In the fight to the death, both enemies and allies were consumed with a bloodlust.
Everyone had only one life to live, so casualties within Aircrew Base 911's "Genuine Fragrance" Combat Flight Squadron were inevitable.
Even Chen Fei, who had become tough-skinned and was able to ignore various light weapons as a Metal Elemental Psychic Power user, could still be killed if targeted by a barrage of missiles. He could be killed by a blast wave or suffocation if he tried to take a shortcut with a cloud explosion.
A cacophony of cracking and shattering sounds filled the air as fierce wind suddenly gushed into the cockpit.
The cockpit canopy, riddled with bullet holes, finally shattered into pieces, transforming the 211 aircraft into a spectacularly convertible fighter jet.
The battered 211 aircraft, under Chen Fei's control, still managed to perform intense, high-mobility maneuvers. Four "Big Mouth Monster" Turboprop Aircraft were hot on his trail, but his "Big Mouth Monster" had long since run out of ammunition.
The aircraft's centerline and under the left and right wings were a total of seven hardpoints, which meant it could carry only seven Combat Bombs. Taking down two enemy aircraft was a cause for celebration, though most of the time firing ended up missing the target.
For every missile to take down an enemy jet, how foolish would the enemy pilot have to be to allow one to tailgate them and launch a missile from behind?
The A-39B "Big Mouth Monster" light turboprop attack aircraft had a total of 500 rounds of 12.7mm caliber machine gun ammo, evenly distributed between the wings, which meant the actual number of firing opportunities was cut in half.
A short burst was ten bullets gone, hold down the trigger and in just a few seconds, they were depleted.
The era of dogfighting was long gone. Only Private Military Contractors still played this lowbrow and unskilled game. In the combat lineup of Sovereign-level air forces, the superior fighter jets had become vassals to the Early Warning Aircraft, engaging in various tactical breakthroughs, firing missiles and bombs before fleeing, becoming the little brother busily running ahead and behind.
Although modern combat aircraft still retain machine guns and cannons from the era of dogfighting, their practical significance is no longer in their killing effect. More often, they serve a warning role. To put it bluntly, they are especially for bullying civilians.
If some blind civilian aircraft deviated from its course, flying where it shouldn't—damn it, ignoring radio communication and unresponsive to fire control radar illumination (because they most likely don't have a warning system).
Send a few Tracer Bullets from behind, a whooshing entrance into the pilot's field of view, both strikingly visible and intimidating, ensuring immediate, fright-induced wetting of pants.
At this moment, both the enemy and ally pilots had their human brains beaten into dog brains.
The pilots still fighting in the sky had no choice but to pick up the dogfighting skills of their predecessors.
Not only had Chen Fei run out of ammunition, but the four enemy aircraft chasing him were also running low.
Otherwise, the four "Big Mouth Monsters" could have blindly sprayed bullets, suppressing the front 211 aircraft with a barrage of fire, followed by launching missiles.
To dance with missiles and wait to be blown up was the true ordeal.
But Chen Fei didn't give his pursuers the chance. He kept swinging the control stick, maintaining the "Big Mouth Monster" in a serpentine maneuvering state, veering left and right unpredictably.
Many tactical maneuvers that the vice squad leader "Devil Pepper" Iline Rusios hadn't yet had the chance to teach him, Chen Fei grasped intuitively during the fierce aerial combat. On the other hand, it was also due to the "Big Mouth Monster" Turboprop Aircraft's reliable quality and outstanding performance, which withstood all sorts of trial and error.
If it were someone else, they would likely have become dizzy or even nauseous, and they might even have hurt themselves trying.
After all, even a turboprop fighter aircraft can withstand far higher G-force limits than the human body can.
Often the fighter jet would be fine, but the person inside couldn't take it anymore.
Even because of imperfect tactical maneuvers, one could be locked in the pilot seat, unable to move, barely able to lift a finger, just waiting to be shot down.
For Chen Fei, a true rookie... well, it was as if these essential flying experiences didn't exist at all. He flew (risking death) however he wanted (risking death), with complete freedom (the freedom to risk death).
With a slight shake of the wings, he skillfully dodged the Predictive Trajectory of the oncoming bullets from the wing-mounted guns. A swarm of Tracer Bullets whistled by hazardously close but touched nothing, which naturally meant zero damage.
"System, tools—crowbar!"
System: Ding! Cold Weapon "Crowbar" evolution time 0/5 seconds!
Gauging the distance in his mind, Chen Fei unfastened his seatbelt, pulled the throttle back slightly, stood up from his seat, turned around, grasped the backrest with one hand, maneuvered the control stick with his foot, and extended his other hand, completing these actions in one fluid motion.
Immediately, the 211 aircraft began to slow down and started to raise its nose.
Five seconds later, the White Steel Crowbar materialized, hooked on the emergency ejection ring on the rear seat. With a pull, bang!~
The rear seat was ejected in an instant.
The "Big Mouth Monster's" innate stability immediately came into play. After a violent shudder, the aircraft stabilized once more and automatically leveled out.
The ejected rear seat flew over thirty meters before a parachute bloomed against the wind.
One of the four pursuing "Big Mouth Monsters" failed to dodge and crashed head-on into it.
The collision with a parachute wouldn't be much better than a bird strike. As the nylon fabric chopped by the blades swirled through the air, the canopy chords bound the aircraft tightly. That wasn't the worst part, as an aviation seat hanging under the parachute smashed open a wing with the force of the impact.
The damage to the aerodynamic shape of the wing was instantaneous, expanding to irreparable levels in a chain reaction.
What had previously kept the jet buoyant and freely soaring in the sky now became a killer; the entire aircraft disintegrated in midair and plummeted towards the ground.
Not until it crashed heavily onto the ground, exploding into a giant fireball, did anyone see a pilot eject.
Perhaps they were dizzied by the spinning or firmly pressed into their seats, unable to pull the ejection handle between their thighs in time.
System: Ding! Enemy pilot kill: 2/5 (no firearms), energy points +500!
A moment of wild tactical imagination had yielded miraculous results.
Chen Fei was just a blind cat that happened to catch a dead rat, never expecting to actually succeed.
He had just re-secured himself in the seat and hadn't had the chance to rejoice for long before the missile attack warning sounded again.
The other three "Big Mouth Monsters" resolutely launched their last three combat bombs at him.
Three thick blue lines locked tightly onto Chen Fei's Aircraft No. 211, swaying, continuing to sway.
He hadn't improved much in his flying skills, but his experience in evading missiles had increased a lot; he calmly performed a barrel roll maneuver once more and dove towards the ground.
The altitude indicator's numbers began to plummet.
He pulled the control stick all the way back, pushing the throttle to the max.
The PT6A series turboprop engine output at full overload, not sparing the decrease in its lifespan.
Powerful G-forces pressed harshly on Chen Fei, causing bursts of darkness to flood his vision and his eyes to swell, but he was indifferent to it all.
Aircraft No. 211 struggled to lift its nose, and the three falling combat bombs drew nearer, the distance between them now less than 200 meters.
For the speed of a missile, it was almost instant.
Chen Fei and his aircraft were still getting closer to the ground, albeit at a much slower speed.
Aircraft No. 211 finally leveled off, but it was still sinking.
If it weren't for the seatbelt, Chen Fei might have been flung out of the cockpit, and now, with the canopy gone, it would have been even easier.
The "Big Mouth Monster," roaring terribly, shook violently but stopped descending, gaining speed as it leveled out.
After the three missiles grazed the aircraft almost touching it, they exploded without warning, and the shockwave hadn't reached Aircraft No. 211 when the turboprop, still shuddering, successfully escaped the effective kill radius. The shrapnel merely left some barely significant impact marks on the aircraft's surface.
The majority of the explosion's strength from the combat bombs was fruitlessly discharged onto the ground, leaving a large radial pattern of char marks.
System: Ding! Dance with missiles for a cumulative 60 seconds/60 seconds, and maintain a beautiful pose, energy points +200!
Energy Points: 295/5000
With 500 energy points still up for harvest, Chen Fei shook his dizzy head, pulled on the control stick, and propelled Aircraft No. 211 back into the sky.
The great battle had been raging until now, with less than 10 aircraft remaining in the skies for both sides.
Everyone seemed to have turned into a fighting machine, abandoning all emotions, battling to the very last moment.