7:47 a.m., January 15, 2071 -- Sharetz Stratosphere -- "Cloudstorm" 048 Assault Boat --

"The 40mm gun is ready and ready to fire."

"Then what are you waiting for, beat it up!"

The two "Cloudstorm" assault boats flew with one on the left and one on the right, and the 40mm guns on board spewed out tongues of fire at the same time, forming a crossfire network. The group of flying dragons rushing up from the front in a dense formation was instantly shrouded in a firepower net, and the high-speed rotating aerial shells were like hungry wolves that pounced on the flock, tearing apart hundreds of flying dragons with a single look.

Although the "Cloudstorm" assault boat exploded in an instant, killing nearly one-tenth of the wyvern, if it fell into a scorched state, humans would still not be able to win, so the two "Cloudstorm" assault boats coincidentally chose to go straight to the center of the swarm. In order to increase the speed to the extreme, the two assault boats even used rocket boosters to return to space, because they were diving to the ground, and there was even a heat wave in the shell of the assault boat.

"Shhhh

The meteor-like assault boats seemed to deter the Zerg, and the wyverns avoided them one after another in order to prevent being hit and killed, and there were two more large holes in the center of the originally regular formation. The four MiG-51s, which had been fighting on the periphery, seized the opportunity and fired missiles at the two large holes. The missile dragged white smoke and flew towards the big hole, and many fierce dragons rushed straight to the missile in order to reduce the casualties of their companions, trying to crash the missile. However, they were so anxious to evade the assault boats that their companions intercepted each other, and the speed of intercepting the missiles was a little late.

"Boom-boom-boom-"

Dozens of air-to-air missiles exploded in the center of the swarm, the shock wave scattered the formation of the wyvern, and the shrapnel and flames that burst out killed and injured a large number of wyverns, and the entire airspace was cleared.

"Well done! At least half of the wyverns were wiped out. ”

"'Cloudstorm' assault boat, please continue to descend to the flight altitude and go to Base 004, and leave the rest of the Wyverns to us."

The pilots of the MiG fighters actually knew very well that with their four air-space fighters, it was impossible to defeat more than 500 flying dragons. However, they are excellent aerospace fighter pilots, and letting transport planes participate in battle is equivalent to slapping them in the face. For the sake of this proud glory, they could not shrink back.

"We, got it. Good luck with the MiG squad. ”

"Good luck to you too, 'Cloud Storm', Xuanwu, Suzaku. The call is over. ”

The flying dragons that had suffered a heavy blow finally stopped hugging together, and more than 500 flying dragons scattered in all directions, and dense intestinal fluid bullets shot towards the MiG fighters, and the scene was extremely spectacular. However, the pilots of the MiG-51 were no stranger to this, and either accelerated or maneuvered, easily dodging the huge volley of the Wyverns.

When the aerospace fighter enters the atmosphere, it will use the fighter's space combat armor weighing tens of tons as a heat-insulating shell, and when the fighter rubs against the planet's atmosphere and overheats the shell, the fighter will abandon these armors and "transform" into a crispy sub-air fighter. Although the defensive performance has been greatly reduced, the aerospace fighters using space combat engines have extremely high maneuverability in sub-air operations, making up for the lack of defense.

"One-way maneuver dive, no problem, right?" A flip dodges a barrage of intestinal bullets, and the captain of the MiG escort asks the wingman.

"Excuse me, captain, you're watching." The wingman piloted a well-coordinated barrel roll, flipping from above to the right rear of the captain.

"Don't mention the word retreat to me until you run out of ammunition, understand?!" The captain's words were shouted at everyone in the team, and the momentum was no less than that of the former training camp commander.

"Yes!" The answers of the seven members of the MiG squad were uniform, and the subsequent flight stunts were also uniform.

Led by Captain MiG, four MiG-51s flew down at an angle. A large group of wyverns chased after them, and the intestinal fluid bombs shot out wave after wave, dodging the MiGs* continuously.

The wyverns gathered more and more, and soon formed a funnel-shaped pursuit formation. From a distance, it looks like a big funnel to poke four of them to death with the smaller one, which is extremely easy.

"It's time, one-way roundabout!"

The Wyvern swarm converged again, and for the MiG squad, the time was ripe for a counterattack. The MiG captain decisively gave the order, and the four MiG-51s made the scheduled action in an instant.

"180° turn!"

The engines of the four fighters were turned off at the same time, and the fighters continued to fly at high speed. In the next moment, the main engine on the right side of the four fighters and the vector engine on the left side started together, and the fighters flying forward at high speed were forcibly changed from facing away from facing the swarm to facing each other. At this moment, the 30mm six-barreled cannon carried by the MiG-51 fighter roared in unison, forming a firepower network that smashed the flying dragon rushing in front into rotten meat.

"Dive!"

Even in the latest flight suits, the huge load still made it difficult for the pilots of the MiGs to breathe, but they still managed to complete the second flight maneuver: a flip and dive.

The distance between the Wyvern group and the fighter formation was actually not far, and after a one-way maneuver, the Wyvern swarm had already rushed in front of the fighters. Although the 30mm cannon wiped out the Striker's Wyvern, it took less than five seconds for the subsequent Wyvern to collide with the fighter. If that's the case, the Zerg side can be said to be able to win miserably, without the fighter to contain it, the Wyvern will soon be able to catch up with the "Cloud Storm" assault boat, and at that time, the chance of Mark and them reaching the 004 base will be infinitely close to 0. But

"Whoa—"

Two seconds before the collision, the four fighters flipped in unison, and while aiming their bellies at the flying dragons from above, the rocket engines under the belly of the planes were activated, sending the fighters out of the danger zone. Immediately afterward, the weapons bays of the four fighters opened together, and the cloudburst shells stored in the fuselage were fired in a full salvo, and the target was the group of Wyverns passing from above.

"Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom--"

The cloudburst bombs used by space fighters are different from the second-generation cloudburst shells used by the infantry, to be precise, they use the third-generation cloudburst bombs with new materials.

Cloudburst bombs use highly volatile fuel aerosols mixed with air to generate explosions, shock waves, and high pressure in the target area, and exhaust the oxygen within the explosion range to cause a large number of casualties to the enemy's living forces, so they are also known as "air bombs".

Traditional cloudburst bombs are not anti-aircraft weapons, and their main effect is actually to kill enemy troops in underground bunkers. The ultra-high temperature flames produced by the explosion of the cloudburst bomb will consume the oxygen in the bunker, forming a vacuum, and it is difficult to circulate the air in the underground bunker with complete sealing conditions, which is cruel and fatal to us humans who breathe oxygen. Therefore, the cloudburst bomb was banned by the Geneva Conventions.

Traditional cloudburst bombs are not very effective against the Zerg ground forces, because the Zerg are rarely in a closed territory when they attack, they do not breathe oxygen, and the short vacuum has little effect on them. Some planets have no oxygen in their atmospheres, and cloudburst bombs can't even spread and burn after they explode. In contrast, the 120mm howitzer was much more effective, which almost knocked the cloudburst out of the army. Although in the end it was retained, the usage rate was much less than before.

What brought the cloudburst bomb back to life was a battle of the canyon. That battle decided the ownership of the gateway to the northern and southern hemispheres of the planet, with humans as the defenders and Zerg as the attackers. When fighting against the Zerg Air Force, the human fighter and warship formations suffered a big loss and were forced to retreat, and the Zerg Air Force took advantage of the momentum to advance, and countless Zerg obscured the sky of the canyon. The human ground forces, which were originally defending steadily, lost their air cover and were attacked by the integrated air-ground attack of the Zerg, suffering heavy casualties for a while. Just when the battle was about to be lost, the prototype of the second-generation cloudburst bomb, which had been modified by a Marine Ordnance officer, entered the battlefield.

The second-generation cloudburst bomb is equipped with several oxygen compression tanks, and after the cloudburst bomb itself explodes, the compression tanks will also disperse and explode, forming a huge pure oxygen belt. When the high-efficiency fuel comes into contact with this oxygen, the high-temperature flames will spread to every corner of the sky, and the Zerg in it will turn to ashes.

In that battle, the human ground forces fired more than 2,000 cloudburst bombs, and the sky around the canyon remained bright for several hours. And the whole battle was reversed because of this weapon.

The MiG team risked being hit by the swarm and forced to fly below the swarm, just to use their anti-aircraft killing weapon. The cloud burst bomb they launched is the third generation, also known as the "air purgatory bomb".

The third-generation cloudburst bomb is once again attached to a sub-warhead on the basis of the second-generation, and the warhead is not equipped with **, but an inert gas that is not easy to diffuse. When a cloudburst bomb is launched at a designated location, the sub-warhead will first catapult over the explosion area, and then spray the gas to form a huge gas cover. The explosion of the cloud burst bomb body in it is equivalent to exploding in a semi-enclosed bunker, and the Zerg in it has absolutely no chance of survival.

This round of salvo fire by the MiG squad enveloped 90 percent of the flying dragons into "purgatory", and the rest of the flying dragons were also more or less affected, and their combat effectiveness was greatly reduced. By the time the four fighters of the MiG squad adjusted back from the downside-down state, the remaining fifty or so Wyverns had already scattered and fled. Captain MiG, who was in deep darkness and poor in pursuit, did not give the order to pursue, but led his wingman to the intended evacuation point.

When the flames that covered the sky of the cloudburst bomb completely dissipated, the MiG squad had already withdrawn to a predetermined rendezvous point at an ultra-high altitude several tens of kilometers away from the battlefield, where another part of the MiG-51 fighters carrying out the escort mission of the "Cloudstorm" assault boat were already carrying out aerial refueling and battlefield repairs.

"MiG-0741, this is 'Turtle Shell' No. 2, please lead your wingman to hover behind the rest of the formation, and we will supply you according to the level of fighter needs."

A large G-170 "Turtle Shell" integrated supply plane, comparable to a small spaceship, hovers here, and dozens of MiG-51 fighters that have completed escort missions hovered around. Many of them have been knocked out of their close armor, and the fragile internal structure of the fighter is exposed to the air, which is very worrying.

"MiG 0741 received, thank you."

"You're welcome."

Looking at the scarred friendly fighters around him, the pilot of the MiG-0741 sighed with some emotion, as if this time, the Zerg they encountered was stronger than before. If it weren't for the success of the adventure of "Aerial Purgatory", they might not have ended well.

Looking at Sharitz, who seemed to be within reach, the driver of 0741 couldn't help but sigh, "It's really a crazy experience, and I don't know if the 'Cloud Storm' has arrived at Base 004 ........."

Well, it's good that he doesn't care, but when he does, we'll have to pull the camera to Mark and them again.........

After separating from the MiG escort, "Cloudstorm" 048 and "Cloudstorm" 061 carried Mark and they flew straight to Base 004, even if there were dozens of Wyverns chasing after them. By the time they approached the air defense circle of Base 004, the Wyvern was almost clinging to the engine of the assault boat and vomiting liquid bombs.

"Damn, these wyverns are too arrogant, pilot, open the hatch on the top of the assault boat, let me kill them!" A grumpy member of the commando team couldn't help but growl. The assault boat was corroded by the Wyvern intestine bullet miserably, but the pilot just blindly dodged, which the soldier who wanted to be a pilot since he was a child couldn't stand it. (Xuanwu Commando A06: "This assault boat is piled up with money, and it doesn't cost money to repair it if it is broken!") Author: "Very reasonable, but the plot cannot be changed, continue." ”）

"No, Sergeant, we're in big trouble, we don't have time to take care of this." Pushing the CAO longitudinal rod violently, "Cloudstorm" 048 was planted straight down under the control of the main pilot, and a purple shadow crossed the position of the assault boat just now, and then disappeared.

"What's the trouble?" As soon as the assault boat returned to its normal flight attitude, before the commando could reply, Mark preemptively sent out an inquiry, and from the words of the main pilot, Mark heard a hint of something wrong. Hurriedly entering the state of "seeing", and before Mark could see what was happening, the "Cloudstorm" assault boat began to dive at high speed.

"Warrant officer, maybe this time......... You're going to get to Base 004 on your own. ”

"Sergeant, what's going on? Wow--"

Before Mark could react further, the driver snapped the forced ejection button. The launch bay containing Mark and the Star Orbit Commandos rotated 180°, and the crew members facing the cabin were facing the sky.

Carrying a bunch of intestinal liquid bombs, the "Cloud Storm" 048 tilted the hull slightly, aimed the team members on the right side of the assault boat at the 004 base, and then directly ejected them. Immediately afterwards, the assault boat flipped over, and the team member on the left side was also bounced upside down.

"Leave the rest of the air combat to us. Good luck to the Xuanwu commandos. ”

After being scrambled out by the "Cloudstorm" assault boat, and after flipping in the air dozens of times, Mark used the jetpack to restabilize his body. Looking at the "Cloudstorm" assault boat in the distance, he gave a standard military salute in the air. "Sergeant............ 'Cloudstorm' 048, good luck."