Sky-cracking Rider

The Blue Star Global United Defense Committee had borrowed the Aircrew Base 912 for a meeting that actually lasted only half a day, and it officially ended after the reconnaissance squad registration forms were collected.

However, the personnel from Aircrew Base 911 didn't even say goodbye, and left before dawn, which surprised many people.

Although unexpected, it was also reasonable.

Aircrew Base 911 and several aircrew bases under the Merman Brothers Consortium were engaged in corporate warfare, and the meeting at Aircrew Base 912 was held right in enemy territory.

The fact that personnel from 911 had attended the meeting was already a display of great courage, as there were fears that the Merman Brothers Consortium might take hostile actions secretly; therefore, their hasty departure was somewhat understandable.

Felt slighted as if suspecting honorable men of dishonesty, the people from the Merman Brothers Consortium were quite upset. Were they really so unprincipled?

"Damn it, how dare they disregard the rules of Jianghu."

Hearing the occasional false alarm-like brief notification sounds from the early warning system, Chen Fei knew that his "Big Mouth Monster" had been targeted.

There was an enemy at the rear, maintaining a careful distance.

At this critical moment, it was highly likely not a false alarm, but rather the cunning enemy using the complex terrain of the Xingdu Kush Mountain Area to hang far back.

On the way to the meeting, the Merman Brothers Consortium refrained from attacking due to concerns about the Global United Defense Committee, but on the return trip, they might not be so courteous and let the opponent's executive easily return to her base amid corporate warfare.

Any fool knew that if Hanna Gagel could be eliminated, the corporate war could be declared over.

Although the Merman Brothers Consortium had suffered countless losses in manpower, resources, and finances, at least they would have regained their reputation.

Silver can be earned again.

But once reputation is lost, it is truly gone forever, with no chance of recovery.

"Don't take it lightly, 221, begin to separate and see which side they will pursue."

The female executive manager in the rear cockpit called out to the light transport aircraft following them.

For the daughter of a wealthy family, especially one who's a shareholder in a military contracting firm, handling guns and bombs was commonplace, and she was no stranger to the A-39B "Big Mouth Monster" light turboprop attack aircraft; she even had more flight hours than Chen Fei.

"221, acknowledged, moving out of formation!"

The response came from one of the twin pilots, the elder "Octagon" Ethan Karna.

221 was the paint number of the light transport aircraft, which immediately yawed and flew in another direction.

The seasoned soldiers in the hold immediately started preparing; after all, a transport aircraft could also be turned into a porcupine, and individual weapons could certainly be useful. There were plenty of hands available within the hold.

"Climb, altitude 7500 meters."

Chen Fei gently pulled back on the control stick, and the "Big Mouth Monster" gracefully lifted its nose and climbed higher.

Manager Hanna's fishing tactic didn't care about the unidentified flying objects following them. If the enemy followed the light transport aircraft, then Chen Fei's 211 would stealthily maneuver around to pounce from behind.

If the enemy dared to follow the 211 straight up, that was even better—a clear and open fight was just what they wanted.

Although Chen Fei's flying hours could not match those of Manager Hanna in the back seat, his combat prowess had been proven without a doubt in previous fierce air battles, both in terms of kills and survival rates.

The "Genuine Fragrance" Combat Flight Squadron's eye for selecting pilots was also beyond question.

"Weapons systems are now programmed."

The voice of the female executive manager, acting as the Fire Control Operator, came over, indicating unexpected yet perfect coordination.

"It's just machine gun bullets, what's there to program...uh!"

Chen Fei glanced at the instrument panel and just noticed that the wing station interface was displaying missiles ready for activation.

Huh?!

Somewhat incredulous, he looked outside the cockpit. At the wing stations, the silhouette of missiles was faintly visible, not an illusion, but indeed real.

He hadn't noticed any missiles under the wings when boarding earlier.

But clearly, when he had departed, the "Big Mouth Monster" hadn't carried any missiles, not even one.

Before reaching Aircrew Base 912, they had to stop at a public airport to send a package; carrying arms into a civilian public place was definitely not permissible, and only drop tanks for extended range were hung under the wings to ensure basic self-defense with full machine gun belts. No other weapons were carried.

But now...

Seemingly guessing Chen Fei's confusion, the executive manager, Hanna Gagel, explained, "The transport aircraft was carrying missiles, and they helped hang them before takeoff."

"They" referred to the old soldiers who escorted the executive manager to Aircrew Base 912 for the meeting. Attaching missiles to a turboprop did not require much technical skill; they had been installed and checked while Hanna had been waking Chen Fei up.

"This is great, we can fight!"

Chen Fei suddenly understood.

He had been prepared to resolve the combat with the wing-mounted machine guns, but now with missiles in hand, his chances were even better.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

The alarm system started ringing continuously.

The 211 was subject to directed illumination by fire control radar waves.

The sneaky guys who had been following now started to become blatantly obvious, clearly having learned that the executive manager of Aircrew Base 911 had not boarded the light transport aircraft but had instead entered another light turboprop attack aircraft.

"We've been locked on."

Hanna Gagel quickly reminded him.

Chen Fei responded calmly, "Stay calm, stay calm, it's just a lock-on, the missile hasn't been launched yet!"

"If we wait for it to launch, it'll be too late."

The executive manager turned her head to look back and vaguely saw several pairs of wingtip lights flashing.

It was the darkest moment before dawn, and the red and green lights were exceptionally conspicuous under the cover of night. The enemy had already taken the six o'clock position, ready to attack at any moment.

Although her flight hours exceeded those of Chen Fei, her aerial combat experience was clearly inferior to his.

"Rookie, you've got two 'Big Mouth Monsters' trailing you."

The voice of "Cinnamon" Keller Karna, the copilot of the turboprop aircraft, came over the communication channel; he was the brother of the main pilot "Octagon" Ethan Karna.

"Octagon" with "Cinnamon," they were real brothers.

Because the executive manager was on Chen Fei's Flight 211, everyone on the turboprop aircraft collectively tensed.

"Roger that, thank you! I'm aware!"

Chen Fei remained as composed as ever, his tone so steady it hardly seemed like that of a rookie who hadn't even completed 100 hours of flight time.

This guy is overconfident, isn't he?!

The executive manager secretly started to worry.

Suddenly, Chen Fei saw several thick blue lines piercing through the fuselage, shooting straight ahead.

One, two, three, four—a total of four missiles were howling in from behind.

"Here they come! Drop the auxiliary fuel tanks, hold tight!"

In the midst of the urgent alarm, the scenery outside the cockpit suddenly whirled around wildly.

Two auxiliary fuel tanks, filled with aviation kerosene, detached from the wings, tracing twin parabolas as they fell toward the ground.

Flight 211 instantly became much lighter and more agile.

Hanna Gagel only managed to let out an exclamation before she felt like she was thrown into the roaring waves.

Chen Fei pulled out his specialty move, the barrel roll, to be precise, a defensive barrel roll.

There are mainly two types of barrel rolls: one is an offensive barrel roll used to pursue the target and suppress the opponent's maneuvering space, and the other is a defensive barrel roll to shake off pursuit.

His strategic purpose in using the defensive barrel roll was to utilize the maneuverability of the "Big Mouth Monster" to force the enemy's combat bombs to burn more propellant, shortening their time of stay in the air and ultimately winning without a fight.

This was the optimal solution, followed by close-range induced explosion, which carried certain risks, and the least desirable was to use the terrain to guide them into crashing into the ground or a mountain.

The missiles were fast, but their turning ability was nowhere near that of the turboprop aircraft, and each maneuver drastically consumed their propellant.

In a defensive barrel roll maneuver, the "Big Mouth Monster" used its strengths to exploit the enemy's weaknesses.

"What are you doing, Rookie!"

Thoroughly dizzy, the executive manager felt as though she had been shoved into a tumbling washing machine, suffering greatly.

"Barrel rolling, hang in there, Manager Hanna, six more seconds!"

However, unexpectedly, Chen Fei still appeared composed, his eyes fixed on the instrument panel.

At this moment, the objects outside the cockpit were utterly unreliable, even the sense of balance was deceived, and one could only firmly believe in the fighter they were in.

Crickle-crackle, the barrel-rolling turboprop aircraft flung out a series of dazzling red light orbs, as if a celestial maiden were scattering flowers.

The released jamming bullets not only had a strong infrared heat response but also emitted electromagnetic interference signals. The bright light flame effect also impacted optical TV guidance.

Boom!~

One disoriented combat bomb collided with a jamming bullet, exploding violently in mid-air.

The other three ran out of momentum after exhausting their last propellants and fell towards the ground feebly, bursting into flames before even hitting the ground.

"Did we get hit?"

Hanna Gagel felt inexplicably panicked.

She had piloted the "Big Mouth Monster," but only for normal flights and textbook maneuvers; she had never experienced such an intense aerial combat before.

"No! We've shaken off the missiles, okay, I'm getting ready to counterattack now."

Chen Fei pushed the joystick forward, and the "Big Mouth Monster" slightly leveled out before starting a diving S-turn to face the enemy.

Regrettably, Flight 211 hadn't reached the ideal altitude. It had previously climbed to only 6100 meters, and the defensive barrel roll maneuver had consumed about 1000 meters of altitude. Now at only 5100 meters above the ground, it couldn't gain any altitude advantage, greatly reducing the effectiveness of energy maneuver tactics.

Both sides were flying mass-produced "Big Mouth Monsters," with barely any difference in performance, so the deciding factors were experience and tactics.

Formally trained pilots had their advantages in systematic experience and steady tactics with little exposure, while wildcards had their own strengths—daring thoughts and actions, particularly fearless, not sparing even themselves when going wild.

Chen Fei was exactly the latter type, especially daring in his tactics, often catching his opponents off guard.

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