Chapter 463 Ace Combat (Part 1)
“Sir, the last maintenance of the fighter plane before take-off has been completed.”
Marcell Albert did not answer the human servant, the man spoke in the same form He was already familiar with the content.
He has been staring closely at the machine parked on the tarmac in front of him. The polished metal shell shines in the flashing red light of the cave hangar, and the Angel Wings logo is spray-painted with blood drops. on the wings and tail.
“We die with honor for those we hold dear.”
Albert chanted softly as his fighter's engines began to light up and the air around him began to sing.
"Live up to the blood of Sanguinius."
A servitor unplugged the cable connected to the rear of the fighter. Tech-priests in copper robes walked around the fighter. Brass fingers flicked the holy oil.
A skilled ground crew followed the Tech-Priest, retracting the temporary blocking plates of the weapons and closing the open inspection panels everywhere.
Marcel Albert slowly walked towards the fighter plane, stepped into the cockpit, and connected the interface on the back of the power armor to the fighter plane's system.
Fighter was fully awake, and he felt the nerve connection process tingling down his spine.
The pain in muscles and bones was like steel. The weapons and flesh were forcibly blended together. The surging power of the fighter turned into a pushing sensation on his back. He took a breath and felt like he was complete.
He was piloting a swordtail interceptor, a conventional flying vehicle used by the Legiones Astartes during the Great Crusade.
Unlike other fighters, the pilot of the tail sword is not a mortal, but an Astartes.
Able to fly within the atmosphere and in space, Swordtail is equipped with two twin laser cannons and a set of missile launchers. Her firepower and speed make her a very deadly opponent.
However, the design of the sword tail is very complicated and the range is limited, so the Adeptus Mechanicus does not favor them compared to the Legion Astartes, who prefer the larger Fury fighter.
Therefore, on the eve of the end of the Great Crusade, except for the Dark Angels and Ultramarines, almost all Legions' Swordtails retired from the front line, but later due to the threat of rebellion, many Legions were forced to send them back to the battlefield. .
After the second founding of the army, this veteran finally disappeared into the armory of the Astartes.
But there is always a swordtail formation in the hangar of the Mother of Tears.
During the long battle, this formation gradually suffered losses, and the complex structure of the sword tail meant that once it was damaged on the battlefield, there was almost no possibility of repair, and only usable parts could be disassembled. .
To this day, there is only one combat-ready swordtail interceptor left in the hangar.
Marcel Albert is also the only remaining tail sword pilot in the Chapter. It has been more than a hundred years since he took over this veteran who has been around for thousands of years from his mentor.
He has become one with it in a sense.
Like Marcel Albert, it has its own unique name - Eidolon.
The name comes from a melancholy verse from Baal folk, as it goes through.
But now, it has another identity - the leader of the Baal's Light Squadron.
Marcel Albert unlocked the helmet locked on his legs, put it on his head, and then the top canopy slowly closed.
Yellow lights began to flash in the hangar cave, and shrill sirens joined the chorus of fighter engines.
He closed his eyes, and rough green lines began to appear in the right silver prosthetic eye that had been replaced thirty years ago.
Then he opened his eyes, the green projection intertwined with the real world, and the runes indicating status flashed in his cockpit system.
Many people compare the Astartes to knights, but in Marcel Albert's view, this is a form of ignorance and blind faith.
In the long time since the Great Rebellion, people have forgotten the essence of the Astartes - they are actually highly specialized soldiers, and wielding swords and swords is only a small part of their art of war.
In the past, they were all masters of war machines, riding various steel beasts on the battlefield.
But since the second founding of the army, such scenes have become very rare.
"All flying units."
he called over the comm channel.
"Preparations for flight, countdown, boys."
Numbers cycled at the edge of the field of vision, the external blast doors opened, the metal barriers lowered into the ground, and pulses of red light loomed in the darkness in the distance.
Marcel Albert increased the thrust, and the Eidolon began to take off.
On the other side of the tarmac, 16 war machines also took off one after another. Half of them were Lightning-class fighters and half were Fury-class attack aircraft. All the fighters were bright yellow.
This is a full squadron sortie, but only in sufficient numbers.
The enemies are more numerous than them.
"Heading, 76-12-12, on standby,"
"Is this a gloomy evening, sir?" his wingman greeted him informally, but Albert ignored it, although his lips hidden in the shadows curved into a smile.
"Confirm mission mode."
Albert called to the flight tower.
"Command, here is the Baal's Light Squadron, waiting for permission to attack."
The static noise rang for a while, and the decreasing countdown dropped rapidly to zero.
"Light of Baal Squadron, permission to attack."
Came the voice of an officer, a man who would track Albert's flight data, matching it to countless movements around the fleet.
"Received."
Albert replied in a deep voice, and then switched to another channel.
"All weapons activated."
The amber weapon runes turned green, fixing the engine output power at a peak value, and the fighter plane beneath him began to shake.
The countdown is zero.
Eidolon lunged forward, and Albert exhaled a breath of air from his lungs.
The barriers in the void and the swirling lasers greeted him from the front. Albert drove the interceptor off the flight deck and flew onto the back of the battleship.
Behind him, the squadron's fighter jets also flew out of the open hole, their afterburners ejecting streams of blue flames.
Shortly after flying into the battle area, Albert was locked by the enemy's fire control system, the alarm began to sound, and the traces of tracer bullets and explosion fire boiled in the void.
He activated his countermeasures and the decoys exploded in their wake.
Then Albert piloted the fighter plane and climbed upwards in a spiral, with his wingman following closely behind, maintaining a perfect formation.
The other fighters in the squadron scattered after flying out of the flight deck, spinning continuously in the blooming light.
In the void, the artillery fire from both sides has been intertwined, and even the asteroids and meteorites have been dyed with a different color.
The back of the Mother of Tears is like undulating mountains, the forts built in it are shining with fire, and the sea of light is also mixed with the light of small weapons.
The battlefield was chaotic, and Albert led the squadron to quickly shuttle to the front of the Mother of Tears and intercept a group of bombers.
He will continue to fight until there are no enemies in front of him. His life will not stop and his fighting will not stop.
Facing the interceptor squadron attacking at high speed, the bulky bombers staggered and tried to evade, but were immediately massacred by lasers and missiles.
"The enemy interceptor is incoming!"
Just as Albert destroyed a bomber with a series of bursts of fire, the voice of the wingman pilot suddenly sounded.
Subconsciously, Albert immediately reversed direction, and the fighter plane was like an arrow leaving the bowstring.
The augur screamed to remind that it had been locked, red runes flashed in front of the eyes, and the fire of the automatic cannon lit up the night sky.
“Turn left!”
Albert worked hard to correct the Eidolon out of the spiral, increased the horsepower, and the fuel warning immediately turned amber.
The sudden acceleration made him enter a semi-weightless state. From the half-machine, half-flesh eyes, he could see that his people had been following him, drawing unique trajectories, and the shells exploded behind them. .
So does the enemy.
Red Mark is attacking from both directions, but he and his men will throw off the enemy.
After Albert's deduction, if his people can achieve their goals, they will definitely succeed.
“Oops——”
Suddenly, the wingman pilot’s voice stopped abruptly in the communication channel.
Albert's augur also made a short, sharp sound.
A missile swooped down from above and hit the wingman, causing flames to spread instantly.
Albert twitched instinctively and stepped aside, avoiding the laser that could have hit him.
A fighter plane appeared above his head. The moment his eyes met, Albert recognized it. It was also a sword-tail interceptor, but its wings were blasphemous. Eight-pointed star symbol.
(End of this chapter)