Clack! (xN)
Tracer rounds from machine cannons etched brilliant trajectories across the sky.
With the Spicula-class practically blanketing the heavens, the human fighter jets didn't even need to aim; even a missed shot would inevitably hit something.
If Spicula-class Honkai Beasts counted towards aerial kill tallies, every pilot in this airspace could likely prefix their name with "Ace."
Unfortunately…
The flip side of such easy hits was that the enemy numbers were overwhelmingly, absurdly vast. The Spicula-class didn't even need to resort to ranged attacks—after a three to five-second charge, they could unleash an energy sphere with the destructive power equivalent to a 75mm high-explosive shell. Simply by ramming towards the human air force, the tsunami-like white "swarm" could engulf everything in its flight path.
BOOM!! (x2)
Two "Hurricane" fighters, latched onto the tails of Spicula-class beasts and still unleashing ammunition, were caught. A rapidly sweeping circular ultrasonic wave stunned the pilots in their cockpits, and an instant later, two energy spheres blasted their aircraft into fragments.
The Cruise-class Honkai Beasts weren't limited to using only their high-powered "main cannons."
They possessed an advanced skill, [Honkai Energy Blasts], similar to the Spicula-class's attack but more potent and capable of continuous fire. They also had the [Sonic Shockwave Cannon], used for large-scale clearance of "lightly armored" and "stealth" units.
The latter proved remarkably effective against light, highly maneuverable targets like the "Hurricane" fighters.
As for the former…
BOOM!!!
The second "Argo-class" aerospace carrier, spewing black smoke, plummeted from the sky.
Without the covering fire of the "Zeus-class" sky ships, the aerospace carriers were utterly incapable of dealing with simultaneous attacks from all directions. After enduring thousands of energy blasts, particularly those targeting their engines, they could only succumb on the spot.
Of course.
Though the leaderless air wing was in constant retreat, they weren't without their achievements. While the commanders' skill levels were debatable, the pilots involved in the development of these experimental aircraft were undoubtedly the true elites of the air force.
When they took to the skies in the most advanced fighters…
The "Apollo," a delta-wing aircraft equipped with tri-vector thrust engines, was North America's premier air superiority fighter, specifically designed to combat small, flying Honkai Beasts.
They weren't equipped with air-to-air missiles, but their two 20mm cannons, capable of firing depleted uranium armor-piercing rounds at 500 rounds per minute, were terrifying weapons to any Assault-class, Spicula-class, Rotor-class, or even a Drifter-class that hadn't raised its defenses in time.
Cruise-class Honkai Beasts, escorted only by Spicula-class, weren't quite so formidable. The Acid-class beasts lacked the levitation capability to reach such high altitudes, so they, along with the remaining one-third of the Cruise-class beasts, followed Cheche's advance closer to the ground.
Once the "Apollo" fighters began to sweep Spicula-class from the sky in droves…
The "Paladin" attack aircraft, armed with Spectral Scattering Cannons (the same type found on the "Phantom" tanks), could inflict devastating damage upon the Cruise-class.
These deeply penetrating, long-cooldown beam weapons… made little difference whether they were targeting Cruise-class or Chariot-class Honkai Beasts.
However.
The coordinated efforts of the human ace pilots ended there.
From the moment Cheche's [Honkai Roar Cannon] struck the Zeus-class, to the fall of the second "Argo-class" carrier, barely more than one hundred seconds had ticked by.
The Honkai Beast losses amounted to a mere four Cruise-class. One of these was shot down by Griffin-01 leading the "Ares" Squad (this heavy interceptor squad belonged to the Mu Continent and was merely cooperating with the North American air wing).
Just as the "Vanguard" armed gunships (seven of which remained), desperately protected by the air force, finally managed to lock onto a Cruise-class with their proton impact cannons, the light of destruction had also been brewing in the mouths of the whale-like Honkai Beasts for a long time.
The next instant—
PENG!!
WENG!!
Explosions consumed feathers of steel; a blinding light scattered the white blossoms of conflagration.
BOOOM!!!
————
Whoosh—
BANG!!
The last "Argo-class" aerospace carrier had a massive hole punched through its belly by a beam of light unleashed by the Great Whale, before exploding directly into a sky full of fragments.
At this point.
The Northern Legion, at the cost of twenty-four Cruise-class Honkai Beasts, had annihilated all of North America's air power on the Mu Continent…
No.
It couldn't be called all just yet.
While the fighter jets and Honkai Beasts were locked in a desperate struggle, the "Century" bombers, capable of only meager anti-aircraft defense with their machine guns, did not continue such a pointless action.
The battle in the sky was already lost.
Once the fighter squadrons were shot down, the bombers, lacking any advantage in speed, would swiftly become live targets, destined to be obliterated over foreign airspace.
Therefore—
They charged directly towards Cheche on the ground!
The beams from the Acid-class beasts were powerful, but their range was far inferior to that of the Quillspike-class; their Honkai energy projection distance was at most around 2,500 meters.
This distance…
Level bombing from an altitude of 2,500 meters could not guarantee accuracy. Even against an ultra-large target like Cheche, it would be incredibly difficult to drop bombs directly onto it.
But for such massive bombers to engage in dive-bombing… if they wished to maximize their chances of avoiding the Acid-class attacks, their dive-bombing angle could certainly not be the safe and reliable fifteen degrees.
"All aircraft, heed orders!"
"Sixty-degree dive bomb!"
Under the command of the lead aircraft, the remaining nineteen bombers, as if weightless, plunged madly towards the ground!
That's right!
The North American bomber pilots had directly chosen a one-way, sixty-degree dive bomb!
They had no intention of pulling their planes back up—if they could drop their bombs, they would; if they couldn't, they would become the bombs themselves and crash down!
Woooooooo—!!!
A piercing shriek echoed across the firmament!
Boom!
Light projectiles rained down from above; energy rays shot up from below.
Boom! (x2)
"Century" bombers fell, one after another!
Boom!
Boom! (x3)
Shrapnel, wreckage, broken wings, corpses.
An unending chain of explosions showered down a storm of metal.
Of the "Century" bombers that managed to reach the airspace above Cheche, only a paltry twelve remained by the time they released their payloads.
SWOOOSH!!!
Open bomb bays, cascading bombs, diving airframes.
Together, they converged into—
BOOOOOM!!!!
—a hymn of courage.
A colossal cloud billowed upwards, a searing fireball consumed everything; the last strength of the air wing was poured entirely into this sacrificial strike.
However—
Thud!
Thud!
A漆黑的身影 (jet-black figure) walked out from within the inferno.
Its rhythm was unhurried, its pace leisurely and composed.
Its terrifying constitution allowed Cheche to completely ignore the "Jethro" medium bombs, each of which, with a single hit, was potent enough to destroy a Chariot-class Honkai Beast or severely injure a Honkai Emperor.
Clatter.
Debris scattered like a desolate autumn rain.
This was a hymn of courage, and also… a resistance named futile.