborne for early warning, providing timely battlefield intelligence to fellow comrades.

Through the battlefield data link, each "Big Mouth Monster" was able to confirm the location, speed, and altitude of both friend and foe.

An EMP blast had created a large communication blackout area, preventing the enemy formation from realizing that the air force power from Aircrew Base 911 had already entered the stage, striving to seize the altitudinal advantage.

A flash of light in the distance briefly illuminated half of the night sky.

"Devil Pepper" Irinei Rusios excitedly said, " 'Peanut Butter' scored."

Despite the enemy combat formation's overwhelming numbers, three times larger than the forces of "Genuine Fragrance" Squadron, victory in the skies isn't determined by mere numbers; high-speed, large maneuvers are enough to overcome numerical inferiority. As long as no mistakes are made, the full armament carried by the "Big Mouth Monsters" would suffice to teach the opposition a lesson.

Another flash followed, and various sized flames slowly fell towards the ground.

Even with favorable high-altitude weather conditions, sparse clouds, and an exceptionally bright moonlight, it was still somewhat difficult to discern clearly.

A squadron of enemy "Big Mouth Monsters" heading toward Aircrew Base 911 was caught off guard by MiG-28 fighters acting with surprise and suffered heavy losses on the spot.

Squadron Leader Chekhov might have had an unsavory reputation, but his professional qualities were outstanding; otherwise, he wouldn't have become a squadron leader who commanded the respect of every pilot.

The enemy "Big Mouth Monsters," divided into two groups, had two of their aircraft knocked out on the spot. The MiG-28 did not engage in prolonged combat, striking once and swiftly departing with a resounding boom like thunder rolling across the sky.

Turboprop aircraft had no chance of catching up to the afterburner-supersonic jet aircraft. The acceleration speed of the MiG-28 is more than three times the maximum speed of the "Big Mouth Monster," resulting in an almost certain rout.

No wonder Squadron Leader Chekhov had unhesitatingly chosen the MiG-28 as his mount for battle.

After several aggressive interjections, the enemy "Big Mouth Monster" squadron was scattered like birds and beasts, completely losing their tactical formation.

The adversaries had not anticipated that Aircrew Base 911 could organize an air force to meet them in battle after a decapitation strike by an elite team from the Meman Brothers United Defense Consortium.

Aircrew Base 909 and the military contractors behind it had heard that the Meman Brothers United had sent a Human Order of intermediate rank War Professional, a low-ranked Mage, and two supernatural power users of E-grade or higher, along with a team of Elite Warriors equipped with Optical Invisibility Equipment.

Such a force attacking Aircrew Base 911 would have been unstoppable by Aircrew Base 909 itself.

"Now at an altitude of 9,100 meters, guidance complete, 21 kilometers to the target, about to enter visual range, lock on target!"

Acting temporarily as an early warning aircraft, No. 215 took up its tactical role. Squadron Leader "Peanut Butter" Chekhov dealt with one enemy formation; their six "Big Mouth Monsters" would take on another enemy formation.

Although it wasn't really an early warning aircraft, after being equipped with electronic reconnaissance pods, it acquired some relatively simple functions such as guiding firepower, locking onto multiple targets, and collecting dynamic battlefield trajectories, which were then shared with other fighters through the battlefield data link.

"Devil Pepper" Irinei Rusios shouted over the communication channel, "Everyone aim at their targets, FOX1, three, two, one, fire!"

After completing their climb, Chen Fei, now in a wingman position, and the other pilots pressed the launch button together.

The aircraft shuddered, and two programmable combat bombs disengaged from their pylons, their tails igniting into intense flames, propelling the projectiles rapidly forward. Before launching, the multi-mode seeker head could select modes: FOX-1 (semi-active electromagnetic guidance), FOX-2 (infrared guidance), FOX-3 (active electromagnetic guidance), or FOX-L (laser guidance).

Squadron Leader Chekhov, now like a mystical unpredictable loner, left the deputy squadron leader—a short-haired girl—to command the "Genuine Fragrance" Combat Flight Squadron's turboprop aircraft formation in combat.

"Everyone break off, heading 360, altitude 7,000!"

With the No. 215 acting as an early warning aircraft, the tactics became relatively unexciting.

Once the missiles were fired, they shifted position without delay, preparing for the second wave of attack.

This kind of combat was utterly about striking first to gain advantage; those who reacted later suffered.

With two volleys of combat bombs sent their way, at least half of the opposing "Big Mouth Monster" squadron would be wiped out.

Turboprop aircraft can't even catch up with jet fighters, let alone missiles; the hit rate of missiles coming head-on would be terrifyingly high.

By the time the enemy detected the missile lock signals, the exhaust and trail had entered visible range, and the nine enemy "Big Mouth Monsters" immediately fell into disarray, releasing their combat bombs in a panic.

Unfortunately for them, there was no lock-on, and the "Genuine Fragrance" "Big Mouth Monsters" had already taken the opportunity to flee. This counterattack amounted to a futile effort.

As for No. 215, hanging with an electronic reconnaissance pod and still in the middle of guidance: come at me if you dare.

An early warning aircraft is, in some ways, a low-power EMP. It's not good for much, but it reigns supreme when it comes to creating disturbances.

The oncoming missiles quickly became disoriented, darting about like headless flies, and after exhausting their propellant, they self-detonated high in the sky.

As expected, one of the turboprop aircraft formations from Aircrew Base 909, split in two, lost four aircraft to the first wave of missiles and another two to the second wave.

The nine enemy "Big Mouth Monsters" lost more than half of their number without even catching sight of an adversary.

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