Chapter 13

Chen Fei really wanted to use his technical manual to give this crazy bear a good whack, leaving him half-paralyzed.

But then he thought, if he really did hurt the other party, who would fly this plane next? That would be a big problem.

Moreover, he still owed a mountain of debt and had no choice but to sign a servitude contract. He couldn't even afford to pay for the plane's wheel, let alone the plane itself.

"‘Peanut Butter,’ what the hell are you doing? Wait, where’s ‘Lemongrass’? Who’s behind you?"

A "Big Mouth" aircraft moved in, taking the left wingman position and maintaining a formation flight. The short-haired girl and the rear-seat pilot in the cockpit stared in shock at the 211 aircraft, which had just stabilized, clearly something was off inside the cockpit.

It seemed that the rear-seat of 211 had been replaced, not by the effeminate-sounding "Lemongrass" Basong.

"At an altitude of 7,500 meters, the weather is clear. I am the squadron leader ‘Peanut Butter.’ I have some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that my partner ‘Lemongrass’ has been sacrificed. The good news is that I’ve found a new fire controller. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome your new teammate, codename ‘Rookie.’ Please give him a warm welcome!"

This bear major squadron leader was still unreliable, clapping in the cockpit without a hint of shame.

How shameless!

The short-haired girl "Devil Pepper" Ilyana Roush said helplessly, "Alright, you’re the boss. Welcome, Rookie!"

Major Chekov could be unreliable, but she couldn’t be, or the "True Fragrance" squadron would really be in chaos.

Clearly, Chen Fei, the new guy, was a genuine rookie, and the codename fit him well.

"I am ‘Nutmeg’ Salaman Francis, welcome."

The fire controller "Nutmeg" of the short-haired girl "Devil Pepper" followed closely. This wasn’t the time to argue with the squadron leader.

"Rookie… Alright! Welcome to the team, poor Basong."

"I am ‘Vanilla’ Carlos Sylva Lane, and my partner ‘Oyster Sauce’ Dalatu. Rookie, good luck."

"We’ve been waiting for you, Rookie. I am ‘Soy Sauce’ Jack Brown. I love braised pork, but it’s a dish, not a name."

...

The members of the "True Fragrance" squadron welcomed the new addition.

Hearing these pilots' codenames, which included Peanut Butter, Devil Pepper, Nutmeg, Oyster Sauce, Tarragon, Miso, and Soy Sauce, and now a Rookie, Chen Fei was suddenly very anxious. Are you all just waiting to stew me, this rookie?

Feeling utterly hopeless...

"Chekov, when you get back, I’m going to demote you!!!"

The communication channel echoed with the furious roar of Maurice Morgan, the executive manager of the 911 Air Base.

When the chaotic situation and flight data from the 211 aircraft were received, everyone in the underground air defense facility's backup command room looked at each other in dismay.

They were in the middle of a battle, not the time for jokes. You’re pulling a rookie who hasn’t even been here for 24 hours into the fight as a fire controller, and you’re acting so carefree. Even if you don’t care about your own life, you should consider others.

"Ha ha ha, Maurice, you’ll have to wait until I come back. ‘True Fragrance’ squadron, target the Golden Dragon. Two-ship teams, three-stage attack, let’s go!"

Major Chekov Leonidovich Ivanov was completely unconcerned. He turned his head, raised his left hand, and patted his seat back, saying, "Rookie, start programming your onboard computer to activate two short-range combat missiles and the ‘Dragon Killer.’ Don’t just focus on one side, pay attention to the symmetry of the wings, and follow my commands!"

Chen Fei stepped on the bottle of Erguotou liquor, tucked the technical manual under his seat belt, and, with his right hand never leaving the control stick, furrowed his brow and relied on memory to activate the missile switches.

He didn’t notice that the control of the "Big Mouth" had been taken back by the bear. He thought he was in control, like playing a computer game where both the computer and the mouse have the same control.

"212 in position, 11 kilometers from the target, altitude 2,000 meters. Attack in one minute."

When it came to executing the combat plan, the short-haired girl "Devil Pepper" Ilyana Roush quickly composed herself. The current mission was the most important thing.

"213 in position!"

The lead pilot of the second two-ship team was Carlos Sylva Lane, codename "Vanilla," a native of the same place as the chef who made high-end dishes in the mess hall.

"214 in position!"

"215 in position!"

"216 in position!"

"The radar team has locked onto the target, data link verified."

Six A-39B "Big Mouth" light turboprop attack aircraft, divided into three two-ship teams, each about 1,000 meters apart, began their dive into the airspace where the battle was raging.

"Everyone, the ‘True Fragrance’ squadron is about to unleash a big move. ‘Rookie,’ start with a combat missile to greet that big guy. Fox 1, be cautious!"

The bear pushed the control stick forward.

A massive figure appeared in the HUD, its razor-sharp wings flapping wildly, the edges glowing with fiery light, and the wingtips leaving trails of vortices, as if riding the clouds.

With each flap of the razor wings, one or several dragon spines would shoot out, with a range comparable to heavy artillery. These dragon spines posed a fatal threat to the fighters, and being hit meant certain death, with no hope of ejection.

"‘True Fragrance’ squadron, be careful. This guy has already taken out five of our brothers!"

"This time, we have to kill it!"

"I am ‘Coyote’ from the 909 Air Base. I have one ‘Dragon Killer’ left if you need it."

The encrypted public communication channel, based on a unified data link, immediately received calls from other fighters.

After a long battle, the pilots could only hold the enraged Golden Dragon, waiting for reinforcements. Their ammunition was almost depleted.

"Roar!~"

A brilliant green beam shot out from the dragon’s forehead, piercing the sky.

A propeller-driven fighter, different from the A-39B "Big Mouth," was accidentally hit by the beam, losing a large part of its wing. Small fragments scattered, and smoke and fire erupted.

The propeller-driven fighter gradually lost control, veering towards the ground, preparing for a forced landing, or possibly an ejection.

But the Golden Dragon wasn’t about to let it go. The flames behind its razor wings intensified, and it sped up, catching up in an instant. It opened its fanged mouth, and countless fragments rained down to the ground.

Extremely brutal!

"Garbage, garbage, all garbage! Die, die!"

The dragon’s furious roar echoed for miles, audible even through the cockpit canopy. Modern aircraft are mostly made of non-metallic composite materials, which the metal-eating Golden Dragon found unsatisfactory, like a meat patty with sand in it, hard to swallow.

The perfect biological combat weapon, truly a dragon of slaughter.

Chekov Leonidovich Ivanov secretly admired it, but as the target, he wouldn’t show any mercy.

The several fighters surrounding the Golden Dragon scattered. Fox is the NATO code for missile launch, and Fox 1 represents the guidance mode of a general-purpose programmable combat missile, set to radar guidance and data link assistance. The radar signal from the Golden Dragon was particularly strong, like a towering pillar of light in the night, but it didn’t mean other fighters didn’t have radar signals. Even with friend-or-foe identification, they still feared hitting their own.

"Beep!"

The onboard radar locked onto the target, and the aircraft shuddered slightly. A white missile detached from the left wing, dropped a few meters, and then its tail spewed flames, trailing white smoke as it sped away.

The Golden Dragon, which had just shredded a propeller-driven fighter, looked up just in time to be hit by the missile.

Two missiles hit almost simultaneously, a Double-Blow!

In the next second, two more missiles whizzed past the 211 aircraft, plunging into the fire cloud.

A Four-Hit-Combo!

Then two more!

The expanding fireball grew larger, eventually engulfing the massive dragon.

A deranged Six-Hit-Combo!

The "True Fragrance" combat flight squadron made a perfect three-stage attack from the start.

They treated the Golden Dragon like a battleship, and a supersonic one at that.

In the sky, nothing was as tough as a dragon, an existence that defied science.

"‘Dragon Killer’ ready, hold steady, everyone disengage!"

Squadron leader Chekov shouted.

They wouldn’t have a second chance during the attack.

Aircraft, with their thin skins, couldn’t withstand much. In a dogfight, the outcome was often decided in one or two moves, life or death.

"‘Dragon Killer,’ launch!"

Chen Fei heard the short-haired girl’s voice, and she couldn’t wait to fire first.

A missile, trailing a faint blue smoke, shot out like lightning.

The ground-based radar locked onto the distant Golden Dragon.

No escape!

Slay the Dragon!

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