STOVL Heavy Attack Aircraft

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Translator: SFBaka

Editor: Thor’s Stone


A swarm of the enemy’s low-cost, low-end machine, the Ant Worker-type, was attacking in waves.

The Ant-types were all battery-powered except for the Commander version, which was the highest-end model among them. They can be easily dealt with using conventional firearms, but they were mass-produced in large quantities by the enemy.

An individual unit is said to be comparable in cost to a light armored vehicle. Dozens of them were invading.

Soldier-types with comparatively higher combat power and Commander-types equipped with high-dimensional projection armor were leading them. There was also a Mantis-type which can be deemed their flagship unit.

The confirmed number of enemies was 30 Worker-types, 12 Soldier-types, 3 Commander-types, and only one Mantis-type.

A camp suddenly appeared deep in their sphere of influence.

Their forces can be said to be overkill for a recon mission against this camp. Of course, these forces were not enough to capture a Defense Dome, but it was more than enough for a camp.

「This is Fox-1. Enemy forces spotted.」

While maintaining low-altitude flight, a reconnaissance helicopter appeared and fell back swiftly afterward. The pilot onboard was a fox-type Familiar.

If humans were included in the Stones’ forces, they would have been surely surprised. After all, recon helicopters have not been used for a long time since they can be easily shot down by anti-aircraft fire.

Sure enough, laser and railgun anti-aircraft batteries quickly attacked the helicopter.

The helicopter made good use of the terrain and avoided the attacks skillfully.

It was a compound helicopter equipped with ducted fan-type propellers on its aft in addition to its main rotor. Its max acceleration well exceeded the limit of a regular helicopter; easily being able to go over 400 km/h.

「This is Thunder-1. Copy that, Fox-1」

The voice that came from Thunder-1 was a woman’s. It was Blue.

「Thunderstorm, prepare for sortie. Kou, are you ready?」

「OK.」

「A1 Thunderstorm, launching. I’ll be taking the 5th elevator.」

A machine rose from one of the aircraft elevators of the Cimon-class.

Its folded wings unfolded, leveled themselves, and moved to their specified positions.

It was a short take-off and vertical landing (STOVL) heavy attack aircraft with Silhouette transport capability.

It’s a newly developed fighter-bomber. Although it was designed to be capable of anti-air combat as well, the current airpower of the enemy forces was limited. Hence, it was currently kitted out exclusively for ground attacks.

The machine named A1 Thunderstorm will also be having its maiden battle this day.

Its huge frame was 29 meters long, 17 meters wide, and 7 meters high.

Its hard points can be equipped with a wide variety of weapons.

It can carry out ground attack missions through wire-guided munitions and can be equipped with anti-air and anti-ship missiles, multi-rocket pods, ECM pods, and conventional bombs.

The rail catapult activated. It quickly accelerated the Thunderstorm to 700 km/h.

The mountainside opened up slightly, revealing the starry sky above.

A1 was ejected through it and proceeded to dance in the night sky.

「Arrived at the target point. Engaging the enemy.」

Blue announced and began to prepare to attack the Keres that were still far in the distance.

The Commander-types and Mantis-type activated their railguns and unleashed an anti-air barrage.

The heavy attack craft was equipped with two powerful three-dimensional thrust vectoring nozzles.

Hence, its mobility was extremely high. It performed a rapid set of post-stall maneuvers to throw the enemy’s aim off and evade their attacks.

A wire-guided missile hanging from a pylon spewed fire and headed toward one Commander-type. The wire, aside from its target guidance function, also served to increase the missile’s penetration power through the use of Whis.

The Commander-type exploded in just one blow.

A1, which had been rising steadily toward the night sky, suddenly performed a steep nosedive.

The anti-air fire of the Ant Workers failed to reach its mark, as the A1 placed itself directly above them.

It swiftly approached its targets. The enemy’s lasers hit the A1. But it didn’t even flinch. It was a heavy attack aircraft sporting thick armor after all.

This time around, it launched a large number of rockets from its rocket launchers. The Workers failed to rush away to avoid them. They were destroyed by the explosions.

The Soldier-types that moved to intercept switched to evasive maneuvers. The enemy plane was still plunging straight toward them.

A huge six-barreled Gatling gun stretched out from the aircraft’s nose. Its caliber was 60 mm. According to Kurt, this was the largest cannon caliber currently on Planet Asia.

It had 1,800 rounds. It’s capable of belting out 2,400 shots per minute and had a range of about 1,800 meters. It was probably one of the most powerful anti-Murder weapons.

The craft began its strafing run, easily destroying the Workers as if ridiculing their futile attempts at evasion. The huge 60 mm cannons fired about 40 bullets per second. It was a veritable bullet storm.

The Mantis-type’s railgun scored a direct hit on the craft’s nose. However, it merely caused a small explosion which quickly dispersed. It only left a black mark on the craft’s nose.

The Mantis-type immediately fell into a confused state.

Certainly, the nosedive was effective. However, at that speed, it should have already stalled. No matter how high-performance the thrust vectoring nozzles installed on it were, it was impossible for it not to stall.

The moment it managed to resolve its question, it immediately got destroyed.

It had been bisected in two.

The A1 heavy attack aircraft continued to plunge down. A Silhouette appeared from its fuselage, and it was promptly dropped. Unit 5 rapidly descended while brandishing its great sword. But even the Mantis-type’s AI couldn’t foresee the enemy suddenly kicking off from the aircraft’s nose a few moments after.

Using the momentum gained from the jump, Unit 5 moved to level flight. After a few moments, it started to rise in the air.

And then, Unit 5 quickly plunged down again and proceeded to cut the Mantis-type in two.

A slash from mid-air with all of Unit 5’s weight easily cut through the Mantis-type’s high-dimensional projection armor.

The surviving Workers immediately flocked toward it.

But at that moment, they were systematically destroyed. From behind, the recon helicopter unleased support fire with its machine gun and missiles. The recon helicopter would never allow the heavy attack craft to be on its own.

It made use of stealth and timing to unleash an effective blow.

After being helped out by the support fire, Unit 5 immediately engaged the remaining Commander-types next.

Surprisingly, Unit 5 even performed a jump and summersault evasion maneuver.

It immediately closed the distance and easily took care of the Commander-types.

In addition to its improved mobility, Unit 5 was also equipped with vectoring thrusters for acceleration. It was a combination of maneuverability and speed.

It didn’t take long for it to destroy the remaining enemies.


「Blue, I’m sorry about earlier.」

「That kick, right? I didn’t really mind you know.」

「Really?」

「Really. Oh, that’s right. I’ll forgive you if you treat me to a meal later.」

「No problem.」

「Hey, this aircraft is pretty good. Can I get a ride together with my Silhouette inside it too?」

「Eh? Ah. Sure, no problem.」

「It’s decided then.」

「But A1 seems to be a failure…… How about I just install one on your Snipe instead, Blue?」

「Install what?! Ah, we gotta get back already. Explain, Kou!」

「When we get back.」

「Mou! It can’t be helped. I can’t pick you up anymore, so do your best to come back on your own, okay?」

「You too. Nice work.」

The A1 was a heavy attack craft designed to carry and work in tandem with Silhouettes, but it was difficult to perform landings within forests. Although it had a vertical take-off and landing function, it can’t land unless its safety was assured.

Kou reminded himself to explain why it was a failed work once he gets back. The problem wasn’t its performance, but its usage instead.

「We obtained good results, but it’s still a failure because it turned out different from the original intention.」

Kou piloted Unit 5 and sprinted through the dark forest.


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