Yukikaze picked up even more energy, passing the control plane on the right side at supersonic speed. As fast as a missile. The shock wave of her passage shook the huge aircraft.
“Whoa!” exclaimed the pilot. “What the hell was that? Is it trying to clip us?”
The Fand II reached maximum speed and began running through its tests.
Yukikaze followed, and then shot past the Fand II as it unloaded Gs and descended in preparation for low-altitude penetration. Yukikaze quickly descended as well and took position five hundred meters off to the Fand II’s side.
“Initiating ultra low-altitude penetration test.”
Captain O’Donnell ran the throttle forward. Yukikaze flawlessly maintained position on his wing. The shock waves of the two planes tore a swath through the forests of Faery, leaving a clear path marking the course they had taken.
“Okay, initiating dogfight capability test.”
O’Donnell confirmed that his anti-G seat control was functioning normally. The Fand II’s seat was deeply reclined, shaped to wrap around the pilot’s body even more than usual in a single-seat fighter.
“Let’s do this,” the captain muttered.
The Fand II was no match for the other plane in terms of raw speed, but in a dogfight he would be the victor.
All caution lights, clear. Maneuver switch, ON. Fly-by-light system, normal.
Yukikaze maintained her attitude as she climbed. Without increasing her angle of attack, she ascended while remaining level with the ground. After flying over two hundred kilometers in three minutes, she turned and confronted the Fand II. She had now become a simulated JAM.
To ward off a close-range attack Yukikaze fired six simulated medium-range high-velocity missiles. The simulated missile tracks appeared on the Fand II’s moving target indicator.
Here we go, thought Captain O’Donnell as he shifted his gaze from the MTI to his HUD. This was what had wiped out the 402nd.
The Fand II fired the FAF’s new high-velocity air-to-air missiles. Four shots. These too were simulated. Missile intercept, successful. Just before launching the HAAMs, O’Donnell had initiated a high-velocity turn. The two remaining “JAM” missiles would reach the Fand II in ten seconds. The captain turned the Fand II toward them nose-on and corkscrewed through the air, evading the first one. The plane instantly slid right and popped off three shots, taking out the second missile, then flew in a flat scissors maneuver as it closed in on Yukikaze. Right, then left, the high-G forces buffeted Captain O’Donnell’s body. His labored breathing carried over the radio and was heard by all the flight test staff.
“Amazing plane… haven’t seen performance like this before.”
Yukikaze attempted to turn and withdraw.
“Think you’re getting away? Fand II… pursuing.”
Suddenly, Yukikaze opened her air brakes and radically decelerated. Killing her speed, she dove.
“The hell…?”
O’Donnell’s eyes widened. The Fand II overshot Yukikaze at subsonic speed. O’Donnell immediately lost sight of her. He cursed and pushed the nose of his own plane down without rolling, going into an inverted loop. The blood rushed to his head, threatening his vision with redout. He reflexively loosened the loop diameter, searching for Yukikaze. A warning sounded, alerting him to an enemy plane above and to the rear.
He banked hard into a half-roll and climbed, finally catching sight of Yukikaze, which was coming at him at the maximum angle of attack, with gunsight open. She locked on to the Fand II just as it began to climb and opened up with simulated cannon fire. He was just barely out of range, and the combat technique simulator in the control plane determined the attack failed. The Fand II immediately counterattacked.
Captain O’Donnell was now soaked with sweat from head to toe, his breathing coming hard. His heart was pounding as though he were in a flat-out sprint, and he could only speak with great difficulty.
The Fand II got around to Yukikaze’s right rear quadrant. Yukikaze executed a high-G boost out of subsonic speed, and the Fand II instantly turned to follow, shuddering with the strain of the maneuver. Lock on. Auto-fire. Out of range. O’Donnell launched his remaining four simulated missiles. Yukikaze evaded them at the last moment, pulling 16 Gs in the process.
“Damn, that thing… that… Super Sylph is a monster.”
The Fand II accelerated. Yukikaze turned.
An emergency call was sent out to the control plane from Yukikaze. O’Donnell noticed her turn radius widen. “I win…” he muttered.
“Captain O’Donnell,” Lieutenant Fukai called. “There’s been a malfunction in Yukikaze’s hydraulic system. The function of the elevon on her right main wing is compromised. The Fand II wins.”
This is no win, the captain thought. Yukikaze hadn’t been brought down. If it hadn’t been bound by the parameters of the combat flight test program, it would have easily accelerated out of the Fand II’s firing range and returned to base.
“Captain O’Donnell, the combat flight test is concluded.” Major Booker issued the order from the SAF’s underground control room back at Faery Base.
“It seems the Fand II has met our expectations,” said the Tactical Air Force’s commander.
“It evaded the high-velocity missiles and proved it could engage the enemy,” agreed Booker. “Although Yukikaze may still be regarded by the JAM as more of a threat since they have nothing like it.”
“That’s of little use if it breaks itself in the process,” interjected General Cooley. “If the Fand II had attacked it at that point, Yukikaze would have lost. The Fand II is impressive.”
A warning alarm suddenly sounded in the control room. Red letters appeared on the huge data screen, informing them that incoming hostile aircraft had been detected.
“It’s the JAM,” said Major Booker, a familiar knot forming in his stomach.
The early warning had been transmitted from Minx.
“Where’re they coming from?” asked the control plane’s radar operator. “I don’t see them.”
“Range 400 km,” said Minx’s EWO from 30,000 meters above. “They’re closing at super-low altitude. Definitely JAM. Two planes, combat recon types. Number of units increasing.”
“They penetrated that far in without tripping our warning network?” Booker said incredulously. “Minx, intercept them. TAB-15, scramble the 501st TFS. Fand II, return to base at once. Emergency withdrawal.”
“Copy,” replied Captain O’Donnell and flipped his armament switch to ON. RDY GUN. RDY HAAM-4. Real weapons this time. His gun and four short-range high-velocity air-to-air missiles.
The Fand II and Yukikaze were both closer to the JAM than Minx, which plummeted toward the enemy aircraft at maximum thrust, firing two long-range missiles as it went. An H cue appeared on the HUD. The JAM were climbing. The countdown until impact began.
9… 8… 7—the JAM launched high-velocity interceptor missiles—5, 4, 3… The numbers vanished.
“No good. Missiles down.”
Three planes from TAB-15 were now in the air and pushing at maximum thrust to intercept the JAM.
“Minx, abort your attack,” Major Booker ordered. “Climb and resume surveillance duty.”
“Roger.”
Static filled the channel. The JAM were using their highestoutput ECM. They pressed in behind the Fand II and Yukikaze, 300 km to the rear, and launched two high-velocity missiles.
“These’re moving as fast as those ground-to-ground ones we saw before. Rei, do you read me? The JAM probably want to see how the Fand II will evade these missiles.”